What this lesson teaches
I can examine why European traders, missionaries and governments became interested in Southeast Asia.
Syllabus K330, Overview of Southeast Asia before 1870, Learning Outcomes. Examine the motivations behind European interest in Southeast Asia.
I can describe Southeast Asia before 1870: its land, peoples, rulers, and the outside powers that influenced it.
Syllabus K330, Overview of Southeast Asia before 1870, Learning Outcomes. Describe the geography, people, political systems of pre-1870 Southeast Asia, and the role of external influences on the region.
Make a guess
French missionaries and traders were active in Vietnam long before 1860. How do you think France first gained territory there?
- It seized Cochinchina in the south in the 1860s.
- It received Vietnam as a gift from Nguyen Anh.
- It bought Tonkin from China in a peaceful trade deal.
Show the answer
It seized Cochinchina in the south in the 1860s.
France claimed it had to protect missionaries, used force and took the south first. The rest came later, in stages.
French missionaries and traders built influence first, then France took Cochinchina in the 1860s as a base to expand.
This is the Vietnam option for G3 Full History, an alternative to Dutch Indonesia. The part before 1870 is background only. Learn three regions: Cochinchina in the south, Annam in the centre and Tonkin in the north. France took them in stages.
French missionaries, who spread Christianity, and traders were in Vietnam before colonial rule. In the late 1700s, Nguyen Anh fought to bring his family back to power. The French bishop Pigneau de Behaine helped him look for outside support. This gave France influence, but not the power to rule.
In the 1800s, France said it had to protect missionaries and Vietnamese Christians. It also wanted trade and power. In the 1860s, France took Cochinchina as a colony. French officials ran it, using local officials to carry out their orders. France used this southern base for later expansion, but Annam and Tonkin still took separate campaigns and agreements.
- Three regions
- Cochinchina (south), Annam (centre), Tonkin (north).
- Pigneau de Behaine
- French bishop who helped Nguyen Anh.
- 1860s
- France makes Cochinchina a colony.
Worked example: A connection is not a colony
Pigneau de Behaine helps Nguyen Anh seek outside support.
- A French bishop helps a Vietnamese ruler.
- This gives France influence and contacts.
- But the Vietnamese ruler still governs. France does not rule yet.
Watch out for this
French contact immediately made all of Vietnam a colony.
France took control in stages: Cochinchina in the 1860s, then Annam and Tonkin in the 1880s.
Check your understanding
Which region did France take first?
- Cochinchina, in the south, during the 1860s.
- Annam and Tonkin together, in the war of 1870.
- Tonkin, in the north, before 1800.
Show the answer
Cochinchina, in the south, during the 1860s.
Yes. It became the base for later expansion.