The Nationalist Movement in Indo - China Summary Class 10 Social Science Chapter 2

Emerging from the Shadow of China

• Indo-China comprises the modern countries of Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia.
• Vietnam gained formal independence in 1945 from France. Before independence, it was under Chinese rule.
• Even after independence, Chinese culture and systems of government were maintained in Vietnam.

Colonial Domination and Resistance

• French troops landed in Vietnam in 1858
  • By the mid-1880s they had established a firm grip over the northern region.

Why the French thought Colonies Necessary

• To supply natural resources and other essential goods.
• It was the mission of advanced European countries to civilize the backward peoples.

Should Colonies be Developed?

• Barriers to economic growth in Vietnam
  • High population levels.
  • Low agricultural productivity.
  • Extensive indebtedness amongst the peasants.

How Vietnam developed as a Colony:

• Primarily, Vietnam was based on rice cultivation and rubber plantations owned by the French and small Vietnamese elite. 
• Rail and port facilities were set up to service this sector.
• Indentured Vietnamese labour was used in the rubber plantations. 
• France did little to industrialise the economy.

The Dilemma of Colonial Education

• French saw modern education as only way to civilise the local people of the country.

Talking Modern

• Chinese was the language used by the Vietnamese elites.
• Some policy- makers emphasised the need to use the French language as the medium of instruction so they see the superiority of French culture.
• Others suggested that Vietnamese be taught in lower classes and French in the higher classes.
  • The few who learnt French and acquired French culture were to be rewarded with French citizenship.
• Only the Vietnamese elite could enroll in the schools.
• School textbooks glorified the French and justified colonial rule.

Looking Modern

• In 1907, the Tonkin Free School was started for providing Western-style education.
• The school encouraged the adoption of Western styles such as having a short haircut.

Resistance in Schools

• Teachers and students opposed the curriculum.
• By the 1920s, students were forming various political parties, such as the Party of Young Annan.
• Schools became an important place for political and cultural battles.
• The Vietnamese intellectuals feared the loss of both the Vietnamese territory and culture.

Hygiene, Disease and Everyday Resistance

Plague strike Hanoi

• The French part of Hanoi was built as a beautiful and clean city.
• In 1903, the modern part of Hanoi was struck by bubonic plague.
• The sewers also served as a great transport system, allowing the rats to move around the city.

The Rat Hunt

• A rat hunt was started in 1902 to remove the rats.
• French hired Vietnamese workers and paid them for each rat they caught.
• The Vietnamese caught the rats, clipped off the tail and let the rat go free again.
• French were forced to scrap the bounty programme.

Religion and Anti-Colonialism

• Religious beliefs of Vietnam were a mixture of Buddhism, Confucianism and local practices.
• French introduced Christianity in Vietnam.

Scholars' Revolt of 1868

• This revolt was led by officials of the Imperial Court.
• Uprising in Ngu An and Ha Tien provinces killed a thousand Catholics.
• By the middle of the 18th century, 300,000 people converted to Christianity.
• Revolt suppressed by the French.

Hoa Hao Movement

• The Hoa Hao Movement began in 1939 under its founder Huynh Phu So.
• He criticised useless expenditure and opposed the sale of child brides, gambling and the use of alcohol and opium.
• The French declared him mad and sent him to a mental asylum.
• He was freed in 1946, but exiled to Laos and his followers sent to concentration camps.

The Vision of Modernisation

• Regarding modernisation and nationalism two opinions held:
  • Vietnamese traditions had to be strengthened to resist western domination.
  • The second felt that Vietnam had to learn from the West even while opposing foreign domination.
• Phan Boi Chau was a Confucian Scholar and a nationalist.
  • He formed the Revolutionary Society in 1903.
• Phan Chu Trinh was against monarchy and wished to establish a democratic republic.
  • He did not want a wholesale rejection of Western civilisation.

Other Ways of Becoming Modern: Japan and China
Go East Movement:

• Some 300 Vietnamese students went to Japan in 1907-08 to acquire modern education.
• Their aim was to drive out the French and re-establish the Ngu Yen dynasty.
• They wanted Japanese help and established a Restoration Society in Tokyo.
• But after 1908, the Japanese closed the society, and sent many of them, including Phan Boi Chau to exile in China and Thailand.

Chinese influence on Vietnam

• When Sun Yat Sen overthrew monarchy in China in 1911, a new association - Association for Restoration of Vietnam was formed.
• Their objective was to have a Democratic Republic and a Constitutional Monarchy in Vietnam.

The Communist Movement and Vietnamese Nationalism

• The Great Depression of the 1930s led to unemployment, debts and rural uprisings in Vietnam.
• In February 1930, Ho Chi Minh established the Vietnamese Communist Party.
• In 1940, Japan occupied Vietnam.
• The League for the Independence of Vietnam (known as the Viet Minh) fought the Japanese, recaptured Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh became the chairman of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam in September 1943.

The New Republic of Vietnam

• The French set up a puppet regime under Bao Dai as Emperor.
• After years of fighting, the French were finally defeated in 1954 at Dien Bien Phu.
• In the peace negotiations in Geneva after the French defeat led to the spilt of Vietnam into North Vietnam and South Vietnam.
  • Ho Chi Minh and the communists took power in the north
  • Bao Dai’s regime was put in power in the south.
• The Bao Dai regime was soon overthrown by a coup led by Ngo Dinh Diem.
• Diem built a dictatorial government.
  • This was opposed by a broad opposition united under the banner of the National Liberation Front (NLF).
• With the help of North Vietnam, NLF fought for the unification of the country.

The Entry of the US into the War (1965 to 1972)

• Fear of communism made the US intervene in Vietnam. 
• Thousands of  US troops arrived equipped with heavy weapons and tanks. 
• Use of chemical weapons – Napalm, Agent Orange, and phosphorous bombs destroyed many villages.
• The effect of the war was felt within the US as well. 
  • Many were critical of the government for getting involved in a war.

The Ho Chi Minh Trail

• The trail, an immense network of footpaths and roads, was used to transport men and materials from the north to the south.
• The US regularly bombed this trail trying to disrupt supplies, but efforts to destroy this important supply line by intensive bombing failed because they were rebuilt very quickly.

The End of the War

• US had failed to achieve its objectives.
• This was a war that has been called the first television war because battle scenes were shown on the daily news programmes.
• In January 1974: A peace settlement was signed in Paris which ended conflict with the US.
• The National Liberation Front (NLF) occupied the presidential palace in Saigon on 30 April 1975 and unified Vietnam.