Annam

Annam, region of South East Asia, comprising most of central Vietnam between the historic regions of Cochin China to the south and Tonkin to the north. It adjoins Cambodia and Laos on the west and the South China Sea on the east. The principal city is Huê. Other important cities are Binh Dinh, Đa Nãng, Quang Tri, and Vinh.

Some confusion exists about the use of the term Annam. It is the ancient Chinese name (spelled Annan, “pacified south”) for Vietnam, but the French used it to designate both central Vietnam and the precolonial Annamite Empire, which encompassed most of present-day Vietnam.

Late in the 2nd century bc the northern part of the region was conquered by the Chinese. It remained under Chinese control until ad 939, when it was liberated by revolution. During the next few centuries the Cham, a people of Malayo-Polynesian stock who lived in the central and southern parts of the region, were driven southward by the Annamese. The Chinese reconquered the region in about 1407, but were driven out again in 1428. Annam then became an independent monarchy embracing most of Indochina.

The French began their involvement in the area in 1787, when they concluded a treaty with the ruler of Cochin China, then an independent principality. With some French assistance, Cochin China had subjugated all of Annam by 1802. Under continued pressure, however, part of Cochin China was ceded to the French in 1862, and five years later the French annexed the remainder. In 1884 the French established a protectorate over the Annamite Empire, although it remained under the nominal rule of local monarchs until the end of World War II in 1945. The Japanese occupied all of French Indochina from 1941 to 1945, in collaboration with the French colonial government and Bao Dai, the last emperor of Annam, who became the head of the new state of Vietnam in 1949.