統一会堂への入場券を購入する際に、展示「ノロドン宮殿から独立宮殿 1868年から1966年」The exhibit “From Norodom Palace to Independence Palace 1868 – 1966” の入場券も併せて購入しましたので、
その建物へ向かいます。
この展示はガイドブックにもあまり載っていませんので、Viet Nam News の 2018年4月1日付け「Show tells Independence Palace’s full story」の記事を引用すると、展示内容は、
While the first floor has information on the birth of Norodom Palace, the second floor is dedicated to Sài Gòn life under French rule, the establishment and fall of the Ngô Đình Diệm administration, and the construction of the Independence Palace.
とのことで、年表で今一度頭を整理して、
1868: Norodom Palace was built by the French.
1887 – 1945: It was used as the Palace of the Governor General of French Indochina in Sài Gòn.
March – September 1945: Japanese Imperial troops usurped France, conquered Indochina, and took over Norodom Palace.
1954: France is defeated and then leaves Việt Nam.
1955: President of the Republic of Việt Nam Ngô Đình Diệm moved into Norodom Palace and renamed it Independence Palace.
February 27, 1962: Independence Palace was bombed and partly destroyed.
July 1, 1962: Construction of a new palace followed the design of Vietnamese architect Ngô Viết Thụ.
1963: Ngô Đình Diệm, along with his younger brother Ngô Đình Nhu, were killed in a coup d’état.
1966: Construction of the new palace was completed.
展示物を見て回ります。昔のサイゴン市内の様子を表す写真や、
主だった出来事に関する写真や新聞記事などが、掲げられています。
1955 年、バオダイ帝を廃し初代大統領となった Ngô Ðình Diệm ゴ・ディン・ジエムの実弟 Ngô Đình Nhu ゴ・ディン・ヌーの言葉は、Divide and Conquer とタイトルが付けられています。
これだけではよく分からないかもしれませんが、EDWARD MILLER 著 「MISALLIANCE Ngo Dinh Diem, the United States, and the Fate of South Vietnam」の中に、この発言と、発言に至った時代背景が記されています。
Although Diem’s forces had not fired the first shots in the March 30
incident, it was clear that the Ngo brothers had deliberately provoked their opponents. By late March, the Ngos believed that the VNA was ready to take on the Binh Xuyen. They were also convinced that several Front leaders remained secretly loyal to Diem. In a meeting with a Saigon intellectual who had offered to facilitate talks with the Front, Nhu rejected the idea of a negotiated solution. “I’ll start a little military action,” Nhu said. “That will provide an opening to those people [in the Front] who are already bought, and they’ll destroy these sects from the inside.” Diem expressed similar views, insisting to U.S. and French offi cials that General Phuong and General Thé were merely pretending to cooperate with the Front in order to learn Bay Vien’s plans.