Phan Châu Trinh (1872 - 1926) was born with Tay Loc in the Province from Quảng Nam.

His/her father was a rich person landowner well-read man and took part in the “resistance of the well-read men”, but it was killed in 1885 by other leaders of this movement who suspectaient it of treason. Thus, Phan Châu Trinh became orphan at 13 years in a family of patriots. His/her older brother was high in the Chinese traditional language “Han” and succeeded in with the triennial examinations to become Mandarin of high ranking. In 1905, he resigned of his station in the bureaucracy mandarinale for opposition to traditional monarchy Vietnamese and the system mandarinal, in favor of a democratic republic. However, there were monarchical resistances with emperors détrônés for patriotism by the French colonial Administration which intrònisé Prince Vinh San at 8 years in 1907 pennies the dynastic name of Duy Tan détrôné in 1916 for patriotism and exiled in the island of the Réunion.

In the patriotic family line, the militant activist Phan Châu Trinh was stopped in consequence of the movement of the “strike of the taxes” of 1908, exiled with the Bagne de Poulo Condor and then in France where, living work of photography, it carried out revolutionary activities during a certain time with Nguyên Have Quoc (Ho Chi Minh). It returned to Saigon in 1925 and died there the following year in 1926. Its funeral was the occasion of patriotic demonstrations to the national scales. Phan Châu Trinh was in favor of a peaceful fight: it was a question of raising the national conscience and the cultural level of the people to carry out the union against the colonial Administration. He wanted to bury monarchy and mandarinat for a modern democratic republic. This patriotic family line continued to its grand-daughter, Madam Nguyên Thi Binh.

The resistance of the well-read men

In contrast with the country revolts and jacqueries against French colonization the resistance of the well-read men was organized to which also the father of Ho Chi Minh belonged, small Mandarin, like much of others mandarins of any row.

In 1883, the court of Huê signed the Treaty “Harmand” recognizing the French occupation. The resistance carried out by the well-read men, of which many mandarins, and named “To serve the king” who lasted of 1885 Ã 1896. Its failure showed the bankruptcy of orthodoxy confucéenne. Two tendencies were done day within traditional intelligentsia:

The ones, convinced of uselessness and the futilitéde the fight, agreed to collaborate with the colonial Administration and the others continued the combat while composing with the Western democratic ideology, ideology acquired through the Chinese translations of philosophical works of the XVIIIe French century.

• Three great figures marked the second tendency: Phan Boi Chau, Phan Châu Trinh and Nguyên Have Quoc (the future Ho Chi Minh).

In 1925, Phan Boi Chau (58 years) sent of Hangzhou a traditional Chinese letter to Ly Thuy (another name of Nguyên Have Quoc, Ho Chi Minh), 35 years, militant then in China also. Phan Boi Chau (1867-1940) recommended the armed struggle to reconquer national independence while misant on the assistance of Japan, " country of the “yellows and of the same culture”. It created the movement “Travels to the East” to send students in this country. It was expelled by it and had to militate in China and in Siam (Thailand). Kidnapped by the French with Shanghai, it was subjected to a mode of supervised residence with Huê until the end of its life.

Phan Chu Trinh criticizes the revolutionary line adopted by Phan Boi Chau: it is according to him illusory since the Japan is also a power imperialist. He considers that of Nguyên Have Quoc like unrealistic person: to remain abroad to foment “the agitprop” in the country while waiting for a favorable occasion to return to make the revolution? It is a vain company. Phan Châu Trinh advises in Nguyên Have Quoc to return to the country immediately to apply its peaceful fight plan.

Nguyên Have Quoc (HôChi Minh) followed its own tortuous way more pragmatic than ideological of an instrumental Communism for a fundamental nationalism, which led to the Révolution of August of 1945 which put a term at 80 years of colonial domination. It knew to bind the national cause to the movements of international fight, combining with happiness the strategies of the 2 groins and prédésseurs Phan: Phan Boi Chau and Phan Châu Trinh, that of the armed struggle with an outside assistance and that of the peaceful way by the popular education and the rise in the national conscience. Starting from the " Brigade of propaganda armée" , the Armée Popular Vietnamese carried out these two fight plans armed and with rise in the national conscience, when the fortune of the weapons is used as argument favorable to negotiations, like those of the Accord of Geneva of 1954 and of the Peace agreements of Paris of 1973.

Conclusion

Multiple nationalist tendencies flowered and competed, but the nationalist tendency of Ho Chi Minh succeeded by binding her national cause to the international fight.

Bibliographical references

• Thanh H. Vuong, colonizations of Vietnam and Vietnamese colonialism , in International studies, vol. XVIII, No 3 pp. 546-571, September 1987.

See too

Related bonds

• Nguyên Thi Binh

External bonds

• http://chatquipeche.free.fr/intro.html
• http://lagryffe.net/article.php3?id_article=372
• http://etudescoloniales.canalblog.com/archives/_3___cultures_et_colonisations/index.html