France: Jules François Camille Ferry (1832 – 1893) Prime Minister of France (23 September 1880 – 14 November 1881)

After the military defeat of France by Germany in 1870, Ferry formed the idea of acquiring a great colonial empire, principally for the sake of economic exploitation. In a speech before the Chamber of Deputies on 28 July 1885, he declared that 'the superior races have a right because they have a duty: it is their duty to civilize the inferior races'. Ferry directed the negotiations which led to the establishment of a French protectorate in Tunis (1881), prepared the treaty of 17 December 1885 for the occupation of Madagascar; directed the exploration of the Congo and of the Niger region; and above all, he organized the conquest of Annam and Tonkin in what became French Indochina.

The last endeavor led to a war with the Manchu Empire, whose Qing Dynasty had a claim of suzerainty over the two provinces. The excitement caused in Paris by the sudden retreat of the French troops from Lang Son during this war led to the Tonkin Affair: his violent denunciation by Clemenceau and other radicals, and his downfall on 30 March 1885. Although the treaty of peace with the Manchu Empire (9 June 1885), in which the Qing Dynasty ceded suzerainty of Annam and Tonkin to France, was the work of his ministry, he would never again serve as premier.

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