vietnamese and french historians have fiercely debated định's choice to disregard the treaty. the effectiveness of định's insurgency led french officials to claim that tự đức was secretly assisting him, thereby violating the treaty, a pretext the french used to seize three more provinces in 1867. vietnamese records dispute this, contending that tự đức attempted to ensure định's compliance with the treaty. định's defiance of the emperor has led historians to debate whether his actions were motivated by a rejection of the monarch's authority or whether he disobeyed in an attempt to help tự đức. định remains widely respected among vietnamese of all political persuasions. during the vietnam war, communist historians sought to portray the việt cộng as định's modern successor.