The Treaty of Versailles of 1787 was a treaty of alliance signed between the French king

Louis XVI Louis XVI (''Louis-Auguste''; ; 23 August 175421 January 1793) was the last King of France before the fall of the monarchy during the French Revolution. He was referred to as ''Citizen Louis Capet'' during the four months just before he was ...

and the Vietnamese lord Nguyễn Ánh, the future Emperor Gia Long. Nguyễn Ánh, whose family, the Nguyễn family, had been decimated by the Tây Sơn rebellion when he was 16 or 17, received the protection and aid of the French Catholic priest Pigneau de Béhaine, titular bishop of Adran. In order to obtain support for Nguyễn Ánh's cause, Pigneau de Béhaine went to France in 1787 as the "special envoy of the king of Nam Hà",''A History of Vietnam'' by Oscar Chapuis, p.175
/ref> accompanied by Nguyễn Ánh's older son,

Nguyễn Phúc Cảnh Nguyễn Phúc Cảnh (1780–1801), also known as Prince Cảnh, was the eldest son of the Vietnamese Prince Nguyễn Phúc Ánh, the future Emperor Gia Long. At the age of seven, he famously visited France with the French Catholic Father Pignea ...

, who was then seven years old, as a token of Pigneau's authority to negotiate in the name of Nguyễn Ánh.''Dragon Ascending'' by Henry Kamm p.86
/ref> The 1787 Treaty of Versailles was signed on November 21, 1787, by Montmorin, Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Navy, and Pigneau de Béhaine, as the representative of Nguyễn Ánh. In return for the treaty, Nguyễn Ánh promised to cede Pulo-Condore to the French and to give a concession to the French in

Tourane Nang or DanangSee also Danang Dragons ( ; vi, Đà Nẵng, ) is a class-1 municipality and the fifth-largest city in Vietnam by municipal population. It lies on the coast of the East Sea of Vietnam at the mouth of the Hàn River, and is o ...

(modern Dà Nãng), as well exclusive trading rights. Louis XVI promised to help Nguyễn Ánh to regain the throne, by supplying 1,650 troops (1,200 Kaffir troops, 200 artillery men and 250 black soldiers) on four

frigates A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied somewhat. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and ...

. That treaty marks the beginning of French influence in Indochina, but the Governor of

Pondicherry Pondicherry (), now known as Puducherry ( French: Pondichéry ʊdʊˈtʃɛɹi(listen), on-dicherry, is the capital and the most populous city of the Union Territory of Puducherry in India. The city is in the Puducherry district on the sout ...

, Count de Conway, who was given authority to decide on the actual implementation of the Treaty, refused to follow through with it, leaving Pigneau de Béhaine to his own means. In spite of these inconveniences, between 1789 and 1799 a French force mustered by Pigneau de Béhaine managed to support Gia Long in acquiring sway over the whole of Vietnam.''A History of Vietnam'' by Oscar Chapuis, 173-179 The French trained Vietnamese troops, established a navy, and built fortifications in the Vauban style, such as the

Citadel of Saigon The Citadel of Saigon ( vi, Thành Sài Gòn ) also known as the Citadel of Gia Định ( vi, Thành Gia Định ) was a late 18th-century fortress that stood in Saigon (also known in the 19th century as Gia Định, now Ho Chi Minh City), Viet ...

. Several of these French adventurers would remain in high positions in the government of Gia Long such as Philippe Vannier, Jean-Baptiste Chaigneau, de Forçant and the doctor

Jean Marie Despiau Jean Marie Despiau (?–1824), also spelled Jean-Marie Despiaux (J. M. Despiaux for short), was a French physician, later a mandarin of Nguyễn dynasty, Vietnam. Born in Bazas, Gironde. He arrived in Cochinchina from Macau in 1795. He became ...

Notes

References

* Mantienne, Frédéric 1999 ''Monseigneur Pigneau de Béhaine'', Editions Eglises d'Asie, 128 Rue du Bac, Paris, {{DEFAULTSORT:Versailles 1787 in Vietnam 1787 treaties Treaties of the Kingdom of France Treaties of the Nguyen dynasty France–Vietnam relations 1787 in France Versailles