The Cần Vương (Vietnamese: [kʌn˨˩ vɯəŋ˧], chữ Hán: 勤王, lit. 'Aid the King') movement was a large-scale Vietnamese insurgency between 1885 and 1896 against French colonial rule. Its objective was to expel the French and re-instate deposed emperor Hàm Nghi as the leader of a restored independent Vietnam. The movement lacked a coherent national structure and consisted mainly of regional leaders who attacked French troops in their own provinces. The movement initially prospered as there were only a few French garrisons in Annam, but failed after the French recovered from the surprise of the insurgency and poured troops into Annam from bases in Tonkin and Cochinchina. The insurrection in Annam spread and flourished in 1886, reached its climax the following year and gradually faded out by 1889.
Background
French involvement in Vietnam began as early as the 17th century, with missionaries such as Alexandre de Rhodes spreading the Catholic faith. This situation was to remain until the late 18th century, when the Tây Sơn uprising, a popular revolt against heavy taxation and corruption, toppled the ruling Nguyễn family in 1776. A Nguyễn prince, Nguyễn Ánh managed to escape. In an attempt to regain power, Nguyễn Ánh sought the assistance of France through French missionaries in Vietnam. Though he did not receive formal military assistance, he was supplied with sufficient aid by sympathetic merchants and was able to reclaim the throne. Although not officially sanctioned by the French government, this was to heighten French interest in Vietnam and mark the start of increasing intervention.
French conquest of Southern Vietnam, 1859–1867
After regaining the throne in 1802 at the capital city of Huế in central Vietnam, Nguyễn Ánh reestablished the Confucian traditions and institutes that were overturned during the Tây Sơn uprising. Having returned to power with the aid of foreigners, this was in order to reassure the scholar-gentry families that comprised much of the government and bureaucracy of a return to the system that guaranteed their privileges. While this helped to legitimize the returning Nguyễn dynasty in the eyes of the Confucian mandarins and officials, it did little to assuage or address the grievances that sparked the Tây Sơn uprising.
As a result, the reign of the dynasty was marred by peasant resentment and constant revolts. Discontentment by the oppressed peasants, particularly among the lower classes, provided fertile grounds for Catholic missionaries, further widening the divide between the Nguyễn dynasty and its subjects. The domestic situation would continue to worsen until the 1850s. This had critical implications for Vietnamese resistance to the coming French colonial aggression. It robbed Vietnam of a united front by setting the administration and the people against each other. The resulting mistrust and antagonism would discourage any attempt by the government to move the court out amongst the peasants in the advent of serious foreign incursions, a successful precedent set by previous dynasties. The peasantry would also be deprived of leadership and regional coordination traditionally provided by the royal court.
In 1858, ostensibly to avenge the killing of some of its missionaries, France took military action against Vietnam. French interest in Vietnam had not waned since Nguyễn Ánh's request for assistance. After the French Revolution of 1848, the French government now had sufficient support from commercial, religious and nationalistic sources to stage its conquest of Vietnam. A force led by Admiral Charles Rigault de Genouilly attacked and occupied the Vietnamese town of Da Nang. This was followed up with the capture of the Saigon in the Mekong Delta region in 1859. However, Vietnamese reinforcements from nearby provinces soon put both French positions under siege. Despite the tenuous situation of the French, Vietnamese forces were unable to force the foreigners out of the country.
This was due in large part to dissension within the royal court on the best approach to deal with the French. One party advocated armed resistance while the other argued for compromise. Most writers concede that the Emperor and many high-ranking officials favoured appeasing the French, through a policy named "hoa nghi" (peace and negotiation). Additionally, for reasons mentioned previously in the article, the dynasty was reluctant to arm or rely on the peasantry, relying instead on the royal troops which could only put up a feeble struggle.
In 1861, the French had managed to consolidate their forces and break the Vietnamese army's siege of Saigon. To the surprise of the French forces, the defeat of the royal army did not put an end to Vietnamese resistance. Instead, it marked the decline of formal, government led resistance and gave rise to localized popular resistance. Nonetheless, the widespread struggle by the Vietnamese people dealt the French many setbacks.
A key development at this juncture was the transfer of the leadership role from the dynasty to local scholar-gentries. Having witnessed the ineffectiveness of the regular Vietnamese army and the uncertain direction of the royal court, many decided to take matters into their own hands. Organizing villagers into armed bands and planning guerrilla raids on French forces, this was in direct contrast to the royal courts’ attempts to make peace. This had the added effect of convincing the French that the Huế court had lost control of its forces in the Mekong delta region and thus offering any concessions was pointless.
In 1862, the Nguyễn dynasty signed the Treaty of Saigon. It agreed to surrender Saigon and three southern provinces to France which were to become known as Cochinchina. Some authors point to the dynasty's need to put down rebellions in the North as a reason territories were ceded in the South. Regardless of the reason, the regular army was to withdraw from the surrendered provinces, leaving the popular resistance movement to the French.
Trương Định was a striking example of a resistance leader. He first gained prominence and military position during the siege of Saigon and also for his military accomplishments immediately after the defeat of the Vietnamese army. Despite the order to withdraw, Quản Định remained in the region at the behest of this subordinates and also for patriotic reasons, echoing the sentiments of fellow scholar-gentries. However, the popular resistance lacked coordination across regions and also could not provide spiritual encouragement, tools that only the Nguyễn dynasty had access too.
Up to 1865, the Nguyễn dynasty followed its policy of compromise and continued attempting to reclaim the three southern provinces through diplomacy. This was despite warnings by the French that they would seize the remaining three southern provinces if popular resistance, which they referred to as banditry, was not stopped. In 1867, citing the above-mentioned reasons, the French took over the remaining three southern provinces.
The loss of the South had a momentous effect on Vietnam. First, it exposed the weaknesses of the dynasty's policy of compromise. The few remaining mandarins and scholar-gentry in the region were left with two options: to flee the region permanently or to collaborate with the new overlords. For the people of the delta who had no other option but to stay, the setback was to prove insurmountable. Popular resistance quickly lost all morale and disbanded, with the peasants resigning themselves to nonviolent postures. At this stage, the Nguyễn dynasty had lost all allegiance and respect from the Vietnamese in the South.
French conquest of Northern Vietnam, 1882–1885
In 1873, the French, citing restrictions on shipping and led by Francis Garnier, easily captured the northern city of Hanoi, facing little or no organized resistance. Garnier was eventually killed with the aid of the Black Flag Army and the city returned as part of a treaty signed in 1874. However the Nguyễn dynasty now faced a loss of support and allegiance from its subjects in the north, similar to what had transpired in the south.
Following actions taken by predecessors, the Nguyễn dynasty turned to China for aid. Unsurprisingly, the French took action first in order to avoid being boxed out of north Vietnam. In 1882, a French naval captain named Henri Rivière repeated Garnier's feat of taking Hanoi. Rather than preparing the military for increased French aggression, the military was instructed to remain out of sight of the French. Rivière was later killed by the Black Flag Army during a military action; however the dynasty continued sounding out France for new negotiations and sidelining mandarins who still advocated armed resistance.
In 1883, the last of the great Emperors of Vietnam died without an heir. His death resulted in internecine discord among the different factions in Huế. At the same time, having witnessed the reconquest of Hanoi by French forces under Riviere, northern Vietnamese became further disillusioned with the leadership and military effectiveness of the royal court in Huế. Discontentment was amplified by the continued reliance of the royal court on negotiation, despite the willingness of local mandarins and people to take up armed resistance against the French. Dispatches from French commanders confirmed this, praising court representatives for pacifying the Vietnamese around Huế.
The final straw for many Northern Vietnamese came when the French captured the city of Sơn Tây in 1883 against the combined forces of the Vietnamese, Chinese and Black Flag armies. Subsequently, there were attacks by local Vietnamese in the north on French forces, some even led by former Mandarins in direct defiance of the policy set by Huế.
Matters at the royal court of Huế were equally chaotic. The next Emperor, Dục Đức, was in power for barely three days before being deposed due to his unbecoming conduct.
The following Emperor Hiệp Hòa signed the Treaty of Huế in 1883 after hearing French guns near the capital city. The harsh and derogatory terms of the treaty which subjected Vietnam to French control served to destroy any possible support Hiệp Hòa had among the Vietnamese people and at court. He was quickly arrested and killed by the mandarin Tôn Thất Thuyết, who was fervently anti-French.
Thuyết was also secretly drawing upon the economy to make guns for a secret fortress in Tân Sở. Tôn Thất Thuyết had an associate, Nguyễn Văn Tường, who was also considered a problematic mandarin by the French. In 1884, the Emperor Hàm Nghi was enthroned as the Emperor of Vietnam. Only twelve years of age, he was easily and quickly dominated by the regents Thuyết and Tường. By now, the French had realized the obstacles the two mandarins posed and decided to remove them.
Resistance continued growing while the French in Tonkin were distracted by the Sino-French War (August 1884 to April 1885). Matters came to a head in June 1885, when France and China signed the Treaty of Tientsin, in which China implicitly renounced its historic claims to suzerainty over Vietnam. Now freed from external distractions, the French government was determined to gain direct rule over Vietnam. Their agent of choice was General Count Roussel de Courcy.
In May 1885, de Courcy arrived in Hanoi and took control of French military power in order to remove the mandarins Thuyết and Tường. Most historians agree that de Courcy felt France's military might was enough to cow the Vietnamese and that he was a strong advocate of the use of force. However, there appears to be contention regarding the French government's endorsement, if any, of de Courcy's agenda. Regardless, General de Courcy and an escort of French troops of the Tonkin Expeditionary Corps went to Huế and attempted to incite problems.
The Huế ambush, July 1885
Having arrived at Huế on July 3, 1885, de Courcy summoned the princes and high mandarins of the royal court to his residence for a discussion on the presentation of his credentials to the Emperor. During the discussion, he demanded that the central gate was to be opened and that the Emperor would have to come down from his throne to greet him. De Courcy also commented on Thuyết's absence from the meeting and suggested that this was due to Thuyết's planning an attack on him. After being told that Thuyết was sick, de Courcy's response was that he should have attended the meeting regardless and threatened to arrest him. Finally, de Courcy rejected the gifts sent by the Emperor and demanded tribute from the Vietnamese.