The Sino-French war was an undeclared conflict between France and China that took place in 1884-1885 over the kingdom of Annam, and more specifically the province of Tongking, This country existed in the area now known as Vietnam. The war lasted nine and a half months, although there was some fighting and a number of battle-deaths prior to the “official” beginning of the war in 1884. During the war, the land battle consisted of a back-and-forth battle with the French and Chinese both claiming and reclaiming the same territory. Finally on April 4, after more than nine months of undeclared war, an armistice was signed and the fighting stopped. In the end both sides agreed to the original stipulations of the Li-Fournier convention, a pre-treaty written by Chinese and French diplomats early in the conflict.

The end of the war

The war ended in April of 1885 when the original Li-Fournier convention was adopted into a new convention that stipulated dates and methods for the cessation of hostilities, removal of troops, and the ending of the French naval blockade of Taiwan. The treaty that was signed two months later left France in control of Tongking, but prohibited the French from making any laws or rules for the Annam area that would be detrimental to China. The treaty also set a specific border between Tongking and China.

Winners and losers

While neither side could be considered to have a military victory in the Sino-French War, China was considered the actual loser. China had entered the war to prevent France from destroying the relationship of a protectorate that existed between China and Annam. The Chinese were also eager to avoid having France as a neighbor. China obviously failed in both of these goals. The relationship between China and Annam was severed as the treaties establishing Annam as a French colonial possession were recognized by China. France became China’s newest neighbor.

Costs of the war

During the Sino-French War, which lasted approximately nine and a half months, both sides had relatively sizable losses. The French lost about 2100 troops out of a population of over 380 thousand. China, on the other hand lost 10 thousand troops our of a population of nearly four million. During the war, France averaged 221 battle-deaths per month while China’s average was more than a thousand per month. However, as a percentage of the population, France’s losses were larger. China lost approximately .2 percent of their adult population while France lost .5 percent.

Recurrent conflict and rivalry

Although conflicts between China and France dissipated after the Sino-French War, French conflict with the people of Annam and later Vietnam increased. The Chinese had other areas of conflict, such as Korea, to deal with in the ensuing years and the conflict with France slipped. The end of the Sino-French War marked the beginning of Vietnamese anti-colonialism. The people of Annam were possessed by a nationalistic spirit that lead to the French declaring Vietnam to be its own nation in the 1940s and later the Vietnam War.

Political consequences

The war had many political consequences. For instance, France was forced to postpone imperialist actions in Madagascar due to the Sino-French conflict. The French were also strongly encouraged to build a fueling station on the gulf of Aden on property they had owned for twenty years. The war in Southeast Asia made this fueling station a necessity. The Sino-French war also delayed an intended entente with England until after the turn of the century. France engaged Britain over colonial issues in Egypt in an effort to detract attention from its own activities in Annam.

Finally, the most important political consequence of the war for the French was the fall of the Ferry cabinet. Already in trouble over domestic issues, the Ferry cabinet’s fate was sealed with the military loss in the battle and Langson during the Sino-French War. The Chinese had already suffered a similar loss of high government officials during the war when the Empress executed or exiled the majority of the ruling council for failures during the war.

This war was the first time China had met a Western power on the battlefield and come away with its honor somewhat intact and without having to pay an indemnity to the victor of the war. China’s loss in the Sino-French war also led to the emergence of Chinese nationalism. Many in China fought for the increase of China’s power on the world stage and for a modernization of China’s military and economic might.

Economic consequences

While the French suffered relatively few economic costs, the war was very costly for China. During the war, China spent 100 million taels and an was sent an additional 20 million taels into debt. In addition the modern Chinese naval fleet and dockyard at Foochow was destroyed by the French. Markets in the Tongking province were also closed to the Chinese after the war. The French, however, gained further access to these markets as a result of the Sino-French war.

Aftermath

After the war, relations between China and France remained cool for a number of years. While the two nations did not engage in a high level of post-war cooperation, they avoided any further armed conflicts. In the years that followed the war there were a number of subsequent changes in the factors that caused the war originally that would lead to an elimination of the conflict that spurred the war’s original occurrence.

The first and foremost cause of the war was the conflict over territory and resources. While the Chinese were adamantly against French control over the area of Annam prior to and during the war, the war itself and the consequences of the war changed this feeling. After the war, the Chinese abided by the relevant treaties and lost interest in keeping control over the resources of Annam. Eventually, the territory was to become independent and the French turned over control of the area to the United States and eventually became completely independent due to the Vietnam War. There could be no possibility of a future conflict between France and China over the territory and resources unless the entire world climate reverted to imperialism and away from the current feelings of worldwide nationalism.

The second major cause of the Sino-French War was misperception. The misperceptions that played a factor in the war were mainly artifacts of the time. The methods and capabilities of translating languages have improved dramatically since the 1880s and it is highly unlikely that misperceptions similar to those that occurred in the prelude to the Sino-French War could reoccur. The final major cause of the war has also been eliminated. French leaders used diversionary tactics in order to draw the French public’s attention away from other problems that were facing them at the time. This problem has been eliminated mostly by the passing of time. The leaders who used these tactics have all passed away and the problems that affected France in the 1800s are quite different from the problems that affect France today.

The problems that mitigated conflict between France and China and led to the Sino-French War no longer exist. In addition to that, France and China are geographically far apart. Thus it is highly unlikely that a conflict will occur in the future between these two countries, unless some new problem arises that France and China have very strong disagreement on. It is completely unfathomable that conflict will reoccur over the same issues that instigated the Sino-French War.

The Sino-French War

Causes of the Sino-French War

Bibliography

Class lectures, by professor Paul Hensel, INR 4083, Spring 1997.

Throne and Mandarins, Lloyd E. Eastman, Harvard Press, 1967.

The Diplomacy of the Sino-French War (1883-1885): Global Complications of an Undeclared War, Lewis M. Chere, Cross Cultural Publications, 1988.

Viet-Nam Witness, 1953-66, Bernard B. Fall, Praeger Publishers, 1966.