Lefebvre Affair and the Bombardment of Tourane

Charles Rigault de Genouilly

Tourane, Vietnam, 1847 – two warships came to the coast. The warships had French flags and demanded the release of one of its missionary – Dominique Lefebvre. Suddenly, the French began a bombardment of Tourane. But events prevailed before the Bombardment of Tourane? What happened during the Bombardment? And lastly, what happened after the incident occurred?

Treaty of Saigon (1862)

French warships in Da Nang (1858)

In the 1850’s, Asia faced a growing threat from the mighty industrialized nation of the West. France and Britain began an active harassment and conquest of many independent countries in the Far East. China had already tasted defeat in the hands of the modern steam-engine warships of the British. By the late 1850’s, China’s client state in Southeast Asia – Vietnam – also faced the prospect of succumbing to the nuisances of Westerners. The Treaty of Saigon symbolizes the result of the gunboat diplomacy of Europeans to the Vietnamese.

The Nguyen Dynasty - The Last Ruling Family of Vietnam

Gia Long

They once ruled Vietnam. They were in fact, the last family to rule it as a monarchy. They faced constant threats from rivals at home and later, from abroad. It took toils in order to win and to establish their rule. It took also defiance to survive in a changing world. And it took a communist icon in order to remove them. The Nguyen Dynasty was last ruling monarchial family.

Francis Cabot Lowell: From Industrial Espionage to Industrial Revolution

An industrial revolution allowed the United States to propel itself to the top of the world. It owed it much to the ingenuity and skills of its many mechanics and inventors that developed new machines and system to manufacture numerous goods in a short period of time. Francis Cabot Lowell (April 7, 1775 – August 10, 1817) became one of these men who ushered in the industrial revolution to the United States. Through espionage, mimicry, and developing, Lowell developed a new system of production and labor that led to the industrialization of the United States.

Chulalongkorn (Part 5): Influences and End

Chulalongkorn ushered in the transformation of Siam from an old kingdom into a modern state that Europe recognize. Other than that, he became the first Siamese monarch to travel to the west in order to secure the independence of sovereignty of his beloved kingdom. He reformed court traditions, administration, military, health, and education. But also, he launched reforms on religion and support the flow of foreign influences to the culture of Siam.

French Conquest of Indochina

The extent of French Indochina (Yellow)

France was one of the greatest powers in the world. Along with its European rivals, it acquired a huge empire that comprised territories from the Africa to Asia. In the region of Southeast Asia, France became a major player in its politics during the 19th century. In competition with Great Britain, it exerted a lot of effort in order to acquire lands as much as possible. At the end, France managed to obtain the region known as Indochina. And for the countries, of Laos, Vietnam, and Cambodia, it was a start of a half a century of colonization and exploitation.

Defenestration of Prague in 1618

Defenestration of Prague in 1618

The Thirty Years War began as an internal conflict that started with three individuals being thrown out of a window in a Bohemian castle. The incident began with transition from one leader to the next. In the process, a policy shift also followed. The shift turned out to be for the worst. It instigated contempt and then violence, which eventually resulted to an event known as the 1681 Defenestration of Prague. What events led to the defenestration? What transpired during the event? And lastly, how the Defenestration of Prague shook Europe?