Prior to this there had been two different dynasties in the territories which today make up Vietnam- The Trinh Dynasty which ruled the northern state of Tonkin from their capital at Hanoi and the Nguyen Phuoc Dynasty which ruled over what came to be known as Annam in the central region and over Cochin China in the south from their capital of Hue.
Emperor Gia-Long was also a contemporary of King Rama I of Siam and indeed spent some time in the newly established Siamese capital, Bangkok, where he sought and secured the assistances of the first Chakri King in re-establishing which own dynasty's control of his country.
Unlike the newly established Chakri Dynasty of Siam, the Nguyen-Phuoc Dynasty of Vietnam was unable to make use of the opportunities offered by the growing European interest in the region. Whilst the Siamese Kings successfully managed to keep the Europeans at bay through skilful diplomacy the Vietnamese Emperors were to pursue the inward looking, Confucianism, attitudes of the Chinese court which provoked the inevitable reaction of the European power most interested in the region.
The imperial court at Hue, almost a mirror image of the court at Peking, continued to function under the French but the Emperor found himself reduced to a purely ceremonial role. As for much of the last century France was herself a republic it suited the French to maintain an imperial court, complete with all its trappings, in their own far flung empire and they did not deprive the Emperor of his imperial title.
Not being a monarchy herself France showed less diligence in choosing suitable successors to the throne on the passing of a monarch and selected almost at random from amongst the numerous available princes. Although the Dutch and the British also intervened in succession matters more attention was usually paid to choosing a ruler with the correct dynastic qualifications. In 1883, Duc and Hiep-Hoa the first of whom was deposed and the second of whom abdicated, and Men-Phuc who died the following year.
On the deposition of the boy Emperor Duy-Tan the throne passed to Emperor Khai-Dinh and it was on his death in 1925 that his son, the last Emperor, Bao-Dai succeeded to the throne at the age of twelve. The earlier period of Emperor Bao Dai-s reign is set against the backdrop of the closing years of the French colonial period.
