ABSTRACT
One of the linchpins of French colonial policy in Indochina was the “protected monarchy,” whereby Vietnamese, Cambodian, and Lao rulers reigned over all or part of their ancestors’ kingdoms under French authority. In theory, of course, a protectorate implied indirect rather than direct rule, but given the tight degree of control that colonial officials exercised over the souverains protégés, the latter enjoyed little more real authority than the indigène civil servants of a directly ruled colony like Cochin China. The structure and functioning of the protected monarchies were largely regularized by the early twentieth century, though the French continued to make changes as they deemed necessary—inevitably with a view to consolidating their own power, rather than broadening that of the rulers.
