How Did French Imperialism Affect Vietnam

In the 1800’s European nations began to push imperialism on Southeast Asia in hopes of gaining profit and control. French imperialism lasted more than six decades and was driven by the demand for resources, cheap labor and raw materials. France had a particular interest in Vietnam and was alarmed when Britain started to colonize Southeast Asia. To prevent any British advancement on Vietnam, the French government forced Vietnam into accepting French protection. By 1884, France seized complete control of Vietnam and by 1858, France governed the neighboring areas in Indochina that later became Cambodia and Laos. Since France didn’t have a large military presence in Vietnam, they sent over many governors, officials and bureaucrats to rule and give

Everyday lifestyle changes were another method of ensuring cultural dominance. The French manipulated those who had power. A portion of the elite class in Indochina admired the French for their 'prestigious' lifestyle and converted to Catholicism, setting an example for the lower classes (Vietnam War, 2004). Literature is an important part of culture, seeing that countries keep their records, history, and information in texts which would be stored for future generations. A French missionary named Alexander de Rhodes romanized the Vietnamese language, which used to utilize Chinese symbols. This new script, called 'Quoc Ngu', detracted Vietnam from its original culture and China's sphere of influence. Quoc Ngu's impact is so large, that it is the how the Vietnamese language is written and read today (Quoc Ngu, 2001). In the later 20th century, the Western urban youth's rebellious lifestyle leaked its way to the Indochinese people. Many young Indochinese people embraced sexual freedom and the movies, clothing styles, and rock music from Western cultures became popular (Vietnam War, 2004). As well as corrupting the way of life for all of Indochinese people and destroying the cultural language of Vietnam, many important historical and cultural cities such as the ancient dynastic capital of Vietnam, Hue, were physically destroyed during the

The French colonization of Vietnam was the long term cause of the 1945 Declaration of Independence because it challenged Vietnamese freedom, violating their national pride and depriving them of a cultural and national identity. France colonized Vietnam for a variety of reasons, while there were extensive economic opportunities; control over Vietnam established them and a major colonizing power in Southeast Asia. Vietnam had a wealth of natural resources that

The French imperialised Vietnam and negatively reconstructed their flourishing economy. When the imperialists came to Vietnam in 1887 they immediately took control of their economy and also began stripping the Vietnamese of their resources .According to (alphahistory.com),

Assess the consequences of the Vietnamese victory against the French for Indochina in the periods 1954-1964.

Vietnam was a French colony dating back to mid 1800s. Vietnam was meant as a farming colony where they would grow things such as tobacco, tea, and coffee. The French treated their colony poorly by denying civil

French who still wanted to keep hold of Vietnam as it was very rich in

For centuries the Vietnamese people resisted being controlled by their powerful Chinese neighbors. They struggled to unify their country as an independent state. Ultimately they freed themselves from China 's claim for control of political authority and achieved national unity only to fall victim to French imperialism (Anderson 1). French ruled Vietnam and neighboring kingdoms as colonies from the nineteenth century to the twentieth century. Japanese occupation of Southeast Asia during World War II influenced the Vietminh war against the French in 1945. September 2nd, 1945, Ho Chi Minh declares independence from French rule shortly after Japans surrender from World War II (www.history.com). France 's rule over its colony was incredibly brutal and exploitative (Anderson 6). French colonialism deprived the Vietnamese of their political independence, and it impoverished many of the Vietnamese people (Anderson 7). Many villagers lost their lands and became low-paid plantation

Vietnam is a southeastern Asian country that has been occupied by the French since the early 19th Century. During War War II Japanese forces invaded Vietnam. In order for the native Vietnamese to fight off both the French Colonial Administration and the invading Japanese, political leader Ho Chi Minh inspired by Soviet Communism, established the League of Independence of Vietnam. After Japan’s defeat in World War II in 1945, the Japanese withdrew their forces from Vietnam. The French educated Emperor Bao Dai was now back in control of Vietnam. Ho Chi Minh saw this as an opportunity to finally gain control and almost immediately took control of the northern city of Hanoi. Ho Chin Minh declared himself as president. In hopes to regain control of Hanoi, France backed Emperor Bao and created the state of Vietnam in 1949. Although both sides wanted the same goal of uniting Vietnam, their government views were drastically different. Ho and his followers wanted the nation to be modeled after other communist countries. While Bao and his followers wanted their country to be in close ties with democratic countries in the west. These causes led to a civil war for the sole control of Vietnam.

Vietnam has a very rich history that often goes unnoticed and unaccounted for, this is most likely due to the war being such a big landmark in the history of Vietnam. Before the war many events transpired that would eventually lead up to the war. In the late 19th century Vietnam was considered to be a French colony. The French built their own standing infrastructure, they began to build railways and roads and bridges. All of this building meant heavy taxation on the Vietnamese. This was all good and progressive for vietnam however “Naturally the Vietnamese wanted independence.” (http://www.localhistories.org/viethist.html) From there Ho Chi Minh founded a revolution and within 20 years Vietnam came under Ho Chi Minh rule.

In the early years of French rule, French administrators planned to change Vietnam socially, politically and economically. No respect was given to the Vietnamese people or their culture. Court officials ( called manderines ) were forced to report to colonial officials instead of the king, diminishing much of the kings power and role in society. High costs of colonial administrators caused the French to put high taxes on salt, opium, alcohol and land. Forced labour was also re introduced. French rule had left the Vietnamese people and their culture impoverished and very much opressed. By 1940 half of Vietnamese's population was landless. This is was one of the many crippling effects of French colonial rule in Vietnam.

European colonization and U.S. expansionism ideology was the main cause for the war that brought the Vietnamese people to the brink of annihilation. It first started with the France colonization of Vietnam after a French priest and Catholics were persecuted for inciting an uprising against the local ruler. Eventually, the French established a colony in the three countries which commonly referred to as French Indochina. The Vietnamese orchestrated several rebellions to get rid of the French, but to no avail. During the

From the 1880s until World War II, France governed Vietnam as part of French Indochina, which also included Cambodia and Laos. The country was under the formal control of an emperor, Bao Dai. From 1946 until 1954, the Vietnamese struggled for their independence from France during the first Indochina War. At the end of this war, the country was temporarily divided into North and South Vietnam. North Vietnam came under the control of the Vietnamese Communists who had opposed France and aimed for a unified Vietnam under Communist rule. Vietnamese who had collaborated with the French controlled the South.

Profit gains acted as the main factor triggering French colonization of Indochina to be in their presence. The French companies and the colonial officials engaged in the transformation of the Vietnam subsistence economy to a system that is proto-capitalist on the bases of low wages and exports, increased production, and land ownership (Kolko 7). Thus, the Vietnamese never worked for their profits, but for the benefit of the colonies of the French.

After the defeat of Japan, France returned to the seizure of their colony. The French entry in Vietnam was allowed after Viet Minh had given the assurance that the country will get independence within the French Union. Failure of negotiations between the two parties in December 1946, the bombing of the French city of Haiphong and again broke into the capital, Hanoi.