The Opium Wars give Europeans control over China through
a series of unequal treaties; including the Treaty of Nanking.
1845
USS Constitution lands in Da Nang. A company of US Marines
moves overland to Hue and recues a French Bishop who had been captured
by the Vietnamese. America's first combat involvement in Vietnam; 120
years later two battalions of US Marines will return to Vietnam via Da
Nang.
1847
French vessels bombard Da Nang in response to persecution
of Catholic missionaries.
2 Sep 1858
Authorized by Napoleon III to launch a naval expedition
to punish the Vietnamese and force them to accept a French protectorate,
French and Spanish forces seized Da Nang (in their second attack) after
several missionaries had been killed.
17 Feb 1859
French forces capture Saigon.
1861
Military resistance begins against the French. French
gain control of Gia Dinh.
Feb. 1861
The French defeat the Vietnamese army and gain control
of Gia Dinh and surrounding provinces.
TREATY OF SAIGON 1862 AND FRENCH COLONIZATION
June 5, 1862
The Treaty of Saigon ceded three southern provinces (Bien
Hoa, Gia Dinh, and Dinh Tuong in the Mekong Delta) to the French.
1867
France had conquered all of southern Vietnam, which became
the French colony of Cochin China.
1883
French troops move to northern Vietnam to expand control
of Indochina. The Chinese also lay claim to Vietnam, and oppose the French
move prompting the Sino-French War over Indochina .
1884
Annam and Tonkin become French Protectorates.
1885
France wins the Sino-French War, and completes French
control over Vietnam and other Indochina domains.
1887
Cambodia joins the French holdings in Vietnam to form
French Indochina (the Indochina Union).
