VIETNAM WAR - 04. THE FRENCH COLONISATION OF INDOCHINA

1. VIETNAMESE
RESISTANCE
FRENCH
COLONISATION
IN INDOCHINA
4

3. CONTROLLING OVERSEAS TERRITORIES
By the mid 19th century the race was on between the
European powers for control of overseas territories.
Africa was divided up between the countries of Europe with
the majority going to Britain and France.
Britain would also control Canada, India and Australasia.
The French had a strong influence in South East Asia and
in particular modern day Vietnam which the French called
Indochina.

4. FRENCH INDOCHINA
French colonisation began in 1858, when Napoleon III
ordered his troops to enter Vietnam.
Using the ancient tactic of ‘divide and conquer’ the French
conquest was complete by 1893.
Vietnam was split in to 3 parts: Cochinchina (South
Vietnam), Annam (Central Vietnam), and Tonkin (North
Vietnam).
They called the entire region included Cambodia and Laos
French Indochina.

5. WHY COLONISE VIETNAM?
Vietnam’s geographic location explains why so many
countries have wanted to occupy Vietnam.
Vietnam offers a perfect gateway into South East Asia and
also the mainland of Asia. It is a vital trading point in Asia.
Vietnam also had a wealth of resources: rice, copper, coal
tin and zinc. Vietnamese labour was cheap.
The deep water harbours of the east coast and the extensive
waterways of the Red River Delta in the North and the
Mekong Delta in the South, meant that raw materials could
be extracted easily and exported back to France.

6. READING
Wood writes in 1997:
“In the mines and on other plantations thousands of native coolies
died of malaria, malnutrition and dysentery. Extensive rubber
plantations had been established to make tyres for the cars now
beginning to ride the roads of the West. The Michelin Co. was one of
the leading plantation owners. Between 1917 and 1944, 12,000 of
44,000 coolies died at one rubber plantation.”

7. IMPACTS OF FRENCH COLONISATION
French occupation in Indochina saw the creation of a new
class structure. The French economically exploited the
Vietnamese people through policies of high taxation, high
interest rates on loans and land confiscation.
Much of the land was given to loyal Vietnamese Catholics
and French settlers, especially in Cochinchina.
Ho Chi Minh would use the division that had been created
to gain support from the poorer people who would go on to
help him expel the French and then the Americans from
Vietnam.

8. IDEOLOGY OF COLONISATION
Ultimately the French wanted to impose their ‘superior’
culture upon the ‘inferior’ Vietnamese people.
They felt that the French culture needed to replace the
Vietnamese culture as it was more sophisticated and
enlightened.
This attitude was common amongst European colonist and
could be found in various colonies such as New Zealand,
Australia, Africa and the Americas.