page_title: History of the French Navy
section_title: East Asia
hierarchical_section_title: History of the French Navy / From the Bourbon Restoration to the Second Empire / Global interventions / East Asia
context_page_description: Although the history of the French Navy goes back to the Middle Ages, its history can be said to effectively begin with Richelieu under Louis XIII.
  Since the establishment of her present territory, France had to face three major challenges on the naval level:
  Geographically France had two large sections of coastline separated by the Iberian Peninsula, so she had to keep two naval forces and divide resources between the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean.
  Politically and strategically France's main threats came from Central Europe which required a strong army rather than a strong navy.
  Inconsistent support for her navy. To be effective, navies require infrastructure, ports, dockyards, foundries which must be maintained in peacetime. Officers and crews need plenty of experience at sea. Shortage of resources and political misunderstanding repeatedly damaged the service, creating a series of brilliant eras followed by disasters.
  The history of the French Navy can be divided into the following eras:
  The creation of the first actual State Navy, under Louis XIII, thanks to the politics of Richelieu. This navy was largely ruined by the troubles of the Fronde.
context_section_description: Napoleon took the first steps to establishing a French colonial influence in Indochina. He approved the launching of a naval expedition in 1858 to punish the Vietnamese for their mistreatment of French Catholic missionaries and force the court to accept a French presence in the country. An important factor in his decision was the belief that France risked becoming a second-rate power by not expanding its influence in East Asia. Also, the idea that France had a civilizing mission was spreading. This eventually led to a full-out invasion in 1861. By 1862 the war was over and Vietnam conceded three provinces in the south, called by the French Cochinchina, opened three ports to French trade, allowed free passage of French warships to Cambodia (which led to a French protectorate over Cambodia in 1867), allowed freedom of action for French missionaries and gave France a large indemnity for the cost of the war.
  In China, France took part in the Second Opium War, and in 1860 French troops entered Beijing. China was forced to concede more trading rights, allow freedom of navigation of the Yangtze river, give full civil rights and freedom of religion to Christians, and give France a huge indemnity. This combined with the intervention in Vietnam set the stage for further French influence in China leading up to a sphere of influence over parts of Southern China.
  In 1866, French Navy troops made an attempt to colonize Korea, during the French campaign against Korea. The French Navy also had a mild presence in Japan in 1867–1868, around the actions of French military mission to Japan, and the subsequent Boshin War.
caption: The French frigate Guerrière commanded by Admiral Pierre-Gustave Roze was the lead ship in the French campaign against Korea, 1866. Here the ship is photographed in Nagasaki harbour, circa 1865.
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