Pacifying and controlling the Sino - Vienamese borderland in the late 19th century: Arguments and struggles for power in the French government

Abstract

That occupation and pacifying of Tonkin in general and the upper Tonkin, in particular, played a strategic role in French expansions and its benefits in East Asia. However, after 1885, there were contradictory opinions, arguments and conflicts in French politics regarding its mechanism to control and pacify the Tonkin’s border area. In Paris, while one group of the French government wanted to occupy the whole border era with China, others suggested giving up this ambition. There were also disagreements between officials in Paris and French colonialists in Vietnam on the possibility of reducing financial and military presence in Vietnam and the aims of occupying and pacifying the Sino-Vietnamese frontier area. These debates led to tremendous conflicts among French military and civil officials in Vietnam over their policies and methods to control Tonkin border with China. These arguments reflected the internal difficulties of the French colonial regime and became one of the main reasons responsible for the enduring process of pacifying Tonkin's borderlands, defining border demarcation, and building boundary marks that lasted for more than a decade in the late 19th century.