France had formally established the Indochinese Union, comprising the colony of Cochinchina and the protectorates of Annam, Tonkin, and Cambodia, in 1887, with Laos being added as a protectorate in 1893.

There is a rapid turnover among governors-general of the Indochinese Union, and few serve a full five-year term. One who does, Paul Doumer (1897-1902), is considered to have been the architect of a colonial system under which Vietnam is politically dominated and economically exploited.

Following the partitioning of Vietnam into three parts, the emperor had been stripped of the last vestiges of his authority.

In 1897 the powers of the kinh hoc (emperor's viceroy) are transferred to the Resident Superieur at Hanoi, who governs in the name of the emperor.

This same year, the Privy Council or Co Mat Vien in Annam is replaced with a French-controlled Council of Ministers.

The following year in Annam, the French takeover tax collection and payment of officials.

Most of the Vietnamese scholar-officials had refused to cooperate with the French, but those who do are restricted to minor or ceremonial positions.