COCHINCHINA UPRISING
The Cochinchina uprising was in 1916. Cochinchina is in the southern part of Vietnam, and in 1867 the French had colonized Cochinchina. The people of Vietnam were angry at the French for exiling and imprisoning emperors and others who revolted against the French in the early stages of French's colonization. One of these people was Emperor Hàm Nghi, who attempted to revolt in order to get independence 30 years ago. His supposed descendant Phan Xich Long tried the same thing three years before the Cochinchina uprising by attacking Saigon, which was the French colony's capital in Cochinchina. Long ended up being put in prison. Long would be one of the people who would influence people to revolt against the French in the Cochinchina uprising.
goals of the revoltsThere were many organizations that were created for different reasons in different areas, so there were different opinions and motives concerning the Cochinchina uprising. Most people wanted to set free revolutionaries that were imprisoned like Phan Xich Long. Others also sympathized over people like Cường Để, who was exiled. However people also revolted also aiming to improve their chances of overthrowing the France colonists. They revolted with the additional intentions to upgrade Vietnamese firearms (they had only spears and machetes, and the French had pistols and guns) and to give others in Cochinchina courage to join them in revolting against the French.
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the strategies usedThe main point of focus for revolts was Saigon. The two main reasons are that people like Phan Xich Long were imprisoned there, and also because Saigon was the French colony's capital. Saigon is the largest city in Vietnam, and seizing it or freeing Long and other revolutionaries there would make a big impact in the Cochinchina uprising. Planning for revolts seemed to come from mainly the Nui Cam Pagoda in Chau Doc province. The Nui Cam Pagoda was a place where people met up to come up with strategies, and most people there were possibly affiliated with Cuong De. Cuong De may have been the leader of those gathering in the Nui Cam Pagoda, but that is not confirmed.
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RESULT OF THE REVOLTSIn the end all the revolts failed. February 14, 1916 is when 300 men went to attempt to free the people in the prison of Saigon. However after the police patrol caught some of them and fired their pistols, they fled. The remainder of the group who got to the prison retreated due to how secure the gates to the prison were. Despite this failure people from the Mekong Delta still went with their plans. Revolt after revolt came, but the authorities always dispersed them, and one time a bomb and kidnappings for ransom stopped a protest march. Revolts led to the authorities overpowering the rebels, and sometimes also the destruction or burning of buildings or places. In the end local authorities apprehended many Vietnamese people to stop these revolts. 51 were killed, and many others were put into jail.
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