3.44 Fall and Rise of China: Sino-French War of 1884-1885 #1: Battle of Fuzhou

<p id="docs-internal-guid-0f627de0-7fff-9c5d-8125-820a562fda93" dir="ltr" style= "line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"> <span style= "font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202122; background-color: #00ffff; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Last time we spoke about the beginning of the Tonkin campaign of 1883-1886. Henri Riviere picked up after Garnier and got himself killed on the Paper bridge. In the face of a unauthorized and failed Tonkin Campaign, that should have been the nail in the coffin. But a new administration took hold in France and they were certainly more gung-ho about colonizing southeast asia. General Bouet picked up after Riviere, but he was met with some failure and uninspiring victories. He quit his job and it fell to Admiral Courbet to continue France’s campaign to take all of Tonkin. However to defeat the Black Flag Army of Liu Yongfu was a tricky thing as the Qing were covertly supporting them. France had to decide if she would continue, for if she did it might mean another war against the Qing dynasty.</span></p> <p> </p> <p dir="ltr" style= "line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"> <span style= "font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202122; background-color: transparent; font-weight: bold; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> #44 The Sino-French War of 1884-1885 part 1: Battle of Fuzhou</span></p> <p> </p> <p dir="ltr" style= "line-height: 1.38; text-align: justify; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"> <span style= "font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: #ff00ff; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Welcome to the Fall and Rise of China Podcast, I am your dutiful host Craig Watson. But, before we