The Treaty of Saigon was signed on June 5, 1862, between representatives of the French Empire

French colonial empire

The French colonial empire was the set of territories outside Europe that were under French rule primarily from the 17th century to the late 1960s. In the 19th and 20th centuries, the colonial empire of France was the second-largest in the world behind the British Empire. The French colonial empire...

 and the last precolonial emperor of the Nguyễn Dynasty, Emperor Tự Đức. Based on the terms of the accord, Tự Đức ceded Saigon, the island of Poulo Condor and three southern provinces of what was to become known as Cochinchina

Cochinchina

Cochinchina is a region encompassing the southern third of Vietnam whose principal city is Saigon. It was a French colony from 1862 to 1954. The later state of South Vietnam was created in 1954 by combining Cochinchina with southern Annam. In Vietnamese, the region is called Nam Bộ...

 (Bien Hoa

Bien Hoa

Biên Hòa is a city in Dong Nai province, Vietnam, about east of Ho Chi Minh City , to which Bien Hoa is linked by Vietnam Highway 1.- Demographics :In 1989 the estimated population was over 300,000. In 2005, the population wss 541,495...

, Gia Dinh, and Dinh Tuong) to the French. The treaty was confirmed by the Treaty of Hué

Treaty of Hué (1863)

The Treaty of Huế was signed on April 14, 1863 between representatives of Vietnam and the French Empire. Based on the terms of the accord, three Vietnamese ports were opened . Moreover, freedom of missionary activity was permitted and Vietnam's foreign affairs were under French imperial protection...

 signed on April 14, 1863.

The Second Treaty of Saigon

The Second Treaty of Saigon, signed on March 15, 1874, was negotiated by Paul-Louis-Félix Philastre

Paul-Louis-Félix Philastre

Paul-Louis-Félix Philastre was a french colonial administrator, diplomat and scholar.-Early career:...

 in 1874 and reiterated the stipulations of the previous agreement. Vietnam recognized the full sovereignty of France over the three provinces captured by admiral La Grandière in 1867. The Red River

Red River (Vietnam)

The Red River , also known as the Sông Cái - Mother River , or Yuan River , is a river that flows from southwest China through northern Vietnam to the Gulf of Tonkin...

 (Song Hong) was opened for trade as well as the ports of Hanoi

Hanoi

Hanoi , is the capital of Vietnam and the country's second largest city. Its population in 2009 was estimated at 2.6 million for urban districts, 6.5 million for the metropolitan jurisdiction. From 1010 until 1802, it was the most important political centre of Vietnam...

, Haiphong

Haiphong

, also Haiphong, is the third most populous city in Vietnam. The name means, "coastal defence".-History:Hai Phong was originally founded by Lê Chân, the female general of a Vietnamese revolution against the Chinese led by the Trưng Sisters in the year 43 C.E.The area which is now known as Duong...

 and Qui Nhơn

Qui Nhon

Qui Nhơn , also Quy Nhơn, is a coastal city in Binh Dinh province in central Vietnam. It is composed of 16 wards and five communes with a total of 286 km². Quy Nhon is the capital of Bình Định province. As of 2009 its population was 280,900. Historically, the commercial activities of the city...

. Although France returned Hanoi

Hanoi

Hanoi , is the capital of Vietnam and the country's second largest city. Its population in 2009 was estimated at 2.6 million for urban districts, 6.5 million for the metropolitan jurisdiction. From 1010 until 1802, it was the most important political centre of Vietnam...

, the Vietnamese emperor was anxious to get help from China. As a result, both France and China claimed the sovereignty over Vietnamese territory. In March 1882, the first civilian governor of Cochin China, Le Myre de Vilers, deemed the treaty of 1874 unfulfilled. This led to the occupation of Hanoi on April 27, 1882.