French filibusters in the Far East and Africa?

Hello y'all!

So I fell up on William Walker's bio and the world of filibusters. I had actually been toying with the idea for a while but I'm glad to see it might actually have happened.
Here it goes: what are the odds of private French citizens carving lasting/semi-lasting (+5 years) in what would be the French sphere of influence?
I can see that happening in the Tonkin protectorate before it gets annexed in 1886. Private citizens carving pieces for themselves with money or guns in the Northwestern borders between Siam/China/Tonkin where there is coal and hevea/opium can be planted easily. Plus they'd be on the red River flow.

Is that crazy or just crazy enough to work?
 
Hello y'all!

So I fell up on William Walker's bio and the world of filibusters. I had actually been toying with the idea for a while but I'm glad to see it might actually have happened.
Here it goes: what are the odds of private French citizens carving lasting/semi-lasting (+5 years) in what would be the French sphere of influence?
I can see that happening in the Tonkin protectorate before it gets annexed in 1886. Private citizens carving pieces for themselves with money or guns in the Northwestern borders between Siam/China/Tonkin where there is coal and hevea/opium can be planted easily. Plus they'd be on the red River flow.

Is that crazy or just crazy enough to work?
I'm not sure if it counts,but Voulet and Chanoine,the two officers in charge of the Voulet–Chanoine expedition mutineered and tried to establish their own empire.
 
Oh, that's quite interesting, thanks! Although from what I can see they didn't as much try to create a state/colony as refuse to acknowledge the orders telling them they were sadistic monsters and should come back home to have a stern talking to.

I'm looking more along these lines:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaston_de_Raousset-Boulbon
Albeit later and on another continent :D
 
Oh, that's quite interesting, thanks! Although from what I can see they didn't as much try to create a state/colony as refuse to acknowledge the orders telling them they were sadistic monsters and should come back home to have a stern talking to.

I'm looking more along these lines:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaston_de_Raousset-Boulbon
Albeit later and on another continent :D
They did try to establish a new empire when word reach them that France is outraged by their behaviour.

"I'm no longer a Frenchman, I'm a black chief. With you, I will found an empire"

This quotation pretty much sums up that the two blokes tried to do.Although,it's almost impossible that they'd succeed.There's no way their subordinates would obey such an order.Apart from that,they won't have enough resources to fight off an eventual expedition from France to put them down.Would be quite interesting nonetheless if their subordinates went along with their insanity.

As for true filibustering,IIRC,there should be some efforts with Madagascar.
 
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That's basically otl.

Most of the French colonial empire was expended against express orders from Paris. The officers sent by the army wanted glory, so they mounted their own expedition, whatever the ministry was saying. France always ended up taking the territory in question, for some reason.
 
I also found a guy named Jean Dupuis who explored the Red River and had a bit of control over it but the French state didn't act on it. Anybody has more info on him? (as in, more than Wikipedia)
 
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