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The Vietnamese Of The Vietnam

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Situated on the Indochina peninsula in Southeast Asia, Vietnam is the eastern most country bordered by China to the north, Laos and Cambodia to the west, the Gulf of Tonkin and the South China Sea to the east, and the Gulf of Thailand to the south. Prior to the conquest of Indochina by the French, Vietnam was ruled by the Chinese for more than eight centuries. However, after several years of resistance the Vietnamese overthrew the Chinese kingdom in their country and thus became independent. In spite of gaining freedom, the Vietnamese rulers continued to uphold the Chinese system of governance, policy making and also its culture. In fact, most of the Vietnamese were largely influenced by the Chinese culture and religion, mainly Taoism, Buddhism and Confucianism.

The French troops entered the land of Vietnam in the year 1858 and by the mid-1880s they had established a firm grip over the northern region. After the defeat of China in the Franco-Chinese war (1884-85), the French assumed complete supremacy over the central Vietnam
(Annam), the northern Vietnam (Tonkin), the southern Vietnam (Cochinchina) along with Laos and Cambodia, which they collectively called French Indo-china that was formed in the year 1887. However, France gained control over the southern Vietnam only after it had signed a peace treaty, the Treaty of Saigon on July 5th, 1862.

The real motive behind the French colonization was profit, economic exploitation and political supremacy. The demand for

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