Chapter 2 The Nationalist Movement in Indo-China Long Questions And Answers
Question 1. How did France achieve its aim to exploit the natural resources of Vietnam?
Answer:
Colonies were considered essential to supply resources and other essential goods.
Like other Western nations, France also thought it was the mission of the advanced European countries to bring the benefits of civilization to backward people.
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- France colonized Vietnam by taking the following steps: The French began building canals and draining lands in the Mekong Delta to increase cultivation.
- A vast system of canals and earthworks was developed with the help of forced labor. This system of irrigation work increased rice production in Vietnam.
- This increase in rice production helped Vietnam to export rice to the international market. In fact, Vietnam expanded two-thirds of its rice production and by 1931 had become the third largest exporter of rice in the world.
- This was followed by infrastructure projects to help transport goods for trade, move military garrisons, and control the entire region.
- Construction of a trans-Indo-China rail network that would link the northern and southern parts of Vietnam and China was begun.
- The final link to Yunan in China was completed by 1910. The second line was also built, linking Vietnam to Siam via the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh.
- By the 1920s, to ensure higher levels of profits for their businesses, French business interests were pressurizing the government in Vietnam to develop the infrastructure further.
- With the help of all these, France achieved its objective in Vietnam.
Question 2. Explain the education system adopted by France in Vietnam.
Or
Describe the key features of the education system adopted by France in Vietnam.
Answer:
Education was seen as one way to civilize the natives of Vietnam. The elites in Vietnam were powerfully influenced by the Chinese culture.
To consolidate their power, the French had to counter this Chinese influence. So they traditionally dismantled the traditional education system and established French schools for the Vietnamese.
However, there was no unanimity regarding the language to be used to impart education to the Vietnamese.
There were two broad opinions on this issue. Some policymakers felt that the French language should be used as a medium of instruction.
They thought that by learning the French language Vietnamese would be able to understand the culture and civilization of France.
This would help in the creation of an ‘Asiatic France solidly tied to European France’.
The educated people in Vietnam would respect French sentiments and ideals, seeing the superiority of French culture and work for the French.
But there were other policymakers who were opposed to the idea of making French the medium of instruction. They suggested that Vietnamese be taught in the lower classes and French in the higher classes.
The few who learned French and acquired French culture were to be awarded French citizenship.
School textbooks glorified the French and justified colonial rule. The Vietnamese were represented as primitive and backward. They were supposed to do manual labor only and were not fit for intellectual responsibility.
They were skilled copyists but not creative. On the other hand, a few could pass the school leaving examination.
This was largely because of a deliberate policy of failing students so that they could not qualify for better-paid jobs.
Question 3. How did the teachers and the students resist the French educational curriculum in Vietnam?
Answer:
Teachers and students did not blindly follow the curriculum. Sometimes there was open opposition, at other times there was silent resistance.
They adopted the following ways to resist the French educational curriculum in Vietnam:
- In lower classes, the number of Vietnamese teachers increased and it became difficult to control the subject of teaching.
- While teaching, Vietnamese teachers quietly modified the text and criticized what was stated.
- There were open protests against the policy of the government. In 1926, there was a major protest erupted in the Saigon Native Girls School.
- In a class, a Vietnamese female student who was sitting in the front seat was asked to move to the back of the class and allow a local French student to occupy the front seat.
- The girl refused to do so and consequently was expelled from the school by the principal. It was vehemently opposed and finally, the girl was allowed to attend the school.
- In other places, students fought against the colonial government’s efforts to prevent the Vietnamese from qualifying for the white collar jobs.
- They were inspired by patriotic feelings and the conviction that it was the duty of the educated to fight for the benefit of society. This brought them into conflict with the French.
- By the 1920s, students were forming various political parties such as the Party of Young Annan, and publishing nationalist journals such as the Annanese Student.
Question 4. How did schools become an important place for political and cultural battles in Vietnam?
Or
How did students in Vietnam fight against the colonial government’s efforts to prevent Vietnamese from qualifying for ‘white collar jobs’? Explain.
Answer:
The schools became an important place for political and cultural battles because the French sought to strengthen their rule in Vietnam through control over schools and education in the following ways:
- School textbooks glorified the French and justified colonial rule.
- The Vietnamese were represented as primitive and backward.
- They were supposed to be capable of manual work but not fit for intellectual reflection.
- It was taught that Vietnamese could work in the fields but not rule themselves. They were skilled copyists but not creative.
- Schoolchildren were taught that only French rule could ensure peace in Vietnam.
- Tonkin Free School was started in 1907 to provide a Western-style education. This education included classes in science, hygiene, and French.
- The school encouraged the adoption of Western styles such as having a short haircut.
- Through schools, the French tried to change the values, norms, and perceptions of the people to make them believe in the superiority of French civilization and the inferiority of the Vietnamese.
- On the other hand, while teaching, Vietnamese teachers quietly modified the text and criticized what was stated.
- There were open protests against the policy of the government. In 1926, there was a major protest erupted in the Saigon Native Girls School on the issue of the rustication of a female student.
Vietnamese intellectuals, on the other hand, feared that Vietnam was losing not just control over its territory but its very identity also.
Its own culture and customs were being devalued and the people were developing a master-slave mentality.
Question 5. How did religious groups help in the development of anti-colonial feelings in Vietnam? How did the French try to suppress it?
Answer:
Religion played an important role in strengthening colonial control in Vietnam for the French, it also provided ways of resistance.
Vietnam’s religious beliefs were a mixture of Buddhism, Confucianism, and local practices. Christianity introduced by the French missionaries was intolerant to Vietnamese.
From the 18th century, many religious movements were hostile to the Western presence. An early movement against French control and the spread of Christianity was the Scholar Revolt in 1868.
This revolt was led by the officials at the imperial court angered by the spread of Catholicism and French power. This led to a general uprising in Ngu An and Ha Tien provinces.
In these provinces thousands of Catholics were killed. Catholic missionaries have been active in winning converts since the early 17th century.
There were many popular religions in Vietnam that were spread by people who claimed to have seen a vision of God. Some of these religious movements supported the French, but others were hostile to them.
Hoa Hao movement was one such movement that opposed the French. It began in the year 1939 and gained popularity in the fertile Mekong Delta area.
It drew on religious ideas popular in the anti-French uprisings of the 19th century. Huyn Phu So was the founder of the Hoa Hao movement. He performed miracles and helped the poor.
His criticism against useless expenditure had a wide appeal. He also opposed the sale of child brides, gambling, and the use of alcohol and opium.
The French tried to suppress these movements, especially the Hoa Hao movement. They declared Huyn Phu So mad and called him the Mad Bonze and put him in a mental asylum.
But the doctor declared him perfect and became his follower. The French authorities exiled him to Laos and sent many of his followers to concentration camps.
Question 6. How did Nationalism in Vietnam emerge through the efforts of different sections of the society to fight against the French? Explain.
Answer:
Nationalism in Vietnam emerged through the efforts of the following sections of the society that fought against the French:
- The colonization of Vietnam had brought various sections of Vietnamese society to fight against the French.
- The most visible form of French control was military and economic domination which aroused the feelings of nationalism among all the sections of Vietnamese society.
- Irrigation and railway networks were laid down to promote rice cultivation and plantation crops for exports.
- As a result, the economic conditions of the poor sections of society deteriorated further. This section of society became opposed to the French role.
- The French denounced the religion and culture of Vietnam as backward and tradition-ridden and praised Christianity and Western values sky-high.
- This step of the French aroused the feelings of the religious leaders of Vietnam. Hence, the nationalists of Vietnam armed themselves up to fight against the French.
- The French imposed their language on the natives. They couldn’t tolerate it. As a result, the students, teachers, and intellectuals all united to fight against the French.
- In short, the people of Vietnam resented all these forms of domination by the alien rulers. They were only waiting for a spark to ignite the fire of nationalist revolution.
Question 7. What were different opinions regarding the vision of modernization in Vietnam? Explain.
Answer:
There were different opinions regarding the vision of modernization in Vietnam.
- Some intellectuals felt that Vietnamese tradition had to be strengthened to resist the domination of the West, while others felt that Vietnam had to learn from the West even while opposing foreign domination.
- In the late 19th century, resistance to French domination was offered by Confucian scholar-activists like Phan Boi Chau.
- Phan Boi Chau became a major figure in the anti-colonial resistance from the time he formed the Revolutionary Society in 1903, with Prince Cuong de as the head.
- Phan Boi Chau was in favor of severing ties with China that bound the elites of the two countries within a shared culture.
- Other nationalists strongly differed with Phan Boi Chau. One such nationalist was Phan Chu Trinh. He was intensely hostile to the monarchy and opposed the idea of resisting the French with the help of the court.
- He desired to establish a democratic republic influenced by the democratic ideals of the West. He was not in favor of the complete rejection of Western civilization.
- He accepted the French revolutionary ideal of liberty but charged the French for not abiding by the ideal.
- In the first decade of the nineteenth century, a movement was started that encouraged the students of Vietnam to go to Japan. This movement was known as ‘Go East movement’.
- Vietnamese students went to Japan to get a modern education. For many of the students, the primary objective was to drive out the French from Vietnam and to overthrow the puppet emperor to re-establish the Nguyen dynasty that was deposed by the French.
- Developments in China also inspired the Vietnamese nationalists. In 1911, San Yat Sen overthrew the long-established monarchy and set up a Republic. Inspired by these developments, the Vietnamese students organized the Association for the Restoration of Vietnam.
Soon, the anti-imperialist movement in Vietnam came under a new type of leadership.
Question 8. Write a note on the Ho Chi Minh Trail.
Or
What do you know about Ho Chi Minh Trail? Explain.
Answer:
The Ho Chi Minh Trail plays a significant role in the war between the US and Vietnam. This trail symbolizes the skill of the Vietnamese in using their limited resources to great advantage.
Most of the trail was outside Vietnam in neighboring Laos and Cambodia with branch lines extending into South Vietnam.
The trail, an immense network of footpaths and roads, was used to transport men and materials from the north to south.
There were hospitals and support bases along the trail. In some parts, supplies were transported in trucks but mostly they were carried by porters who were mainly women.
These porters carried about 25 kilos on their heads or about 70 kilos on their bicycles. The US continuously bombed the trail during the war to disrupt the supplies.
However, these efforts failed to produce the desired results. The Vietnamese rebuilt the trail very quickly.
Question 9. The effect of the Vietnam War was felt within the US as well. Explain.
Answer:
The US entry into the war marked a new phase that proved costly to Vietnam as well as to the Americans. The phase of struggle with the US was brutal.
Thousands of US troops arrived equipped with heavy weapons and tanks and, backed by the most powerful bombers of the time- B52s.
The widespread attacks and use of Napalm, Agent Orange, and phosphorous bombs destroyed many villages and decimated jungles. Civilians died in innumerable numbers.
But this policy of the US did not go unopposed. Many were critical of the policy of the government for getting involved in a war that they saw indefensible.
When the youth were drafted for the war, the anger spread. The US media and films played a major role in criticizing the war.
John Ford Coppala’s film Apocalypse Now reflected the moral confusion that the war had caused in the US.
Writers such as Mary McCarthy and actors like Jane Fonda even visited North Vietnam and praised the people for their heroic defense of their country.
The scholar Noam Chomsky called the war ‘the greatest threat to peace, to national self-determination, and to international cooperation’.
Question 10. Explain the role of women in the anti-imperialist movement in Vietnam.
Answer:
Women in Vietnam traditionally enjoyed greater equality than in China, particularly among the lower classes.
But their role was limited in determining their future and they were not allowed to play any role in public life.
- During the nationalist movement, a new image of womanhood emerged.
- In the 1930s, a famous novel by Nhat Linh showed a woman coming out of a forced marriage and marrying a man of her choice who was involved in nationalist politics.
- This rebellion against social convention marked the arrival of the new woman in Vietnam society.
- Trung sisters fought against the Chinese domination in 39-43 CE. Phan Boi Chau glorified these sisters as patriots in his play.
- In the third century CE, Trie Au left home, went into jungles organized a large army, and resisted Chinese rule.
- Nguyen Thi Xuan was reputed to have shot down a jet with just twenty bullets.
- Women were represented not only as warriors but also as workers. They were shown with a rifle in one hand and a hammer in the other. As casualties in the war increased, women were urged to join the struggle in large numbers.
- Many women responded and joined the resistance movement. They helped in nursing the wounded, constructing underground rooms and tunnels, and fighting the enemy.
- Women also guarded and maintained the 2, 195 km Ho Chi Minh Trail.
Question 11. There was a conflict against the French in every sphere of life in Vietnam. Justify.
Answer:
The French established their control over Vietnam through their military power. French troops landed in Vietnam in 1858 and by the mid-1880s they had established a firm grip over the northern region.
After the Franco-Chinese War, the French assumed control of Tonkin and Annam, and in 1887, French Indo-China was formed.
The French control brought the people of the country into conflict with the colonizers in all areas of life.
The most visible form of French control was military and economic domination.
The French also built a system that tried to reshape the culture of Vietnam.
Nationalism in Vietnam emerged through the efforts of different sections of the society to fight against the French and all they represented.
As the French sought to consolidate their position, the people of Vietnam began reflecting on the nature of the loss that Vietnam was suffering.
Teachers and students did not blindly follow the curriculum. Sometimes there was an open opposition, at other times there was a silent resistance.
Religion played an important role in strengthening colonial control in Vietnam for the French. It also provided ways of resistance.
Vietnam’s religious beliefs were a mixture of Buddhism, Confucianism, and local practices.
Christianity introduced by the French missionaries was intolerant to Vietnamese. From the 18th century, many religious movements were hostile to the Western presence.
Question 12. Explain the contribution made by the French in the development of agriculture in Vietnam.
Or
What were the contributions made by the French to the development of agriculture in Vietnam?
Answer:
- Vietnam had fertile land, suitable for the cultivation of rice and plantation crops. The French could sense a business opportunity to earn huge profits from these activities.
- To earn a huge profit and amass a great fortune, the French began by building canals and draining lands in the Mekong Delta to increase cultivation.
- So they built a vast system of irrigation works, consisting of a canal and earthworks with the help of forced labour.
- They also built a network of railways which helped in faster movement of goods and agricultural products.
Agricultural products could be speedily moved from the hinterlands to other parts of the country to ports for export.
As a result, rice production increased manifold in Vietnam; two-thirds of its rice production was exported to international markets. Vietnam became the third-largest exporter of rice in the world.
Question 13. What ideas did Phan Boi Chau and Phan Chu Trinh share in common? What did they differ on?
Answer:
- Common elements of Chau and Trinh: Both were nationalists and wanted to free their motherland.
- Different (uncommon) elements of Chau and Trinh:
- Chau had an anti-French alliance with the elite classes of Vietnam and China. He even set up a revolutionary society. On the contrary, Trinh always opposed alliances with the monarchy or the elite classes.
- Chau was inclined toward Chinese culture while Trinh was inclined toward the ideal of the French Revolution.
- Chau never appreciated or demanded reform of legal, educational, or agricultural spheres, as was done by the French. On the other hand, Trinh wished that these fields should be reformed by the French authorities.
Question 14. The founder of the Hoa Hao movement was a man called Huyn Phu So. He performed miracles and helped the poor. He also opposed the sale of child brides, gambling, and the use of alcohol and opium. Out of these three which has more negative influence on life?
Answer:
The sale of child brides has a more negative influence on life and society. Childhood is not the right age for marriage. It is the time to grow and play.
At this stage, a child does not understand the complexity of marriage. Moreover, child marriage deprives the girls of many opportunities in life.
They do not get the time to get an education. This proves a vicious circle for them. They remain in the darkness of ignorance and their children may also suffer due to their ignorance.
The sale of a child bride is also against humanity.