Our systems are now restored following recent technical disruption, and we’re working hard to catch up on publishing. We apologise for the inconvenience caused. Find out more: https://www.cambridge.org/universitypress/about-us/news-and-blogs/cambridge-university-press-publishing-update-following-technical-disruption
We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 11 February 2009
Decolonization has had a significant impact upon the way that historians explain the process of Europe’s late nineteenth-century imperial expansion. Assumptions about superior technology now appear insufficient in themselves to account for the ability of relatively small armies to gain control over sizeable territory and populations in Africa and Asia. Although, as has recently been argued, advances in weaponry and medicine enabled Europeans to operate in tropical climates against less sophisticated opposition with devastating effect, differences in technology cannot explain the ability of less well-endowed national resistance movements to defeat colonial armies in the mid-twentieth century.1 Since 1945 various wars of national liberation have demonstrated that advanced technology, an impressive commitment of manpower, and an enormous expenditure of money cannot guarantee military success against a nationalist resistance in a colonial setting. If anything, this discrepancy in technological advantage between colonialist powers and anti-western resistance movements was as great or greater in the post-World War II era than in the late nineteenth century. Historians thus must seek additional explanations for the rapid advance of European conquest during the heyday of imperialism.
1 On the role of technology in imperial expansion, see Headrick, Daniel R., ‘The tools of imperialism; technology and the experience of European colonial empires in the nineteenth century’, Journal of Modern European History, li (1979), 231–63. Abbreviations used in the notes: A.E.: Archives du Ministère des Affaires Étrangères; A.N.S.O.M.: Archives Nationales (Section Outre-Mer); A.N.S.O.M. (Aix); Archives Nationales (Section Outre-Mer, Aix-en-Provence depot); S.H.A.O.M.: Service Historique de l’Armée (Outre-Mer).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
2 Ness, Gayle D. and William, Stahl, ‘Western imperialist armies in Asia’, Comparative Studies in Society and History, xix (1977), 5–9.Google Scholar
3 Ronald, Robinson, ‘Non-European foundations of European imperialism: sketch for a theory of collaboration’, in Roger, Owen and Bob, Sutcliff (eds.), Studies in the theory of imperialism (London, 1972), p. 138.Google Scholar
4 ibid.. p. 118.
5 General de Courcy to war minister, 12 and 15 June, and 20 Aug. 1885, S.H.A.O.M., Tonkin 6.
6 Colonel Perrot, commander of French troops at Thuan-An, to commander of expeditionary force, 1 May 1885, S.H.A.O.M., Tonkin 9A.
7 War minister to minister for foreign affairs, 17 June 1885, A.E., Asie N.S. 46.
8 General de Courcy to war minister, 5 and 20 July 1885, S.H.A.O.M., Tonkin 6.
9 Same to same, 12 Sept. 1885, A.N.S.O.M., Indochine A30(73); de Courcy’s manière forte was a major provocation to revolt according to Marcel, Blanchard, ‘L'Indochine française de 1886 à 1889’, Etudes ď Histoire Moderne et Contemporaine, v (1953), 188.Google Scholar
10 General de Courcy to war minister, 20 Nov. 1886, S.H.A.O.M., Tonkin 6.
11 Same to same, 25 July 1885, S.H.A.O.M., Tonkin 9; same to same, 1 Oct. 1885, S.H.A.O.M., Tonkin 6.
12 Foreign minister to war minister, 5 Aug. 1885, ibid..
13 War minister to de Courcy, 10 Sept. 1885, S.H.A.O.M., Tonkin 9.
14 Same to same, 29 Oct. 1885, S.H.A.O.M., Tonkin 6.
15 General Negrier to Cdt. French troops in Annam and Tonkin, 9 Jan. 1886, S.H.A.O.M., Tonkin 9.
16 De Courcy to war minister, 27 Jan. 1886, ibid..
17 Resident General for Annam and Tonkin to foreign minister and president of council, 29 July 1886, A.N.S.O.M., Indochine ROO(7).
18 Resident general for Annam and Tonkin to governor-general, 16 Nov. 1888, A.N.S.O.M., Indochine A30(84).
19 Same to same, April 1888, A.N.S.O.M. (Aix) 22.164; resident Tonkin to governor-general, 12 June 1888, A.N.S.O.M., Indochine A30(84); governor-general to naval minister, 25 Aug. 1889, A.N.S.O.M., Indochine A30(92), cited in Robert, Marle, ‘La pacification du Tonkin (1891–1896)’, Bulletin de la Société des Etudes Indochinoises, n.s. xlvii (1972), 44.Google Scholar
20 Resident-general to president of council and foreign minister, 2 Aug. 1886, A.N.S.O.M., Indochine R00(7), and same to same, 24 Aug. 1886, A.N.S.O.M., Indochine R21(1).
21 ‘Report of Paul Bert on military situation in Tonkin’, 10 July 1886, S.H.A.O.M., Tonkin 17; Daufes, E., La garde indigène de sa creation à nos jours (Avignon, 1933), 1, v–vi.Google Scholar
22 General Jamont to war minister, 5 Nov. 1886, S.H.A.O.M., Tonkin 6B.
23 General Begin to naval minister and colonies, 15 June 1888, A.N.S.O.M., Indochine A50(2).
24 War minister to foreign minister, 31 Oct. 1887, A.N.S.O.M., Indochine R00(8); and ‘Memorandum on political and military situation in Tonkin’, Oct. 1887, A.N.S.O.M., Indochine Aoo(26); Captain, Royer, Histoire militaire de l'Annam et du Tonkin depuis 1799 (Paris, 1906), p. 136.Google Scholar
25 Colonel Borgnis-Desbordes to governor-general, 16 Sept. 1888, A.N.S.O.M., Indochine R01(7).
26 Govenor-General Richaud's ‘Report on assuming service’, 10 June 1888, A.N.S.O.M., Indochine A20(26), and governor-general to naval minister, 17 June 1888, A.N.S.O.M., Indochine A30(84).
27 Nguyen, Van Phong, La société vietnamienne de 1882 à 1902 (Paris, 1971), p. 228.Google Scholar
28 General Begin to war ministers, 10 Aug. 1888, S.H.A.O.M., Tonkin 7.
29 Marr, David G., Vietnamese anticolonialism 1885–1925 (Berkeley, 1971), esp. ch. 3Google Scholar; Duiker, William G., The rise of nationalism in Vietnam 1900–1941 (Ithaca, 1976), esp. ch. 1Google Scholar; Truong, Buu Lam, Patterns of Vietnamese response to foreign intervention: 1858–1900 (New Haven, 1967), pp. 25–6.Google Scholar
30 Marr, Vietnamese anticolonialism, p. 47; and Nguyen Van Phong, La société vietnamienne, p. 226.
31 Governor-general to under-secretary for colonies, 19 Sept. 1891, A.N.S.O.M., Indochine A20(36).
32 Governor-general to naval minister, 5 Sept. 1888, A.N.S.O.M., Indochine A20(27).
33 Governor-general to naval minister and colonies, 10 Dec. 1888, A.N.S.O.M., Indochine R01(7a).
34 Acting resident, Annam and Tonkin to governor-general 16 Nov. 1888, A.N.S.O.M., Indochine A30(84).
35 On aspects of Tonkinese village culture see Pierre, Gourou, Les paysans du delta Tonkinois (Paris, 1936), esp. pp. 172–3, 263–4Google Scholar; Paul, Ory, La commune Annamite au Tonkin (Paris, 1894).Google Scholar
36 Governor-general to naval minister and colonies, 16 Dec. 1888, A.N.S.O.M., Indochine R01(7a).
37 French representative in Hue to governor-general, 24 Nov. 1888, A.N.S.O.M., A30(84).
38 One resident wished to raze thirty villages as a warning to those who aided pirates, but the acting resident for Tonkin, Parreau, reduced the number to two, sending the village leaders to the penal colony on Conlon Island. Governor-general to naval minister and colonies, 1 Dec. 1888, A.N.S.O.M., Indochine R01(7a).
39 Governor-general to minister of commerce, 2 Apr. 1889, and Resident Tonkin to governor-general, 27 Mar. 1889, A.N.S.O.M., Indochine A50(14).
40 Governor-general to naval minister and colonies, 6 Apr. 1889, and ‘Memorandum for 2nd division of naval ministry’, 18 Feb. 1889, A.N.S.O.M., Indochine R00(6a). Officials in the naval ministry disliked longer term enlistments, preferring to pay bonuses for re-enlistment; ‘Memorandum on recruitment of natives – length of service’, May 1889, ibid..
41 Governor-general to naval minister and colonies, 9 Mar. 1889, A.N.S.O.M., Indochine R01(7b).
42 General Munier to war minister, 2 Jan. 1887, S.H.A.O.M., Tonkin 6.
43 Colonel Borgnis-Desbordes to Cdt. French troops in Indochina, 23 Jan. 1889, A.N.S.O.M., Indochine R01(7b).
44 General Begin to naval minister, 30 Nov. 1888, S.H.A.O.M., Tonkin 7.
45 Rapid changes in administrative and military leadership in Indochina often resulted from political rivalries in Paris and from disagreements in metropolitan France over the role of the military in the colony. For a well-informed discussion of these political intrigues see Blanchard, ‘L'Indochine franchise’, pp. 196–7; governor-general to undersecretary for colonies, 9 July 1889, A.N.S.O.M., Indochine A20(31).
46 Same to same, 29 Oct. 1889, A.N.S.O.M., Indochine A20(31), 7 Nov. 1889, A.N.S.O.M., Indochine A20(32), and 14 Nov. 1889, A.N.S.O.M., Indochine A20(34).
47 Same to same, 20 Dec. 1889, A.N.S.O.M., Indochine R01 (7b), decree of July 1890, and naval minister to General Bichot, 2 July 1890, A.N.S.O.M., Indochine Roo(9a).
48 General Bichot to governor-general, 22 Nov. 1889, A.N.S.O.M., Indochine A30(92), and same to same, 21 Jan. 1890, S.H.A.O.M., Tonkin 7.
49 General Bichot to naval minister 19 Dec. 1889, A.N.S.O.M., Indochine A30(92).
50 General Bichot to governor-general, 23 July 1890, A.N.S.O.M., Indochine R01(7c).
51 General Bichot to naval minister and colonies, 20 Mar. and 22 May 1890, S.H.A.O.M., Tonkin 17. On the basis of his experience in Tonkin, Lyautey promoted the idea that the insurrection in Tonkin was simply brigandage by pirate bands without any national or specifically anti-French direction. Lyautey, H.-G., Lettres du Tonkin et de Madagascar (1894–1899) (Paris, 1921), pp. 159–60Google Scholar; he may have received his views from his mentor, Colonel Gallieni; see Gallieni, J.-S., Gallieni au Tonkin 1892–96 (Paris, 1948), p. viiGoogle Scholar. Other colonial officers recognized that the tenacious opposition to the French conquest stemmed from motives other than mere plunder. See Capitain, Mordacq, La pacification du haul Tonkin (Paris, 1901), p. 8.Google Scholar
52 Governor-general to undersecretary for colonies, 18 Oct. 1890, A.N.S.O.M., Indochine A50(16).
53 Res. Sup. Tonkin to governor-general, 31 Oct. 1890, A.N.S.O.M., Indochine A81(5).
54 Governor-general to naval minister, 8 Nov. 1890, A.N.S.O.M., Indochine A20(32).
55 Undersecretary for colonies to naval minister, 8 Nov. 1890, A.N.S.O.M., Indochine R20(3); Emile, Cazimajou, Pavie et Pennequin, precursors de Gallieni (Paris, 1948), pp. 16–17.Google Scholar
56 Res. Sup. Tonkin to governor-general, 23 Jan. 1891, A.N.S.O.M., Indochine A20(32). Bonnal’s report suggests that the Chinese communities in Tonkin, while retaining a separate identity, were nevertheless part of the complex ethnic structure of Tonkin in the late nineteenth century. Robert Marie dismisses the Chinese refugee bands as marauders who lacked any political direction or purpose; some of the bands sought only plunder, but most were united in at least a common sense of hostility toward the foreign invaders; Marie, ‘Pacification du Tonkin’, p. 59.
57 Res. Sup. Tonkin to governor-general, 23 Jan. 1891, A.N.S.O.M., Indochine A20(32).
58 Res. Sup. Tonkin to acting governor-general, 11 May 1891, A.N.S.O.M., Indochine A20(35); Acting Governor-General Bideau endorsed Brière’s assessment and recommendations in a report that he forwarded to Etienne. Acting governor-general to undersecretary for colonies, 15 May 1891, A.N.S.O.M., Indochine A50(17); see also Marie, ‘Pacification du Tonkin’, pp. 45–6.
59 Later Governor-General de Lanessan observed that Chinese merchants supported the French military in its pacification efforts; governor-general to colonial ministers, 28 Dec. 1894, A.N.S.O.M., Indochine A20(101).
60 Res. Sup. Tonkin to acting governor-general, 11 May 1891, A.N.S.O.M., Indochine A20(35).
61 Res. Sup. Tonkin, ‘Means to suppress piracy in Tonkin’, May 1891, A.N.S.O.M., Indochine A20(35).
62 De Lanessan claims that Etienne endorsed the new methods employed by Colonels Pennequin and Serviere, including full responsibility for military commanders in civil and military affairs, and that de Lanessan’s apppointment to replace Piquet was intended to bring a decisive solution to the Tonkin problem; Jean, de Lanessan, La colonisation en Indochine (Paris, 1895), p. 61.Google Scholar
63 Governor-general to undersecretary for colonies, 15 Jan. 1893, A.N.S.O.M., Indochine A20(38); de Lanessan defended the expense of constructing masonry fortifications against his critics in the Chamber, who later attacked the fiscal irregularities of his administration, by claiming such works were essential to the pacification programme; de Lanessan, La colonisation, pp. 83, 105.
64 Governor-general to undersecretary for colonies, 30 Oct. 1891, A.N.S.O.M., Indochine A20(36).
65 Res. Sup. Tonkin to governor-general, 7 Jan. 1892, and governor-general to undersecretary for colonies, 11 Feb. 1892, A.N.S.O.M., Indochine A20(39); Marie, ‘La pacification du Tonkin’, p. 60; Gallieni’s colleagues supported the view that the local population demonstrated increased support and confidence in French military actions and greatly aided pacification efforts, see Lt. Col.Grandmaison, , L’expansion française au Tonkin: en territoire militaire (Paris, 1898), p. 173.Google Scholar
66 Governor-general to undersecretary for colonies, 16 Sept. 1892, A.N.S.O.M., Indochine A20(37).
67 See letter and arguments for collaboration by Hoang Cao Khai, cited in Truong Buu Lam, Patterns, pp. 122–4.
68 A step described as ‘revolutionary’ by Henri, Brunschwig, La colonisation française (Paris, 1949), p. 183.Google Scholar
69 Governor-general to undersecretary for colonies, 5 June 1892, A.N.S.O.M., Indochine A20(37).
70 Colonel Gallieni to governor-general, 4 Dec. 1893, A.N.S.O.M. (Aix) 56.704; selection and recruitment of Vietnamese soldiers was left in the hands of local notables, a policy that reinforced traditional village authority; Ory, La commune Annamite, p. 49. Gallieni carefully supervised the activities of village leaders, recalled weapons once pacification had been achieved, but generally preferred to manoeuvre behind ‘the phantom of power’ accorded Vietnamese notables; see Gallieni, Au Tonkin, pp. 211–12.
71 Governor-general to undersecretary for colonies, 22 Jan. 1892, A.N.S.O.M., Indochine A20(37)
72 Same to same, 7 and 15 Jan. 1893, A.N.S.O.M., Indochine A20(39).
73 ‘Military report for June 1892’, S.H.A.O.M., Tonkin 7; Gallieni, Au Tonkin, pp. 209–11; Lyautey, Lettres du Tonkin et Madagascar, p. 429.
74 Governor-general to undersecretary for colonies, 16 Sept. 1892, A.N.S.O.M., Indochine A20(37), and 1 Sept. 1893, A.N.S.O.M., Indochine A20(39); Grandmaison, En territoire militaire, p. 80.
75 Colonel Gallieni to governor-general, 4 Dec. 1893, A.N.S.O.M. (Aix) 56. 704; Res. Sup. Tonkin to governor-general, ‘Monthly Report for June’, 1894, A.N.S.O.M., Indochine A20(43). The rebel leader, Doc Ngu, was killed in 1891 by Muong soldiers who had been armed by Colonel Pennequin; Cazimajou, Pavie et Pennequin, p. 15.
76 When General de Courcy assumed command of the expeditionary force in 1886, Vietnamese soldiers represented about 20 per cent of the approximately 35,000 troops stationed in Vietnam. By 1888, the Vietnamese contribution had risen to 51 per cent, although the overall force in Tonkin had dropped to approximately 27,000. By 1895 the French forces in Tonkin had been reduced to some 24,000. The total number of European troops in Vietnam during the pacification era declined from nearly 28,000 to 9,400 in 1895, of which some 2,000 came from the Foreign Legion.
77 Gallieni, Au Tonkin, p. 214; Cdt. Paul, Famin, Au Tonkin et sur la frontière du Kouang-Si (Paris, 1895), p. 296Google Scholar; Lt. Col. Albert, Ditte, Observations sur la guerre dans les colonies (Paris, 1905), p. 309.Google Scholar
78 Governor-general to undersecretary for colonies, 6 Oct. 1891, A.N.S.O.M., Indochine A20(36).
79 Lt. Regnier to Colonel Gallieni, Sept. 1893, A.N.S.O.M. (Aix) 56.704.
80 Governor-general to undersecretary for colonies, 4 July 1893, A.N.S.O.M., Indochine A20(39). Taxation rates generally increased with the progress of pacification; res. sup. to governor-general, ‘Monthly report’, Nov. 1896, A.N.S.O.M., Indochine A20(45).
81 Governor-general to undersecretary for colonies, 28 Nov. 1891, S.H.A.O.M., Tonkin 7. De Lanessan came under attack in the French Chamber of Deputies for the high expense of the Langson railway, which greatly exceeded estimated costs; Politique coloniale, 10 Mar. 1894, A.N.S.O.M., Indochine U22(2).
82 Governor-general to naval minister and colonies, Mar. 1889, A.N.S.O.M., Indochine B11(5).
83 Governor-general to undersecretary for colonies, Jan. 1894, A.N.S.O.M., Indochine A20(39); and same to same, 3 Nov. 1894, A.N.S.O.M., Indochine A30(101); same to same, 9 Nov. 1896, A.N.S.O.M., Indochine A20(50).
84 Same to same, 16 Sept. 1892, A.N.S.O.M., Indochine A20(37), and 1 Dept. 1893, A.N.S.O.M., Indochine A20(39); the French consul in Canton attributed improved relations with China to the attitude of Marshal Su in Kwangsi; French consul, Canton, to foreign minister, 14 Aug. 1894, A.N.S.O.M., Indochine NF 681. Then years later Marshal Su fell into disgrace, partly because he increased his demands upon the French, and partly because he was suspected of heading an anti-dynastic movement in southern China. Governor-general to colonial minister, 6 Mar. 1903, A.E., Chine N.S. 244.
85 General Bichot to colonial minister, 5 Dec. 1896, A.N.S.O.M., Indochine A20(50).
86 Governor-general to colonial minister, 4 Dec. 1894, A.N.S.O.M., Indochine A30(101).
87 Marr, Vietnamese anticolonialism, pp. 75–6.
88 General Henri, Mordacq, Pacification du Haul-Tonkin (Paris, 1901), p. 4.Google Scholar
89 Governor-general to colonial minister, 9 Nov. 1896, and General Bichot to colonial minister, 5 Dec. 1896, A.N.S.O.M., Indochine A20(50).
90 Governor-general to colonial minister, 31 July 1897, A.N.S.O.M., B11(27). Doumer was anxious to declare the era of pacification closed, somewhat prematurely, according to Gallieni, in order to get a loan of 200 million francs from the French Chamber that would finance his Yunnan railway. Subsequently, Doumer's ambition and encouragement of military penetration in Yunnan led to a bitter conflict with the foreign minister, Théophile Delcassé. See Michel, Bruguière, ‘Le chemin de fer du Yunnan. Paul Doumer et la politique d'intervention francaise en Chine (1889–1902)’, Revue d'Histoire Diplomatique, lxxvii (1963), 131–2, 256–9, 273–4Google Scholar, and Andrew, C. M., Théophile Delcassé and the making of the Entente Cordiale (London, 1968), pp. 256–7, 273–6.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
91 For the transitional generation of Vietnamese resisters see Marr, Vietnamese anticolonialism, ch. 4; Duiker, The rise of nationalism, esp. chs. 2–3; Jean, Chesneaux, ‘Stages in the development of the Vietnam national movement, 1862–1940’, Past and Present, vii (1955), 67–8.Google Scholar
