Sino-French War

The Sino-French War, also called the Franco-Chinese War or Tonkin War, was a limited conflict between the French Third Republic and China’s Qing dynasty, fought from August 1884 to April 1885 over control of Vietnam. Neither side issued a formal declaration of war.

The Qing armies performed better than in other nineteenth-century conflicts. Although the French won most battles, the Qing achieved notable land victories, especially forcing a French withdrawal from occupied Lạng Sơn late in the war, giving them control of the town and its surroundings. However, a lack of foreign backing, French naval dominance, and threats from Russia and Japan in the north pushed the Qing to negotiate.

The Qing gave up their sphere of influence over northern and central Vietnam, which became the French protectorates of Tonkin and Annam. Both sides ratified the Treaty of Tientsin, but neither gained any diplomatic advantage. The war strengthened Empress Dowager Cixi’s hold over the Qing government. Meanwhile, France achieved its strategic goal, but this did not stop the collapse of Prime Minister Jules Ferry’s government, as the Tonkin Affair became a disgrace for him.

**Prelude**

French interest in northern Vietnam began in the late 1700s, when the Catholic priest Pigneau de Behaine recruited French volunteers to fight for Nguyễn Ánh, helping start the Nguyễn dynasty in hopes of gaining privileges for France and the Roman Catholic Church. France started its colonial campaign in 1858, annexing several southern provinces in 1862 to form the colony of Cochinchina.

French explorers followed the Red River from northern Vietnam to its source in Yunnan, hoping for a profitable trade route with China that would bypass coastal treaty ports. The main obstacle was the Black Flag Army, a well-organized private force led by the formidable Liu Yongfu, which levied heavy “taxes” on Red River trade between Sơn Tây and Lào Cai near the Yunnan border.

In 1873, a small French force under Lieutenant de Vaisseau Francis Garnier, acting beyond his orders, attacked northern Vietnam. After several French victories against the Vietnamese, the Vietnamese government called on Liu Yongfu’s Black Flags, who defeated Garnier’s force outside Hanoi. Garnier was killed in the battle, and the French government later disavowed his expedition.

**Henri Rivière’s expedition in Tonkin**

In 1881, French Commandant Henri Rivière was sent with a small force to Hanoi to investigate Vietnamese complaints about French merchants. Ignoring his orders, Rivière stormed Hanoi’s citadel on 25 April 1882. Though he returned the citadel to Vietnamese control, his use of force alarmed both Vietnam and China.

The Vietnamese government, unable to fight Rivière with its own weak army, again enlisted Liu Yongfu’s well-trained Black Flag soldiers, who would trouble the French. The Vietnamese also sought Chinese support. Vietnam had long been a tributary state of China, and China agreed to arm and support the Black Flags while covertly opposing French operations in Tonkin. Tu Duc asked the Qing court for help, and by September 1882 large Chinese regular armies were sent to occupy Vietnamese territories north of the Red River, including key towns like Lạng Sơn and Sơn Tây.

The Qing court also made clear to France that it would not allow Tonkin to fall under French control. In summer 1882, troops from the Chinese Yunnan and Guangxi armies crossed into Tonkin, occupying Lạng Sơn, Bắc Ninh, Hưng Hóa, and other towns. The French minister to China, Frédéric Bourée, alarmed at the prospect of war, negotiated a deal with Chinese statesman Li Hongzhang in November and December to divide Tonkin into French and Chinese spheres of influence. Neither party consulted the Vietnamese.

Rivière, disgusted with Bourée’s deal, decided in early 1883 to force the issue. He had just received a battalion of marine infantry from France, giving him enough men to move beyond Hanoi. On 27 March 1883, to secure his supply line from Hanoi to the coast, Rivière captured the citadel of Nam Định with 520 soldiers under his personal command. While he was away at Nam Định, the Black Flags and Vietnamese attacked Hanoi, but Chef de Bataillon Berthe de Villers repelled them at the Battle of Gia Cuc on 28 March. Rivière jubilantly said, “This will force them to take forward their Tonkin Question!”

Rivière’s timing was perfect. He had expected to be dismissed for capturing Nam Định, but instead became a hero. A new French government under Jules Ferry strongly favored colonial expansion and decided to back Rivière. Ferry and Foreign Minister Paul-Armand Challemel-Lacour denounced Bourée’s agreement with Li Hongzhang and recalled the hapless minister. They made clear to China that France intended to place Tonkin under its protection. In April 1883, realizing Vietnam could not resist the French, Chinese civil Mandarin Tang Jingsong persuaded Liu Yongfu to take the field against Rivière with the Black Flag Army, leading to a year of unconventional warfare.

On 10 May 1883, Liu Yongfu challenged the French to battle in a taunting message posted on Hanoi’s walls. On 19 May, Rivière confronted the Black Flags at the Battle of Paper Bridge, where the French suffered a disaster.