French force and treaties restricted Vietnamese governing power, even where an emperor and local officials remained in place.
French naval officers helped turn these interests into action. Francis Garnier captured Hanoi's citadel, its fortified centre, on 20 November 1873. Henri Riviere captured it again on 25 April 1882. Riviere proposed keeping Vietnamese officials in charge of everyday civil government while France controlled military power and customs revenue, the income from taxes on goods entering or leaving through trade. Keeping officials did not mean leaving the important decisions about force and money in their hands.
The treaties of 1883-1884 imposed French protectorates over Annam and Tonkin. A protectorate kept a local ruler but placed important powers under a foreign state. French Residents were officials appointed to supervise government, not simply French people living in Vietnam. Their supervision limited what the emperor and court could decide independently. China also sought to preserve its influence in Vietnam and opposed French expansion. The Sino-French War, between China and France in 1884-1885, helped secure France's position without ending all Vietnamese resistance.
The Indochinese Union of 1887 brought Cochinchina, Annam, Tonkin and neighbouring Cambodia under a common French administration led by a governor-general. Laos joined later, from 1893. French Indochina was therefore larger than Vietnam. Cochinchina was a colony directly governed by French officials, while the protectorates retained more local institutions under supervision. These different legal forms could both restrict Vietnamese control over major decisions.
Worked example: A retained emperor
An emperor remains at court, but French officials supervise important decisions about government and relations with other states.
- The throne and ceremonies continue, so there is a visible element of continuity.
- But the emperor cannot freely choose policy where French approval or supervision is required.
- By the standard of who makes decisions, political power has changed even though the ruler's office survives.
Watch out for this
A protectorate preserves complete independence because it keeps a local ruler.
Identify which decisions the ruler can make without colonial approval.
Check your understanding
Which observation is the strongest evidence that the court lost autonomy, or freedom to govern?
- The arrangement was described as a protectorate rather than a colony.
- French supervision restricted the court's decisions on major government matters.
- The emperor and his officials continued performing ceremonies.