Cochinchina or Cochin-China (, ; ; ; ; ) is a historical
exonym
An endonym (also known as autonym ) is a common, name for a group of people, individual person, geographical place, language, or dialect, meaning that it is used inside a particular group or linguistic community to identify or designate them ...
for part of
Vietnam
Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...
, depending on the contexts, usually for
Southern Vietnam
Southern Vietnam () is one of the three geographical regions of Vietnam, the other two being Northern and Central Vietnam. It includes 2 administrative subregions, which in turn are divided into 19 ''First Tier units'', of which 17 are provi ...
. Sometimes it referred to the whole of Vietnam, but it was commonly used to refer to the region south of the
Gianh River
The Gianh River () is a river in the Quảng Bình Province of Vietnam's North Central Coast (Bắc Trung Bộ). The river is in length.
It was the border between ruling families during the partition of Vietnam following the Trịnh–Nguyễn ...
.
In the 17th and 18th centuries, Vietnam was divided between the
Trịnh lords Trịnh is a Vietnamese family name
In many societies, a surname, family name, or last name is the mostly hereditary portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family. It is typically combined with a given name to form the full na ...
to the north and the
Nguyễn lords
The Nguyễn lords (, 主阮; 1558–1777, 1780–1802), also known as the Nguyễn clan (; ), were Nguyễn dynasty's forerunner and a feudal noble clan ruling southern Đại Việt in the Revival Lê dynasty. The Nguyễn lords were membe ...
to the south. The two domains bordered each other on the
Son River
Sone River, also spelt Son River, is a perennial river located in central India. It originates near Amarkantak Hill in Pendra (Gaurela-Pendra-Marwahi district), Chhattisgarh and finally merges with the Ganges river near Maner in Patna, Biha ...
. The northern section was called
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, including both the ...
by Europeans, and the southern part, , was called Cochinchina by most Europeans and Quinam by the
Dutch
Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands
** Dutch people as an ethnic group ()
** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship ()
** Dutch language ()
* In specific terms, i ...
.
Jean-Louis Taberd
Jean-Louis Taberd (1794–1840) was a French missionary of the Paris Foreign Missions Society, and titular bishop of Isauropolis, '' in partibus infidelium''.
Career
Born in Saint-Étienne, Jean-Louis Taberd was ordained priest in Lyon in 18 ...
, in his 1838 map, called
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, including both the ...
as "Cocincina exterior" () and "Cochin China" as "Cocincina interior" (). In this classic 1838 map, the
Gianh River
The Gianh River () is a river in the Quảng Bình Province of Vietnam's North Central Coast (Bắc Trung Bộ). The river is in length.
It was the border between ruling families during the partition of Vietnam following the Trịnh–Nguyễn ...
is north of "Lũy Sầy" (an incorrect pronunciation and spelling of "Lũy Thầy") demarcating "Cocincina exterior" (or "Outer Annam") from "Cocincina interior" (or "Inner Annam"). A small river immediately north of "Lũy Sầy", drawn but not annotated, was likely the
Son River
Sone River, also spelt Son River, is a perennial river located in central India. It originates near Amarkantak Hill in Pendra (Gaurela-Pendra-Marwahi district), Chhattisgarh and finally merges with the Ganges river near Maner in Patna, Biha ...
, a tributary to the
Gianh River
The Gianh River () is a river in the Quảng Bình Province of Vietnam's North Central Coast (Bắc Trung Bộ). The river is in length.
It was the border between ruling families during the partition of Vietnam following the Trịnh–Nguyễn ...
.
Lower Cochinchina (), whose principal city is
Saigon
Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) ('','' TP.HCM; ), commonly known as Saigon (; ), is the most populous city in Vietnam with a population of around 14 million in 2025.
The city's geography is defined by rivers and canals, of which the largest is Saigo ...
, is the newest territory of the Vietnamese people in the movement of (Southward expansion). This region was also the first part of Vietnam to be colonized by the French. Inaugurated as the
French Cochinchina
French Cochinchina (sometimes spelled ''Cochin-China''; ; , chữ Hán: ) was a colony of French Indochina from 1862 to 1949, encompassing what is now Southern Vietnam. The French operated a plantation economy whose primary strategic product wa ...
in 1862, this colonial administrative unit reached its full extent from 1867 and was a constituent territory of
French Indochina
French Indochina (previously spelled as French Indo-China), officially known as the Indochinese Union and after 1941 as the Indochinese Federation, was a group of French dependent territories in Southeast Asia from 1887 to 1954. It was initial ...
from 1887 until early 1945. So during the French colonial period, the label ''Cochinchina'' moved further south, and came to refer exclusively to the southernmost part of Vietnam. Beside the French colony of Cochinchina, the two other parts of Vietnam at the time were the French protectorates of
Annam (Central Vietnam) 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, including both the ...
(Northern Vietnam).
South Vietnam
South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam (RVN; , VNCH), was a country in Southeast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975. It first garnered Diplomatic recognition, international recognition in 1949 as the State of Vietnam within the ...
(also called ) was reorganized from the
State of Vietnam
The State of Vietnam (; chữ Hán: 國家越南; ) was a state in Southeast Asia that existed from 1949 until 1955, first as an associated state of the French Union and later as an independent state (from 20 July 1954 to 26 October 1955). The s ...
after the
Geneva Conference in 1954 by combining Lower Cochinchina with the southern part of Annam, the former protectorate.
Background

The conquest of the south of present-day Vietnam was a long process of territorial acquisition by the Vietnamese. It is called ''
Nam tiến
(; vi-hantu, 南進; lit. "southward advance" or "march to the south") is a historiographical concept that describes the historic southward expansion of the territory of Vietnamese dynasties' dominions and ethnic Kinh people from the 11th to ...
'' (Chinese characters:
南
南 may refer to:
*Nan (surname), Chinese surname
*Nam (Korean surname)
*Minami (name), Japanese feminine given name
See also
*
* Nam-gu (disambiguation), various districts in South Korea
*南山 (disambiguation) ("south mountain")
*南海 (disam ...
進, English meaning "South
rnAdvance") by Vietnamese historians. Vietnam (then known as
Đại Việt
Đại Việt (, ; literally Great Việt), was a Vietnamese monarchy in eastern Mainland Southeast Asia from the 10th century AD to the early 19th century, centered around the region of present-day Hanoi. Its early name, Đại Cồ Việt,(ch ...
) greatly expanded its territory in 1470 under the emperor
Lê Thánh Tông
Lê Thánh Tông (黎聖宗; 25 August 1442 – 3 March 1497), personal name Lê Hạo, temple name Thánh Tông, courtesy name Tư Thành, was an emperor of Đại Việt, reigning from 1460 to 1497, the fifth and the longest-reigning empero ...
, at the expense of
Champa
Champa (Cham language, Cham: ꨌꩌꨛꨩ, چمڤا; ; 占城 or 占婆) was a collection of independent Chams, Cham Polity, polities that extended across the coast of what is present-day Central Vietnam, central and southern Vietnam from ...
. The next two hundred years was a time of territorial consolidation and civil war with only gradual expansion southwards.
In 1516,
Portuguese traders sailing from
Malacca
Malacca (), officially the Historic State of Malacca (), is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state in Malaysia located in the Peninsular Malaysia#Other features, southern region of the Malay Peninsula, facing the Strait of Malacca ...
landed in
Da Nang
Da Nang or DanangSee also Danang Dragons (, ) is the fifth-largest city in Vietnam by municipal population. It lies on the coast of the Western Pacific Ocean of Vietnam at the mouth of the Hàn River, and is one of Vietnam's most important p ...
, Đại Việt,
and established a presence there. They named the area "Cochin-China", borrowing the first part from the Malay ''Kuchi'', ''Kochi'', ''Kuci'', or ''Koci'' (unrelated to Indian or Japanese cities of
Kochi
Kochi ( , ), List of renamed Indian cities and states#Kerala, formerly known as Cochin ( ), is a major port city along the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea. It is part of the Ernakulam district, district of Ernakulam in the ...
), which referred to all of
Vietnam
Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...
, and which in turn derived from the Chinese ''
Jiāozhǐ
Jiaozhi (standard Chinese, pinyin: ''Jiāozhǐ''), or
,
was a historical region ruled by various Chinese dynasties, corresponding to present-day northern Vietnam. The kingdom of Nanyue (204–111 BC) set up the Jiaozhi Commandery (; , chữ ...
'', in
Cantonese
Cantonese is the traditional prestige variety of Yue Chinese, a Sinitic language belonging to the Sino-Tibetan language family. It originated in the city of Guangzhou (formerly known as Canton) and its surrounding Pearl River Delta. While th ...
''Kawci'', pronounced ''Giao Chỉ'' in Vietnam. They appended the "China" specifier to distinguish the area from the
city
A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...
and the
princely state of Cochin in India, their first headquarters in the
Malabar Coast
The Malabar Coast () is the southwestern region of the Indian subcontinent. It generally refers to the West Coast of India, western coastline of India stretching from Konkan to Kanyakumari. Geographically, it comprises one of the wettest regio ...
.
As a result of a civil war that started in 1520, the Emperor of China sent a commission to study the political status of Annam in 1536. As a consequence of the delivered report, he declared war against the
Mạc dynasty
The Mạc dynasty (; Hán-Nôm: 茹 莫/ 朝 莫) (1527–1677), officially Đại Việt (Chữ Hán: 大越), was a Vietnamese dynasty which ruled over a unified Vietnam between 1527 and 1540, and northern Vietnam from 1540 until 1593. The M ...
. The nominal ruler of the Mạc died at the very time that the Chinese armies passed the frontiers of the kingdom in 1537, and his father,
Mạc Đăng Dung
Mạc Đăng Dung (chữ Hán : 莫 登 庸; 23 November 1483 – 22 August 1541), also known by his temple name Mạc Thái Tổ (), was an emperor of Vietnam and the founder of the Mạc dynasty. Previously a captain of the imperial guard (Pra ...
(the real power in any case), hurried to submit to the Imperial will, and declared himself to be a vassal of China. The Chinese declared that both the
Lê dynasty
The Lê dynasty, also known in historiography as the Later Lê dynasty (, chữ Hán: 朝後黎, chữ Nôm: 茹後黎), officially Đại Việt (; Chữ Hán: 大越), was the longest-ruling List of Vietnamese dynasties, Vietnamese dynasty, h ...
and the Mạc had a right to part of the lands and so they recognised the Lê rule in the southern part of Vietnam while at the same time recognising the Mạc rule in the northern part, which was called
Tunquin (i.e. Tonkin). This was to be a feudatory state of China under the government of the Mạc.
However, this arrangement did not last long. In 1592,
Trịnh Tùng
Trịnh Tùng (19 December 1550 – 17 July 1623), also known as Trịnh Tòng and later given the title ''Bình An Vương'' (平安王), was the de facto ruler of Đại Việt from 1572 to 1623. Trịnh Tùng is the first official Trịnh lord, ...
, leading the Royal (Trịnh) army, conquered nearly all of the Mạc territory and moved the Lê kings back to the original capital of
Hanoi
Hanoi ( ; ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Vietnam, second-most populous city of Vietnam. The name "Hanoi" translates to "inside the river" (Hanoi is bordered by the Red River (Asia), Red and Black River (Asia), Black Riv ...
. The Mạc only held on to a tiny part of north Vietnam until 1667, when
Trịnh Tạc
Trịnh Tạc ( Hán: 鄭 柞; 11 April 1606 – 24 September 1682) ruled northern Dai Viet in 1657–1682.
Trịnh Tạc was one of the most successful of the Trịnh lords to rule northern Vietnam. During his rule, he made peace with the Nguy� ...
conquered the last Mạc lands.
Cochinchina Kingdom of the Nguyen lords (1600–1774)
In 1600 after returning from Tonkin, lord
Nguyễn Hoàng
Nguyễn Hoàng (28 August 1525 – 20 July 1613) was a Vietnamese official who ruled southern Vietnam from 1558 to his death in 1613. As the first of the Nguyễn lords, he established a powerful state that contested rule over Vietnam for the ne ...
built his own government in the two southern provinces of Thuận Hóa and Quảng Nam, today in central Vietnam. In 1623, lord
Nguyễn Phúc Nguyên
Nguyễn Phúc Nguyên (阮福源; 16 August 1563 – 19 November 1635), temple name Nguyễn Hy Tông, was the second of the Nguyễn lords, ruling all of southern Vietnam from 1613 to 1635. During his time in office, the Nguyễn lords establ ...
established a trading community at
Saigon
Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) ('','' TP.HCM; ), commonly known as Saigon (; ), is the most populous city in Vietnam with a population of around 14 million in 2025.
The city's geography is defined by rivers and canals, of which the largest is Saigo ...
, then called Prey Nakor, with the consent of the king of Cambodia,
Chey Chettha II
Chey Chestha II (Khmer:, ជ័យជេស្ឋាទី២), (Siam call: Chey Chettha II) was the Cambodian king ruled from 1618 to 1627. After the official coronation ceremony in Lavea Em, in 2162 BE, 1618 AD, Maha Sakarach 1541, His full nam ...
. Over the next 50 years, Vietnamese control slowly expanded in this area but only gradually as the Nguyễn were fighting a protracted
civil war with the Trịnh lords in the north.
With the end of the war with the Trịnh, the Nguyễn were able to devote more effort (and military force) to conquest of the south. First, the remaining Champa territories were taken; next, the areas around the
Mekong
The Mekong or Mekong River ( , ) is a transboundary river in East Asia and Southeast Asia. It is the world's twelfth-longest river and the third-longest in Asia with an estimated length of and a drainage area of , discharging of wat ...
river were placed under Vietnamese control. At least three wars were fought between the
Nguyễn lords
The Nguyễn lords (, 主阮; 1558–1777, 1780–1802), also known as the Nguyễn clan (; ), were Nguyễn dynasty's forerunner and a feudal noble clan ruling southern Đại Việt in the Revival Lê dynasty. The Nguyễn lords were membe ...
and the Cambodian kings in the period 1715 to 1770 with the Vietnamese gaining more territory with each war. The wars all involved the much more powerful
Siamese kings who fought on behalf of their vassals, the Cambodians.
During the late 18th century emerged the
Tây Sơn Rebellion, coming out from the Nguyễn domain. In 1774, the Trịnh army captured the capital
Phú Xuân
Phú Xuân (富春) was the historic capital of the Nguyễn lords, the Tây Sơn dynasty, and later became the Nguyễn dynasty's capital (renamed Huế).
History
In 1306, the King of Champa Chế Mân offered Vietnam two Chăm prefectures, Ô ...
of the Nguyễn realm, whose leaders then had to flee to Lower Cochinchina. The three brothers of Tây Sơn, former peasants, however, soon succeeded in conquering first the lands of the Nguyễn and then the lands of the Trịnh, briefly unifying Vietnam.
;Cochinchina Empire of the Nguyễn (1802–1862)
Final unification of Vietnam came under
Nguyễn Phúc Ánh
Gia Long (Chữ hán: 嘉隆) ( (''North''), (''South''); 8 February 1762 – 3 February 1820), born Nguyễn Phúc Ánh (阮福暎) or Nguyễn Ánh (阮暎), was the founding emperor of the Nguyễn dynasty, the last dynasty of Vietnam, whi ...
, a tenacious member of the Nguyễn noble family who fought for 25 years against the Tây Sơn and ultimately conquered the entire country in 1802. He ruled all of Vietnam under the name Gia Long. His son
Minh Mạng
Minh Mạng (), also known as Minh Mệnh (, vi-hantu, 明 命, lit. "the bright favour of Heaven"; 25 May 1791 – 20 January 1841; born Nguyễn Phúc Đảm, also known as Nguyễn Phúc Kiểu), was the second emperor of the Nguyễ ...
reigned from 14 February 1820 until 20 January 1841 what was known to the British as Cochin China and to the Americans as hyphenated Cochin-China. In hopes of negotiating commercial treaties, the British in 1822 sent
East India Company
The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company that was founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to Indian Ocean trade, trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (South A ...
agent
John Crawfurd
John Crawfurd (13 August 1783 – 11 May 1868) was a British physician, colonial administrator, diplomat and writer who served as the second and last resident of Singapore.
Early life
He was born on Islay, in Argyll, Scotland, the son of Sam ...
,
and the Americans in 1833 sent
diplomatist Edmund Roberts,
who returned in 1836.
Neither envoy was fully cognizant of conditions within the country, and neither succeeded.
Gia Long's successors (see the
Nguyễn dynasty
The Nguyễn dynasty (, chữ Nôm: 茹阮, chữ Hán: 朝阮) was the last List of Vietnamese dynasties, Vietnamese dynasty, preceded by the Nguyễn lords and ruling unified Vietnam independently from 1802 until French protectorate in 1883 ...
for details) repelled the Siamese from Cambodia and even annexed
Phnom Penh
Phnom Penh is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Cambodia, most populous city of Cambodia. It has been the national capital since 1865 and has grown to become the nation's primate city and its political, economic, industr ...
and surrounding territory in the
war between 1831 and 1834, but were forced to relinquish these conquests in the
war between 1841 and 1845.
Colonial Cochinchina: 1862–1945
French conquest
For a series of complex reasons, the
Second French Empire
The Second French Empire, officially the French Empire, was the government of France from 1852 to 1870. It was established on 2 December 1852 by Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte, president of France under the French Second Republic, who proclaimed hi ...
of
Napoleon III
Napoleon III (Charles-Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was President of France from 1848 to 1852 and then Emperor of the French from 1852 until his deposition in 1870. He was the first president, second emperor, and last ...
, with the help of
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas
**Spanish cuisine
**Spanish history
**Spanish culture
...
troops arriving from the
Spanish East Indies
The Spanish East Indies were the colonies of the Spanish Empire in Asia-Pacific, Asia and Oceania from 1565 to 1901, governed through the Captaincy General of the Philippines, captaincy general in Manila for the Monarchy of Spain, Spanish Crown, i ...
, attacked
Đà Nẵng
Da Nang or DanangSee also Danang Dragons (, ) is the list of cities in Vietnam, fifth-largest city in Vietnam by municipal population. It lies on the coast of the Western Pacific Ocean of Vietnam at the mouth of the Hàn River (Vietnam), Hàn R ...
(Tourane) of
Nguyen Dynasty Vietnam in September 1858. Unable to occupy Đà Nẵng, the alliance moved to
Lower Cochinchina in the South. On 17 February 1859, they
captured Saigon
Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) ('','' TP.HCM; ), commonly known as Saigon (; ), is the most populous city in Vietnam with a population of around 14 million in 2025.
The city's geography is defined by rivers and canals, of which the largest is Saigo ...
. Later on, the French defeated the Nguyễn army at the
Battle of Ky Hoa
A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...
in 1861. The
Vietnamese government
The Government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (; less formally the Vietnamese Government or the Government of Vietnam, ) is the cabinet and the central executive arm of the state administration of Vietnam. The members of the Governmen ...
was forced to cede the three southern Vietnamese provinces of
Biên Hòa
Biên Hòa (Northern accent: , Southern accent: ) is the capital city of Đồng Nai Province, Vietnam, and is part of the Ho Chi Minh City metropolitan area. Situated northeast of Ho Chi Minh City (also known as Saigon), Biên Hòa is connect ...
,
Gia Định
''Gia'' is a 1998 American biographical drama television film about the life and times of one of the first supermodels, Gia Carangi. The film stars Angelina Jolie as Gia and Faye Dunaway as Wilhelmina Cooper, with Mercedes Ruehl and Eliza ...
and
Định Tường to France in the June 1862
Treaty of Saigon Treaty of Saigon may refer to:
* Treaty of Saigon (1862), between France and Vietnam
* Treaty of Saigon (1874), between France and Vietnam
{{dab ...
.
In 1867, French Admiral Pierre de la Grandière forced the Vietnamese to surrender three additional provinces,
Châu Đốc
Châu Đốc is a city in An Giang Province, bordering Cambodia, in the Mekong Delta region of Vietnam. As of 2019, the city had a population of 101,765, and cover an area of .
The city is located by the Hậu River (a branch of the Mekong Ri ...
,
Hà Tiên
Hà Tiên is a Provincial city (Vietnam), provincial city in Kiên Giang Province, Mekong Delta in Vietnam. Its area is and the population as of 2019 is 81,576. The city borders Cambodia to the west. Hà Tiên is a tourist site of the region th ...
and
Vĩnh Long
Vĩnh Long ɨn˨˩˦:lawŋ˧˧is a city and the capital of Vĩnh Long Province in Vietnam's Mekong Delta. Geography
Vĩnh Long covers and has a population of 200,120 (as of 2018). The name was spelled 永 隆 ("eternal prosperity") in the form ...
. With these three additions all of southern Vietnam and the Mekong Delta fell under French control.
French colony
In 1871 all the territories ceded to the French in southern Vietnam were incorporated as colony of Cochinchina, with Admiral
Dupré Dupré is a French language, French name that literally means "from the meadow (:fr :Prairie_(agriculture), "pré" in French)", or "from Prez, Ardennes, Prez". Also existing variants are Duprée, DuPree, Deupree, DePrez, Dupres, Duprez, Düpre and D ...
as its first governor. As a result, the name "Cochinchina" came to refer exclusively to the southern third of Vietnam. (In Catholic ecclesiastical contexts Cochinchina still related to the older meaning of ''Đàng Trong'' until 1924 when the three
Apostolic Vicariates
An apostolic vicariate is a territorial jurisdiction of the Catholic Church under a titular bishop centered in missionary regions and countries where dioceses or parishes have not yet been established. The status of apostolic vicariate is often ...
of Northern, Eastern, and Western Cochinchina were renamed to Apostolic Vicariates of
Huế
Huế (formerly Thừa Thiên Huế province) is the southernmost coastal Municipalities of Vietnam, city in the North Central Coast region, the Central Vietnam, Central of Vietnam, approximately in the center of the country. It borders Quảng ...
,
Qui Nhơn
Quy Nhon ( ) is a coastal city in Bình Định province in central Vietnam. It is composed of 16 wards and five communes with a total of . Quy Nhon was the capital of the former Bình Định province. As of 2022 its population was 481.110. H ...
, and
Saïgon).
In 1887, the colony became a confederal member of the
Union of French Indochina. Unlike the protectorates of
Annam (central Vietnam) 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, including both the ...
(northern Vietnam), Cochinchina was ruled directly by the French, both ''de jure'' and ''de facto'', and was represented by a deputy in the
National Assembly
In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...
in Paris. Within Indochina, Cochinchina was the territory with the greatest European presence. At its height, in 1940, it was estimated at 16,550 people, the vast majority living in Saigon.
The French authorities dispossessed Vietnamese landowners and peasants to ensure European control of the expansion of rice and rubber production. As they expanded in response to the increased rubber demand after the
First World War
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, the European plantations recruited, as indentured labour, workers from "the overcrowded villages of the
Red River Delta
The Red River Delta or Hong River Delta () is the flat low-lying plain formed by the Red River and its distributaries merging with the Thái Bình River in Northern Vietnam. ''Hồng'' (紅) is a Sino-Vietnamese word for "red" or "crimson". T ...
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, including both the ...
and the coastal lowlands of
Annam". These migrants brought south the influence of the
Communist Party of Nguyen Ai Quoc (
Ho Chi Minh
(born ; 19 May 1890 – 2 September 1969), colloquially known as Uncle Ho () among other aliases and sobriquets, was a Vietnamese revolutionary and politician who served as the founder and first President of Vietnam, president of the ...
), and of other underground nationalist parties (the ''Tan Viet'' and ''
Việt Nam Quốc Dân Đảng
The Việt Nam Quốc Dân Đảng (; chữ Hán: ; ), abbreviated VNQDĐ or Việt Quốc, was a nationalist and democratic socialist political party that sought independence from French colonial rule in Vietnam during the early 20th century ...
'' – VNQDD). At the same time, the local peasantry were driven into debt servitude, and into plantation labour, by land and
poll taxes
A poll tax, also known as head tax or capitation, is a tax levied as a fixed sum on every liable individual (typically every adult), without reference to income or resources. ''Poll'' is an archaic term for "head" or "top of the head". The sen ...
. Such conditions contributed to the
1916 Cochinchina uprising
The 1916 Cochinchina uprising () was a series of defiant protests and attempted revolts in February against the French Indochina, French authority of southern Vietnam, which had been the colony of French Cochinchina, Cochinchina Cochinchina campai ...
, and to widespread agrarian and labor unrest in 1930-32.
In 1936 the formation in France of the
Popular Front government led by
Leon Blum
Leon, Léon (French) or León (Spanish) may refer to:
Places
Europe
* León, Spain, capital city of the Province of León
* Province of León, Spain
* Kingdom of León, an independent state in the Iberian Peninsula from 910 to 1230 and again fro ...
was accompanied by promises of colonial reform. Failure to deliver, helped generate further unrest culminating in the summer of 1937 in general dock and transport strikes. The left anti-colonial forces split between the Moscow-oriented
Communist Party and their
Trotskyist left opposition
Trotskyism (, ) is the political ideology and branch of Marxism developed by Russian revolutionary and intellectual Leon Trotsky along with some other members of the Left Opposition and the Fourth International. Trotsky described himself as a ...
and, following the French declaration of war against Germany in September 1939 was suppressed. Under the slogan "Land to the Tillers, Freedom for the workers and independence for Vietnam", in November 1940 the Communist Party in Cochinchina instigated a widespread
insurrection
Rebellion is an uprising that resists and is organized against one's government. A rebel is a person who engages in a rebellion. A rebel group is a consciously coordinated group that seeks to gain political control over an entire state or a ...
. Fighting in the Mekong Delta continued until the end of the year.
Southern Resistance War and incorporation into South Vietnam, 1945–1955
Cochinchina was occupied by Japan during World War II (1941–45). After the Japanese surrender in August 1945, the Communist-front Viet Minh had declared a provisional government (a Southern Administrative Committee) in Saigon. In Saigon, the violence of a French restoration assisted by British and surrendered Japanese troops, triggered a
general uprising on September 23. In the course of what became known as the
Southern Resistance War (Nam Bộ kháng chiến) the Viet Minh defeated rival resistance forces but, by the end of 1945, had been pushed out of Saigon and major urban centres into the countryside.
After 1945, the status of Cochinchina was a subject of discord between France and
Ho Chi Minh
(born ; 19 May 1890 – 2 September 1969), colloquially known as Uncle Ho () among other aliases and sobriquets, was a Vietnamese revolutionary and politician who served as the founder and first President of Vietnam, president of the ...
's
Viet Minh
The Việt Minh (, ) is the common and abbreviated name of the League for Independence of Vietnam ( or , ; ), which was a Communist Party of Vietnam, communist-led national independence coalition formed at Pác Bó by Hồ Chí Minh on 19 May 1 ...
. In 1946, the French proclaimed Cochinchina an "autonomous republic", which was one of the causes of the
First Indochina War
The First Indochina War (generally known as the Indochina War in France, and as the Anti-French Resistance War in Vietnam, and alternatively internationally as the French-Indochina War) was fought between French Fourth Republic, France and Việ ...
. In 1948, Cochinchina was renamed as the ''Provisional Government of Southern Vietnam''. It was merged the next year with the
Provisional Central Government of Vietnam
The Provisional Central Government of Vietnam was a provisional associated government within the French Union, proclaimed in Vietnam during the First Indochina War. On 5 June 1948, it was recognized as an independent government by France. However ...
, and the
State of Vietnam
The State of Vietnam (; chữ Hán: 國家越南; ) was a state in Southeast Asia that existed from 1949 until 1955, first as an associated state of the French Union and later as an independent state (from 20 July 1954 to 26 October 1955). The s ...
, with former emperor
Bảo Đại
Bảo Đại (, vi-hantu, , , 22 October 191331 July 1997), born Nguyễn Phúc (Phước) Vĩnh Thụy (), was the 13th and final emperor of the Nguyễn dynasty, the last ruling dynasty of Vietnam. From 1926 to 1945, he was ''de jure'' em ...
as head of state, was then officially established.
[Philippe Franchini, ''Les Guerres d'Indochine'', vol. I, Pygmalion – Gérard Watelet, Paris, 1988, pp. 399–406]
After the
First Indochina War
The First Indochina War (generally known as the Indochina War in France, and as the Anti-French Resistance War in Vietnam, and alternatively internationally as the French-Indochina War) was fought between French Fourth Republic, France and Việ ...
and temporary partition of Vietnam
agreed at Geneva, with French and American patronage Cochinchina was merged in 1955 with Annam south of the 17th parallel to form the Republic of Vietnam, "
South Vietnam
South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam (RVN; , VNCH), was a country in Southeast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975. It first garnered Diplomatic recognition, international recognition in 1949 as the State of Vietnam within the ...
", under the presidency of
Ngo Dinh Diem
Ngô Đình Diệm ( , or ; ; 3 January 1901 – 2 November 1963) was a South Vietnamese politician who was the final prime minister of the State of Vietnam (1954–1955) and later the first president of South Vietnam (Republic of V ...
.
Notes
Citations
References
*
CC BY-SA 4.0
Gallery
File:NamKy1829.jpg, Cochinchina in 1829 under Nguyễn Dynasty
File:NamKy1832-1841.jpg, Cochinchina in 1832–1841
File:NamKy1863.jpg, The six provinces of Lower Cochinchina in 1863
File:Cochinchine-map-03.jpg, Cochinchina in 1876
File:NamKy1878.jpg, Cochinchina in 1878
File:Cochinchine 1882.jpg, Cochinchina in 1882
File:NamKy1906.png, Cochinchina in 1906
File:Atlas colonial français Colonies Protectorats (...)Pollacchi Paul bpt6k1100182m (1).jpg, Cochinchina in 1929
See also
Further reading
*
*
{{Authority control
Geography of Vietnam
Former countries in Vietnamese history
Former kingdoms