feb 3, 1871 - French Vietnam

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With the appointment of Adolphe Thiers as Governor-General in Saigon, the previous legislative efforts by the French government to create a "colony in Indochina" are realized.

Thiers, upon arrival, chooses to not name his colony French Indochina as originally planned, preferring instead to name the territory "French Vietnam", both paying hommage to the fact that most colonial subjects defined themselves as part of the Viet people and, more urgently, paying respect to the Siamese claim to most of Laos and Cambodia.
Thiers did not want to offend the government of Siam - or the government of China, Siam's most important ally.

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