ALBUM – view my Annam and Tonkin Album

Summary

In the late 1800s, France and China competed for control of trade routes in much of southeast Asia. The French were able to establish a protectorate in Annam (central Vietnam) in 1874. Continuing to move northward into Tonkin, they met fierce resistance from Chinese backed Vietnamese. Bringing in a large number of troops to overwhelm the locals, eventually led to war with the China in 1884. The war lasted for eight months, with the superior French forces being victorious. Annam and Tonkin were combined to form a single Protectorate in Jan 1886. The Protectorate was folded into a broader French Indochine Colony in Oct, 1887.

Fast Facts

Region: Far East
Group: Southeast Asia
Classification: Occupation (France)
Prior Regime: Tributary to China
Key Dates:
  1883, Aug 25 – Annam and Tonkin declared French protectorates
  1884, Aug – Sino French War begins
  1885, Jun 9 – China renounces it’s rights over Annam and Tonkin
  1886, Jan 29 – French Protectorate of Annum and Tonkin established
  1887, Oct 17 – French Indochina formed (Cambodia, Annam, Tonkin, Cochin-China, and later Laos)
First Stamp Issued: 1888
Following Regime: French Indochina
Scott Catalogue: (Annum and Tonkin) #1-3, 7-9
Pick Catalogue: none

Brief History of Annam and Tonkin

Annam and Tonkin are located in the central and northern part sof Vietnam and were incorporated as protectorates of the overall French Colonial area of southeast Asia  In the late 1800s,  China and France competed for control of this part of Asia for trade purposes.

After several clashes between the Vietnamese and the French,  France sent substantial reinforcements  in June of 1883.  This set up an armed conflict called the Tonkin Campaign.  The French were fighting on my fronts against  the Vietnamese, Liu Yongfu’s Black Flag Army, and the Chinese Guangxi & Yunnan armies with the purpose of setting up a French protectorate in Tonkin. The campaign was complicated in August 1884 with the outbreak of the Sino-French War and in July 1885 the Can Vuong nationalist uprising in Annam.  The multiple conflicts required the diversion of large numbers of French troops aptly named the Tonkin Expeditionary Corps , supported by the gunboats of the Tonkin Flotilla. The campaign officially ended in April 1886, when the Expeditionary Corps was reduced in size to a division of occupation, but Tonkin was not effectively pacified until 1896.

After the Sino-French War , Tonkin came under French sovereignty and essentially all of Vietnam was considered a French Protectorate.  During the French colonial administration,  Vietnam was administratively divided by the French into three different territories:  Tonkin protectorate (in the North), Annam protectorate (in the center), and the colony of Cochin-China (in the south).  Together with Laos and Cambodia, these areas ultimately became known as French Indochina.

Stamps

ALBUM
Even though the protectorate was already administratively part of French Indochine, a set of stamps were issued for use in Annam and Tonkin in 1888. Six French Colonies stamps were overprinted with the initials “A&T” or “A-T” and surcharged in French Francs. The abbreviation stands for Annam and Tonkin.

These surcharges have different types of numerals and letters. There are various errors in the placement of the surcharges, including double 1 inverted, double both inverted, double 1 sideways and  without the surcharge.

These stamps were used until 1892, when they were replaced with stamps from Indochine.

Banknotes

No Banknotes were issued for Annam and Tonkin

Links

Annam and Tonkin from Stamps of Distinction
Map from Sandafayre On Line Atlas
Sino-French War at Wikipedia