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In 1859 French troops conquer Saigon. The French intervention was triggered by the persecution of Christians in the Vietnamese empire, which started in the 30's of the 19th century. The first European missionary executed in the Vietnamese capital of Hué was Frenchman François Isidore Gagelin. He was publicly strangled. Between 1848 and 1860, 25 European priests, some 3,000 Vietnamese priests and more than 30,000 Vietnamese Catholics are executed.

In 1862 the Vietnamese emperor Tu Duc surrenders South Vietnam to the French, who set up their colony of Cochin China. Apart from that, Emperor Tu Duc has to assure an end to the persecution of Christians.

In 1883 France forces the yet uncolonialized part of Vietnam to accept the status of a French protectorate. Administratively the French divide the country into the colony Cochin China (in the South) and the protectorates Annam (central Vietnam) and Tonkin (North Vietnam).

In September 1940, after the conquest of France by German armies, Japanese troops occupy Indochina without meeting any resistance. Officially the word is that the French colonial power leaves all military installation for the Japanese to use; in response the French colonial administration remains in office. Therefore the years of World War II mean less war activity and destruction for Vietnam than, for instance, the fiercely contended Southeast Asian states of Burma and the Philippines.

With the Japanese capitulation on August 14, 1945, World War II ends in East Asia. France attempts to establish herself again as colonial power in Vietnam.

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http://www.asiatour.com/vietnam/e-01land/ev-lan23.htm
Jan Garanoz
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Last updated: February 20, 2010