French Protectorate of Cambodia - Start of French Rule

Start of French Rule

During 19th century, the kingdom of Cambodia had been reduced into a vassal state to the kingdom of Siam which had annexed its western provinces, including Angkor and growing influence from the Vietnamese Nguyen Dynasty threatened the eastern portion of the country. After the French establishment of a colony in Cochinchina (present-day southern Vietnam) in 1867, King Norodom of Cambodia requested a French protectorate over his kingdom. At the time, Pierre-Paul de La Grandière, colonial governor of Cochinchina, was carrying out plans to expand French rule over the whole of Vietnam and viewed Cambodia as a buffer between French possessions in Vietnam and Siam. On 5 July 1863, Norodom signed a treaty acknowledging a French protectorate over his kingdom. Under the treaty, the Cambodian monarchy was allowed to remain, but power was largely vested to a resident general to be housed in Phnom Penh. France was also to be in charge of Cambodia's foreign and trade relations as well as provide military protection. Siam later recognized the protectorate after France ceded the Cambodian province of Battambang and recognized Thai control of Angkor.

Read more about this topic:  French Protectorate Of Cambodia

Famous quotes containing the words start, french and/or rule:

    Some fear that if parents start listening to their own wants and needs they will neglect their children. It is our belief that children are in fact far less likely to be neglected when their parents’ needs—for support, for friendship, for decent work, for health care, for learning, for play, for time alone—are being met.
    —Wendy Coppedge Sanford. Ourselves and Our Children, by Boston Women’s Health Book Collective, introduction (1978)

    ‘Are ye right there, Michael? are ye right?
    Do you think that we’ll be there before the night?
    Ye’ve been so long in startin’,
    That ye couldn’t say for sartin’—
    Still ye might now, Michael, so ye might!’
    —William Percy French (1854–1920)

    A right rule for a club would be, Admit no man whose presence excludes any one topic. It requires people who are not surprised and shocked, who do and let do, and let be, who sink trifles, and know solid values, and who take a great deal for granted.
    Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)