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The focus of the thesis is to spatial-temporally explore Taiwan’s military actions in the Sino-French War, to understand the main goal and strategies of the French invasion, the effectiveness of the defensive deployment of the Qing military in Taiwan and the processes of each battle through the analysis of the military operations of both sides with illustrations of maps. The aims of the study are: (1) to analyze Ao Liu’s military preparations and defenses before the war ;(2) to explore Mingchuan Liu’s military deployment in Northern Taiwan ;(3) to understand the goals and attack strategies of the French army ;(4) to spatial-temporally analyze the attacks and defenses during the war ;(5) to understand the results and influences of Taiwan’s military operations during the war. The thesis begins with the background and cause of Formosa battle during the Sino-French war. It then focuses on Taiwan’s military preparations and defenses—mainly the analysis and contrasts of Ao Liu’s and Mingchuan Liu's. Following it are the processes, analysis and results of the battles of Keelung, Huwei, the second battle of Keelung and the battle of Penghu. The last part deals with the end of the Formosa battle—with the peace treaty signed and the French troops evacuating Taiwan. The French invasion of Taiwan made the Qing court aware of the strategic value of Taiwan, which was made a province soon after the war ended, with Mingchuan Liu appointed the first provincial governor of Taiwan. Liu then started a massive modernization program and laid the foundation of modern infrastructure in Taiwan.
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