464 Part VI: European Empires in Asia
young prince escaped the massacre with the help of a French priest, Bishop
Pigneau, who then spent several years seeking assistance from any powers that
might help him take back his country. The Thai provided aid, as did, eventu-
ally, the French, even though they had troubles enough of their own as the
French Revolution broke out in 1789. During the very summer of its outbreak,
Nguyen Anh reoccupied Saigon, recaptured the southern provinces, and
moved north, defeating his rivals. He captured Hue and Hanoi, unified the
whole country, and reestablished his Nguyen dynasty at Hue. He was crowned
emperor under the title of Gia Long.
Gia Long continued to protect Catholic Vietnamese and was on good
terms with the French who had assisted his return to power. Bishop Pigneau
became the foreign minister, and French advisors assisted in modernization of
the army and the administration, which nevertheless retained its Confucian
characteristics and remained in the control of the mandarin class. Gia Long’s
successors, however, were more xenophobic as conversions to Catholicism con-
tinued. In 1825 the emperor declared Christianity a “perverse religion which
corrupts men’s hearts”; in the next decade seven French missionaries were exe-
cuted; and in 1847 when Tu Duc came to the throne, concerted attacks on
French missionaries began. By 1860, they had killed 25 European priests, 300
Vietnamese priests, and 30,000 Vietnamese Christians.
In the meantime, French explorers had been roaming up the Mekong into
Cambodia and “discovered” Angkor and other fabulous ruins, which excited
the imagination of French people back home, who began to dream of an Indo-
chinese empire. The French, who were trying hard to keep up with British suc-
cesses, may have cared more deeply about the fate of French missionaries than
the increasingly secular French might otherwise have done. In 1859 they seized
Saigon. Emperor Tu Duc at Hue was forced to sign a treaty ceding three prov-
inces to France. In 1882 the French attacked Tonkin, took Hanoi, and then
turned on Hue. The emperor had just died, and during the inevitable confusion
of the transition, the Vietnamese were forced to negotiate away their indepen-
dence. The central area of Vietnam, called Annam, became a protectorate of
France, as did the northern region of Tonkin. But “Cochinchina”—the south-
ern region around the Mekong Delta—was governed directly by France.Cambodia
After the French took over the Hue dynasty in Annam (central Vietnam) in
1859, they claimed to be successors to every territory Annam had ever claimed.
That included Cambodia. But Siam also claimed overlordship of Cambodia.
Cambodian King Norodom was thus in a tricky position. He was being pulled
in both directions.
On balance Norodom felt that Siam, a more ancient enemy, represented
the greater danger. In fact, the first initiatives toward a French “protectorate”
over Cambodia appear to have come from King Norodom’s father, King Ang
Duong, before his death. Cambodia and France agreed that a French “Resi-