The process of the French invasion of the Qing Dynasty was generally tied to the British, and the Anglo-French alliance was relatively famous. However, at the end of the 19th century, in order to expand its influence in Indochina, France also competed with the Qing Dynasty alone.
At that time, Vietnam was already in a state of twilight in the Qin Dynasty, and they saw the strength of the Qing Dynasty's foreign power, so they were anxious to find a reliable backer in the world, so they fell in love with France.
France, on the other hand, wanted to expand its influence in Indochina, and it would be better to form a region similar to British India to develop a colonial economy here. To this end, in 1874, France bypassed the Qing Dynasty and signed the Treaty of Saigon, an unequal treaty with Vietnam.
After the treaty was signed, Vietnam immediately regretted it, and it was obvious that it had suffered a big loss, so how could it just forget it? But they couldn't deal with France, so they found the Qing Dynasty.
The top brass of the Qing Dynasty almost scolded their mothers, is Vietnam so unreliable? If they don't say it before signing the treaty, they will regret it after signing it, so why do they still have to help them? But some people also feel that only by protecting the feudal domain can the border be consolidated, and as soon as these words came out, the Qing court's plan to keep Vietnam was firm.
Zhennanguan victory, Langshan victory
After the signing of the Franco-Vietnamese Treaty of Hue in 1883, the Qing Dynasty became the last force to stop the French from colonizing Vietnam, so it was not long before the war between China and France began. At that time, the Qing Dynasty felt that it had experienced more than 20 years of Westernization and that its strength had made great progress, so it could compete with France.
As a result, both the army and the navy were cleaned up by France.
- From December 1883 to June 1884, in the Battle of Shanxi, the French army defeated the Qing Dynasty's Black Flag Battalion, Gui Army and Dian Army and captured Shanxi. Subsequently, the French army increased to 16,000 men, captured Bac Ninh, and marched into Xinghua. After the defeat of the Qing army, Prince Gong's team was laid off. Lao Li hurriedly rescued the scene and negotiated with France, but nothing came to the end.
- From June 1884 to March 1885, the French army not only invaded Beili and demanded that all Qing troops withdraw from Vietnam, but also attacked Fujian, Baodao and other coastal areas by sea.
- Beginning in February 1885, the French army first conquered Langshan, and then marched to Zhennan Pass, the old general Feng Zicai, personally led the team in Zhennan Pass, took the lead, not only repelled the French army, but also conquered Wenyuan, Langshan and other places all the way, and achieved the victory of Zhennan Pass and Langshan. The commander of the French army, Nigri, was seriously wounded, and the French army had to shrink to the armor.
It can be seen that during the entire Sino-French War, the Qing army was not useless. Not only did they win a great victory, but they also caused indelible damage to the French army, and even the French spokesman at that time was laid off, which shows how big the blow of the Qing army was to France.
China is defeated undefeated, and France is victorious without victory
It is estimated that the high-level leaders of the Qing court did not expect to achieve one victory after another, after all, France did teach the Qing army a hard lesson at sea, and also occupied the Penghu Islands and surrounded the treasure islands.
Therefore, the attitude of the Qing court has always been to accept the good news, especially the laborers who had been negotiating with France for a long time at that time, and insisted on the attitude of taking advantage of the victory and actively seeking negotiations with France.
The French side was arguing, and they felt that as a great power, they were beaten by the Qing army, and they really lost face. As a result, the Qing court was not so considerate, and personally sent face to France.
Naturally, the French did not expect that the Qing army would win the battle, but the Qing court would take the initiative to sue for peace? What kind of operation was this? Could it be an insult to the intelligence of the French? This is not the case, the Qing court really wanted to seek peace, and it was difficult to hide the fear of foreigners from the bottom of its bones.
In June 1885, France signed the "Sino-French New Treaty" with the Qing Dynasty.
In this treaty, the Qing court recognized France's right to protect Vietnam, as well as the unequal treaties that had previously been signed between France and Vietnam. It was tantamount to giving Vietnam to France, and since then, the gateway to southwest China has been opened, and there is no longer the advantage of holding the borders here.
After Zuo Zongtang learned of this, he was so angry that he scolded, he felt that if he could continue to fight with the great victory Yu Wei, not to mention the recovery of the whole of Vietnam, at least he could divide Vietnam equally with France. As a result, Lao Li sold the whole of Vietnam without a bottom line.
Therefore, many people think that in this war, even if China won part of the battle, it was the same as not winning. France, on the other hand, was defeated in some battles, but never tasted defeat.
The disaster of Wan'an Beach started from this
Wan'an Bank is China's inherent territory and an inalienable and important part of China's South China Sea, and is located within the nine-dash line of the South China Sea. As early as 1935, we had already investigated this and named it Qianwei Beach, and in 1947 it was officially renamed Wan'an Beach.
But because of the large amount of oil resources that have been discovered in Wan'an Bank, Vietnam next door has also made an idea of it. Before the Sino-French War, Vietnam had always been a vassal state of the Qing Dynasty, and they themselves had to listen to the Qing Dynasty's call if they made a claim to Wan'an Beach.
After the Sino-French War, Vietnam became an overseas colony of France, and this status did not change until World War II. Therefore, when China named Wan'an Bank in 1935, Vietnam was not yet free from French control.
However, it is precisely because of this that after World War II, France once planned to return to Indochina again, and by the way, it was driven away by the locals. At this time, the locals suddenly remembered Wan'an Beach, and at the end of the 80s of the last century, they began to stretch out their claws here.
By the time we realized it, it was too late. Vietnam has illegally set up mining sites here, and has garrisoned hundreds of troops, as if it wants to make it its sphere of influence.
In order to increase its momentum, Vietnam even called on Russia, Japan and other countries to cooperate in the exploitation of local oil, so as to prevent us from recovering the sovereignty of Wanan Bank.
At present, Wan'an Beach has reserves of at least 30 billion tons of oil and 16 trillion cubic meters of natural gas, making it a veritable energy hub. If the Qing Dynasty had not signed the "Sino-French New Treaty" with France, there would have been no Wan'an Beach disaster.
The Qing Dynasty became a litmus test for the great powers
Anyone who wants to become a powerful power with great influence in the world seems to have to go to the East to compete with the Qing Dynasty. As long as you can get a lot of benefits from the Qing Dynasty, it proves that you are a qualified power, and vice versa.
Britain and France, around 1840 and 1860, set this precedent, followed by Tsarist Russia, which invaded large swaths of Qing territory from 1858 to 1881. In order to become a great power, Japan fought the Sino-Japanese War with the Qing Dynasty from 1894 to 1895, which resulted in a resounding victory, and thus became the great power of the East.
Germany occupied Jiaozhou Bay in 1897, followed by Tsarist Russia in Liaodong Peninsula. In 1900, even the 11-nation coalition army marched into the Qing Dynasty at the same time, and they all wanted a piece of the pie.
The Qing Dynasty has become a touchstone for the great powers, and with a little strength, they want to take advantage of it. Even the famous impoverished imperialist Italy drove two wrecked ships to ask for benefits, only to be frightened by the wreckage of the First Sino-Japanese War and ran away.