Indochinese Union Union Indochinoise
Colonial protectorate federation
←   ←   ←   ← 1887–1954 →   →   →   →
Flag
Location of French Indochina Green: French Indochina Dark gray: Other French possessions Darkest gray: French Republic Note: Thin white lines designate the subdivisions of French Indochina that now constitute1901)
Capital	Hanoi (1902–1954)
Language(s)	French, Vietnamese, Khmer, Lao
Religion	Buddhism, Taoism, Confuscianism, Catholicism
Political structure	Colonial protectorate federation
Governor-General	List of Governors-General
Historical era	New Imperialism
- Established	October 17, 1887
- Addition of Laos	October 3, 1893
- Independence of (North) Vietnam (proclaimed)	September 2, 1945
- Independence of (South) Vietnam	June 14, 1949
- Independence of Laos	July 19, 1949
- Independence of Cambodia	November 9, 1954
Area
- 1935	737,000 km2 (284,557 sq mi)
Population
- 1935 est.	21,599,582
Density	29.3 /km2  (75.9 /sq mi)
Currency	French Indochinese piastre

Indochina in 1891 (from Le Monde Illustré).
1. Panorama of Lac-Kaï, French outpost in China.
2. Yun-nan, in the quay of Hanoi.
3. Flooded street of Hanoi.
4. Landing stage of Hanoi

French Indochina (French: Indochine française; Khmer: សហភាព​ឥណ្ឌូចិន, Vietnamese: Đông Dương thuộc Pháp, pronounced [ɗoŋm zɰəŋ tʰuə̀k fǎp], frequently abbreviated to Đông Pháp) was part of the French colonial empire in southeast Asia. A federation of the three Vietnamese regions, Tonkin (North), Annam (Central), and Cochinchina (South), as well as Cambodia, was formed in 1887.

Laos was added in 1893 and Kouang-Tchéou-Wan in 1900. The capital was moved from Saigon (in Cochinchina) to Hanoi (Tonkin) in 1902. During World War II, the colony was administered by Vichy France and was under Japanese occupation. Beginning in May 1941, the Viet Minh, a communist army led by Ho Chi Minh, began a revolt against French rule known as the First Indochina War.

In Saigon, the anti-Communist State of Vietnam, led by former Emperor Bảo Đại, was granted independence in 1949. Following the Geneva Accord of 1954, the Viet Minh became the government of North Vietnam, although the Bảo Đại government continued to rule in South Vietnam.

First French interventions[link]

Portrait of crown prince Nguyễn Phúc Cảnh in France, 1787.

France-Vietnam relations started as early as the 17th century with the mission of the Jesuit, Father Alexandre de Rhodes. At this time, Vietnam was only just beginning to occupy the Mekong Delta, former territory of the Indianized kingdom of Champa they had defeated in 1471.^[1] European involvement in Vietnam was confined to trade during the 18th century. In 1787, Pigneau de Béhaine, a French Catholic priest, petitioned the French government and organized French military volunteers to aid Nguyễn Ánh in retaking lands his family lost to the Tây Sơn. Pigneau died in Viet Nam, his troops fought on until 1802 in the French assistance to Nguyễn Ánh.

France was heavily involved in Vietnam in the 19th century; protecting the work of the Paris Foreign Missions Society in the country was often presented as a justification. For its part, the Nguyễn Dynasty increasingly saw Catholic missionaries as a political threat; courtesans, for example, an influential faction in the dynastic system, feared for their status in a society influenced by an insistence on monogamy.

In 1858, the brief period of unification under the Nguyễn Dynasty ended with a successful attack on Da Nang by French Admiral Charles Rigault de Genouilly under the orders of Napoleon III. Diplomat Charles de Montigny's mission having failed, Genouilly's mission was to stop attempts to expel Catholic missionaries. His orders were to stop the persecution of missionaries and assure the unimpeded propagation of the faith.^[2] In September, 14 French gunships, 3,000 men and 300 Filipino troops provided by the Spanish,^[3] attacked the port of Tourane (present day Da Nang), causing significant damages, and occupying the city. After a few months, Rigault had to leave the city due to supply issues and illnesses.^[2]

Sailing south, De Genouilly then captured the poorly defended city of Saigon (present day Ho Chi Minh City), on 18 February 1859. On 13 April 1862, the Vietnamese government was forced to cede the territories of Biên Hòa, Gia Định and Dinh Tuong to France. De Genouilly was criticized for his actions and was replaced by Admiral Page in November 1859, with instructions to obtain a treaty protecting the Catholic faith in Vietnam, but not to try to obtain territorial gains.^[2] However, French policy four years later saw a reversal; French territory in Viet Nam continued to accumulate. In 1862, France obtained concessions from Emperor Tự Đức, ceding three treaty ports in Annam and Tonkin, and all of Cochinchina, the latter being formally declared a French territory in 1864. In 1867 the provinces of Chau Doc, Ha Tien and Vĩnh Long were added to French controlled territory.

In 1863, the Cambodian king Norodom had requested the establishment of a French protectorate over his country. In 1867, Siam (modern Thailand) renounced suzerainty over Cambodia and officially recognized the 1863 French protectorate on Cambodia, in exchange for the control of Battambang and Siem Reap provinces which officially became part of Thailand (These provinces would be ceded back to Cambodia by a border treaty between France and Siam in 1906).

Establishment of French Indochina[link]

French marine infantrymen in Tonkin, 1884

Expansion of French Indochina (in blue).

France obtained control over northern Vietnam following its victory over China in the Sino-French war (1884–1885). French Indochina was formed in October 1887 from Annam, Tonkin, Cochinchina (which together form modern Vietnam) and the Kingdom of Cambodia; Laos was added after the Franco-Siamese War.

The federation lasted until 1954. In the four protectorates, the French formally left the local rulers in power, who were the Emperors of Vietnam, Kings of Cambodia, and Kings of Luang Prabang, but in fact gathered all powers in their hands, the local rulers acting only as figureheads.

Vietnamese rebellions[link]

French troops landed in Vietnam in 1858 and by the mid 1880s they had established a firm grip over the northern region. From 1885 to 1895, Phan Đình Phùng led a rebellion against the colonizing power. Nationalist sentiments intensified in Vietnam, especially during and after World War I, but all the uprisings and tentative efforts failed to obtain any concessions from the French overseers.

Franco-Siamese war (1893)[link]

Siamese army in the disputed territory of Laos in 1893.

Territorial conflict in the Indochinese peninsula for the expansion of French Indochina led to the Franco-Siamese War of 1893. In 1893 the French authorities in Indochina used border disputes, followed by the Paknam naval inident, to provoke a crisis. French gunboats appeared at Bangkok, and demanded the cession of Lao territories east of the Mekong. King Chulalongkorn appealed to the British, but the British minister told the King to settle on whatever terms he could get, and he had no choice but to comply. Britain's only gesture was an agreement with France guaranteeing the integrity of the rest of Siam. In exchange, Siam had to give up its claim to the Thai-speaking Shan region of north-eastern Burma to the British, and cede Laos to France.

Further encroachments on Siam (1904–1907)[link]

Occupation of Trat by French troops in 1904.

The French, however, continued to pressure Siam, and in 1906–1907 they manufactured another crisis. This time Siam had to concede French control of territory on the west bank of the Mekong opposite Luang Prabang and around Champasak in southern Laos, as well as western Cambodia. France also occupied the western part of Chantaburi. In 1904, in order to get back Chantaburi Siam had to give Trat to French Indochina. Trat became part of Thailand again on March 23, 1906 in exchange for many areas east of the Mekong river like Battambang, Siam Nakhon and Sisophon.

French Indochina in 1913.

In the 1930s, Siam engaged France in a series of talks concerning the repatriation of Siamese provinces held by the French. In 1938, under the Front Populaire administration in Paris, France had agreed to repatriate Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom, Siam Reap, Siam Pang and the associated provinces (approximately 13) to Siam. Meanwhile, Siam took over control of those areas, in anticipation of the upcoming treaty. Signatories from each country were dispatched to Tokyo to sign the treaty repatriating the lost provinces.

Viet Nam Quoc Dan Dang[link]

On February 10, 1930, there was an uprising by Vietnamese soldiers in the French colonial army's Yen Bai garrison. The Yên Bái mutiny was sponsored by the Việt Nam Quốc Dân Đảng (VNQDD). The VNQDD was the Vietnamese Nationalist Party. The attack was the largest disturbance brewed up by the Can Vuong monarchist restoration movement of the late 19th century. The aim of the revolt was to inspire a wider uprising among the general populace in an attempt to overthrow the colonial authority. The VNQDD had previously attempted to engage in clandestine activities to undermine French rule, but increasing French scrutiny on their activities led to their leadership group taking the risk of staging a large scale military attack in the Red River Delta in northern Vietnam.

French-Thai War (1940–1941)[link]

During World War II, Thailand took the opportunity of French weaknesses to reclaim previously lost territories, resulting in the French-Thai War between October 1940 and 9 May 1941. The Thai forces generally did well on the ground, but Thai objectives in the war were limited. In January, Vichy French naval forces decisively defeated Thai naval forces in the Battle of Koh Chang. The war ended in May at the instigation of the Japanese, with the French forced to concede territorial gains for Thailand.

World War II[link]

In September 1940, during World War II, the newly created regime of Vichy France granted Japan's demands for military access to Tonkin with the invasion of French Indochina (or Vietnam Expedition). This allowed Japan better access to China in the Second Sino-Japanese War against the forces of Chiang Kai-shek, but it was also part of Japan's strategy for dominion over the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere.

Thailand took this opportunity of weakness to reclaim previously lost territories, resulting in the French-Thai War between October 1940 and 9 May 1941.

On 9 March 1945, with France liberated, Germany in retreat, and the United States ascendant in the Pacific, Japan decided to take complete control of Indochina. The Japanese launched the Second French Indochina Campaign. The Japanese kept power in Indochina until the news of their government's surrender came through in August.

First Indochina War[link]

After the war, France petitioned for the nullification of the 1938 Franco-Siamese Treaty and attempted to reassert itself in the region, but came into conflict with the Viet Minh, a coalition of Communist and Vietnamese nationalists under French-educated dissident Ho Chi Minh. During World War II, the United States had supported the Viet Minh in resistance against the Japanese; the group had been in control of the countryside since the French gave way in March 1945.

American President Roosevelt and General Stilwell, privately made it adamantly clear that the French were not to reacquire French Indochina, (modern day Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos) after the war was over. Roosevelt offered Chiang Kai-shek the entire Indochina to be put under Chinese rule. It was said that Chiang Kai-shek replied: "Under no circumstances!".^[4]

After the war, 200,000 Chinese troops under General Lu Han sent by Chiang Kai-shek invaded northern Indochina north of the 16th parallel to accept the surrender of Japanese occupying forces, and remained there until 1946.^[5] The Chinese used the VNQDD, the Vietnamese branch of the Chinese Kuomintang, to increase their influence in Indochina and put pressure on their opponents.^[6] Chiang Kai-shek threatened the French with war in response to manoeuvering by the French and Ho Chi Minh against each other, forcing them to come to a peace agreement, and in February 1946 he also forced the French to surrender all of their concessions in China and renounce their extraterritorial privileges in exchange for withdrawing from northern Indochina and allowing French troops to reoccupy the region starting in March 1946.^{[7][8][9][10]}

After persuading Emperor Bảo Đại to abdicate in his favour, on September 2, 1945 President Ho declared independence for the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. But before September's end, a force of British and French soldiers, along with captured Japanese troops, restored French control. Bitter fighting ensued in the First Indochina War. In 1950 Ho again declared an independent Democratic Republic of Vietnam, which was recognized by the fellow Communist governments of China and the Soviet Union. Fighting lasted until May 1954, when the Viet Minh won the decisive victory against French forces at the gruelling Battle of Dien Bien Phu.

Indochina in 1954.

Geneva Agreements[link]

On April 27, 1954, the Geneva Conference produced the Geneva Agreements; supporting the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Indochina, granting it independence from France, declaring the cessation of hostilities and foreign involvement in internal Indochina affairs, delineating northern and southern zones into which opposing troops were to withdraw, they mandated unification on the basis of internationally supervised free elections to be held in July 1956.^[1] It also settled a number of outstanding disputes relating to the Korean War^{[citation needed]}. It was at this conference that France relinquished any claim to territory in the Indochinese peninsula. Neither the U.S. nor South Vietnam signed the Geneva Accords. South Vietnamese leader Diem rejected the idea of nationwide election as proposed in the agreement, saying that a free election was impossible in the communist North and that his government was not bound by the Geneva Accords.

The events of 1954 marked the beginnings of serious involvement in Vietnam by the United States which led to the Vietnam War. Laos and Cambodia also became independent in 1954, but were both drawn into the Vietnam War.

See also[link]

	Southeast Asia portal
	Cambodia portal
	France portal
	Laos portal
	Vietnam portal

• List of colonial heads of French Indochina
• Political administration of French Indochina
• French colonial administration of Laos
• List of French possessions and colonies

Notes[link]

References[link]

This article includes a list of references, but its sources remain unclear because it has insufficient inline citations. Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (September 2008)

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: French Indochina

• Brocheux, Pierre, and Daniel Hemery. Indochina: An Ambiguous Colonization, 1858–1954 (University of California Press; 2010) 490 pages; a history of French Indochina.
• Chandler, David (2007). A History of Cambodia (4th ed. ed.). Boulder, Colorado:: Westview Press. ISBN 0-8133-4363-1. 
• Duiker, William (1976). The Rise of Nationalism in Vietnam, 1900-1941. Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press. ISBN 0-8014-0951-9. 
• Edwards, Penny (2007). Cambodge: The Cultivation of a Nation, 1860–1945. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. ISBN 0-8248-2923-9. 
• Evans, Grant (2002). A Short History of Laos. Crow's Nest, Australia: Allen and Unwin. ASIN B000MBU21O. 
• Marr, David (1971). Vietnamese Anticolonialism, 1885–1925. Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-01813-3. 
• Marr, David (1982). Vietnamese Tradition on Trial, 1920–1945. Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-04180-1. 
• Marr, David (1995). Vietnam 1945: The Quest for Power. Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-07833-0. 
• McLeod, Mark (1991). The Vietnamese Response to French Intervention, 1862–1874. New York: Praeger. ISBN 0-275-93562-0. 
• Murray, Martin J. (1980). The Development of Capitalism in Colonial Indochina (1870–1940). Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-04000-7. 
• Osborne, Milton (1969). The French Presence in Cochinchina and Cambodia: Rule and Response (1859–1905). Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press. ASIN B000K13QGO. 
• Perkins, Mandaley (2006). Hanoi, Adieu: A bittersweet memoir of French Indochina, Sydney, Harper Perennial, ISBN 978-0-7322-8197-7, ISBN 0-7322-8197-0
• Stuart-Fox, Martin (1997). A History of Laos. Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-59235-6. 
• Tarling, Nicholas (2001). Imperialism in Southeast Asia: "A Fleeting, Passing Phase". London and New York: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-23289-9. 
• Tully, John (2003). France on the Mekong: A History of the Protectorate in Cambodia, 1863–1953. Lanham, Maryland: University Press of America. ISBN 0-7618-2431-6. 
• Woodside, Alexander (1976). Community and Revolution in Modern Vietnam. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 0-395-20367-8. 
• Zinoman, Peter (2001). The Colonial Bastille: A History of Imprisonment in Vietnam, 1862–1940. Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-22412-4. 

v t e French Indochina Background France-Asia relations French colonial empire France–Vietnam relations France–Thailand relations France–China relations Events French assistance to Nguyen Anh (1777–1820) Le Van Khoi revolt (1833–1835) Bombardment of Tourane (1847) Siege of Tourane (1858) Cochinchina campaign (1858–62) Tonkin campaign (1883–1886) Sino-French War (1884–1885) Pacification of Tonkin Franco-Siamese War (1893) World War I 1916 Cochinchina uprising Thai Nguyen uprising Bazin assassination Yen Bai mutiny French–Thai War (1940–1941) Japanese invasion of French Indochina World War II August Revolution Proclamation of Independence of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam First Indochina War Battle of Dien Bien Phu Partition of Vietnam Treaties Treaty of Versailles (1787) Treaty of Saigon (1862) Treaty of Hué (1863) Treaty of Saigon (1874) Treaty of Hué (1883) Geneva Conference (1954) French personalities Alexandre de Rhodes Pigneau de Béhaine Jean-Baptiste Chaigneau Jean-Baptiste Cécille Charles de Montigny Charles Rigault de Genouilly Amédée Courbet Henri Rivière Francis Garnier Ernest Doudart de Lagrée Auguste Pavie Albert Sarraut Organisations Paris Foreign Missions Society Tonkin Expeditionary Corps Tonkinese Rifles Governor-General of French Indochina

v t e French overseas empire Former v t e Former French colonies in Africa and the Indian Ocean Maghreb Algeria Morocco Arguin Island Tunisia French West Africa Côte d'Ivoire Dahomey French Sudan Guinea Mauritania Niger Senegal Upper Volta   French Togoland James Island Albreda French Equatorial Africa Chad Gabon Middle Congo Ubangi-Shari French Cameroons French Comoros Anjouan Grande Comore Mohéli   French Somaliland (Djibouti) Madagascar Ile de France French Seychelles v t e Former French colonies in the Americas New France 1655–1763 Acadia Louisiana Canada Terre Neuve Inini Berbice Saint-Domingue Haiti Tobago Virgin Islands France Antarctique Equinoctial France French West India Company v t e Former French colonies in Asia and Oceania French India Chandernagor Coromandel Coast Madras Mahé Pondichéry Karaikal Yanaon Indochinese Union Cambodia Laos Vietnam Annam Cochinchina Tonkin Kouang-Tchéou-Wan, China French Mandate of Syria and Lebanon State of Syria Aleppo Damascus Alawite State Greater Lebanon Jabal al-Druze Sanjak of Alexandretta Oceania New Hebrides Vanuatu France–Asia relations French East India Company Present v t e Overseas departments and territories of France   Inhabited areas Overseas departments1 French Guiana Guadeloupe Martinique Réunion Mayotte2 Overseas collectivities French Polynesia St. Barthélemy St. Martin St. Pierre and Miquelon Wallis and Futuna Special status New Caledonia   Uninhabited areas Pacific Ocean Clipperton Island French Southern and Antarctic Lands Île Amsterdam Île Saint-Paul Crozet Islands Kerguelen Islands Adélie Land Scattered islands in the Indian Ocean Banc du Geyser4 Bassas da India4 Europa Island4 Glorioso Islands3, 4, 5 Juan de Nova Island4 Tromelin Island4, 5 1 Also known as overseas regions 2 Claimed by Comoros 3 Claimed by Madagascar 4 Claimed by Seychelles 5 Claimed by Mauritius

v t e Vietnamese independence movement Events Bombardment of Tourane Capture of Saigon Capture of the Citadel of Saigon Conquest of Cochinchina Ba Dinh uprising Pacification of Tonkin Hanoi Poison Plot World War I 1916 Cochinchina uprising Thai Nguyen uprising Bazin assassination Yen Bai mutiny World War II Second French Indochina Campaign August Revolution Proclamation of Independence of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam First Indochina War Battle of Dien Bien Phu Geneva Conference Organisations Can Vuong Dong Du Duy Tan Hoi Empire of Vietnam Nguyen dynasty Tonkin Free School Viet Nam Quang Phuc Hoi Viet Nam Quoc Dan Dang Viet Minh Vietnam Communist Party Vietnamese revolutionaries Cuong De Dinh Cong Trang Ho Chi Minh Huynh Thuc Khang Luong Van Can Ngo Dinh Diem Ngo Duc Ke Nguyen An Ninh Nguyen Dinh Chieu Nguyen Quang Bich Nguyen Quyen Nguyen Thai Hoc Nguyen Than Hien Nguyen Thanh Nguyen Thien Thuat Nguyen Thuong Hien Nguyen Trung Truc Nguyen Xuan On Pham Banh Phan Boi Chau Phan Chu Trinh Phan Dinh Phung Phan Thanh Gian Phan Xich Long Ta Thu Thau Ton That Thuyet Tran Cao Van Tran Trong Kim Truong Dinh Emperors Tu Duc Ham Nghi Thanh Thai Duy Tan Bao Dai French rulers Albert Sarraut Jean Decoux French Indochina Governor-General Collaborators Hoang Cao Khai Tran Ba Loc Nguyen Than

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (March 2012)

Gwen Welles (March 4, 1951 - October 13, 1993)^[1] was an American actress.

Biography[link]

Gwen Welles was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee,^[1] as Gwen Goldberg.^{[citation needed]} She is the daughter of actress Rebecca Weis Welles (born 1928) and Barton Goldberg; her sisters were Elizabeth (Betsy) Goldberg Welles and Lori Yarum.^[1] Gwen graduated from University High School in Los Angeles, California^{[citation needed]} and attended Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York.^[1] Welles was married to actor Harris Yulin^[1] in 1975.^{[citation needed]}

Gwen Welles may be best-remembered for her portrayal of talentless singer "Sueleen Gay", in Robert Altman's 1975 film Nashville, for which she was nominated for a BAFTA Award, for Best Supporting Actress. Welles also appeared in several films directed by Henry Jaglom, including New Year's Day (1989) and Eating (1990).

She died in 1993 from anal cancer, aged 42. Her younger sister, Elizabeth (Betsy Goldberg Welles), died from colon cancer 10 years later. Donna Deitch directed a documentary about Welles' illness in 1992, which appeared at the 1998 Berlin Film Festival.

Selected filmography[link]

• A Safe Place (1971)
• Hellé (1972)
• Hit! (1973)
• California Split (1974)
• Nashville (1975)
• Between the Lines (1977)
• Star 80 (1983)
• Desert Hearts (1986)
• Nobody's Fool (1986)
• New Years' Day (1989)
• Eating (1990)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Gwen Welles at the Internet Movie Database
• Gwen Welles at AllRovi
• Gwen Welles Web Site