As a reaction to the persecution of christians in Vietnam, French and Spanish troops
occupied some South Vietnamese places - most notably the town of Saigon - in 1859.
The Vietnamese attempts to reconquer the occupied area failed and by the agreement
of Saigon of 1862 - later confirmed by the Treaty of Hué of 1863 - the Empire was
forced to cede to France :
- Saigon,
- the island of Poulo Condore
- the three oriental provinces (Biên Hoa, Gia Dinh and Dinh Tuong) of the Southern
region (Ky) of the Empire (also known as "the South" or Nam Bo)
Anti-French agitation continued however until 1866, when the western provinces of
Nam Bo (Chau Doc, Ha Tie and Vinh Long) were also occupied by the French. (1)
In 1887 Cochinchina - which had formally been proclaimed a French colony in 1864 -
became part of the Federation of French Indochina.
THE SPANISH IN COCHINCHINA 1859 - 1863
In 1860 most of the Spanish expeditionary force (Commander : Col. Bernardo Ruiz de
Lanzarote, since 1858) was withdrawn on French request. All that then remained was
a small garrison at Saigon [Commander and Plenipotentiary for Indochinese affairs
(Commandante y Plenipotenciario en el Asunto de Indochina) : Col. Carlos Palanca y
Gutiérrez (1819 -1876)].
This garrison was soon abandoned by the Sapnish government and became completely
dependent on French supply. Likewise the Spanish authorities showed no interest at
all for the attempt of Plenipotentiary Palanca to obtain some Vietnamese territory
and all Spain eventually got in 1862 were some commercial concessions.
The lats Spanish troops returned to the Philippines in 1863.
(1) The Vietnamese government recognized the loss of these territories by the
treaties of Saigon (1874) and of Hué (1883, 1884)
The last territories to be added to the colony were the Spratly Islets.
__________________________________________________________________________________
FRENCH ADMINISTRATORS
(until 1879 all military)
Commander-in-Chief of the Naval Division of Réunion and Indochina, and Commander-in
-Chief of the Expeditionary Corps in the Chinese Seas
Commandant en Chef de la Division navale de la Réunion et de l'Indochine et
Commandant en Chef du Corps expéditionnaire dans les Mers de Chine
(Chinese Seas = China and Indochina)
1858 - 1859 VAdm. Charles Rigault de Genouilly 1807 - 1873
Commanders-in-Chief of the Naval Division in the Chinese Seas
Commandants en Chef de la Division navale dans les Mers de Chine
1859 - 1861 CAdm. Théogène François Page 1807 - 1867
Acting for Page
1859 - 1860 Capt. Jean Bernard
Jauréguiberry, Commander
of the corvette Primauguet 1815 - 1887
1860 - 1861 ... Joseph Hyacinthe
Louis Jules d'Ariès, ... 1813 - 1878
1861 VAdm. Léonard Victor Joseph Charner 1797 - 1869
Governors and Commander-in-Chef in Cochinchina
Gouverneurs et Commandants en Chef en Cochinchine
1861 - 1863 VAdm. Louis Adolphe Bonard 1805 - 1867
1863 - 1868 CAdm. Pierre Paul Marie de La Grandière 1807 - 1876
Acting for de La Grandière
1865 CAdm. Pierre Gustave Roze.
Commander-in-Chief of the
Naval Division in the Chinese
and Japanese Seas 1812 - 1883
1869 CAdm. Marie Gustave Hector Ohier,
Commander-in-Chief of the Naval Division
in the Chinese and Japanese Seas (acting?) 1814 - 1870
1869 - 1870 BrigGen. Joseph Faron* (in his capacity
as Superior Commander of the Armed Forces
in Cochinchina) 1819 - 1881
1870 - 1871 CAdm. Alphonse Jean Charles René Théodore,
Comte de Cornulier-Lucinière 1811 - 1886
1871 - 1874 CAdm. Marie Jules Dupré 1813 - 1881
1874 CAdm. Jules François Émile Krantz* (in his
capacity as Commander-in-Chief of the Naval
Division in the Chinese and Japanese Seas) 1821 - 1914
1874 - 1877 CAdm. Victor Auguste, Baron Duperré 1825 - 1900
1877 - 1879 CAdm. Louis Charles Georges Jules Lafont 1824 - 1908
In 1879 the military administrators were replaced by civilians.
Governors
Gouverneurs
1879 - 1882 Charles Le Myre de Vilers 1833 - 1918
1883 - 1885 Charles Antoine François Thomson 1845 - 1898
1885 - 1886 Charles Auguste Frédéric Begin 1835 - 1901
1886 - 1887 Ange Michel Filippini 1834 - 1887
1887 Noël Pardon*
1887 Georges Jules Piquet* 1839 - 1928
Lieutenant Governors
Lieutenant Gouverneurs
1887 - 1888 Jean Antoine Ernest Constans 1833 - 1913
1888 Auguste Eugène Navelle 1846 -
1888 - 1889 none
1889 Augustin Julien Fourès 1853 -
1889 - 1892 Henri Eloi Danel 1850 - 1898
1892 - 1895 Augustin Julien Fourès (2x)
1895 - 1897 Alexandre Antoine Étienne Gustave Ducos 1851 - 1907
1897 - 1898 Ange Eugène Nicolai 1845 -
1898 - 1901 Édouard Picanon 1854 - 1939
1901 - 1902 Henri Félix de Lamothe 1843 - 1926
1902 - 1906 François Pierre Rodier 1854 -
1906 - 1907 Olivier Charles Arthur de Lalande de Calan
1907 - 1909 Louis Alphonse Bonhoure 1865 - 1909
1909 - 1911 Jules Maurice Gourbeil
Governors
Gouverneurs
1911 - 1916 Jules Maurice Gourbeil s.a.
1916 - 1921 Maurice Joseph La Gallen 1873 - 1956
Acting for La Gallen
1918 - 1920 Georges René Gaston Maspéro 1872 - 1942
1921 - 1926 Maurice Cognacq
1926 - 1929 Paul Marie Alexis Joseph Blanchard de la
Brosse
1929 Auguste Eugène Ludovic Tholance* 1878 - 1938
1929 - 1934 Jean Félix Krautheimer 1874 - 1943
1934 - 1939 Pierre André Michel Pagès 1893 - 1980
Acting for Pagès
1938 Henri Georges Rivoal 1886 - 1963
1939 - 1940 René Veber 1888 - 1972
1940 - 1942 André Georges Rivoal s.a.
1942- 1945 Ernest Hoeffel
__________________________________________________________________________________
REPRESENTATIVES OF COCHINCHINA TO THE FRENCH PARLIAMENT
Depuies
Députés
[French Cochinchina was entitled to a delegate to the Chamber of Deputies (Chambre
des Députés) in 1881]
1881 - 1888 Marie Julien Blancsubé 1834 - 1888
1888 - 1889 Julien Stanislas Henry Ternisien 1847 - 1896
1889 - 1902 Charles Le Myre de Vilers s.a.
1902 - 1910 Antoine Benoit François Deloncle 1856 - 1922
1910 - 1913 Pierre Paul Paris 1860 - 1943
1914 - 1936 Antoine Georges Amedée Ernest Outrey 1863 - 1941
1936 - 1942 Jean Robert Maurice Bonnin de la Bonninière
de Beaumont (contested until 1938) 1904 - 2002
[In 1939 it had been decided that the chamber elected in 1936 would continue until
1942. Thereafter no new election was held (It is however possible that de Beaumont
already resigned in 1940)
COCHINCHINA FROM MARCH TO SEPT 1945
CHRONOLOGY AND MAIN OFFICIALS
1945
Mar 09 : Japanese coup in French Indochina.
Cochinchina was placed under direct Japanese rule.
Governor
1945 Minoda Fujio, before Japanese Consul General
in Saigon
Aug 08 : Agreement between Japan and the restored Empire of Vietnam : Cochinchina
was to be transferred to the new Vietnamese state.
Aug 15 : Cochinchina was transferred to Vietnam.
Imperial Delegate
Kham Sai
1945 Nguyên Van Sam
President of the Council of Nam Bo
1945 Tran Van Ân 1906 - 2002
Aug 25 : The Viet Minh seized power in Cochinchina.
President of the Provisional Executive Committee of Nam Bo
1945 Tran Van Giàu, also Commissioner for
Military Affairs 1911 - 2006
Sep 11 : Arrival of Allied (British and French) troops charged with the disarmament
of the last remaining Japanese forces and with the maintenance of law and
order until the restoration of a regular (= French) administration.
Sep 23 : All attemts to reach an agreement with the Provisional Executive Committee
having failed, the Allies expulsed the Viet Minh from Saigon.
De facto restoration of French rule in Cochinchina (1)
(1) The Viet Minh regrouped in the jungle and started a guerilla war which -
with some interruptions - would last until the early 1970's.
FRENCH COCHINCHINA SEPT 1945 - 1949
When the French government agreed in Mar 1946 to reconstruct a Vietnamese state -
consisting of the "Three Ky" (Annam, Cochinchina and Tonkin) - as a selfgoverning
part of the Indochinese Federation, parts of the French colonial officials and of
the Vietnamese political elite in Cochinchina refused to be included in a Viet Minh
dominated state and asked for the creation of a separate Cochinchinese state, equal
in rank and status to the Republic of Vietnam (covering Annam and Tonkin)
After some hesitations, the French eventually agreed and in Jun 1946 an Autonomous
Republic of Cochinchina was formally proclaimed as part of the Federation.
In 1948 Cochinchina was placed under the authority of a French sponsored Provisional
Central Government of Vietnam and in 1949 French colonial rule eventually ended.
FRENCH REPRESENTATIVES
Administrator and Commissioners of the Republic
1945 - 194. Jean Marie Arsène Cédile* 1908 - 1984
1946 - 1948 ....
1948 Albert Torel* 1895 - 1987
1948 - 1949 ...
__________________________________________________________________________________
MINISTERS
Presidents of the Government
Présidents du Gouvernement
1946 Nguyên Van Thinh 1888 - 1946
1946 Col. Nguyên Van Xuân* (as vice president) 1892 - 1989
1946 - 1947 Lê Van Hoach 1896 - 1978
1947 - 1948 BrigGen. Nguyên Van Xuân (2x) (1)
(1) Van Xuan was one of the Cochinchnese leaders who wanted to restore the
unity of Vietnam under Bao Dai and to avoid a complete separation of
Cochinchina as some wanted it.
He threrfore symbolically changed the name from Republic of Cochinchina
into Republic of South Vietnam.
__________________________________________________________________________________
LOCAL GROUPS AND THEIR WARLORDS
When they returned in 1945 the French had not only to deal with the Viet Minh, but
also with some local groups (somewhat unproperly called "sects") which had taken
advantage of the troubled war years to arm and to consolidate their own power in
Cochinchina.
These "sects" were the :
- Cao Dai
- Hoa Hao
- Binh Xuyen
[The sects remained powerfull in Cochinchina until the so-called "Guerre des Sects"
(Sects War) of 1955 - 1956, when they were liquidated as a political and military
factor by the new Ngô-Dinh-Diêm regime]
CAO DAI
The Cao Dai Tam Ky Pho Dô (High Place of the Third Revelation and Salvation - in
shordt Cao Dai) religion - based on the teaching of Ngô Minh Chiêu (1878 - 1932)
- was formally founded in 1926 by Lê Van Trung (s.b.), who also became the head of
the religion. (2)Heads of the Church
The head of the Church was styled "Giáo Tông" or "Hô Phap", usually translated as
"Pope".
note : the Giáo Tông did not die, but he "disincarnated"
1926 - 1934 Lê Van Trung 1876 - 1934
1934 - 1959 Pham Công Tac, in exile 1941 - 1946 and
since 1955 1890 - 1959
Having adopted nationalist ideas, Pope Pham Công Tac was exiled to the Comores in
1941. As a reaction, the Cao Dai - now temporarily headed by Tran Quang Vinh (1897
- 1975) - started collaborating with the Japanese.
After the Japanese defeat in 1945, the Cao Dai prepared to seize power in Saigon,
but the Viet Minh prevented it. A small conflict between the two opponents ended
when the Viet Minh captured Quang Vinh and forced the Cao Dai armed forces to rally
to them.
In 1946 the French authorized the return of Pope Pham Công Tac. He then persuaded
his men to ally with the French and for some time he indeed collaborated with them,
a Cao Dai (Lê Van Hoach - s.a.) even becoming prime minister of Cochinchina for
some time.
When France however refused to transfer to his direct authority some of the Western
Cochinchinese provinces, he proclaimed his neutrality (meaning that now he actually
alternatively collaborated with the two parties).
This situation seems to have lated until ca 1953, when the Cao Dai again opted for
France and Emperor Bao Dai.
In 1955 the Cao Dai entered into conflict with Ngô-Dinh-Diêm, who wanted to break
not only their political power, but also their (non-Catholic) religious influence.
The confrontation ended when the Pope was forced into exile.
HOA HAO
The Buddhist Phat Giao Hoa Hao (Home of Buddhist Pacifism - in short Hoa Hao) sect
was founded in 1939 by Hunh Phú Sô (1919 - 1947), a peasant turned prophet (and
known to the French as the "Mad Bonze").
His movement also attracted some nationalist agitators and the sect soon became a
virulent anti-French organization. Sô was then arrested by the French in Aug 1940.
But under Japanese pressure he was soon released, then becoming a collaborator of
Japan.
After the Japanese defeat Sô transfomred the sect into a para-military organization
and allied himself with the Viet Minh against the French. Like for other groups,
this alliance with the Viet Minh was an uneasy one and there were several bloody
clashes between the two groups until 1947 when Sô was executed by the Viet Minh.
Overall leadership of the Hoa Hao now passed to Trân Van Soai "Nam Lua", war chief
of the organization, who immediately allied with the French, being appointed Gen.
and Commander-in-Chief of the Hoa Hao Forces. (3)
Thereafter Trân Van Soai ruled semi-independently over the weternmost Cochinchinese
provinces until 1955, when he was forced to submit to Ngô-Dinh-Diêm. Some Hoa Hao
resistance continued until Jan 1956, when the last Hoa Hao leader was executed.
BINH XUYEN
The marshes and rivers south of Saigon had become a refuge for pirates and other
outlaws like escaped prisoners, desertors, etc in the 1920's. These groups became
soon collectively known as the "Binh Xuyen", after the name of the village where
regular gatherings of the group leaders took place.
The first overall leader of the group was Duong Van Duong "Ba Duong" (1... - 1946
; head : 19.. - 1946), who expanded Binh Xuyen power by collaborating succesively
with the Japanese (1943 - 1945), the Vietnamese administration (1945) and the Viet
Minh (since 1945).
The successor of Duong Van Duong, Gen. Le Van Vien "Bay Vien" (1904 - .... ; head
: 1946 - 1955) - styled Commander-in-Chief of all Binh Xuyen forces - continued the
alliance whit the Viet Minh.
The alliance was however an uneasy one and in Jun 1948 a major confrontation ended
with the defeat of the Binh Xuyen, who were forced to recognize Viet Minh authority.
Soon afterwards Le Van Vien and part of the Binh Xuyen escaped Viet Minh rule and
rallied to the French and Imperial authorities. As a reward for their help - most
notably their prevention of Viet Minh activities in Saigon - both administrations
were however forced to grant very fargoing privileges and freedom of action to the
Binh Xuyen, whose power now further increased : by 1954 they controlled not only
the whole criminal underworld of Saigon (gambling, prostitution, opium traffic, etc)
but also the economical life, the police and the security sercives. For a moment
Lê Van Vien was even considered as prime minister.
In Feb 1955 the Binh Xuyen revolted against Ngô-Dinh-Diêm, who wanted to restore
law and order and to break their power. After a battle of six days (Apr 28 - May
03), the Binh Xuyen were expelled from Saigon. While Lê Van Vien went into exile
in France, most others returned to their swamps were they resumed their former
clandestine activities (4)UMDC
Somewhat different from the above-mentioned groups were the UMDC (Unités Mobiles de
Défeuse des Chrétientés - Mobile Units for the Defence of the Christianities) (5)
created by the French LtCol. Jean Leroy, of mixed French-Vietnamese origin.
Having fought the Japanese during WWII, he returned to his native province of Ben
Tré (West Cochinchina) - at that time occupied by the Viet Minh - in 1947. He then
organized his private army, expelled the Viet Minh and became the undisputed ruler
of the semi-independent fief of Ben Tré, one of the few Cochinchinese areas to be
completely free from Vier Minh activities until the middle of the 1950's.
Unile the other groups, Leroy always closely collaborated with the French and with
their protegé Emperor Bao Dai. In 1955 he joined the other gropus in their revolt
against usurpator Ngô-Dinh-Diêmn, but like them he soon was defeated and forced to
leave the country. (6)(2) The Cao Dai doctrine was a synthesis of Buddhist, Christian, Confucianist,
Jewish, Muslim and Taoist teaching as well as of spiritist and other ideas.
(The extend of this strange mixture is perhaps best illustrated by the very
different saints worshiped in the religion :
- on the highest level : the Chinese leader Sun Yat-sen, the French writer
Victor Hugo and the Vietnamese author Nguyên Binh
Khiêm
- on a lower/local level : Jeanne d'Arc, Lenin, René Descartes, etc, etc
(3) The Hoa Hao movement now actually was a kind of federation of 4 major semi-
independent and often rival compagnies (and several minor units) :
- Gen. Trân Van Soai "Nam Lua" (s.a.),
- Lam Thành Nguyên, who never fully recognized the leadership of Soai and
for some time fought a kind of guerilla war against him,
- Nguyen Giac Ngo,
- Lê Quanq Vinh "Bao Cut", who changed side 14 times between 1947 and 1954
but eventually was the last Hoa Hao commander to resist Ngô-Dinh-Diêm
(until Jan 1956).
(4) The last resistance act came from the French underworld associates of the
Binh Xuyen, who had served as their financial advisors and as their agents
and drug trafficers to Europe.
(5) Despite its name the UMDC comprized also Buddhist, Cao Dai, Hoa Hao and
other opponents to the Viet Minh.
(6) Ben Tré was now soon overrun by the Viet Minh.
After the outbreak of the second Vietnamese War, Leroy did an attempt to
organize Ben Tré as a neutral peace zone, but the USA prevented it.
After their conquest of Vietnam, the French also took control of the Spratly islets
(Viet. : Truong Sa), considered as a part of their empire by the Vietnamese.
Like the Vietnamese - who never seem to have made an attempt to organize or occupy
permanently the islets - the French at first also neglected them, their only act of
presence being the building of a lighttower on Amboyna Cay in 1887.
It was only in the 1920's - when confronted with strong Chinese claims (1) - that
they started to show some more interest and that they occupied the different islets
and reefs (between 1930 and 1933).
In 1933 the Spratly were formally annexed to French Indochina and included in the
Cochinchinese Bâ Ria province. (2)
In 1939 Japan - basing its claim on a longtime presence of Japanese guano-diggers
and fishermen - proclaimed a protectorate over the Spratly.
Two years later it annexed them to Taiwan and military occupation started. (3)
After the end of WWII in 1945, the Japanese transferred the islets to the Chinese
(Chinese Special Commissioner : Mai Yunyu) and a year later they were proclaimed a
part of the Guangdong Province, the start of a new period of different claims.
(1) In the absence of a regular Vietnamese or French administration China had
reasserted (at least since 1876) its claim on the Spratly (Chin. : Nansha),
based on longlasting historical relations with the islats and on a longtime
presence of Chinese fishermen and traders.
But like the two other countries China apparentely never made an attempt to
organize or administer the islets before the republican period.
(2) The islets were governed either by French officials or by private citizens
who governed them for the duration of one year in exchange of an allowance.
The last of these so-called "contract-officials" was executed by the
Japanese in 1941.
In 1938 a weather station on Itu Aba by the Indochinese Meteorological
Service .
(3) The Japanese turned the island of Itu Aba into a major military base.
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