I found today's fact rather interesting. I have only ever heard of the modern history of Vietnam, but there is (of course) much more to that. Vietnam was something that France wanted to control, or at least, have a foothold. But Vietnamese fought valiantly to keep this from happening. In early 1861, France did gain some control in the region. Gia Dinh was one of the key areas for France, and it was on this date in 1862 that the first treaty of Saigon was signed. Emperor Tu Doc agreed to many of the French demands, including the cession of three provinces around Gia Dinh (which the French renamed Saigon). The French were amazed with how easy the treaty went through, but it sounds as though the Emperor of the Vietnamese people had not been so nice to his people. And the rebellion that had captured the interest of Tu Doc was a Christian rebellion supported by French missionaries. But, as you can imagine, the missionaries were only an excuse. France was interested in military and economic interests--sounds about right, doesn't it?
For more information, check out:
http://workmall.com/wfb2001/vietnam/vietnam_history_under_french_rule.html
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/516581/Treaty-of-Saigon
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Saigon_(Vietnam)
http://homepaddock.wordpress.com/2011/06/05/june-5-in-history/
Very interesting.
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