The Teritorial Administration of French Cochinchina

Abstract

While true that there are numerous works on the history of French territorial administration during the contemporary era (19th and 20th centuries), they mainly focus on metropolitan situations, thus leaving aside overseas affairs which, despite the major role played by France throughout colonial expansion, have been largely neglected by the most recent studies. The purpose of this article is to briefly present one of the tropical forms of the French centralized model of administration, in French Cochinchina, a model from which the colonizer had no intention of departing. A model, nonetheless, that couldn’t be further transposed as such. The resulting institutional hybridization was dictated by several factors linked with conquest and its legal framework, the conformation of a subjected society, but also financial considerations. This experience led to the adoption, albeit less through choice than necessity, of a form of direct rule which in turn was not without consequences on deconcentrated levels. This also meant maintaining the Vietnamese commune, although largely impaired by a progressive loss of autonomy destined to serve French domination.