I n the 19th century, the French began interacting with IndoChina (continental portion of the region now known as Southeast Asia which includes Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, and (variably) peninsular Malaysia). The French believed that Gia Long, the Vietnamese emperor, owed them a favour as the French troops had helped them against Tây Sơn (period of peasant rebellions) in 1802. But the French soon realised that Vietnam was leaning towards China. Gia Long had acquired the technical expertise to build forts but wanted to buy the cannons and rifles from the French. The French, on the other hand, were not ready to be brushed aside.
During colonial expansions there were several French missionaries on board too. From the 17th century onwards they had converted many Vietnamese, and the local people were not comfortable with this situation. The French took it upon themselves to safeguard the converts and used this as a pretext to attack Vietnam. This led to the establishment of a French colonial empire in Indochina in 1858.
Religious intervention
It was the execution of the Spanish missionaries and the war between France and Britian that paved the way for the Cochinchina campaign fought between the French and the Spanish on one side and the Vietnemese on the other. The French thought that it would be an easy battle but they were in for a shock when the Vietnamese Christians did not rise in support of the French and they were surrounded in Tourane by the Vietnamese army. The war lasted for nearly three years.
In October 1858, another armed force led by Rigault de Genouilly from the French side decided to continue the attack in a different place, as Tourane was off limits. He considered the possibility of annexing Tonkin, but since it would need larger participation of the Christians, he decided to carry out an expedition against Saigon in Cochinchina, and in early February, he left with a small French garrison and two gunboats. They sailed south and on February 17, 1859 they fought alongside the navy, blocking the Saigon river and destroying forts and stockades on the banks. By evening they had captured Saigon. The infantry stormed the enormous Citadel of Saigon, while the army outside tackled the rest of the Vietnamese.
This siege paved the way for French acquisition of Vietnam slowly and steadily. On June 5, 1862, the Treaty of Saigon was signed, permitting the Catholic faith to be preached and practised freely within its territory; to cede the provinces of Bien Hoa, Dinh Tuong, and Gia Dinh and the island of Poulo Condore to France; to allow the French to trade and travel freely along the Mekong River; and to pay an indemnity of a million dollars to France and Spain over a 10-year period. The French placed the three southern Vietnamese provinces under the control of the navy. Thus, casually, was born the French colony of Cochinchina, with its capital at Saigon.
