Auguste Pavie, French vice consul in Luang…

Auguste Pavie, French vice consul in Luang Prabang in 1886, is the chief agent in furthering French interests in Laos.

His intrigues, which take advantage of Siamese weakness in the region and periodic invasions by Chinese rebels from Yunnan Province, increase tensions between Bangkok and Paris.

When fighting breaks out between French and Siamese forces in Laos in April 1893, the French send gunboats to blockade Bangkok.

At gunpoint, the Siamese agree to the cession of Laos.

Britain's acquiescence in French expansionism is evident in a treaty signed by the two countries in 1896 recognizing a border between French territory in Laos and British territory in Upper Burma.