The Colonial Empire War of France in East Asia Seas (1858-1887)

Abstract

France owned a powerful army and navy in the 19th century. The decline of China’s Qing dynasty made it difficult for them. The powerful French Navy played an important role in East Asia. During this period, Japan imitated the colonialism of the Western Empire and expanded its Empire in the world. European countries went to Asia in order to obtain oriental resources and mines. The “Sino-French War” was when France invaded China and war broke out from 1883 to 1885. On October 25, 1883, the squadron of French Tokin Bay Sea’s Commander Courbet was ordered by the French government to attack China initiatively. The crucial decision-makers between China and France were Chinese Premier Viceroy Li Hong-Zhang and French Prime Minister Jules Ferry. China’s policy was Li Hong-Zhang’s “To give up Vietnam, to defend Taiwan”; France’s policy was Jules Ferry’s “To give up Taiwan, to defend Vietnam.” In brief, in the Second Empire, Napoleon III had looked for the glory of France, and established a colonial Empire to go across the Four Continents of Europe, Africa, America, and Asia; subsequently, the Third Republic of France still possessed its own potentiality, superiority, and advantage to engage in the expansion of overseas colonies. Afterwards, France finally established the “French Indochina” in Southeast Asia.