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Concept of the lesson
EMERGING FROM THE SHADOW OF CHINA
Indo-China
comprises the modern countries of Vietnam Laos and Cambodia. Its early history
shows many different groups of people living in this area under the shadow of
the powerful empire of China.
They followed the Chinese culture.
1) Colonial
domination and resistance:
The
colonization of Vietnam
by the French. The French controlled their military and economic
domination and wanted to reshape the Vietnamese culture. French troops
landed in Vietnam
in 1858 and established themselves by mid 1880’s over the northern
region. After the France
–Chinese war, the French assumed control of Tonkin
and Anaam in 1887 and formed the French Indo-China. The Vietnamese
Nationalist resistance developed against French rule.
2) Need
for Colonialism by French
Colonies
supplied natural resources and essential goods. They increased
cultivation of rice by irrigation works, canals and forced labour,
constructed trans-Indo China
rail network to link Northern and Southern parts of Vietnam and China.
They pressurized Vietnamese government to develop infrastructure to make higher
levels of profits in their business.
3) Development
of Colonies – Colonial economy,
The
French believed that to make more profits, the colonies had to be developed and
the standard of living of the people improved. They would buy more
goods. Bernard suggested there were several barriers to economic growth
in Vietnam,
so they carried out land reforms and ensured sufficient employment. Most
of the Vietnamese depended on rice cultivation and rubber plantations owned by the
French. The French did settle to industrialize the economy. In
rural areas land lordism spread and the standard of living declined.
THE DILEMMA
OF COLONIAL EDUCATION
1) Civilizing
Mission:
The French,
like the British, claimed they were bringing modern civilization to the
Vietnamese.
They wanted to introduce modern ideas to the colony even if this meant
destroying local cultures, religion and traditions as it was seen as outdated and
prevented development. The French needed educated labour force but once educated
it would create problems for them – they might lose their jobs and they might
question colonial domination.
2) Problems
in the sphere of Education:
a) The
elites in Vietnam
were influenced by the Chinese culture;
b) To consolidate the French power, they had to counter the
Chinese influence;
c) They had to dismantle the traditional system of
education and establish French Schools for the Vietnamese;
d) They wanted to replace the Chinese language;
e) French language to be the medium of instruction was felt
by policy makers. Others opposed it and suggested Vietnamese be taught in
the lower classes and French in the higher classes
f) Only a small fraction of population could enroll in
schools and only a few could pass school leaving examinations.
g) Their school text books glorified French and the colonial
rule. The Vietnamese were represented as primitive, backward, capable of
manual labour, first to work in the fields and were skilled copyists and not
creative.
3) Western
style of Education:
The Tonkin Free
School was started in
1907 to provide Western Style of Education.
(i)
This education included classes in Science, hygiene and
French
(ii)
They encouraged the Western style such as having a short
haircut as against their traditional long hair.
4) Resistance
in Schools:
The teachers and students did not
blindly follow the curriculum. The teachers while teaching criticized
their text. The students of French should occupy front seat in the
class. If they refused, they were expelled. The students fought
against the colonial government’s efforts to prevent the Vietnamese from
qualifying for white-collar jobs.
HYGIENE,
DISEASE AND EVERYDAY RESISTANCE
1) Plague
strikes Hanoi:
The French decided to rebuild Hanoi. In 1903, the
modern part of Hanoi
was struck by bubonic plague. The French part of Hanoi was built as a beautiful and clean city
with wide avenues and well laid out sewage system. But the native quarter
was not provided with any modern facilities. The unhygienic environment
in the French City became the cause of the
plague. The large sewers also served as great transport system allowing
rats to move around the city without any problem.
2.
The Rat Hunt:
(i) A
rat hunt was started in 1902. The French hired Vietnamese workers and
paid for each rat they caught. Rats began to be caught in thousands, but
there seemed to be no end.
(ii) They
discovered innovative ways to profit from this situation. The rat
catchers clipped the tails and released the rats. Some began raising rats
to earn a bounty.
RELIGION AND
ANTI-COLONIALISM
Vietnamese
Religious beliefs and their movements:
(i) It
was a mixture of Buddhism, Confucianism and local practices. French
missionaries to correct
the
Vietnamese introduced Christianity.
(ii) Scholars Revolt in 1868 - movement against French
control and the spread of Christianity. Thousands of Catholics were
killed.
(iii) Elites in Vietnam were educated in Chinese
and Confucianism, religious beliefs among the peasantry was shaped by a variety
of traditions.
(iv) The Hoa Hao movement began in 1939 by Huynh Phu So on
the religious ideas popular in anti-French uprisings.
THE VISION OF
MODERNISATION
1.
Learning from the West and oppose foreign dominations:
(i) Some
intellectuals felt that Vietnamese traditions had to be strengthened to resist the
domination
of the West
(ii) Others felt Vietnam had to learn from the West
even while opposing foreign dominations.
(iii) In the late 19th Century, Confucian
scholar activists resisted French domination – Phan Boi Chau formed a
Revolutionary Society with prince Cuong De as the head.
(iv) Other Nationalist Phan Chu Trinh and Phan Boi Chau
differed in their approach to Vietnamese nationalism. Phan Chu Trinh was
not in favour of resisting the French with the help of court. He wanted to
establish a democratic republic in his country. On the other hand, Phan
Boi Chau was in favour of monarchy to resist the French.
2.
Inspiration from Japan
and China
in modernization:
(i) In
the 20th century a ‘go east
movement’ became popular. In 1907-08, some 300 Vietnamese students
went to Japan
to acquire modern education.
(ii) Their prime objective was to drive out French from Vietnam, over
throw the puppet emperor and re-establish the Nguyen dynasty.
(iii) The Vietnamese nationalist looked for Japanese arms
and help because Japan
had modernised itself and had resisted Colonization by the West and its victory
over Russia
in 1907 proved its military capabilities.
(iv) A branch of the Restoration Society was established
by Vietnamese students in Tokyo,
but was put down by Japanese ministry.
(v) Developments in China also inspired Vietnamese
nationalists. In 1911, monarchy in China was overthrown by a popular
movement under Sun Yat-Sen, and a Republic was set up. Vietnamese
students organized the Association for the Restoration of Vietnam.
THE
COMMUNIST MOVEMENT AND VIETNAMESE NATIONALISM
1. Impact of the Great
Depression of the 1930’s on the Vietnamese:
(i) The prices of rubber and
rice fell, leading to rising rural debts;
(ii) Employment and rural uprisings in provinces of
Nghe an and Ha Tinh.
(iii) These uprisings were put down with great
severity by the French even using planes to
bomb
demonstrators.
2. In February
1930, Ho-Chi Minh organized the Communist Party and assumed the leadership of
the freedom movement in Indo-China.
3. In 1940, Japan occupied Vietnam as a
part of its imperial drive to control South-East Asia.
So the nationalists had to fight against
the Japanese and the French.
4. Ho-Chi-Minh recaptured
Hanoi in
September 1945. The Democratic Republic of Vietnam was formed and Ho-Chi Minh became the Chairman.
5.
The French tried to regain its control over Indo-China. The French were
defeated in
1954 at the Battle of Dien Bien Phu.
6. The French
were forced to withdraw according to the Geneva Convention of 1954. But
before withdrawing the Vietnamese were persuaded to accept the division of Vietnam. Thus Vietnam was
divided into North Vietnam
and South Vietnam.
Ho Chi Minh established Communists power in the North while Bao Dai’s regime
was put in power in South
Vietnam.
7.
The Bao Dai regime was overthrown by a coup led by Ngo Dinh Diem. It set
up a repressive and authoritarian government. His rule was opposed by a
group called National Liberation Front (NLF) with Ho Chi Minh in North; the NLF
fought for the unification of the country.
8. The entry of the U.S. in to the
war – causes:
(i) Fear
of the spread of Communism in Vietnam;
(ii) Humiliation
faced by the French in Vietnam
(iii) The
two countries North Vietnam
and South Vietnam
trying to unify were in violation of
the
Geneva
Conference. So the U.S.
decided to intervene in Vietnam.
Effects: -
(i) The U.S. had to
suffer a huge loss of men and money though she caused great destruction in North Vietnam.
About 47,244 died in battle and 3,03,704 were wounded.
(ii) The
U.S.troops equipped with heavy weapons, tanks and most powerful bombers of the
time destroyed many villages.
(iii) Many
were critical about the effects of war. The U.S.Media and films played
major role in criticizing the war.
9.
The Ho Chi Minh Trail:
The Ho Chi Minh Trail shows how the Vietnamese fought against the U.S. with
limited
resources.
The porters, mostly women, also played an important role in serving the
Nation. They used the Ho Chi Minh’s Trail in the network of roads and
footpaths most heroically. They carried about 25 kilos weight on their
backs or about 70 kilos on their bicycles. There was every risk of their
falling in the deep valley and dangerous.
THE NATION AND ITS HEROES
1.
Women as Rebels:
Writers and
political thinkers began idealizing women who rebelled against social norms.
In the 1930s, a famous novel by NHAT LINH caused a scandal because it showed a woman leaving a forced marriage and marrying
someone of her choice who was involved in nationalist
politics.
2.
Heroes of past Times
(i) In 1913, the Nationalist Phan Boi Chau:
wrote a play based on lives of the Trung sisters who had fought against the Chinese
domination. They came to be idealized and glorified. They were
depicted in paintings, plays and novels as an intense patriotism
ii) Other women rebels of the past - the
popular nationalists were Trieu Au, who lived in the 3rd century CE.
3.
Women as Warriors:
(i) In the 1960s,
photographs, magazines and journals, showed women as brave fighters.
(ii) Some stories spoke of the women’s
bravery in single handedly killing the enemy – Nguyen Thi Xuan, for example,
reputed to have shot down a jet with just 20 bullets.
(iii) 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.
(iv) Many women helped in nursing the wounded,
constructing underground rooms and tunnels and fighting the
enemy. Along the Ho Chin Minh Trail young volunteers kept
open strategic roads and guarded key points.
Between 1965
and 1975, of the 17000 youths who worked on the Trail, 70 to 80% were
women.
4.
Women in times of Peace:
By the 1970s, peace talk began
and the end of the war seemed near. Women were no more represented as
warriors but were shown working in Agricultural cooperatives, factories and
production units rather than as fighters.
THE END OF THE
WAR
(i) Prolongations
of the war created strong reactions within US.
(ii) U.S. had failed
to achieve its objectives.
(iii) Vietnamese resistance was
strong
(iv) Thousands of young US soldiers
lost their lives and countless Vietnamese killed.
(v) This war became the first
Television War.
(vi) The writers visited North Vietnam
and praised their heroic defence of their country.
(vii) The scholar, Noam Chomsky
called the war the greatest threat to peace, to national self-determination and
to international cooperation,
(viii) A peace settlement was
signed in Paris
in January 1974.
(ix) The NLF occupied the
Presidential Palace in Saigon on 30th April 1975 and unified
Vietnam.
Important terms
1) Indentured labour – A form of labour
widely used in the plantations from the mid-nineteenth century. Labourers
worked on the basis of contracts that did not specify any rights of labourers
but gave immense power to employers. Employers could bring criminal charges
against labourers and punish and jail them for non-fulfillment of contracts.
2) Republic – A form of government based
on popular consent and popular representation. It is based on the power of the
people as opposed to monarchy.
3) Syncretic – Characterised by syncretism:
aims to bring together different beliefs and practices, seen their essential
unity rather than their difference.
4) Concentration camp – A prison where
people are detained without due process of law. The word evokes an image of a
place of torture and brutal treatment.
5) Obscurantist – Person or ideas that
mislead.
Questions & Answers:
Q1. Why
did the French develop infrastructure in Vietnam?
A
(i) To help transport goods for trade.
(ii) To move military garrisons
(iii) To
control the entire region
(iv) French
business interests were also pressing the government of Vietnam to
develop the infrastructure further
Q2. Why
did writers like Paul Bernard believe in developing the economy of the
Colonies?
A
(i) It would increase the profit opportunities of the colonizers.
(ii) If
the economy was developed, the standard of the people would improve with the
result
they would
buy more goods.
(iii) The
market would naturally expand which meant more business for the French
businessmen.
Q3. On which
factors was the economy of Vietnam
based on?
A
(i) Primarily based on rice cultivation
(ii) Secondly
on rubber cultivation owned by the French and the Vietnamese rich people.
Q4. Why
did education become a dilemma for the French
Colonizers?
A
(i) On one hand they wanted to educate the Vietnamese to get good local
Labour force.
(ii) On
the other hand they feared that the educated Vietnamese would question colonial
domination.
Q5. Why
did the French citizens in Vietnam
oppose the expansion of education in
Vietnam?
A
The French citizen in Vietnam,
known as colons, feared that if the Vietnamese were educated, they would lose
their jobs as teachers, shopkeepers, policemen etc.
Q6.
Explain the following: The French began building canals and
draining Lands in the Mekong delta.
A. The French did this with some specific aims in mind.
They did so to increase cultivation in
the area
especially the cultivation of rice so that they could sell this commodity in
the international market and add to their coffers. After all the French
company was a trading company and the French rulers had ulterior motives to
enrich themselves and their country at the cost of their colonies.
Q7.
What were the causes for the defeat of the French forces in the battle of Dien
Bien Phu?
A.
(i) The valley where the French garrisons were located was flooded in the
monsoons that made it impossible for the French forces and tanks to move.
(ii) The
whole area was covered with bushes and jungles making it difficult for the
French Air Force to trace the anti-aircraft guns hidden in the bushes and the
jungles.
Q8.
What do you mean by the Ho Chi Minh Trail?
A
Trail means an immense network of footpaths and roads used by Ho Chi Minh’s
followers to transport men and materials from the North to the South in Vietnam.
Q9. Who
was Sun-Yat-Sen? When was monarchy overthrown in China?
A
Sun-Yat-Sen was a great nationalist of China who became instrumental in establishing
a
republic in China in 1911.
The Chinese Revolution of 1911 overthrew the monarchy in China in 1911.
Q10. What were the
Viet Minh? In which year was the Democratic Republic
of
Vietnam founded?
A
Viet Minh was the League for the Independence of Vietnam, who fought against the
Japanese
occupation in
1940.With the help of the Viet Minh, the Democratic Republic of Vietnam was
founded in 1945.
Q11. Which
provinces of Vietnam
were called the “Electrical Fuses of Vietnam”?
A
The provinces of Nghe An and Ha Tinh were the ones called the “Electrical
Fuses of
Vietnam” because
they were the poorest among the provinces and had an old radical
tradition.
Q12. What did the
‘Civilizing mission’ of the colonizers mean?
A
French colonization in Vietnam
was not only based on economic exploitation but
was
also driven
by the idea of civilizing mission. The French felt, like many Europeans,
that imperialist expansion has a noble aspect too. According to them, it
is a way of bringing civilization to the backward people of the world. It
is the duty of the superior races to educate and civilize the people of Asia and Africa.
That is what the ‘civilizing mission’ means.
Q13.
Explain the following: Only one-third of the students in Vietnam would
pass the school
leaving
examinations
A.
The French authorities were in a dilemma as regards the imparting of French
Education to
the
Vietnamese. They felt that if the Vietnamese were educated in French they
would steal the chances of the French citizens residing in Vietnam in getting jobs. So the French followed a
deliberate policy of failing the students in the final years so that they
could not qualify for better jobs.
Q14
Describe the ideas behind the Tonkin
Free School.
To what extend was it a typical
example of
colonial ideas in Vietnam?
A
Like all other imperialistic powers, the French too wanted to see the local
people followers of
their culture
and civilization. As a result, they opened many French Schools in Vietnam.
One such school was Tonkin Free School.
In this school, subjects like Science, hygiene and French made the people
fluent in the language of the rulers. Then it was thought that it was not
enough to learn science and hygiene to become modern, the students should also
look modern. So the schools began to emphasize on the adoption of Western
styles. One such style was adoption of a short hair cut. But the
Vietnamese greatly resisted it because it was a major break with their own
identity as traditionally they kept long hair.
Q15 Explain the following: The government
made the Saigon Native Girls
School
to take back the students they had expelled.
A
An incident, which happened in Saigon
Native Girls
School in 1926, created
much bad
blood in Vietnam.
It so happened that a Vietnamese girl sitting on one of the front seats
was asked to vacate her seat for a local French student. When she
refused to do so, the Principal expelled her from the school. When the
angry students protested, they too were expelled, leading to a further spread
of the agitation and the protests. Seeing the situation getting out of
control, the school authorities forced the school to take back the students.
Q16. What was
Phan Chu Trinh’s objective for Vietnam? How were his ideas different from
Phan Boi
Chau?
A .
Phan Chu Trinh was not in favour of resisting the French with the help of
monarchy. He was
profoundly
influenced by the Democratic ideals of the West and wanted to establish a
Democratic Republic in his country. Phan Chu Trinh and Phan Boi Chau were
both great nationalists of Vietnam
but they were of different approach to Vietnamese nationalism. Phan
Boi Chau was in favour of Monarchy whereas Phan Chau Trinh was in favour of
Republic.
Q17.
Give a brief description of the life and achievements of Ho Chi Minh.
A
Very little is known about the early life of Ho Chi Minh. He was probably
born in a small
town in Central Vietnam. He completed his studies in French
Schools and got a job on a
French liner
operating between Saigon and Marseilles. He was soon drawn towards
Communism and became a member of Commintern. He had a chance to meet
great Russian Communist Leaders including Lenin. He spent about 30
years abroad in Europe, China and Thailand,
etc. He returned to Vietnam
in May 1941. In 1943, he became the President of the Vietnam Democratic
Republic. He died on September 1969. He is regarded as the maker of
modern Vietnam.
Q18
What was the role of Religious groups in the development of Anti-National
feelings on
Vietnam?
A
Religion always plays an important part over the cultural and social life of
the people. The
imperialistic
powers try to use it in strengthening their controls over their
colonies. They tried to thrust their religion on the local people
so bluntly that it created resistance and led to anti-imperialist feelings in Vietnam against
the French imperialists.
Most of the
Vietnamese were the followers of Buddhism and Confucianism but when the French
authorities tried to convert the Vietnamese to their own religion forcibly, it
created a strong feeling against them. As such there was an open revolt
against them in 1868, known as the Scholars Revolt. In this revolt, about
1000 Catholics were killed.
Another such
movement known as Huynh Puh So started Hoa Hao. The French declared him
mad and called him Mad Bonze and put him in mental asylum and sent many of his
followers to concentration camps. But still they could not
curb the tide of Nationalism.
Q19.
How did the people of Vietnam
fight against the French Imperialists?
A. i) An Indo-China became the part of French
Colonial Empire. They exploited Vietnamese fully. They used to get
rubber, coal and rice from her. The masses suffered heavy taxation and the wages for the
labourers were very low.
(ii) Ho
Chi Minh organized the Communist party and assumed the leadership of the
freedom movement in Indo-China.
(iii) France however
recklessly crushed the rebellion of 1930 AD
(iv) Vietnam was
occupied by Japan
in 1948.
(v) Ho Chi
Minh recaptured Hanoi
and declared the independence of Indo-China and named it as Vietnam.
(vi) Ho
Chi Minh became the first President of Republic of Vietnam.
(vii)The
French were forced to withdraw from Indo-China according to Geneva Convention
of 1954 but before withdrawing she granted freedom to Southern Indo-China with
its capital at Saigon
(viii) Thus,
Indo-China was divided into North
Vietnam and South Vietnam
Extra Questions to be answered
1. Why did the French think colonies
were necessary? Give two reasons
2. How was economic life in Vietnam
affected during the early years of the 20th century as a result of
French occupation?
3. Industrialization alone is the key to
creation of more jobs. Do you agree? Give arguments for your
answer.
4. What changes were introduced in
the traditional system of education in Vietnam by the French
colonizers?
5. Why were the French citizens
living in Vietnam
opposed to Educational reforms in Vietnam?
6. How did the French seek to
strengthen their rule through the control of education?
7. Give an example to show that racial
discrimination was practised even in the area of health and hygiene.
8. Why were the French forced to
scrap the programme were bounty for killed rats?
9. Briefly comment upon French
efforts to promote Christianity and the reaction of the people of Vietnam to the
proposed changes in their religious beliefs.
10. How did the French suppress the
movement inspired by Huynh Phu So? .
11. Mention any 2 highlights of
Confucian thought.
12. Briefly describe the events from
1930 to 1945 that led to the creation of the Democratic Republic of
Vietnam.
13. Why did the USA feel scared
at the unification of Vietnam?
14. Discuss the position of women in
Vietnam
with special reference to their role in the struggle for freedom
15. On the Outline Map of Asia locate,
shade and name the following: -
(i) Vietnam
(ii) Thailand
(iii) Cambodia
(iv) Laos
(v) Hanoi
(VI) Tonkin
(vii Ho-chi Minh City
(viii) Phnom Penh
NCERT TEXTBOOK QUESTIONS
Q.1. Write a note on what was meant by the ‘civilising
mission’ of the colonisers.
Ans. Unlike other colonisers, the French colonisers did not
only aim for economic exploitation of their colonies. The French colonising mission was also
driven by the idea of a ‘civilising mission’. Just as the British had done in India, the
French claimed that they would introduce modern, civilised life to the Vietnamese. The French
believed that like all the Europeans it was their duty to civilise the colonies even if this meant
destruction of local cultures, religion and traditions.
Q.2. Explain the following —
(a) Only one-thirds of the students in Vietnam would pass the school level
examinations.
(b) The French began building canals and draining lands in
the Mekong delta.
(c) The Government made the Saigon Native
Girls School
take back the students it had expelled.
(d) Rats were most common in the modern, newly built areas
of Hanoi.
Ans. (a) Just about one-thirds of the students in Vietnam would
pass the school examinations. This happened mainly as a well-planned policy was followed to
fail the final year students. This meant they could never qualify for the white collar jobs. On
an average 2/3rd of the students were failed.
(b) The French began building canals and draining lands in
the Mekong delta. They did this to gain increase in cultivation especially of the rice crop.
By doing this, they would be able to sell rice in the international market and earn a lot of
money.
(c) At Saigon Native Girls the School, a problem came up in
1926. A Vietnamese girl refused to vacate her front seat for a local French student. For
this, she and later her supporting students were expelled from the school. Soon the agitation
spread and protests began.
When the situation became pretty serious the French
government forced the school authorities to reinstate the girls in the school.
(d) The French wanted to modernise Vietnam. They
modernised a part of Hanoi
city with beautiful architecture and clean, wide roads. They planned a
good sewage system for the area. But the other part of Hanoi was filthy and unattended to. The rats
from the filthy areas soon reached the clean part of the city through sewage
systems and soon modern Hanoi
was suffering from rats everywhere and the accompanying plague.
Q.3. Describe the ideas behind the Tonkin Free
School. To what extent is
it a typical example of colonial ideas in Vietnam?
Ans. Like other colonisers, the French also thought that
they were on a civilising mission. Thus the Tonkin
Free School
was opened to give Western education. The school taught science, hygiene
and French, other than the common subjects. For these three
subjects the students had to attend evening classes and also pay
separately. The students were
not only made to attend these classes but they were asked to sport
modern looks too. A
typical example of this was that Vietnamese were asked to cut off their
long hair and adopt a
short hair cut which was absolutely against their culture.
Q.4. What was Phan Chu Trinh’s objective for Vietnam? How
were his ideas different from those of Phan Boi Chau?
Ans. The objectives of the two nationalists, Phan Chu Trinh
and Phan Boi Chau, were different from each other.
Phan Chu Trinh (1871 – 1926) did not want to resist the
French with the aid of monarchy. He was influenced by the Western idea of democracy and wanted
to set up a democratic republic
of Vietnam.
Phan Boi Chau (1867 – 1940) went on to form a revolutionary
society with Prince Cuong De. So we can say that Phan Boi Chau favoured monarchy and Phan
Chu Trinh favoured a republic.
Q.5. With reference to what you have read in this chapter, discuss the influence of China on Vietnam’s culture and life.
Ans. China
was a large and close neighbour of Vietnam. It was obvious that the
former would influence the latter. There were strong trade links due to
sea trade as all trade between any part of Asia and China
had to pass through Vietnamese ports. The two countries shared the same religious beliefs, namely Buddhism and Confucianism. The
ideas spread by Confucius, a great Chinese thinker, religious leader and philosopher had deeply
influenced the social and cultural aspects of Vietnam.
When the trans-Indo-China rail and road network developed,
the imperialist power wanted it as a link between North and South
Vietnam and China. This brought the countries
even more close. They were under imperialist rules for long making
them share cultural, religious, historical and economic commoners.
Q.6. What was the role of religious groups in the
development of anti-colonial feelings in Vietnam?
Ans. Religion had always played a pivotal role in the lives
of people in Vietnam.
This fact was used well by the imperialists to aid in their control over the
colonies. Thinking this, the imperialists imposed their religion on the Vietnamese locals. Thus
anti-imperialist feelings arose in Vietnam
against the French imperialist forces. Vietnam followed Buddhism and
Confucianism.
The French wanted to convert the Vietnamese to Christianity.
The Vietnamese revolted against this French intention in 1868. This revolt was called the
‘Scholars Revolt’, which was followed by the killing of about one thousand Catholics. Huynh Phu So
began a movement called Hoa Hao, but he was declared mad by the French. Followers of
Huynh Phu So were sent to concentration camps. All those actions of French could still
not suppress nationalism in Vietnam.
Q.7. Explain the causes of US
involvement in the war in Vietnam.
What effect did this involvement have on life within the US itself?
Ans. The struggle for freedom by Vietnamese people was a
long-drawn one. They faced the French, the Japanese and the USA. Many
causes led the US to get
involved in the Vietnam war. The US
government was afraid that communism would find a stronghold in Vietnam.
The US feared this would endanger the other capitalist countries.
With these thoughts, the US
was always ready to fight communist strongholds in any part of
the world. The rise of communism in Vietnam
was seen as a threat and US stepped in to intervene.
France
had been facing insulting revolts from Vietnam. France being a capitalist country,
the US felt it had to step in to save French honour, as one of
the capitalist brethren. Moreover, the French had been an ally of US in the Second World War.
Q.8. Write an evaluation of the Vietnamese war against the US
from the point of view of a
(a) porter on the Ho Chi Minh Trail.
Ans. From 1965 to 1972, the US-Vietnam War continued and
caused losses to both US and Vietnam.
The Vietnamese people suffered human and property losses,
yet they never stopped their struggle for freedom. Here it is important to mention the
role played by the porters in getting freedom and unity of Vietnam. The porters set out
without fear on the Ho Chi Minh Trail which was a great expansive network of roads and footpaths.
The heroic porters carried as much as 25 kg to 70 kg of weight on their backs or bicycles.
They did not fear that they might fall over in the deep valleys. They bravely walked on the
narrow, dangerous roads that marked the treacherous routes. They also did not feel afraid of
being shot down by aircraft guns. They put all their fears aside and walked on to maintain the
supply line. This fact showed that the porters were heroic and patriotic.
(b) a woman soldier.
Ans. The Vietnamese women played an important role in the
US-Vietnam War. They were both warriors and workers. As warriors and soldiers, the
Vietnamese women constructed six air strips, they neutralised thousands of bombs and went on to
shoot down fifteen planes. There were 1.5 million Vietnamese women in the regular army, the
militia, the local forces and professional teams. The women workers were also engaged as
porters, nurses and construction workers.
Q.9.What was the role of women in the anti-imperialist struggle
in Vietnam?
Compare this
with the role of women in the national struggle in India. [Textual
Question]
Ans. We have read that Vietnamese women contributed to the
resistance movement as workers as
well as warriors. They were employed as porters carrying 25
kg of food and war materials on
their delicate backs.
They served as nurses to the wounded. They even went on to
dig tunnels so that the imperialist
attacks could be thwarted by hiding Vietnamese army in the
tunnels. They worked bravely to
neutralise thousands of bombs and shooting down the enemy
planes. Nearly 1.5 million women
workers were in the army. They helped in keeping strategic
roads clear and even guarded the
key points. It is difficult to imagine the state of the
Vietnamese freedom struggle with the
active role of Vietnamese women.
India’s
freedom struggle. Aruna Asaf Ali, Vijayalakshmi Pandit, Indira Gandhi, Rani
Lakshmibai — all had contributed in their own way to the
freedom struggle of India.
In
Nagaland, 13-years-old Rani Gaidiliu stood up in revolt
against the British forces. She was
caught and imprisoned for life in 1932. She spent the years
1932 to 1947 in dark cells of
various jails in Assam. She was freed in 1947 when India gained
freedom.
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