page_title: France–Vietnam relations
section_title: French Indochina (1887-1954)
hierarchical_section_title: France–Vietnam relations / French Indochina (1887-1954)
caption_attribution_description: English: Native_Catholic Priests_in_Occidental_Tonkin
context_page_description: French–Vietnamese relations started as early as the 17th century with the mission of the Jesuit father Alexandre de Rhodes. Various traders would visit Vietnam during the 18th century, until the major involvement of French forces under Pigneau de Béhaine from 1787 to 1789 helped establish the Nguyễn Dynasty. France was heavily involved in Vietnam in the 19th century under the pretext of protecting the work of Catholic missionaries in the country.
context_section_description: French Indochina was officially formed in October 1887 from Annam, Tonkin, Cochinchina (which together form modern Vietnam) and the Kingdom of Cambodia following the Sino-French war (1884–1885). Jean Antoine Ernest Constans became the first Governor-General of French Indochina on 16 November 1887. Laos was added after the Franco-Siamese War of 1893.
  The federation lasted until 1954. In the four protectorates, the French formally left the local rulers in power, who were the Emperors of Vietnam, Kings of Cambodia, and Kings of Luang Prabang, but in fact gathered all powers in their hands, the local rulers acting only as heads.
  France stayed in Indochina during World War II, tolerated by the Japanese Army
caption: Native priests of the Paris Foreign Missions Society, in western Tonkin.
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