Early Stage of Colonization
France-Vietnam relations started as early as the 17th century with the mission of the Jesuit father Alexandre de Rhodes
In 1787, Pigneau de Béhaine petitioned the French government and organized French military volunteers to aid Nguyễn Ánh in retaking lands lost to the Tây Sơn.
In 1858, the brief period of unification under the Nguyễn Dynasty ended with a successful attack on Da Nang by Charles Rigault de Genouilly.
On 13 April 1862, the Vietnamese government was forced to cede the territories of Biên Hòa, Gia Định and Dinh Tuong to France.
In 1862, France obtained concessions from Emperor Tu Duc, ceding three treaty ports in Annam and Tonkin, and Cochin China
Siam officially recognized the 1863 French protectorate on Cambodia IN 1863.
From 1885 to 1895, Phan Đình Phùng led a rebellion against the colonizing power.
Nationalist sentiments intensified in Vietnam, especially during and after World War I
Franco-Siamese war (1893)
Territorial conflict in the Indochinese peninsula for the expansion of French Indochina led to the Franco-Siamese War of 1893
In 1893 the French authorities in Indochina used border disputes, followed by the Paknam naval incident, to provoke a crisis.
French gunboats appeared at Bangkok, and demanded the cession of Lao territories east of the Mekong
As a result of this, Siam had to give up its claim to the Tai-speaking Shan region of north-eastern Burma to the British, and cede Laos to France.
Further encroachments on Siam (1904-1907)
Siam had to concede French control of territory on the west bank of the Mekong opposite Luang Prabang and around Champasak in southern Laos, as well as western Cambodia
In the 1930s, Siam engaged France in a series of talks concerning the repatriation of Siamese provinces held by the French.
In 1938, under the Front Populaire administration in Paris, France had agreed to repatriate Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom, Siam Reap, Siam Pang and the associated provinces (approximately 13) to Siam