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French Colonialism in Indo-China
Introduction
France started its Indo-China ambitions by 1860 but what exactly does Indo-China mean? Indo-China is situated in South Asia and comprises Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam. The colonization began as a reaction to the Vietnamese execution of Catholic missionaries and the French conquered Tourane, a Vietnamese port in 1860 for commercial advantage, it took over the city of Saigon (Hochi Minh city) and by 1867 the French expanded its territories and named it Cochinchine.
By 1863, with an intention to protect the western frontiers of Cochinchina, French imposed Cambodia as its protectorate with the King Norodom agreeing to such terms and it was only in 1904 that the French left Indochina once and for all.
Nature of the French Maintenance of Indo-China
By 1893, France had colonized Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia and thus began its ambitions of commercializing the colony for reaping the benefits.
The Monopoly of opium − Colonial governor Paul Dormer made sure that Indo- China paid for its administration and to ensure it he imposed excise duties and increased direct taxes. He also made salt, alcohol and opium as monopoly so it could only be the French that does business in such items
Production for French profits − France paid menial labour wages and made the labourers work in inhumane conditions and extended the production of rice, paddy, and rubber for export to the home country. Lighthouses and railways made for easy transportation and goods which made huge profits for the colonizer.
Distorted land ownership − France had changed the traditional land ownership of the Vietnamese as they took out loans to pay rent for their homes and their land which included 70% interest rates to pay the loan. This destruction among the landholders created a new elite class and promoted landlordism and this caused 90% of people to be left in poverty. French also neglected education to the masses and the literate ratio among the population reduced drastically.
Destruction of village community − Before the French arrived the Vietnamese people adhered to a bartering system but with colonization, the French introduced a currency system which was not understood by many which created confusion coupled with a change in traditional landownership and fractured the conventional structure of the social unit and as a result distorted village community which was the centre of religious, economic and culture. The village community was the centre of the administration unit this also collapsed as a result.
Divide and rule policy of the French − French sliced Vietnam into 3, namely, Tonkin, Annam and Cochinhina and there was a large uproar among the rebels but the French turned to imperialists’ methods and suppressed it by executing them. Vietnamese were Buddhists mainly and the French tried to convert them to Catholics which ruptured the social fabric of the colony.
The outbreak of 2nd World War and further deprivation − after the outbreak of 2nd WW, France surrendered to Germany and japan administered Indo-chin, this led to hunger and famine as the wartime inflations increased Japan diverted the rice export to its territory and even the peasant’s rice was not spared this led to the death of 2 million people and after the war, France tried to regain Indo-China with the help of Britain and The United States.
Conclusion
The relationship between the French and Vietnamese got worse with the advent of independence leaders such as HO Chi Minh and General Giap and when the French breached the August agreement, the First Indo-China war began and this ended with the Battle of Dien Bian Phu with Vietnam as victors. After the war, the Geneva conference was held which ended the French rule over Indo-China by 1954.
FAQs
Qns 1. What was the battle of Dien Bian Phu?
Ans. The battle took place from March 13th to May 7th, 1654 it was fought between the French and Vietnam which ended the 80-year-old war. The French lost about 2,293 killed, 5,195 wounded, and 10,998 captured and Vietnam’s casualties accounted for 23,000.
French military headed by −
Brigadier General Christian de Castries
Colonel Pierre Langlais
Major General Rene Cogny
Vietnam was headed by: Vo Nguyen Giap
After the peace negotiations were done by the ongoing Geneva conference which partitioned the country into North and South Vietnam where the North was communist and the South was democratic this resulted in the Vietnam war.
Qns 2. Who was Vo Nguyen Giap?
Ans. Vo Nguyen Giap was the military commander of Vietnam in the battle of Dian Bian Phu his brilliance in guerrilla force and tactical strategies were decisive in the victory against the French
He was a professor in History at the Lycee Thanh Long in Hanoi and worked for the Indochinese communist party.
After the partition of Vietnam, he served as the Deputy Prime Minister of North Vietnam.
His strategies played an important role in winning the Vietnam war which drove America out of Vietnam in 1973 and eventually the fall of South Vietnam in 1975.
In 1976, When two Vietnam reunited he was the head of Defence and also became the deputy prime minister.
Qns 3. Define the Vietnam war.
Ans. Vietnam war (1954-1975) was fought between Communist North Vietnam which wanted to unite Vietnam and Democratic South which wanted to preserve Vietnam. The North was supported by the Chinese and Russia and the South by the U.S. which was also a manifestation of the cold war fought between Russia and America
When China and Russia poured weapons and artillery into the North, the U.S. dispatched its military force to fight in the South.
By 1973 U.S. had to back out from the war sighting the high cost of the war which eventually led to the victory of the North.
The casualties reported on both sides were high, it is estimated that South Vietnam lost between 200,000 and 250,000 fighters, and around 2 million civilians were killed in the territories of North and South Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia.
It is suspected that over 1.2 million of these deaths were murders and The United States lost 58,220 known military personnel.
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