The Sino-French War (, french: Guerre franco-chinoise, vi, Chiến tranh Pháp-Thanh), also known as the Tonkin War and Tonquin War, was a limited conflict fought from August 1884 to April 1885. There was no
declaration of war
A declaration of war is a formal act by which one state (polity), state announces existing or impending war activity against another. The declaration is a performative speech act (or the signing of a document) by an authorized party of a nationa ...
. The Chinese armies performed better than its
other nineteenth-century wars and the war ended with French retreat on land and the momentum in China's favor. However lack of foreign support, French naval supremacy, and northern threats posed by
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
and
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
forced China to enter negotiations.
China ceded its sphere of influence in
Tonkin
Tonkin, also spelled ''Tongkin'', ''Tonquin'' or ''Tongking'', is an exonym referring to the northern region of Vietnam. During the 17th and 18th centuries, this term referred to the domain ''Đàng Ngoài'' under Trịnh lords' control, includi ...
(
northern Vietnam
Northern Vietnam ( vi, Bắc Bộ) is one of three geographical regions within Vietnam. It consists of three administrative regions: the Northwest (Vùng Tây Bắc), the Northeast (Vùng Đông Bắc), and the Red River Delta (Đồng Bằng S ...
) to France and recognized all the French treaties with
Annam turning it into a French protectorate. The war strengthened the dominance of
Empress Dowager Cixi
Empress Dowager Cixi ( ; mnc, Tsysi taiheo; formerly Romanization of Chinese, romanised as Empress Dowager T'zu-hsi; 29 November 1835 – 15 November 1908), of the Manchu people, Manchu Nara (clan)#Yehe Nara, Yehe Nara clan, was a Chinese nob ...
over the Chinese government, but brought down the government of Prime Minister
Jules Ferry
Jules François Camille Ferry (; 5 April 183217 March 1893) was a French statesman and republican philosopher. He was one of the leaders of the Moderate Republicans and served as Prime Minister of France from 1880 to 1881 and 1883 to 1885. He ...
in Paris. Both sides ratified the
Treaty of Tientsin
The Treaty of Tientsin, also known as the Treaty of Tianjin, is a collective name for several documents signed at Tianjin (then Postal Map Romanization, romanized as Tientsin) in June 1858. The Qing Empire, Qing dynasty, Russian Empire, Secon ...
. According to Lloyd Eastman, "neither nation reaped diplomatic gains."
Prelude
French interest in northern
Vietnam
Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...
dated from the late 18th century, when the political Catholic priest
Pigneau de Behaine
Pierre Joseph Georges Pigneau (2 November 1741 in Origny-en-Thiérache – 9 October 1799, in Qui Nhơn), commonly known as Pigneau de Béhaine (), also Pierre Pigneaux, Bá Đa Lộc ("Pedro" 百 多 祿), Bách Đa Lộc ( 伯 多 祿) and ...
recruited French volunteers to fight for
Nguyễn Ánh
Gia Long ( (''North''), ('' South''); 8 February 1762 – 3 February 1820), born Nguyễn Phúc Ánh (阮福暎) or Nguyễn Ánh, was the founding emperor of the Nguyễn dynasty, the last dynasty of Vietnam. His dynasty would rule the unif ...
and help begin the
Nguyễn dynasty
The Nguyễn dynasty (chữ Nôm: 茹阮, vi, Nhà Nguyễn; chữ Hán: 阮朝, vi, Nguyễn triều) was the last Vietnamese dynasty, which ruled the unified Vietnamese state largely independently from 1802 to 1883. During its existence, ...
, in an attempt to gain privileges for France and for the
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
. France began its colonial campaign in 1858, annexing several southern provinces in 1862 to form the colony of
Cochinchina
Cochinchina or Cochin-China (, ; vi, Đàng Trong (17th century - 18th century, Việt Nam (1802-1831), Đại Nam (1831-1862), Nam Kỳ (1862-1945); km, កូសាំងស៊ីន, Kosăngsin; french: Cochinchine; ) is a historical exony ...
.
French explorers followed the course of the
Red River through northern Vietnam to its source in
Yunnan
Yunnan , () is a landlocked Provinces of China, province in Southwest China, the southwest of the People's Republic of China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 48.3 million (as of 2018). The capital of the province is ...
, arousing hopes for a profitable trade route with China that could bypass the treaty ports of the Chinese coastal provinces. The main obstacle to this idea, the
Black Flag Army
The Black Flag Army (; , chữ Nôm: 軍旗𬹙) was a splinter remnant of a bandit group recruited largely from soldiers of ethnic Zhuang background, who crossed the border in 1865 from Guangxi, China into northern Vietnam, then during the Nguy ...
– a well-organized bandit force led by the formidable
Liu Yongfu
Liu Yongfu () (1837–1917) was a Chinese warlord and commander of the celebrated Black Flag Army. Liu won fame as a Chinese patriot fighting against the French Empire in northern Vietnam ( Tonkin) in the 1870s and early 1880s. During the Sin ...
– was levying exorbitant "taxes" on Red River trade between
Sơn Tây
''Toxicodendron succedaneum'', the wax tree, Japanese Hazenoki tree (Sumac or wax tree), sơn in Vietnam or charão in Portuguese, is a flowering plant species in the genus ''Toxicodendron'' found in Asia, although it has been planted elsewhere, ...
and
Lào Cai
Lào Cai () is a city in the Northwest region of Vietnam. It is the capital of Lào Cai Province. The city borders Bảo Thắng District, Bát Xát District, Sa Pa and the city of Hekou Yao Autonomous County, in Yunnan province of southwes ...
on the Yunnan border.
In 1873, a small French force commanded by Lieutenant de Vaisseau
Francis Garnier
Marie Joseph François Garnier ( vi, Ngạc Nhi; 25 July 1839 – 21 December 1873) was a French officer, inspector of Indigenous Affairs of Cochinchina and explorer. He eventually became mission leader of the Mekong Exploration Commission in 19th ...
, exceeding his instructions, attacked northern Vietnam. Following a series of French victories against the Vietnamese, the Vietnamese government called on Liu Yongfu's Black Flags, who defeated Garnier's force beneath the walls of
Hanoi
Hanoi or Ha Noi ( or ; vi, Hà Nội ) is the capital and second-largest city of Vietnam. It covers an area of . It consists of 12 urban districts, one district-leveled town and 17 rural districts. Located within the Red River Delta, Hanoi is ...
. Garnier was killed in this battle, and the French government later disavowed his expedition.
Henri Rivière's expedition in Tonkin
![HenriRiviere1870s](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/ce/HenriRiviere1870s.JPG)
In 1881, French Commandant
Henri Rivière was sent with a small military force to Hanoi to investigate Vietnamese complaints about the activities of French merchants. In defiance of the instructions of his superiors, Rivière stormed the citadel of Hanoi on 25 April 1882. Although Rivière subsequently returned the citadel to Vietnamese control, his recourse to force provoked alarm both in Vietnam and in China.
The Vietnamese government, unable to confront Rivière with its own ramshackle army, once again enlisted the help of Liu Yongfu, whose well-trained and seasoned Black Flag soldiers would prove a thorn in the side of the French. The Vietnamese also bid for Chinese support. Vietnam had long been a tributary state of China, and China agreed to arm and support the Black Flags, and to covertly oppose French operations in Tonkin.
The Qing court also sent a strong signal to the French that China would not allow Tonkin to fall under French control. In the summer of 1882, troops of the Chinese
Yunnan Army and
Guangxi Army
The Guangxi Army was an army raised by the Qing dynasty ( China) to fight in the Sino-French War during the Tonkin Campaign
The Tonkin campaign was an armed conflict fought between June 1883 and April 1886 by the French against, variously, th ...
crossed the border into Tonkin, occupying Lạng Sơn, Bắc Ninh, Hưng Hóa and other towns. The French minister to China, Frédéric Bourée, was so alarmed by the prospect of war with China that in November and December he negotiated a deal with the Chinese statesman
Li Hongzhang
Li Hongzhang, Marquess Suyi ( zh, t=李鴻章; also Li Hung-chang; 15 February 1823 – 7 November 1901) was a Chinese politician, general and diplomat of the late Qing dynasty. He quelled several major rebellions and served in important ...
to divide Tonkin into French and Chinese spheres of influence. Neither of the parties to these negotiations consulted the Vietnamese.
![Riviere pushing the cannon forward at Sontay](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f7/Riviere_pushing_the_cannon_forward_at_Sontay.jpg)
Rivière, disgusted at the deal cut by Bourée, decided early in 1883 to force the issue. He had recently been sent a battalion of marine infantry from France, giving him just enough men to venture beyond Hanoi. On 27 March 1883, to secure his line of communications from Hanoi to the coast, Rivière captured the citadel of
Nam Định
Nam Định () is a city in the Red River Delta of northern Vietnam. It is the capital of Nam Định Province. The city of Nam Định is 90 km south-east of Vietnam's capital, Hanoi. From August 18–20 of each year, there is a festival hel ...
with a force of 520 French soldiers under his personal command. During his absence at Nam Định, the Black Flags and Vietnamese made an attack on Hanoi, but Chef de Bataillon Berthe de Villers repulsed them in the
Battle of Gia Cuc (Gia Quất) on 28 March. Rivière jubilantly reacted: 'This will force them to take forward their Tonkin Question!'
Rivière had perfect timing. He had expected to be cashiered for his
Capture of Nam Định; instead he found himself the hero of the hour. There had recently been a change of government in France, and the new administration of
Jules Ferry
Jules François Camille Ferry (; 5 April 183217 March 1893) was a French statesman and republican philosopher. He was one of the leaders of the Moderate Republicans and served as Prime Minister of France from 1880 to 1881 and 1883 to 1885. He ...
strongly favoured colonial expansion. It therefore decided to back Rivière. Ferry and Foreign Minister Paul-Armand Challemel-Lacour denounced Bourée's agreement with Li Hongzhang and recalled the hapless French minister. They also made it clear to the Chinese that they were determined to place Tonkin under French protection. In April 1883, realising that the Vietnamese lacked the means of resisting the French effectively, the Chinese civil Mandarin
Tang Jingsong
Tang Jingsong (; 1841–1903) was a Chinese general and statesman. He commanded the Yunnan Army in the Sino-French War (August 1884–April 1885), and made an important contribution to Qing dynasty China's military effort in Tonkin (northern Vi ...
(唐景崧) persuaded Liu Yongfu to take the field against Rivière with the Black Flag Army. This resulted in a year of Liu Yongfu's forces fighting an unconventional war.
On 10 May 1883 Liu Yongfu challenged the French to battle in a taunting message widely placarded on the walls of Hanoi. On 19 May Rivière confronted the Black Flags in the
Battle of Paper Bridge, and the French suffered a disastrous defeat. Rivière's small force (around 450 men) attacked a strong Black Flag defensive position near the village of Cầu Giấy, a few miles to the west of Hanoi, known to the French as Paper Bridge (Pont de Papier). After initial successes the French were eventually enveloped on both wings; only with difficulty could they regroup and fall back to Hanoi. Rivière, Berthe de Villers and several other senior officers were killed in this action.
French intervention in Tonkin
![Admiral Courbet drawing](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a8/Admiral_Courbet_drawing.jpg)
Rivière's death produced an angry reaction in France. Reinforcements were rushed to Tonkin, a threatened attack by the Black Flags on Hanoi was averted, and the military situation was stabilised.
Protectorate over Tonkin
On 20 August 1883 Admiral
Amédée Courbet
Anatole-Amédée-Prosper Courbet (26 June 1827 – 11 June 1885) was a French admiral who won a series of important land and naval victories during the Tonkin Campaign (1883–86) and the Sino-French War (August 1884 – April 1885).
Early year ...
, who had recently been appointed to the command of the newly formed Tonkin Coasts Naval Division, stormed the forts which guarded the approaches to the Vietnamese capital Huế in the
Battle of Thuận An
The Battle of Thuận An (20 August 1883) was a clash between the French and the Vietnamese during the period of early hostilities of the Tonkin Campaign (1883 to 1886). During the battle a French landing force under the command of Admiral Améd ...
, and forced the Vietnamese government to sign the
Treaty of Huế, placing
Tonkin under French protection.
At the same time the new commander of the Tonkin expeditionary corps, General Bouët, attacked the Black Flag positions on the Day River. Although the French mauled the Black Flag Army in the
Battle of Phủ Hoài
The Battle of Phu Hoai (15 August 1883) was an indecisive engagement between the Tonkin Expeditionary Corps and Liu Yongfu's Black Flag Army during the early months of the Tonkin campaign (1883–1886). The battle took place during the period of ...
(15 August) and the
Battle of Palan
The Battle of Palan (1 September 1883) was one of several clashes between the Tonkin Expeditionary Corps and Liu Yongfu's Black Flag Army during the Tonkin campaign (1883–1886).
Background
The Battle of Palan was fought two weeks after the Ba ...
(1 September), they were unable to capture all of Liu Yongfu's positions, and in the eyes of the world the battles were tantamount to French defeats. Bouët was widely held to have failed in his mission, and resigned in September 1883. In the event, severe flooding eventually forced Liu Yongfu to abandon the line of the Day River and fall back to the fortified city of
Sơn Tây
''Toxicodendron succedaneum'', the wax tree, Japanese Hazenoki tree (Sumac or wax tree), sơn in Vietnam or charão in Portuguese, is a flowering plant species in the genus ''Toxicodendron'' found in Asia, although it has been planted elsewhere, ...
, several miles to the west.
Confrontation between France and China
![Anti-foreign feeling in Guangzhou, 1883](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/aa/Anti-foreign_feeling_in_Guangzhou%2C_1883.jpg)
The French prepared for a major offensive at the end of the year to annihilate the Black Flags, and tried to persuade China to withdraw its support for Liu Yongfu, while attempting to win the support of the other European powers for the projected offensive. However, negotiations in
Shanghai
Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...
in July 1883 between the French minister
Arthur Tricou
Arthur is a common male given name of Brythonic origin. Its popularity derives from it being the name of the legendary hero King Arthur. The etymology is disputed. It may derive from the Celtic ''Artos'' meaning “Bear”. Another theory, more ...
and
Li Hongzhang
Li Hongzhang, Marquess Suyi ( zh, t=李鴻章; also Li Hung-chang; 15 February 1823 – 7 November 1901) was a Chinese politician, general and diplomat of the late Qing dynasty. He quelled several major rebellions and served in important ...
were terminated by the Qing government on receipt of a naively optimistic assessment by Marquis
Zeng Jize
Zeng (, ) is a Chinese family name. In Cantonese, it is Tsang; In Wade-Giles, such as those in Taiwan, Tseng or Tzeng; in Malaysia and Singapore, Chen or Cheng; in the Philippines, Chan; in Indonesia, Tjan; in Vietnam, Tăng. The surname Zeng is ...
, the Chinese minister to Paris, that the French government had no stomach for a full-scale war with China. Jules Ferry and the French foreign minister
Paul-Armand Challemel-Lacour
Paul-Armand Challemel-Lacour (19 May 1827 – 26 October 1896) was a French statesman.
Biography
Paul-Armand Challemel-Lacour was born in Avranches in the Manche ''département'' of northwestern France. After passing through the École Normale ...
met a number of times in the summer and autumn of 1883 with Marquis Zeng in Paris, but these parallel diplomatic discussions also proved abortive. The Chinese stood firm, and refused to withdraw substantial garrisons of Chinese regular troops from Sơn Tây, Bắc Ninh and Lạng Sơn, despite the likelihood that they would be shortly engaged in battle against the French. As war with China seemed increasingly likely, the French persuaded the German government to delay the release of ''
Dingyuan'' and ''
Zhenyuan'', two modern battleships then being constructed in German shipyards for China's
Beiyang Fleet
The Beiyang Fleet (Pei-yang Fleet; , alternatively Northern Seas Fleet) was one of the four modernized Chinese navies in the late Qing dynasty. Among the four, the Beiyang Fleet was particularly sponsored by Li Hongzhang, one of the most trust ...
. Meanwhile, the French consolidated their hold on the Delta by establishing posts at
Quảng Yên
Quảng Yên is a county-level town of Quảng Ninh Province in the north-east region of Vietnam. The Bạch Đằng River The Bạch Đằng River ( vi, Sông Bạch Đằng, ), also called Bạch Đằng Giang (from ), ''white wisteria river'' ...
,
Hưng Yên
Hưng Yên () is a city in Vietnam. It is the provincial capital of Hưng Yên Province and is a third-graded city according to Vietnam's city classification table.
Geography
*Hưng Yên is a delta city. It is located in the south of Hưng Yên ...
and
Ninh Bình
Ninh Bình () is a small city in the Red River Delta of northern Vietnam. It is the capital of Ninh Bình Province.
Geography
Ninh Bình Province is located in northern Vietnam comprising 48 square kilometres; the 2007 city population was 130,517 ...
.
The growing tension between France and China gave rise to anti-foreign demonstrations inside China during the autumn of 1883. The most serious incidents took place in
Guangdong
Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020) ...
province, where Europeans were most prominent. Attacks were made on the property of European merchants in
Guangzhou
Guangzhou (, ; ; or ; ), also known as Canton () and alternatively romanized as Kwongchow or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of Guangdong province in southern China. Located on the Pearl River about north-northwest of Hong Kon ...
and on
Shamian island
Shamian (also romanized as Shameen or Shamin, both from its Cantonese pronunciation) is a sandbank island in the Liwan District of Guangzhou, Guangdong, China. The island's name literally means "sandy surface" in Chinese.
The territory ...
. Several European powers, including France, sent gunboats to
Guangzhou
Guangzhou (, ; ; or ; ), also known as Canton () and alternatively romanized as Kwongchow or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of Guangdong province in southern China. Located on the Pearl River about north-northwest of Hong Kon ...
to protect their nationals.
Sơn Tây and Bac Ninh
![prise de Son Tay](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/68/Prise_de_Son_Tay.jpg)
The French accepted that an attack on Liu Yongfu would probably result in an undeclared war with China, but calculated that a quick victory in Tonkin would force the Chinese to accept a ''fait accompli''. Command of the Tonkin Campaign was entrusted to Admiral Courbet, who attacked
Sơn Tây
''Toxicodendron succedaneum'', the wax tree, Japanese Hazenoki tree (Sumac or wax tree), sơn in Vietnam or charão in Portuguese, is a flowering plant species in the genus ''Toxicodendron'' found in Asia, although it has been planted elsewhere, ...
in December 1883. The
Sơn Tây Campaign
''Toxicodendron succedaneum'', the wax tree, Japanese Hazenoki tree (Sumac or wax tree), sơn in Vietnam or charão in Portuguese, is a flowering plant species in the genus ''Toxicodendron'' found in Asia, although it has been planted elsewhere, ...
was the fiercest campaign the French had yet fought in Tonkin. Although the Chinese and Vietnamese contingents at Son Tay played little part in the defence, Liu Yongfu's Black Flags fought ferociously to hold the city. On 14 December the French assaulted the outer defences of Sơn Tây at Phù Sa, but were thrown back with heavy casualties. Hoping to exploit Courbet's defeat, Liu Yongfu attacked the French lines the same night, but the Black Flag attack also failed disastrously. After resting his troops on 15 December, Courbet again assaulted the defences of Sơn Tây on the afternoon of 16 December. This time the attack was thoroughly prepared by artillery, and delivered only after the defenders had been worn down. At 5 p.m. a Foreign Legion battalion and a battalion of marine fusiliers captured the western gate of Sơn Tây and fought their way into the town. Liu Yongfu's garrison withdrew to the citadel, and evacuated Sơn Tây under cover of darkness several hours later. Courbet had achieved his objective, but at considerable cost. French casualties at Sơn Tây were 83 dead and 320 wounded. The fighting at Sơn Tây also took a terrible toll of the Black Flags, and in the opinion of some observers broke them once and for all as a serious fighting force. Liu Yongfu felt that he had been deliberately left to bear the brunt of the fighting by his Chinese and Vietnamese allies, and determined never again to expose his troops so openly.
![Taking-of-bac-ninh](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b9/Taking-of-bac-ninh.jpg)
In March 1884, the French renewed their offensive under the command of General
Charles-Théodore Millot
Charles-Théodore Millot (28 June 1829 – 17 May 1889) was a French general who distinguished himself in the Franco-Prussian War (1870–71) and the Tonkin Campaign (1883–86). His victories at Bắc Ninh (March 1884) and Hưng Hóa brought to ...
, who took over responsibility for the land campaign from Admiral Courbet after the fall of Sơn Tây. Reinforcements from France and the African colonies had now raised the strength of the
Tonkin Expeditionary Corps
The Tonkin Expeditionary Corps (french: corps expéditionnaire du Tonkin) was an important French military command based in northern Vietnam (Tonkin) from June 1883 to April 1886. The expeditionary corps fought the Tonkin Campaign (1883–86) taki ...
to over 10,000 men, and Millot organised this force into two brigades. The 1st Brigade was commanded by General
Louis Brière de l'Isle
Louis Alexandre Esprit Gaston Brière de l'Isle (24 June 1827 – 19 June 1896) was a French Army general who achieved distinction firstly as Governor of Senegal (1876–81), and then as general-in-chief of the Tonkin Expeditionary Corps during th ...
, who had earlier made his reputation as governor of
Senegal
Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭 (Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''Réewum Senegaal''; Pulaar : 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 ...
, and the 2nd Brigade was commanded by the charismatic young Foreign Legion general
François de Négrier
François () is a French masculine given name and surname, equivalent to the English name Francis.
People with the given name
* Francis I of France, King of France (), known as "the Father and Restorer of Letters"
* Francis II of France, Kin ...
, who had recently quelled a serious Arab rebellion in
Algeria
)
, image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg
, map_caption =
, image_map2 =
, capital = Algiers
, coordinates =
, largest_city = capital
, relig ...
. The French target was
Bắc Ninh
Bắc Ninh () is a city in the northern part of Vietnam and is the capital of Bắc Ninh province. The city is the cultural, administrative and commercial center of the province. The city area is 82.60 square km, with a population of 501,199 in N ...
, garrisoned by a strong force of regular Chinese troops of the
Guangxi Army
The Guangxi Army was an army raised by the Qing dynasty ( China) to fight in the Sino-French War during the Tonkin Campaign
The Tonkin campaign was an armed conflict fought between June 1883 and April 1886 by the French against, variously, th ...
. The
Bắc Ninh Campaign was a walkover for the French. Morale in the Chinese army was low, and Liu Yongfu was careful to keep his experienced Black Flags out of danger. Millot bypassed Chinese defences to the southwest of Bắc Ninh, and assaulted the city on 12 March from the southeast, with complete success. The Guangxi Army put up a feeble resistance, and the French took the city with ease, capturing large quantities of ammunition and a number of brand new
Krupp
The Krupp family (see pronunciation), a prominent 400-year-old German dynasty from Essen, is notable for its production of steel, artillery, ammunition and other armaments. The family business, known as Friedrich Krupp AG (Friedrich Krup ...
cannon.
The Tientsin Accord and the Treaty of Huế
![Qing army Sino-French war](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/51/Qing_army_Sino-French_war.jpg)
The defeat at Bắc Ninh, coming close on the heels of the fall of Sơn Tây, strengthened the hand of the moderate element in the Chinese government and temporarily discredited the extremist 'Purist' party led by
Zhang Zhidong
Zhang Zhidong () (4 September 18375 October 1909) was a Chinese politician who lived during the late Qing dynasty. Along with Zeng Guofan, Li Hongzhang and Zuo Zongtang, Zhang Zhidong was one of the four most famous officials of the late Qing ...
, which was agitating for a full-scale war against France. Further French successes in the spring of 1884, including the
Capture of Hưng Hóa
The Capture of Hưng Hóa (12 April 1884) was an important French victory in the Tonkin Campaign (1883–86).
Background
Hưng Hóa was captured by the French a month to the day after the capture of Bắc Ninh. General Charles-Théodore Mill ...
and
Thái Nguyên
Thái Nguyên () is a city in Vietnam. It is the capital and largest city of Thái Nguyên Province. The city is listed as a first class city and is the ninth largest city in Vietnam. It has long been famous throughout Vietnam for its Tân Cư ...
, convinced the
Empress Dowager Cixi
Empress Dowager Cixi ( ; mnc, Tsysi taiheo; formerly Romanization of Chinese, romanised as Empress Dowager T'zu-hsi; 29 November 1835 – 15 November 1908), of the Manchu people, Manchu Nara (clan)#Yehe Nara, Yehe Nara clan, was a Chinese nob ...
that China should come to terms, and an accord was reached between France and China in May. The negotiations took place in Tianjin (Tientsin). Li Hongzhang, the leader of the Chinese moderates, represented China; and Captain
François-Ernest Fournier, commander of the French cruiser ''Volta'', represented France. The
Tientsin Accord
The Tientsin Accord or Li–Fournier Convention, concluded on 11 May 1884, was intended to settle an undeclared war between France and China over the sovereignty of Tonkin (northern Vietnam). The convention, negotiated by Li Hongzhang for China an ...
, concluded on 11 May 1884, provided for Chinese recognition of the French protectorate over Annam and Tonkin and withdrawal of Chinese troops from Tonkin, in return for a comprehensive treaty that would settle details of trade and commerce between France and China and provide for the demarcation of its disputed border with Vietnam.
On 6 June the French followed up their accord with China by concluding a fresh
Treaty of Huế with the Vietnamese, which established a French protectorate over both Annam and Tonkin and allowed the French to station troops at strategic points in Vietnamese territory and to install residents in the main towns. The signature of the treaty was accompanied by an important symbolic gesture. The seal presented by the emperor of China several decades earlier to the Vietnamese emperor
Gia Long
Gia Long ( (''North''), ('' South''); 8 February 1762 – 3 February 1820), born Nguyễn Phúc Ánh (阮福暎) or Nguyễn Ánh, was the founding emperor of the Nguyễn dynasty, the last dynasty of Vietnam. His dynasty would rule the unif ...
was melted down in the presence of the French and Vietnamese plenipotentiaries, betokening the renunciation by Vietnam of its traditional links with China.
Fournier was not a professional diplomat, and the Tientsin Accord contained several loose ends. Crucially, it failed to explicitly state a deadline for the Chinese troop withdrawal from Tonkin. The French asserted that the troop withdrawal was to take place immediately, while the Chinese argued that the withdrawal was contingent upon the conclusion of the comprehensive treaty. In fact, the Chinese stance was an ex post facto rationalisation, designed to justify their unwillingness or inability to put the terms of the accord into effect. The accord was extremely unpopular in China, and provoked an immediate backlash. The war party called for Li Hongzhang's impeachment, and his political opponents intrigued to have orders sent to the Chinese troops in Tonkin to hold their positions.
The Bắc Lệ ambush
![Bac Le Ambush](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/36/Bac_Le_Ambush.jpeg)
Li Hongzhang hinted to the French that there might be difficulties in enforcing the accord, but nothing specific was said. The French assumed that the Chinese troops would leave Tonkin as agreed, and made preparations for occupying the border towns of
Lạng Sơn
Lạng Sơn () is a city in far northern Vietnam, which is the capital of Lạng Sơn Province. It is accessible by road and rail from Hanoi, the Vietnamese capital, and it is the northernmost point on National Route 1.
History
Due to its ge ...
,
Cao Bằng
Cao Bằng () is a city in northern Vietnam. It is the capital and largest settlement of Cao Bằng Province. It is located on the bank of the Bằng Giang river, and is around away from the border with China's Guangxi region. According to the ...
and Thất Khê. In early June 1884 a French column under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Alphonse Dugenne advanced to occupy Lạng Sơn. On 23 June, near the small town of
Bắc Lệ, the French encountered a strong detachment of the Guangxi Army ensconced in a defensive position behind Thương River. In view of the diplomatic significance of this discovery, Dugenne should have reported the presence of the Chinese force to Hanoi and waited for further instructions. Instead, he gave the Chinese an ultimatum, and on their refusal to withdraw resumed his advance. The Chinese opened fire on the advancing French, precipitating a two-day battle in which Dugenne's column was encircled and seriously mauled. Dugenne eventually fought his way out of the Chinese encirclement and extricated his small force.
When news of the
Bắc Lệ ambush
The Bắc Lệ ambush (french: guet-apens de Bac-Lé, Vietnamese: ''trận Bắc Lệ'' or ''trận cầu Quan Âm'') was a clash during the Tonkin Campaign in June 1884 between Chinese troops of the Guangxi Army and a French column sent to occu ...
reached Paris, there was fury at what was perceived as blatant Chinese treachery. Ferry's government demanded an apology, an indemnity, and the immediate implementation of the terms of the Tianjin Accord. The Chinese government agreed to negotiate, but refused to apologise or pay any indemnity. The mood in France was against compromise, and although negotiations continued throughout July, Admiral Courbet was ordered to take his squadron to
Fuzhou
Fuzhou (; , Fuzhounese: Hokchew, ''Hók-ciŭ''), alternately romanized as Foochow, is the capital and one of the largest cities in Fujian province, China. Along with the many counties of Ningde, those of Fuzhou are considered to constitute t ...
(Foochow). He was instructed to prepare to attack the
Chinese Fujian Fleet in the harbour and to destroy the
Foochow Navy Yard
The Foochow Arsenal, also known as the Fuzhou or Mawei Arsenal, was one of several shipyards created by the Qing Empire and a flagship project of French assistance to China during the Self-Strengthening Movement. The shipyard was constructed unde ...
. Meanwhile, as a preliminary demonstration of what would follow if the Chinese were recalcitrant, Rear Admiral
Sébastien Lespès
Sébastien-Nicolas-Joachim Lespès (13 March 1828 – 24 August 1897) was a French admiral who played an important role in naval operations during the Sino-French War (August 1884–April 1885), as second-in-command of Admiral Amédée Courbet's ...
destroyed three Chinese shore batteries in the port of
Keelung
Keelung () or Jilong () (; Hokkien POJ: '), officially known as Keelung City, is a major port city situated in the northeastern part of Taiwan. The city is a part of the Taipei–Keelung metropolitan area, along with its neighbors, New Taipe ...
in northern Formosa (
Taiwan
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...
) by naval bombardment on 5 August. The French put a landing force ashore to occupy Keelung and the nearby coal mines at Pei-tao (Pa-tou), as a 'pledge' (''gage'') to be bargained against a Chinese withdrawal from Tonkin, but the arrival of a large Chinese army under the command of the imperial commissioner
Liu Mingchuan
Liu Ming-chuan (1836–1896), courtesy name Xingsan, lived in the late Qing dynasty. He was born in Hefei, Anhui. Liu became involved in the suppression of the Taiping Rebellion at an early age, and worked closely with Zeng Guofan and Li Hongz ...
forced it to re-embark on 6 August.
The Sino-French War, August 1884 to April 1885
Operations of Admiral Courbet's squadron
Fuzhou and the Min River
![BattleFoochow](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5c/BattleFoochow.jpg)
Negotiations between France and China broke down in mid-August, and on 22 August Courbet was ordered to attack the Chinese fleet at Fuzhou. In the
Battle of Fuzhou (also known as the Battle of the Pagoda Anchorage) on 23 August 1884, the French took their revenge for the Bắc Lệ Ambush. In a two-hour engagement watched with professional interest by neutral British and American vessels (the battle was one of the first occasions on which the spar torpedo was successfully deployed), Courbet's
Far East Squadron
The French Far East Squadron (french: escadre de l'Extrême-Orient) was an exceptional naval grouping created for the duration of the Sino-French War (August 1884 – April 1885).
Background
In 1882 French interests in the Far East were pr ...
annihilated China's outclassed Fujian fleet and severely damaged the
Foochow Navy Yard
The Foochow Arsenal, also known as the Fuzhou or Mawei Arsenal, was one of several shipyards created by the Qing Empire and a flagship project of French assistance to China during the Self-Strengthening Movement. The shipyard was constructed unde ...
(which, ironically, had been built under the direction of the French administrator
Prosper Giquel
Prosper Marie Giquel (20 November 1835 – 19 February 1886) was a French naval officer who played an important role in the modernization of 19th century China. His Chinese name was 日意格 ().
Career
Prosper Giquel first arrived in China in ...
). Nine Chinese ships were sunk in less than an hour, including the corvette ''
Yangwu'', the flagship of the Fujian fleet. Chinese losses may have amounted to 3,000 dead, while French losses were minimal. Courbet then successfully withdrew down the Min River to the open sea, destroying several Chinese shore batteries from behind as he took the French squadron through the Min'an and Jinpai passes.
Riots in Hong Kong
The French attack at Fuzhou effectively ended diplomatic contacts between France and China. Although neither country declared war, the dispute would now be settled on the battlefield. The news of the destruction of the Fujian fleet was greeted by an outbreak of patriotic fervour in China, marred by attacks on foreigners and foreign property. There was considerable sympathy for China in Europe, and the Chinese were able to hire a number of British, German and American army and navy officers as advisers.
Patriotic indignation spread to the British colony of
Hong Kong
Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...
. In September 1884 dock workers in Hong Kong refused to repair the French ironclad
''La Galissonnière'', which had suffered shell damage in the August naval engagements. The strike collapsed at the end of September, but the dock workers were prevented from resuming their business by other groups of Chinese workers, including longshoremen, sedan chair carriers and rickshawmen. An attempt by the British authorities to protect the dock workers against harassment resulted in serious rioting on 3 October, during which at least one rioter was shot dead and several Sikh constables were injured. The British suspected, with good reason, that the disturbances had been fomented by the Chinese authorities in Guangdong province.
French occupation of Keelung
![Landing of French forces at Keelung](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3e/Landing_of_French_forces_at_Keelung.jpg)
Meanwhile, the French decided to put pressure on China by landing an expeditionary corps in northern
Formosa
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is an island country located in East Asia. The main island of Taiwan, formerly known in the Western political circles, press and literature as Formosa, makes up 99% of the land area of the territorie ...
to seize
Keelung
Keelung () or Jilong () (; Hokkien POJ: '), officially known as Keelung City, is a major port city situated in the northeastern part of Taiwan. The city is a part of the Taipei–Keelung metropolitan area, along with its neighbors, New Taipe ...
and
Tamsui
Tamsui District (Hokkien POJ: ''Tām-chúi''; Hokkien Tâi-lô: ''Tām-tsuí''; Mandarin Pinyin: ''Dànshuǐ'') is a seaside district in New Taipei, Taiwan. It is named after the Tamsui River; the name means "fresh water". The town is popula ...
, redeeming the failure of 6 August and finally winning the 'pledge' they sought. On 1 October Lieutenant-Colonel Bertaux-Levillain landed at Keelung with a force of 1,800 marine infantry, forcing the Chinese to withdraw to strong defensive positions which had been prepared in the surrounding hills. The French force was too small to advance beyond Keelung, and the Pei-tao coal mines remained in Chinese hands. Meanwhile, after an ineffective naval bombardment on 2 October, Admiral Lespès attacked the Chinese defences at Tamsui with 600 sailors from his squadron's landing companies on 8 October, and was decisively repulsed by forces under the command of the Fujianese general
Sun Kaihua
Sun Kaihua (died 1893) was a military student of Hunan, who joined Bao Chao's army and fought against the Taiping and Nien rebels, during which time he was wounded. He was rapidly promoted until he became a Brigade General at Zhangzhou in Fujian ...
(孫開華). As a result of this reverse, French control over Formosa was limited merely to the town of Keelung. This achievement fell far short of what had been hoped for.
Blockade of Taiwan
Towards the end of 1884 the French were able to enforce a limited blockade of the northern Formosan ports of Keelung and Tamsui and the prefectural capital Taiwan (now
Tainan
Tainan (), officially Tainan City, is a Special municipality (Taiwan), special municipality in southern Taiwan facing the Taiwan Strait on its western coast. Tainan is the oldest city on the island and also commonly known as the "Capital City" ...
) and the southern port Takow (
Kaohsiung
Kaohsiung City (Mandarin Chinese: ; Wade–Giles: ''Kao¹-hsiung²;'' Pinyin: ''Gāoxióng'') is a special municipality located in southern Taiwan. It ranges from the coastal urban center to the rural Yushan Range with an area of . Kaohsi ...
). In early January 1885 the Formosa expeditionary corps, now under the command of Colonel
Jacques Duchesne
General Jacques Charles René Achille Duchesne (3 March 1837 – 27 April 1918) was a 19th-century French military officer. He was born at Sens and entered École spéciale militaire de Saint-Cyr, Saint-Cyr in 1855, aged 18, and became a lieuten ...
, was substantially reinforced with two battalions of infantry, bringing its total strength to around 4,000 men. Meanwhile, drafts from the
Hunan Army and
Anhui Army had brought the strength of Liu Mingchuan's defending army to around 25,000 men. Although severely outnumbered, the French captured a number of minor Chinese positions to the southeast of Keelung at the end of January 1885, but were forced to halt offensive operations in February due to incessant rain.
The blockade succeeded in part because the northern
Beiyang Fleet
The Beiyang Fleet (Pei-yang Fleet; , alternatively Northern Seas Fleet) was one of the four modernized Chinese navies in the late Qing dynasty. Among the four, the Beiyang Fleet was particularly sponsored by Li Hongzhang, one of the most trust ...
, commanded by
Li Hongzhang
Li Hongzhang, Marquess Suyi ( zh, t=李鴻章; also Li Hung-chang; 15 February 1823 – 7 November 1901) was a Chinese politician, general and diplomat of the late Qing dynasty. He quelled several major rebellions and served in important ...
, denied help to the southern
Nanyang Fleet
The Nanyang Fleet () was one of the four modernised Chinese naval fleets in the late Qing Dynasty. Established in the 1870s, the fleet suffered losses in the Sino-French War, escaped intact in the Sino-Japanese War, and was formally abolished in ...
. No Beiyang ships were sent to battle the French.
This led the Navy to fail. The most advanced ships were reserved for the northern Chinese fleet by Li Hongzhang, he did not even "consider" using this well equipped fleet to attack the French, since he wanted to make sure it was always under his command. China's north and south had rivalries and the government was split into different parties.
China did not have a single admiralty in command of the navy and the northern and southern fleets refused to cooperate, as a result, France was able to achieve control over the seas during the war.
Tianjin
Tianjin (; ; Mandarin: ), alternately romanized as Tientsin (), is a municipality and a coastal metropolis in Northern China on the shore of the Bohai Sea. It is one of the nine national central cities in Mainland China, with a total popul ...
's northern naval academy also drained southern China of potential sailors, since they enlisted in northern China instead.
Shipu Bay, Zhenhai Bay and the rice blockade
![FrenchTorpedoBoat](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/77/FrenchTorpedoBoat.jpg)
Although the Formosa expeditionary corps remained confined in Keelung, the French scored important successes elsewhere in the spring of 1885. Courbet's squadron had been reinforced substantially since the start of the war, and he now had considerably more ships at his disposal than in October 1884. In early February 1885 part of his squadron left Keelung to head off a threatened attempt by part of the Chinese
Nanyang Fleet
The Nanyang Fleet () was one of the four modernised Chinese naval fleets in the late Qing Dynasty. Established in the 1870s, the fleet suffered losses in the Sino-French War, escaped intact in the Sino-Japanese War, and was formally abolished in ...
(Southern Seas fleet) to break the French blockade of Formosa. On 11 February Courbet's task force met the cruisers ''Kaiji'', ''Nanchen'' and ''Nanrui'', three of the most modern ships in the Chinese fleet, near Shipu Bay, accompanied by the frigate ''Yuyuan'' and the composite sloop ''Chengqing''. The Chinese scattered at the French approach, and while the three cruisers successfully made their escape, the French succeeded in trapping ''Yuyuan'' and ''Chengqing'' in Shipu Bay. On the night of 14 February, in the
Battle of Shipu
The Battle of Shipu () was a French naval victory during the Sino-French War (August 1884–April 1885). The battle took place on the night of 14 February 1885 in Shipu Bay (石浦灣), near Ningbo, China.
Background
The battle arose from an ...
, the French attacked the Chinese vessels with two torpedo launches. During a brief engagement inside the bay, ''Yuyuan'' was seriously damaged by torpedoes and ''Chengqing'' was hit by ''Yuyuans fire. Both ships were subsequently scuttled by the Chinese. The French torpedo launches escaped almost without loss.
Courbet followed up this success on 1 March by locating ''Kaiji'', ''Nanchen'' and ''Nanrui'', which had taken refuge with four other Chinese warships in Zhenhai Bay, near the port of
Ningbo
Ningbo (; Ningbonese: ''gnin² poq⁷'' , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), formerly romanized as Ningpo, is a major sub-provincial city in northeast Zhejiang province, People's Republic of China. It comprises 6 urban districts, 2 sate ...
. Courbet considered forcing the Chinese defences, but after testing its defenses finally decided to guard the entrance to the bay to keep the enemy vessels bottled up there for the duration of hostilities. A brief and inconclusive skirmish between the French cruiser ''Nielly'' and the Chinese shore batteries on 1 March enabled the Chinese general Ouyang Lijian (歐陽利見), charged with the defence of Ningbo, to claim the so-called '
Battle of Zhenhai
The Battle of Zhenhai () was a minor confrontation that took place on 1March 1885 between Admiral Amédée Courbet's Far East Squadron (''escadre de l’extrême-Orient'') and Chinese warships and shore batteries near the coastal city of Zhenhai ...
' as a defensive victory.
In February 1885, under diplomatic pressure from China, Britain invoked the provisions of the 1870 Foreign Enlistment Act and closed Hong Kong and other ports in the Far East to French warships. The French government retaliated by ordering Admiral Courbet to implement a 'rice blockade' of the Yangzi River, hoping to bring the Qing court to terms by provoking serious rice shortages in northern China. The rice blockade severely disrupted the transport of rice by sea from Shanghai and forced the Chinese to carry it overland, but the war ended before the blockade seriously affected China's economy.
Operations in Tonkin
French victories in the delta
![Louis Briere de lIsle](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9e/Louis_Briere_de_lIsle.jpg)
Meanwhile, the French army in Tonkin was also putting severe pressure on the Chinese forces and their Black Flag allies. General Millot, whose health was failing, resigned as general-in-chief of the Tonkin expeditionary corps in early September 1884 and was replaced by General Brière de l'Isle, the senior of his two brigade commanders. Brière de l'Isle's first task was to beat off a major Chinese invasion of the Red River Delta. In late September 1884, large detachments of the Guangxi Army advanced from Langson and probed into the
Lục Nam valley, announcing their presence by ambushing the French gunboats ''Hache'' and ''Massue'' on 2 October. Brière de l'Isle responded immediately, transporting nearly 3,000 French soldiers to the Lục Nam valley aboard a flotilla of gunboats and attacking the Chinese detachments before they could concentrate. In the
Kép Campaign, (2 to 15 October 1884), three French columns under the overall command of General de Négrier fell upon the separated detachments of the Guangxi Army and successively defeated them in engagements at
Lam Cốt (6 October),
Kép
Kép is a township (''Thị trấn'') of Lạng Giang District, Bắc Giang Province, in north-eastern Vietnam
Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast A ...
(8 October) and
Chũ
Chũ is a commune-level town (Vietnam), township (''Thị trấn'') and town and capital of Lục Ngạn District, Bắc Giang Province, in north-eastern Vietnam.Hưng Hóa
Thành Hưng Hóa was a fort and settlement in present-day Phú Thọ Province, northern Vietnam.''Tradition, Revolution, and Market Economy in a North ...'' Hy V. Luong - 2010 - Page 37 " ... route of attack and counterattack between the French- ...
, Thái Nguyên and
Tuyên Quang
Tuyên Quang () is a city in Vietnam, and is the capital of Tuyên Quang Province.
History
The French post at Tuyên Quang was defended for four months against 12,000 troops of the Yunnan Army and the Black Flag Army by two companies of the Fre ...
, which were coming under increasing threat from Liu Yongfu's Black Flags and Tang Jingsong's
Yunnan Army. On 19 November, in the
Battle of Yu-Oc, a column making for Tuyên Quang under the command of Colonel
Jacques Duchesne
General Jacques Charles René Achille Duchesne (3 March 1837 – 27 April 1918) was a 19th-century French military officer. He was born at Sens and entered École spéciale militaire de Saint-Cyr, Saint-Cyr in 1855, aged 18, and became a lieuten ...
was ambushed in the Yu-Oc gorge by the Black Flags but was able to fight its way through to the beleaguered post. The French also sealed off the eastern Delta from raids by Chinese guerillas based in Guangdong by occupying Tiên Yên, Đông Triều and other strategic points, and by blockading the Cantonese port of Beihai (Pak-Hoi). They also conducted sweeps along the lower course of the Red River to dislodge Annamese guerilla bands from bases close to Hanoi. These operations enabled Brière de l'Isle to concentrate the bulk of the Tonkin expeditionary corps around Chũ and Kép at the end of 1884, to advance on Lạng Sơn as soon as the word was given.
The Lạng Sơn Campaign
![Lang Son Campaign](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/da/Lang_Son_Campaign.jpg)
French strategy in Tonkin was the subject of a bitter debate in the Chamber of Deputies in late December 1884. The army minister General Jean-Baptiste-Marie Campenon argued that the French should consolidate their hold on the Delta. His opponents urged an all-out offensive to throw the Chinese out of northern Tonkin. The debate culminated in Campenon's resignation and his replacement as army minister by the hawkish General
Jules Louis Lewal
Jules Louis Lewal (13 December 1823 – 22 January 1908) was a French general, who also wrote scripts like Stratégie de combat (translation: Combat strategy).
Biography
He was born in Paris; entered the army in 1846; served in the Italian camp ...
, who immediately ordered Brière de l'Isle to capture Lạng Sơn. The campaign would be launched from the French forward base at Chũ, and on 3 and 4 January 1885 General de Négrier attacked and defeated a substantial detachment of the Guangxi Army that had concentrated around the nearby village of
Núi Bop to try to disrupt the French preparations. De Nègrier's victory at
Núi Bop, won at odds of just under one to ten, was regarded by his fellow-officers as the most spectacular professional triumph of his career.
![Capture of Lang Son](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/92/Capture_of_Lang_Son.jpg)
It took the French a month to complete their preparations for the
Lạng Sơn Campaign. Finally, on 3 February 1885, Brière de l'Isle began his advance from Chũ with a column of just under 7,200 troops, accompanied by 4,500 coolies. In ten days the column advanced to the outskirts of Lang Son. The troops were burdened with the weight of their provisions and equipment, and had to march through extremely difficult country. They also had to fight fierce actions to overrun stoutly defended Chinese positions, at
Tây Hòa (4 February),
Hạ Hòa (5 February) and Đồng Sông (6 February). After a brief pause for breath at Đồng Sông, the expeditionary corps pressed on towards Lạng Sơn, fighting further actions at Quao Pass (9 February), and Vy village (11 February). On 12 February, in a costly but successful battle, the Turcos and marine infantry of Colonel Laurent Giovanninelli's 1st Brigade stormed the main Chinese defences at Bắc Việt, several kilometres to the south of Lạng Sơn. On 13 February, the French column entered Lạng Sơn which the Chinese abandoned after fighting a token rearguard action at the nearby village of Kỳ Lừa.
Siege and relief of Tuyên Quang
![Chinese Prisoners](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/58/Chinese_Prisoners.jpg)
The capture of Lang Son allowed substantial French forces to be diverted further west to relieve the small and isolated French garrison in
Tuyên Quang
Tuyên Quang () is a city in Vietnam, and is the capital of Tuyên Quang Province.
History
The French post at Tuyên Quang was defended for four months against 12,000 troops of the Yunnan Army and the Black Flag Army by two companies of the Fre ...
, which had been placed under siege in November 1884 by Liu Yongfu's Black Flag Army and Tang Jingsong's Yunnan Army. The
Siege of Tuyên Quang
The siege of Tuyên Quang was an important confrontation between the French and the Chinese armies in Tonkin (northern Vietnam) during the Sino-French War (August 1884 – April 1885). A French garrison of 630 men, including two companies of ...
was the most evocative confrontation of the Sino-French War. The Chinese and Black Flags sapped methodically up to the French positions, and in January and February 1885 breached the outer defences with mines and delivered seven separate assaults on the breach. The Tuyên Quang garrison, 400 legionnaires and 200 Tonkinese auxiliaries under the command of ''chef de bataillon'' Marc-Edmond Dominé, beat off all attempts to storm their positions, but lost over a third of their strength (50 dead and 224 wounded) sustaining a heroic defence against overwhelming odds. By mid-February it was clear that Tuyên Quang would fall unless it was relieved immediately.
Leaving de Négrier at Lang Son with the 2nd Brigade, Brière de l'Isle personally led Giovanninelli's 1st Brigade back to Hanoi, and then upriver to the relief of Tuyên Quang. The brigade, reinforced at Phủ Doãn, on 24 February by a small column from Hưng Hóa under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel de Maussion, found the route to Tuyên Quang blocked by a strong Chinese defensive position at
Hòa Mộc. On 2 March 1885 Giovanninelli attacked the left flank of the Chinese defensive line. The
Battle of Hòa Mộc was the most fiercely fought action of the war. Two French assaults were decisively repulsed, and although the French eventually stormed the Chinese positions, they suffered very high casualties (76 dead and 408 wounded). Nevertheless, their costly victory cleared the way to Tuyên Quang. The Yunnan Army and the Black Flags raised the siege and drew off to the west, and the relieving force entered the beleaguered post on 3 March. Brière de l'Isle praised the courage of the hard-pressed garrison in a widely quoted order of the day. 'Today, you enjoy the admiration of the men who have relieved you at such heavy cost. Tomorrow, all France will applaud you!’
The end
Bang Bo, Kỳ Lừa and the retreat from Lạng Sơn
Before his departure for Tuyên Quang, Brière de l'Isle ordered de Négrier to press on from Lạng Sơn towards the Chinese border and expel the battered remnants of the Guangxi Army from Tonkinese soil. After resupplying the 2nd Brigade with food and ammunition, de Négrier defeated the Guangxi Army at the
Battle of Đồng Đăng on 23 February 1885 and cleared it from Tonkinese territory. For good measure, the French crossed briefly into Guangxi province and blew up the 'Gate of China', an elaborate Chinese customs building on the Tonkin-Guangxi border. They were not strong enough to exploit this victory, however, and the 2nd Brigade returned to Lạng Sơn at the end of February.
![Zhen Nan Guan-Qing-deployment](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/be/Zhen_Nan_Guan-Qing-deployment.jpg)
By early March, in the wake of the French victories at Hoà Mộc and Đồng Đăng, the military situation in Tonkin had reached a temporary stalemate. Giovanninelli's 1st Brigade faced Tang Qingsong's Yunnan Army around Hưng Hóa and Tuyên Quang, while de Négrier's 2nd Brigade at Lạng Sơn faced Pan Dingxin's Guangxi Army. Neither Chinese army had any realistic prospect of launching an offensive for several weeks, while the two French brigades that had jointly captured Lạng Sơn in February were not strong enough to inflict a decisive defeat on either Chinese army separately. Meanwhile, the French government was pressuring Brière de l'Isle to send the 2nd Brigade across the border into Guangxi province, in the hope that a threat to Chinese territory would force China to sue for peace. Brière de l'Isle and de Négrier examined the possibility of a campaign to capture the major Chinese military depot at Longzhou (Lung-chou, 龍州), 60 kilometres beyond the border, but on 17 March Brière de l'Isle advised the army ministry in Paris that such an operation was beyond his strength. Substantial French reinforcements reached Tonkin in the middle of March, giving Brière de l'Isle a brief opportunity to break the stalemate. He moved the bulk of the reinforcements to Hưng Hóa to reinforce the 1st Brigade, intending to attack the Yunnan Army and drive it back beyond Yen Bay. While he and Giovanninelli drew up plans for a western offensive, he ordered de Négrier to hold his positions at Lang Son.
On 23 and 24 March the 2nd Brigade, only 1,500 men strong, fought a fierce action with over 25,000 troops of the Guangxi Army entrenched near
Zhennanguan on the Chinese border. The
Battle of Bang Bo
The Battle of Bang Bo, known in China as the Battle of Zhennan Pass ( zh, 鎮南關之役), was a major Chinese victory during the Sino-French War (August 1884 – April 1885). The battle, fought on 23 and 24 March 1885 on the Tonkin-Guangxi bor ...
(named by the French from the Vietnamese pronunciation of Hengpo, a village in the centre of the Chinese position where the fighting was fiercest), is normally known as the Battle of Zhennan Pass in China. The French took a number of outworks on 23 March, but failed to take the main Chinese positions on 24 March and were fiercely counterattacked in their turn. Although the French made a fighting withdrawal and prevented the Chinese from piercing their line, casualties in the 2nd Brigade were relatively heavy (70 dead and 188 wounded) and there were ominous scenes of disorder as the defeated French regrouped after the battle. As the brigade's morale was precarious and ammunition was running short, de Négrier decided to fall back to Lạng Sơn.
![Paul-Gustave Herbinger](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/de/Paul-Gustave_Herbinger.jpg)
The coolies abandoned the French and the French also had supply issues. The Chinese also outnumbered the French. The Chinese advanced slowly in pursuit, and on 28 March de Négrier fought a battle at Kỳ Lừa in defence of Lạng Sơn. Rested, recovered and fighting behind breastworks, the French successfully held their positions and inflicted crippling casualties on the Guangxi Army. French casualties at Kỳ Lừa were 7 men killed and 38 wounded. The Chinese left 1,200 corpses on the battlefield, and a further 6,000 Chinese soldiers may have been wounded. The battle of Kỳ Lừa gave a grim foretaste of the horrors of warfare on the Western Front thirty years later.
Towards the end of the battle de Négrier was seriously wounded in the chest while scouting the Chinese positions. He was forced to hand over command to his senior regimental commander, Lieutenant-Colonel Paul-Gustave Herbinger. Herbinger was a noted military theoretician who had won a respectable battlefield reputation during the Franco-Prussian War, but was quite out of his depth as a field commander in Tonkin. Several French officers had already commented scathingly on his performance during the Lạng Sơn campaign and at Bang Bo, where he had badly bungled an attack on the Chinese positions.
Upon assuming command of the brigade, Herbinger panicked. Despite the evidence that the Chinese had been decisively defeated and were streaming back in disarray towards the Chinese frontier, he convinced himself that they were preparing to encircle Lạng Sơn and cut his supply line. Disregarding the appalled protests of some of his officers, he ordered the 2nd Brigade to abandon Lạng Sơn on the evening of 28 March and retreat to
Chũ
Chũ is a commune-level town (Vietnam), township (''Thị trấn'') and town and capital of Lục Ngạn District, Bắc Giang Province, in north-eastern Vietnam.retreat from Lạng Sơn
The Retreat from Lạng Sơn (french: retraite de Lang-Son) was a controversial French strategic withdrawal in Tonkin at the end of March 1885 that brought down the government of the French premier Jules Ferry and brought the Sino-French War (Au ...
was conducted without loss and with little interference from the Chinese, but Herbinger set an unnecessarily punishing pace and abandoned considerable quantities of food, ammunition and equipment. When the 2nd Brigade eventually rallied at Chũ, its soldiers were exhausted and demoralised. Meanwhile, the Chinese general
Pan Dingxin
Pan Dingxin (; 1828–1888) was a Qing dynasty governor and military commander of the Huai Army, best known for his role in the Sino-French War.Spector, Stanley (1964). ''Li Hung-chang and the Huai Army''. Seattle: University of Washington Press. L ...
(潘鼎新), informed by sympathisers in Lạng Sơn that the French were in full retreat, promptly turned his battered army around and reoccupied Lạng Sơn on 30 March. The Chinese were in no condition to pursue the French to Chũ, and contented themselves with a limited advance to Đồng Sông. The retreat was seen as a Chinese victory.
There was also bad news for the French from the western front. On 23 March, in the
Battle of Phu Lam Tao
The Battle of Phu Lam Tao (23 March 1885) was a politically significant engagement during the Sino-French War (August 1884 – April 1885), in which a French Zouave battalion was defeated by a mixed force of Chinese soldiers and Black Flags.
...
, a force of Chinese regulars and Black Flags surprised and routed a French zouave battalion that had been ordered to scout positions around Hưng Hóa in preparation for Giovanninelli's projected offensive against the Yunnan Army.
Collapse of Ferry's government
![Chinese report on the Sino-French War printed in Shanghai 1883-1885](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/49/Chinese_report_on_the_Sino-French_War_printed_in_Shanghai_1883-1885.jpg)
Neither reverse was serious, but in the light of Herbinger's alarming reports Brière de l'Isle believed the situation to be much worse than it was, and sent an extremely pessimistic telegram back to Paris on the evening of 28 March. The political effect of this telegram was momentous. Ferry's immediate reaction was to reinforce the army in Tonkin, and indeed Brière de l'Isle quickly revised his estimate of the situation and advised the government that the front could soon be stabilised. However, his second thoughts came too late. When his first telegram was made public in Paris there was an uproar in the Chamber of Deputies. A motion of no confidence was tabled, and Ferry's government fell on 30 March. The '
Tonkin Affair
The Tonkin Affair, (french: L'Affaire du Tonkin) named after the French protectorate of Tonkin, of March 1885 was a major French political crisis that erupted in the closing weeks of the Sino-French War. It effectively destroyed the political care ...
', as this humiliating blow to French policy in Tonkin was immediately dubbed, effectively ended Ferry's distinguished career in French politics. He would never again become premier, and his political influence during the rest of his career would be severely limited. His successor,
Henri Brisson
Eugène Henri Brisson (; 31 July 183514 April 1912) was a French statesman, Prime Minister of France for a period in 1885-1886 and again in 1898.
Biography
He was born at Bourges (Cher), and followed his father's profession of advocate. Havi ...
, promptly concluded peace with China. The Chinese government agreed to implement the Tientsin Accord (implicitly recognising the French protectorate over Tonkin), and the French government dropped its demand for an indemnity for the Bắc Lệ ambush. A peace protocol ending hostilities was signed on 4 April, and a substantive peace treaty was signed on 9 June at
Tianjin
Tianjin (; ; Mandarin: ), alternately romanized as Tientsin (), is a municipality and a coastal metropolis in Northern China on the shore of the Bohai Sea. It is one of the nine national central cities in Mainland China, with a total popul ...
by Li Hongzhang and the French minister
Jules Patenôtre.
Japan and Russia's threat to join the war against China and the Northern fleet
Japan had taken advantage of China's distraction with France to intrigue in the Chinese protectorate state of Korea. In December 1884 the Japanese sponsored the '
Gapsin Coup
The Gapsin Coup, also known as the Gapsin Revolution, was a failed three-day coup d'état that occurred in Korea during 1884. Korean reformers in the Enlightenment Party sought to initiate rapid changes within the country, including eliminatin ...
', bringing Japan and China to the brink of war. Thereafter the Qing court considered that the Japanese were a greater threat to China than the French. In January 1885 the
Empress Dowager
Empress dowager (also dowager empress or empress mother) () is the English language translation of the title given to the mother or widow of a Chinese, Japanese, Korean, or Vietnamese emperor in the Chinese cultural sphere.
The title was also g ...
directed her ministers to seek an honourable peace with France. Secret talks between the French and Chinese were held in Paris in February and March 1885, and the fall of Ferry's ministry removed the last remaining obstacles to a peace.
The Korean issue led to Japan and Russia having deteriorating relations with China, and in northern China Japan potentially threatened to join the war with France against China.
North China was menaced by the prospect of Japan and Russia joining in the war which led to China seeking a peace deal even though Chinese forces defeated the French on land.
Li Hongzhang rejected pleas for the northern Beiyang fleet to be sent south to battle the French blockade.
The Korean issue and the threat of Japan led to Li Hongzhang refusing to use the northern Beiyang fleet to fight the French who destroyed the Fuzhou fleet. Li Hongzhang also wanted to personally maintain control of the fleet by keeping it in northern China and not let it slip into the control of another party.
Final engagements
Ironically, while the war was being decided on the battlefields of Tonkin and in Paris, the Formosa expeditionary corps won two spectacular victories in March 1885. In a series of actions fought between 4 and 7 March, Colonel Duchesne broke the Chinese encirclement of
Keelung
Keelung () or Jilong () (; Hokkien POJ: '), officially known as Keelung City, is a major port city situated in the northeastern part of Taiwan. The city is a part of the Taipei–Keelung metropolitan area, along with its neighbors, New Taipe ...
with a flank attack delivered against the east of the Chinese line, capturing the key position of La Table and forcing the Chinese to withdraw behind the Keelung River. Duchesne's victory sparked a brief panic in
Taipei
Taipei (), officially Taipei City, is the capital and a special municipality of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Located in Northern Taiwan, Taipei City is an enclave of the municipality of New Taipei City that sits about southwest of the n ...
, but the French were not strong enough to advance beyond their bridgehead. The
Keelung Campaign now reached a point of equilibrium. The French were holding a virtually impregnable defensive perimeter around Keelung but could not exploit their success, while Liu Mingchuan's army remained in presence just beyond their advanced positions.
![French Soldiers in Pescadores](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3b/French_Soldiers_in_Pescadores.jpg)
However, the French had one card left to play. Duchesne's victory enabled Admiral Courbet to detach a marine infantry battalion from the Keelung garrison to capture the
Pescadores Islands in late March. Strategically, the
Pescadores campaign (1885)
The Pescadores campaign which took place in late March, 1885, was one of the last campaigns of the Sino-French War (August 1884–April 1885). It was fought to capture the Pescadores, a strategically important archipelago off the western coas ...
was an important victory, which would have prevented the Chinese from further reinforcing their army in Formosa, but it came too late to affect the outcome of the war. Future French operations were cancelled on the news of Lieutenant-Colonel Herbinger's
retreat from Lạng Sơn
The Retreat from Lạng Sơn (french: retraite de Lang-Son) was a controversial French strategic withdrawal in Tonkin at the end of March 1885 that brought down the government of the French premier Jules Ferry and brought the Sino-French War (Au ...
on 28 March, and Courbet was on the point of evacuating Keelung to reinforce the Tonkin expeditionary corps, leaving only a minimum garrison at
Makung
Magong ( POJ: ''Má-keng'') is a county-administered city and seat of Penghu County, Taiwan. Magong City is located on Penghu's main island.
Name
The settlement's temple honoring the Chinese Goddess Mazu, the deified form of Lin Monia ...
in the Pescadores, when hostilities were ended in April by the conclusion of preliminaries of peace.
The news of the peace protocol of 4 April did not reach the French and Chinese forces in Tonkin for several days, and the final engagement of the Sino-French War took place on 14 April 1885 at
Kép
Kép is a township (''Thị trấn'') of Lạng Giang District, Bắc Giang Province, in north-eastern Vietnam
Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast A ...
, where the French beat off a half-hearted Chinese attack on their positions. Meanwhile, Brière de l’Isle had reinforced the key French posts at Hưng Hóa and Chũ, and when hostilities ended in the third fortnight of April the French were standing firm against both the Guangxi and Yunnan armies. Although Brière de l'Isle was planning to attack the Yunnan Army at Phu Lam Tao to avenge the defeat of 23 March, many French officers doubted whether this offensive would have succeeded. At the same time, the Chinese armies had no prospect whatsoever of driving the French from Hưng Hóa or Chũ. Militarily, the war in Tonkin ended in a stalemate.
The peace protocol of 4 April required the Chinese to withdraw their armies from Tonkin, and the French continued to occupy Keelung and the Pescadores for several months after the end of hostilities, as a surety for Chinese good faith. Admiral Courbet fell seriously ill during this occupation, and on 11 June died aboard his flagship ''
Bayard
Bayard may refer to:
People
* Bayard (given name)
* Bayard (surname)
*Pierre Terrail, seigneur de Bayard (1473–1524) French knight
Places
* Bayard, Delaware, an unincorporated community
*Bayard (Jacksonville), Florida, a neighborhood
* Bayard ...
'' in
Makung
Magong ( POJ: ''Má-keng'') is a county-administered city and seat of Penghu County, Taiwan. Magong City is located on Penghu's main island.
Name
The settlement's temple honoring the Chinese Goddess Mazu, the deified form of Lin Monia ...
harbour. Meanwhile, the Chinese punctiliously observed the terms of the peace settlement, and by the end of June 1885 both the Yunnan and Guangxi armies had evacuated Tonkin. Liu Yongfu's Black Flag Army also withdrew from Tonkinese territory.
Continuation of insurgency
Liu Yongfu's Chinese Black Flag forces
continued to harass and fight the French in Tonkin after the end of the Sino-French War.
With support from China, Vietnamese and Chinese freebooters fought against the French in Lạng Sơn in the 1890s.
They were labelled "pirates" by the French. The Black Flags and Liu Yongfu in China received requests for assistance from Vietnamese anti-French forces.
In 1891 "Goldthwaite's Geographical Magazine, Volumes 1-2" said ''"FOUR months ago, a band of 500 pirates attacked the French residency at Chobo, in 'l‘onkin. They beheaded the French resident, ransacked and burned the town, and killed many of the people."'' In 1906 the "Decennial Reports on the Trade, Navigation, Industries, Etc., of the Ports Open to Foreign Commerce in China and Corea, and on the Condition and Development of the Treaty Port Provinces ..., Volume 2" said ''"Piracy on the Tonkin border was very prevalent in the early years of the decade. Fortified frontier posts were established in 1893 by the Tonkin Customs at the most dangerous passes into China, for the purpose of repressing contraband, the importation of arms and ammunition, and specially the illicit traflic of women, children, and cattle, which the pirates raided in Tonkin and carried beyond the Chinese mountains with impunity. These posts were eventually handed over to the military authorities."''
In 1894 "Around Tonkin and Siam" said ''"This, in my view, is too pessimist an estimate of the situation, a remark which also applies to the objection that these new roads facilitate the circulation of pirates. Defective as they may be, these roads must, it seems to me, be of service to cultivation and trade, and, therefore, in the long run to the pacification of the country."'' In 1893 "The Medical World, Volume 11" said ''"Captain Hugot, of the Zouaves, was inclose pursuit of the infamous Thuyết, one of the most redoubtable, ferocious, and cunning of the Black Flag (Annamite pirates) leaders, the man who prepared and executed the ambuscade at Hue. The captain was just about to seize the person of the young pretender Hàm-Nghi, whom the Black Flags had recently proclaimed sovereign of Armani, when he was struck by several arrows, discharged by the body-guard of Hàm-Nghi. The wounds were all light, scarcely more than scratches, and no evil effect was feared at the time. After a few days, however, in spite of every care, the captain grew weaker, and it became apparent that he was suffering from the effects of arrow poison. He was removed as quickly and as tenderly as possible to Tánh-Hóa, where he died in horrible agony a few days later, in spite of the most scientific treatment and the most assiduous attention."— National Druggist.'' The 1892 "The Imperial and Asiatic Quarterly Review and Oriental and Colonial Record" said "''The French port of Yến Long was surprised by Chinese and Annamite pirates and the troops driven out with loss."''
French attempts to secure an alliance with Japan
![SinoFrench war Japanese depiction](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/82/SinoFrench_war_Japanese_depiction.jpg)
The French were well aware of China's sensitivities regarding Japan, and as early as June 1883, in the wake of Rivière's death at Paper Bridge, began angling for an alliance with Japan to offset their precarious military position in Tonkin. The French foreign minister
Paul Challemel-Lacour
Paul-Armand Challemel-Lacour (19 May 1827 – 26 October 1896) was a French statesman.
Biography
Paul-Armand Challemel-Lacour was born in Avranches in the Manche ''département'' of northwestern France. After passing through the École Normale ...
believed that France "ought not to disdain the support which, at an appropriate moment, the attitude of Japan would be able to supply to our actions". In order to court the Japanese government, France offered to support Japan's pleas for revision of the
unequal treaties
Unequal treaty is the name given by the Chinese to a series of treaties signed during the 19th and early 20th centuries, between China (mostly referring to the Qing dynasty) and various Western powers (specifically the British Empire, France, the ...
of the
Bakumatsu
was the final years of the Edo period when the Tokugawa shogunate ended. Between 1853 and 1867, Japan ended its isolationist foreign policy known as and changed from a feudal Tokugawa shogunate to the modern empire of the Meiji government ...
era, which provided
extra-territoriality and advantageous tariffs to foreigners. Japan welcomed the offer of French support, but was reluctant to be drawn into a military alliance. Japan was in effect quite worried of the military might China represented, at least on paper, at that time. As the situation in
Annam deteriorated however, France was even more anxious to obtain Japanese help.
![Japanese corvette Amagi](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/71/Japanese_corvette_Amagi.jpg)
After French difficulties in
Taiwan
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...
, new attempts at negotiating an alliance were made with the Minister General
Campenon meeting with General
Miura Gorō
Viscount was a lieutenant general in the early Imperial Japanese Army.
Biography
Miura was born in Hagi in Chōshū Domain (modern Yamaguchi Prefecture), to a ''samurai'' family with the name of Andō, but was adopted by the Miura that was ...
, but Gorō remained ambiguous, encouraging France to continue to support Japan's drive for Treaty revision. Hopes for an alliance were reawakened in December 1884 when a clash occurred between China and Japan in
Korea
Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...
, when Japan supported the
Gapsin coup d'état by
Kim Ok-gyun
Kim Ok-gyun (김옥균; 金玉均; February 23, 1851 – March 28, 1894) was a reformist (''Gaehwapa'', 개화파) activist during the late Joseon dynasty of Korea. He served under the national civil service under King Gojong, and actively par ...
against the pro-Chinese Korean government, prompting
Jules Ferry
Jules François Camille Ferry (; 5 April 183217 March 1893) was a French statesman and republican philosopher. He was one of the leaders of the Moderate Republicans and served as Prime Minister of France from 1880 to 1881 and 1883 to 1885. He ...
to request the French ambassador in Japan
Sienkiewicz
Henryk Adam Aleksander Pius Sienkiewicz ( , ; 5 May 1846 – 15 November 1916), also known by the pseudonym Litwos (), was a Polish writer, novelist, journalist and Nobel Prize laureate. He is best remembered for his historical novels, especi ...
to approach the Japanese government with an offer. Sienkiewicz however remained extremely negative to the point of refraining from communicating Ferry's proposal. French interest faded in 1885 as the campaign in Tonkin progressed, while, on the contrary Japanese interest increased as the Japanese government and public opinion started to favour open conflict with China. The Sino-French War ended however without an alliance coming to fruition.
French officers
A number of high-ranking French officers were killed in combat, including Navy Captain (
OF-5
Ranks and insignia of NATO are combined military insignia used by the member countries of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
The rank scale is used for specifying posts within NATO.
Definitions
NATO maintains a "standard rank scale" in ...
)
Riviere and Navy Lieutenant (
OF-2
Ranks and insignia of NATO are combined military insignia used by the member countries of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
The rank scale is used for specifying posts within NATO.
Definitions
NATO maintains a "standard rank scale" in ...
)
Francis Garnier
Marie Joseph François Garnier ( vi, Ngạc Nhi; 25 July 1839 – 21 December 1873) was a French officer, inspector of Indigenous Affairs of Cochinchina and explorer. He eventually became mission leader of the Mekong Exploration Commission in 19th ...
who were subjected to beheading.
Killed in action at Bang Bo, 24 March 1885
File:Rene Normand.jpg, 2nd Lieutenant René Normand, 111th Line Battalion
File:Doctor Raynaud.jpg, Doctor Raynaud, 111th Line Battalion
File:Captain Cotter.jpg, Captain Patrick Cotter, 2nd Legion Battalion
File:Captain Brunet.jpg, Captain Brunet, 3rd Legion Battalion
Killed in action at Hoa Moc, 2 March 1885
File:Le capitaine Tailland.jpg, Captain Tailland
Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...
, killed in action at Hoa Moc, 2 March 1885
Aftermath
Political situation
Li Hongzhang and Zeng Jize were key Chinese officials in the negotiations between China, France, and Vietnam. At the time, Li was the viceroy of Zhili and chief minister of Beiyang. Zeng was the Chinese ambassador to France. Li favoured a quick settlement but Zeng talked of prolonging the war. The peace treaty of June 1885 gave the French control of Annam, the contested area of Indochina. They were obliged to evacuate Formosa and the
Pescadores
The Penghu (, Hokkien Pe̍h-ōe-jī, POJ: ''Phîⁿ-ô͘'' or ''Phêⁿ-ô͘'' ) or Pescadores Islands are an archipelago of 90 islands and islets in the Taiwan Strait, located approximately west from the main island of Taiwan, cov ...
Islands (which Courbet had wanted to retain as a French counterweight to British
Hong Kong
Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...
), but the Chinese withdrawal from Tonkin left the way clear for them to reoccupy Lạng Sơn and to advance up the Red River to Lào Cai on the Yunnan–Tonkin border. In the years that followed the French crushed a vigorous Vietnamese resistance movement and consolidated their hold on Annam and Tonkin. In 1887,
Cochinchina
Cochinchina or Cochin-China (, ; vi, Đàng Trong (17th century - 18th century, Việt Nam (1802-1831), Đại Nam (1831-1862), Nam Kỳ (1862-1945); km, កូសាំងស៊ីន, Kosăngsin; french: Cochinchine; ) is a historical exony ...
,
Annam and
Tonkin
Tonkin, also spelled ''Tongkin'', ''Tonquin'' or ''Tongking'', is an exonym referring to the northern region of Vietnam. During the 17th and 18th centuries, this term referred to the domain ''Đàng Ngoài'' under Trịnh lords' control, includi ...
(the territories which comprise the modern state of Vietnam) and
Cambodia
Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia, spanning an area of , bordered by Thailand t ...
were incorporated into
French Indochina
French Indochina (previously spelled as French Indo-China),; vi, Đông Dương thuộc Pháp, , lit. 'East Ocean under French Control; km, ឥណ្ឌូចិនបារាំង, ; th, อินโดจีนฝรั่งเศส, ...
. They were joined a few years later by
Laos
Laos (, ''Lāo'' )), officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic ( Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ, French: République démocratique populaire lao), is a socialist ...
, ceded to France by Siam at the conclusion of the
Franco-Siamese War
The Franco-Siamese War of 1893, known in Thailand as Incident of Thai solar calendar#Rattanakosin Era, R.S. 112 ( th, วิกฤตการณ์ ร.ศ. 112, , ) was a conflict between the French Third Republic and the Rattanakosin Kingdom, ...
of 1893. France dropped demands for an indemnity from China.
![French soldiers in the Tonkin circa 1890](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0c/French_soldiers_in_the_Tonkin_circa_1890.jpg)
Domestically, the unsatisfactory conclusion to the Sino-French War dampened enthusiasm for colonial conquest. The war had already destroyed Ferry's career, and his successor
Henri Brisson
Eugène Henri Brisson (; 31 July 183514 April 1912) was a French statesman, Prime Minister of France for a period in 1885-1886 and again in 1898.
Biography
He was born at Bourges (Cher), and followed his father's profession of advocate. Havi ...
also resigned in the wake of the acrimonious 'Tonkin Debate' of December 1885, in which Clemenceau and other opponents of colonial expansion nearly succeeded in securing a French withdrawal from Tonkin. In the end, the Chamber voted the 1886 credits to support the Tonkin expeditionary corps by 274 votes to 270. If only three votes had gone the other way, the French would have left Tonkin. As Thomazi would later write, 'France gained Indochina very much against its own wishes.' The reverberations of the
Tonkin Affair
The Tonkin Affair, (french: L'Affaire du Tonkin) named after the French protectorate of Tonkin, of March 1885 was a major French political crisis that erupted in the closing weeks of the Sino-French War. It effectively destroyed the political care ...
tarnished the reputation of the proponents of French colonial expansion generally, and delayed the realisation of other French colonial projects, including the conquest of Madagascar. It was not until the early 1890s that domestic political support for colonial expansion revived in France.
Military
Land
There are different interpretations for the significance of the military campaign on land. According to Bruce A. Elleman, the Chinese forces outnumbered the French, their weapons were modern, but their training was largely inferior. Although the Qing troops suffered initial losses, they also won victories (though fewer in number) and managed to push back French forces. The French withdrawal from Lang Són was seen by many as the result of panic and Qing forces captured Lang Són and its surrounding territory by April 1885. Despite this victory, after which "China’s forces... dominated the battlefield," the fighting ended on 4 April 1885 as a result of peace negotiations due to the Qing court's concerns about the economy, French naval supremacy, lack of foreign support, and northern threats posed by Russia and Japan. The call for peace seemed unbelievable to some Chinese contemporaries given the Chinese successes immediately prior. Ban Zhao, a front-line commander, reported that his subordinates begged for them to continue their attack. Many other commanders and officers in the south as well as the governor-general of Guangdong-Guangxi, Zhang Zhidong, protested the end of the war. In Taiwan, the French succeeded in occupying Keelung in the north but failed to advance any further after seven months. Henri Cordier described both Keelung and Tamsui as worthless places.
Chinese sources often condemn the final peace agreement and emphasize the immediate Chinese victories prior. According to Loyd Eastman, this interpretation fails to account for the overall situation of China, which had to contend with Russian and Japanese threats in the north, the critical situation in Taiwan, and weak supply lines in the south. Eastman claims that fear of conflict with Japan was the deciding factor in the Qing court's decision to sue for peace.
[Eastman, 199-200] Elleman states that although "China's forces in Tonkin achieved some notable land victories against the French," it became clear China would not receive any foreign assistance, and this forced Beijing to open negotiations. In the final treaty on 9 June 1885, China affirmed Annam's status as a French protectorate and allowed French firms to trade directly in China's southern provinces, promising to open five ports in the following years. Although no indemnity was paid, China accrued 20 million taels in debt for the war effort, and lost another 100 million taels in economic losses. As a result, Elleman deemed China to have lost the war by any modern standard.
Jane E. Elliott suggests that contemporary Chinese and foreign analysts may have been correct in finding the final peace treaty amusing as the Chinese seemed to be ascendant. Elliott notes that Western scholarly sources fail to give straightforward reasons and detailed descriptions of Chinese victories. Chinese victories were attributed to French mismanagement or misjudgement, the climate, and the difficulties of logistics. However the same problems also existed for the Chinese.
Francis Garnier
Marie Joseph François Garnier ( vi, Ngạc Nhi; 25 July 1839 – 21 December 1873) was a French officer, inspector of Indigenous Affairs of Cochinchina and explorer. He eventually became mission leader of the Mekong Exploration Commission in 19th ...
,
Henri Rivière, and many senior French officers died in the war. In many instances, the French were only able to hold on to forts in Vietnam and Taiwan for a limited time before retreating. The French succeeded in capturing Keelung in Taiwan but failed to take Tamsui. These limited successes and failures may have appeared to indicate both French victory in France and French defeat in China. Elliott notes that contemporary European sources were adverse to reporting French losses and glossed over mistakes made on the French side. Accounts of battles were manipulated to consistently portray the French as superior and never definitively losing, so that the Chinese never won except in instances of French error. Even recent work "perpetuates the myth that the French defeated the Chinese easily." The land campaign of the Sino-French War has been described as a French defeat and a Chinese victory.
Navy
As far as China was concerned, the war hastened the emergence of a strong nationalist movement, and was a significant step in the decline of the Qing empire. The loss of the Fujian fleet on 23 August 1884 was considered particularly humiliating. The Chinese strategy also demonstrated the flaws in the late Qing national defence system of independent regional armies and fleets. The military and naval commanders in the south received no assistance from Li Hongzhang's Northern Seas (
Beiyang
The term Beiyang (; pinyin: Běiyáng; Wade-Giles: Peiyang) literally means Northern Ocean.Nanyang
Nanyang is the romanization of two common Chinese place names. It may refer to:
Written as 南洋 (Southern Ocean)
* Nanyang (region), a Chinese term denoting the Southeast Asian lands surrounding the South China Sea
;China
* Nanyang Fleet, Qing ...
) fleet at Shanghai. The excuse given, that these forces were needed to deter a Japanese penetration of Korea, was not convincing. The truth was, that having built up a respectable steam navy at considerable expense, the Chinese were reluctant to hazard it in battle, even though concentrating their forces would have given them the best chance of challenging France's local naval superiority. The
Empress Dowager Cixi
Empress Dowager Cixi ( ; mnc, Tsysi taiheo; formerly Romanization of Chinese, romanised as Empress Dowager T'zu-hsi; 29 November 1835 – 15 November 1908), of the Manchu people, Manchu Nara (clan)#Yehe Nara, Yehe Nara clan, was a Chinese nob ...
and her advisers responded in October 1885 by establishing a Navy Yamen on the model of the admiralties of the European powers, to provide unified direction of naval policy. The benefits of this reform were largely nullified by corruption, and although China acquired a number of modern ships in the decade after the Sino-French War, the Chinese navies remained handicapped by incompetent leadership. The bulk of China's steamship fleet was destroyed or captured in the
Sino–Japanese War (1894–95), and for decades thereafter, China ceased to be a naval power of any importance.
Historians have judged the Qing dynasty's vulnerability and weakness to foreign imperialism in the 19th century to be based mainly on its maritime naval weakness, the historian Edward L. Dreyer said that "Meanwhile, new but not exactly modern Chinese armies suppressed the mid century rebellions, bluffed Russia into a peaceful settlement of disputed frontiers in Central Asia, and defeated the French forces on land in the Sino-French War (1884–85). However the defeat of the fleet, and the resulting threat to steamship traffic to Taiwan, forced China to conclude peace on unfavorable terms."
See also
*
France–Asia relations
*
Franco-Siamese War
The Franco-Siamese War of 1893, known in Thailand as Incident of Thai solar calendar#Rattanakosin Era, R.S. 112 ( th, วิกฤตการณ์ ร.ศ. 112, , ) was a conflict between the French Third Republic and the Rattanakosin Kingdom, ...
of 1893
References
Citations
Sources
* Armengaud, J., ''Lang-Son: journal des opérations qui ont précédé et suivi la prise de cette citadelle'' (Paris, 1901)
* Bonifacy, ''A propos d’une collection des peintures chinoises représentant diverse épisodes de la guerre franco-chinoise de 1884–1885'' (Hanoi, 1931)
* Chere, L. M., 'The Hong Kong Riots of October 1884: Evidence for Chinese Nationalism?', ''Journal of the Hong Kong Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society'', 20 (1980), 54–6
* Chere, L. M., ''The Diplomacy of the Sino-French War (1883–1885): Global Complications of an Undeclared War'' (Notre Dame, 1988)
* Clodfelter, M. (2017). Warfare and Armed Conflicts: A Statistical Encyclopedia of Casualty and Other Figures, 1492–2015 (4th ed.). Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland.
* Duboc, E., ''Trente cinq mois de campagne en Chine, au Tonkin'' (Paris, 1899)
* Eastman, L., ''Throne and Mandarins: China's Search for a Policy during the Sino-French Controversy'' (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1967)
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*
* Garnot, ''L'expédition française de Formose, 1884–1885'' (Paris, 1894)
* Harmant, J., ''La verité sur la retraite de Lang-Son'' (Paris, 1892)
* Huard, L., ''La guerre du Tonkin'' (Paris, 1887)
* Lecomte, J., ''Le guet-apens de Bac-Lé'' (Paris, 1890)
* Lecomte, J., ''Lang-Son: combats, retraite et négociations'' (Paris, 1895)
* Loir, M., ''L'escadre de l'amiral Courbet'' (Paris, 1886)
* Lung Chang
章 ''Yueh-nan yu Chung-fa chan-cheng''
南與中法戰爭, Vietnam and the Sino-French War(Taipei, 1993)
* Marolles, Vice-amiral de, ''La dernière campagne du Commandant Henri Rivière'' (Paris, 1932)
* Randier, J., ''La Royale'' (La Falaise, 2006)
* Bernard, H., ''L'Amiral Henri Rieunier (1833–1918) Ministre de la Marine – La Vie extraordinaire d'un grand marin'' (
Biarritz
Biarritz ( , , , ; Basque also ; oc, Biàrritz ) is a city on the Bay of Biscay, on the Atlantic coast in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in the French Basque Country in southwestern France. It is located from the border with Spain. ...
, 2005)
* Thomazi, A., ''La conquête de l'Indochine'' (Paris, 1934)
* Thomazi, A., ''Histoire militaire de l'Indochine française'' (Hanoi, 1931)
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Further reading
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* (Original from the University of California)
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External links
''Times'' 1883 about Franco-Chinese war
{{Authority control
1882 in China
1882 in France
1882 in Vietnam
1883 in China
1883 in France
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1884 in China
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China–France military relations
Conflicts in 1884
Conflicts in 1885
Military history of Taiwan
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Wars involving France
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