1873-85 - Franco-Tonkin War

In 1867, Admiral Grandiere completed the conquest of Cochin-China by seizing all the important places and the Emperor Tu-Duc surrendered at the Temple of Plumg-Tien, repenting and declaring himself guilty of "having neglected to perform my duties and having been incapable of preserving the patrimony of my forefathers intact. Thus the six provinces of the Mekong Delta were definitely occupied and Cochin-China became a French possession.

Already, in April 1863, King Norodom, in order to be freed from the harsh vassalage of Sian and Annam — anxious to exploit the Cambodia country — had signed a protectorate treaty with Admiral Grandiere. But larger schemes were conceived and at the time when the English were seeking a trade route to China via Irawaddy or the Salouen, the French wondered if the Mekong, by the verv length of its course, would not open up a still easier way. The Doudard de Lagree mission soon found out, however, that this large river was not particularly practicable for penetrating into the Chinese Empire.

In 1870, Cochin-China and Cambodia alone belonged to France. Tonkin, Annam and Laos were acquired under the Republic. Here again a fortunate coincidence obliged France to take action: its ministers, with the exception of Jules Ferry, who had a clear insight into the future, followed not without uneasiness the ruliness of fate.

It was a French merchant named Jean Dupuis who discovered a shorter route, the Red River, which led directly to the province of Yunnan, one of the richest and most densely populated of southern China. However, Jean Dupuis was molested by the Tonkin mandarins and Lieut. Francis Gamier was dispatched to Tonkin with 80 men to settle the incident, with the help of a high official of the Court of Hue.

As a result of the bad faith of the mandarins he decided, despite the small forces at his disposal, to attack the citadel of Hanoi, which he took on 20 Nov. 1873 after a brilliant battle. In 20 days he was master of the whole of the Red River Delta; but the Annamites were not long in reacting, all the more so as they had the superiority in numbers; Francis Gamier was lured to his death on 21 Dec. 1873. Hostilities ceased at the beginning of 1874 on the arrival of Lieut, de Vaisseau Philastre who signed a disastrous treaty with the court of Hue by which France lost Tonkin, merely retaining a few commercial and diplomatic rights in Annam. The signing of this treaty assured relative tranquillity for a few years.

But little by little the hostility of the Annamite mandarins to the French grew to alarming proportions and the emperor of China declared that he would not recognize the treaty of 1874. Commandant Riviere, who was appointed to bring them once more to reason, committed the same sublime stupidity of his predecessor, Francis Gamier, only to meet the latter's fate at Nam Dinh where he was endeavoring to repel the multitudes who were besieging it. The prestige of France had received a serious set-back. By unanimous decision the Chamber of Deputies decided "to avenge the glorious servitors of France" and the necessary credits were voted. But the campaign, carried out on the system of "small drafts," was long and costly and the country understood but little the importance of colonial expansion. It required all the eloquence and civic courage of a Jules Ferry, backed by the dauntlessness of the army and navy, to secure this flourishing colonial empire for France.

Events succeeded each other in rapid succession; General Bouet installed himself at HaiDuong, Admiral Courbet took the important town of Hue, and France's old enemy Tu-Duc recognized by the convention of 25 Aug. 1883 a French protectorate over Annam and Tonkin. However, Chinese pirates, or the "Black Flag," were not alone in infesting Tonkin, for in addition there appeared the band of the "Yellow Flag" or Chinese regulars. It was against China itself that France was called upon to fight. General Millot, in charge of the Tonkin expeditionary forces, took Bac-Ninh, Hung-Hoa and Tuyen-Quang in 1884. Courbet conducting a campaign in the river passes of the Min, eventually took up quarters in Formosa and in the islands of Pescadores, and by a process of starvation forced China to treat for terms (1884-85) at the verv time when General Briere de l'lsle delivered TuvenQuang and repulsed the Chinese to the north as far as the Kwang-Si district, after two months severe fighting.

It is to be regretted that his right-hand man, General de Negrier, was wounded at Langsan and his successor, Colonel Herbinger, ordered a too hasty retreat which became a rout. This regretable incident although unimportant in itself supplied the long sought after excuse for the adversaries of Jules Ferry for demanding his resignation from office (30 March 1885). As a matter of fact the "Grand Tonkinois" could easily have revealed the terms of the forthcoming peace negotiations, but he preferred to lose his office rather than commit a diplomatic indiscretion.

Negotiations, already begun by Commandant Foumier, were carried on by the representative of France, M. Patenotre, resulting on 9 June 1885 in the signing of the final Treaty of Tien-Tsin by which China recognized the French protectorate over Tonkin, thereby opening up to French trade the rich Chinese provinces of the south: Yunnan and Kwang-Si. This treaty caused serious riots at Hue and necessitated the intervention of General de Courcy in Annam. The young rebel king was only subdued after a long campaign, being finally captured in 1888. Since that period France had to assert its authority by undertaking numerous campaigns against the Annamite and Chinese rebels, who alone profited by a state of war.