Extra Important Questions of The Nationalist Movement in Indo-China, CBSE, Class 10, History, Chapter 2
1. When did Vietnam get formal independence?
Answer: Vietnam got formal independence in 1945.
2. In which context nationalism develop in Indo-China?
Answer: Nationalism developed in Indo-China in a colonial context.
3. What made the knitting together of a modern Vietnamese nation possible?
Answer: The knitting together of a modern Vietnamese nation that brought the different communities together was in part the result of colonisation but, as importantly, it was shaped by the struggle against colonial domination.
Emerging from the Shadow of China during The Nationalist Movement in Indo-China
4. Name the modern countries of Indo-China region.
Answer: Indo-China comprises the modern countries of Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia.
5. What did the rulers do even when an independent country was established in what is now northern and central Vietnam?
Answer: Even when an independent country was established in what is now northern and Central Vietnam, its rulers continued to maintain the Chinese system of government as well as Chinese culture.
6. What connected Vietnam to the hinterlands where non-Vietnamese people lived?
Answer: Networks of trade connected Vietnam to the hinterlands where non-Vietnamese people such as the Khmer Cambodians lived.
7. What helped Vietnam bring in goods, people and ideas?
Answer: The link to the maritime silk route helped Vietnam bring in goods, people and ideas.
8. Who founded the port of Faifo?
Answer: The port of Faifo was founded by Portuguese merchants. It was one of the ports used by European trading companies much before the nineteenth century.
Colonial Domination and Resistance during The Nationalist Movement in Indo-China
9. What brought the people of Vietnam into conflict with the colonisers in all areas of life?
Answer: The colonisation of Vietnam by the French brought the people of the country into conflict with the colonisers in all areas of life.
10. What was the most visible form of French control in Vietnam?
Answer: The most visible form of French control in Vietnam was military and economic domination but the French also built a system that tried to reshape the culture of the Vietnamese.
11. Whose efforts helped nationalism emerge in Vietnam?
Answer: Nationalism in Vietnam emerged through the efforts of different sections of society to fight against the French and all they represented.
12. When did French troops land in Vietnam?
Answer: French troops landed in Vietnam in 1858.
13. When did the French assumed control of Tonkin and Anaam?
Answer: The French assumed control of Tonkin and Anaam after the Franco-Chinese war.
14. When was French Indo-China formed?
Answer: French Indo-China was formed in 1887.
15. What did the people in Vietnam begin to reflect on when the French sought to consolidate their position in Vietnam?
Answer: The people in Vietnam began reflecting on the nature of the loss that Vietnam was suffering when the French sought to consolidate their position in Vietnam.
Why the French thought Colonies Necessary?
16. Why colonies were considered essential?
Answer: Colonies were considered essential to supply natural resources and other essential goods.
17. According to France, what was the mission of the ‘advanced’ European countries?
Answer: According to France, it was the mission of the ‘advanced’ European countries to bring the benefits of civilisation to backward peoples.
18. What did the French do to increase cultivation in the Mekong delta?
Answer: The French started building canals and draining lands to increase cultivation in the Mekong delta.
19. How did Vietnam become the third largest exporter of rice in the world by 1931?
Answer: The vast system of irrigation works – canals and earthworks – built by the French mainly with forced labour, increased rice production and allowed the export of rice to the international market. Vietnam exported two-thirds of its rice production and by 1931 had become the third largest exporter of rice in the world.
20. When was the construction of a trans-Indo-China rail network completed?
Answer: The construction of a trans-Indo-China rail network was completed by 1910.
21. Why were the French business interests pressurising the government in Vietnam by the 1920s?
Answer: By the 1920s, the French business interests were pressurising the government in Vietnam to develop the infrastructure further.
Should Colonies be Developed?
22. What did everyone agree about colonies?
Answer: Everyone agreed that colonies had to serve the interests of the mother country.
23. According to Paul Bernard, how could colonies serve the interests of the French business?
Answer: Paul Bernard strongly believed that the economy of the colonies needed to be developed. He argued that the purpose of acquiring colonies was to make profits. If the economy was developed and the standard of living of the people improved, they would buy more goods. The market would consequently expand, leading to better profits for French business.
24. According to Paul Bernard, what were the barriers to economic growth in Vietnam?
Answer: According to Paul Bernard, high population levels, low agricultural productivity and extensive indebtedness amongst the peasants were the barriers to economic growth in Vietnam.
25. What did Paul Bernard suggest to reduce rural poverty and increase agricultural productivity in Vietnam?
Answer: In Vietnam, Paul Bernard suggested that it was necessary to carry out land reforms as the Japanese had done in the 1890s.
26. After the land reforms done in the 1890s, what did the experience of Japan show?
Answer: After the land reforms done in the 1890s, the experience of Japan showed that industrialisation would be essential to create more jobs.
27. What was the colonial economy in Vietnam based on?
Answer: The colonial economy in Vietnam was primarily based on rice cultivation and rubber plantations owned by the French and a small Vietnamese elite.
28. What do you mean by ‘Indentured labour’?
Answer: Indentured labour was 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-fulfilment of contracts.
29. Which labour was used in the rubber plantations in Vietnam?
Answer: Indentured Vietnamese labour was widely used in the rubber plantations in Vietnam.
30. Why did the standard of living of the Vietnamese decline even after Paul Bernard’s suggestions?
Answer: Even after Paul Bernard’s suggestion the standard of living of the Vietnamese declined because the French did little to industrialise the economy. In the rural areas landlordism spread and the standard of living declined.
The Dilemma of Colonial Education during The Nationalist Movement in Indo-China
31. French colonisation was also driven by the idea of a ‘civilising mission’. What does a ‘civilising mission’ mean here?
Answer: Like the British in India, the French claimed that they were bringing modern civilisation to the Vietnamese. They took for granted that Europe had developed the most advanced civilisation. So it became the duty of the Europeans to introduce these modern ideas to the colony even if this meant destroying local cultures, religions and traditions, because these were seen as outdated and prevented modern development.
32. Which dilemma had the French to resolve in order to educate the Vietnamese?
Answer: In order to educate the Vietnamese, the French had to resolve a dilemma of ‘How far the Vietnamese to be educated?’
33. What problem education might create to colonial domination in Vietnam?
Answer: Once educated, the Vietnamese may begin to question colonial domination in Vietnam.
34. Why did the French citizens living in Vietnam oppose policies that would give the Vietnamese full access to French Education?
Answer: The French citizens living in Vietnam began fearing that they might lose their jobs – as teachers, shopkeepers, policemen – to the educated Vietnamese. So they opposed policies that would give the Vietnamese full access to French education.
Talking Modern during The Nationalist Movement in Indo-China
35. Why did the French systematically dismantle the traditional educational system and establish French schools for the Vietnamese in Vietnam?
Answer: The elites in Vietnam were powerfully influenced by Chinese culture. To consolidate their power, the French had to counter this Chinese influence. So they systematically dismantled the traditional educational system and established French schools for Vietnamese in Vietnam.
36. Why some policy-makers in Vietnam emphasised the need to use the French language as the medium of instruction?
Answer: Some policy-makers in Vietnam felt that by learning the language the Vietnamese would be introduced to the culture and civilisation of France. This would help create an ‘Asiatic France solidly tied to European France’. The educated people in Vietnam would respect French sentiments and ideals, see the superiority of French culture, and work for the French.
37. Who were to be rewarded with French citizenship in Vietnam?
Answer: Some policy-makers in Vietnam suggested that Vietnamese be taught in lower classes and French in the higher classes. The few who learnt French and acquired French culture were to be rewarded with French citizenship in Vietnam.
38. Why only a few Vietnamese elite among those admitted ultimately passed the school-leaving examination in Vietnam?
Answer: Only the Vietnamese elite – comprising a small fraction of the population – could enrol in the schools, and only a few among those admitted ultimately passed the school-leaving examination. This was largely because of a deliberate policy of failing students, particularly in the final year, so that they could not qualify for the better-paid jobs.
39. How many Vietnamese passed the school-leaving examination in 1925?
Answer: In 1925, in a population of 17 million, there were less than 400 who passed the examination.
40. What did the school textbooks in Vietnam glorify during the French rule?
Answer: The school textbooks in Vietnam glorified the French and justified colonial rule.
41. How were the Vietnamese represented in school textbooks during the colonial rule in Vietnam?
Answer: The Vietnamese were represented as primitive and backward, capable of manual labour but not of intellectual reflection; they could work in the fields but not rule themselves; they were ‘skilled copyists’ but not creative.
42. What were the Vietnamese school children told about French rule during colonial rule in Vietnam?
Answer: During colonial rule in Vietnam, the Vietnamese school children were told that only French rule could ensure peace in Vietnam: ‘Since the establishment of French rule the Vietnamese peasant no longer lives in constant terror of pirates… Calm is complete, and the peasant can work with a good heart.’
Looking Modern during The Nationalist Movement in Indo-China
43. When and why was the Tonkin Free School started?
Answer: The Tonkin Free School was started in 1907 to provide a Western-style education.
44. What was the Tonkin Free School’s approach to what it means to be ‘modern’?
Answer: The Tonkin Free School’s approach to what it means to be ‘modern’ is a good example of the thinking prevalent at that time. It was not enough to learn science and Western ideas: to be modern the Vietnamese had to also look modern. The school encouraged the adoption of Western styles such as having a short haircut.
45. What did having a short haircut mean for the Vietnamese?
Answer: Having a short haircut meant a major break with their own identity since they traditionally kept long hair.
Resistance in Schools during The Nationalist Movement in Indo-China
46. What did the Vietnamese teachers do while teaching during the colonial rule?
Answer: The teachers and students did not blindly follow the curriculum. Sometimes there was open opposition, at other times there was silent resistance. As the number of Vietnamese teachers increased in the lower classes, it became difficult to control what was actually taught. While teaching, Vietnamese teachers quietly modified the text and criticised what was stated.
47. What happened in the Saigon Native Girls School in 1926?
Answer: In 1926 a major protest erupted in the Saigon Native Girls School. A Vietnamese girl sitting in one of the front seats was asked to move to the back of the class and a local French student to occupy the front bench. She refused. The principal, also a colon (French people in the colonies), expelled her. When angry students protested, they too were expelled, leading to a further spread of open protests.
48. What did the principal of the Saigon Native School warn the students in 1926?
Answer: The principal of the Saigon Native School warned the students in 1926, ‘I will crush all Vietnamese under my feet. Ah! You wish my deportation. Know well that I will leave only after I am assured Vietnamese no longer inhabit Cochinchina.’
49. What inspired students fight against the colonial government’s efforts to prevent the Vietnamese from qualifying for white-collar jobs?
Answer: Students who fought against the colonial government’s efforts to prevent the Vietnamese from qualifying for white-collar jobs were inspired by patriotic feelings and the conviction that it was the duty of the educated to fight for the benefit of society.
50. Name any political party formed by students of Vietnam by the 1920s.
Answer: The Party of Young Annan
51. Name any nationalist journal published by students of Vietnam by the 1920s.
Answer: The Annanese Student
52. How did the French seek to strengthen their rule in Vietnam?
Answer: The French sought to strengthen their rule in Vietnam through the control of education.
53. What did the French try to do to make the Vietnamese believe in the superiority of French civilisation?
Answer: The French tried to change the values, norms and perceptions of the people, to make them believe in the superiority of French civilisation and the inferiority of the Vietnamese.
54. What did the Vietnamese intellectuals fear during the colonial rule in Vietnam?
Answer: During the colonial rule in Vietnam, the Vietnamese intellectuals feared that Vietnam was losing not just control over its territory but its very identity: its own culture and customs were being devalued and the people were developing a master-slave mentality.
55. Is it right to say that education was the only sphere of everyday life in Vietnam in which political battles against colonialism were fought? Why?
Answer: No. Education was not the only sphere of everyday life in Vietnam in which political battles against colonisation were fought. In many other institutions we can see the variety of small ways in which the colonised expressed their anger against the colonisers.
Plague Strikes Hanoi during The Nationalist Movement in Indo-China
56. How did the French decide to rebuild Hanoi?
Answer: When the French set about creating a modern Vietnam, they decided to rebuild Hanoi. The latest ideas about architecture and modern engineering skills were employed to build a new and ‘modern’ city.
57. Which part of Hanoi was struck by bubonic plague in 1903?
Answer: The modern part of Hanoi was struck by bubonic plague in 1903.
58. What created serious social conflicts in many colonial countries?
Answer: In many colonial countries, measures to control the spread of disease created serious social conflicts.
59. How did what was installed to create a hygienic environment in the French city become the cause of the plague in Vietnam?
Answer: The French part of Hanoi was built as a beautiful and clean city with wide avenues and a well-laid-out sewer system, while the ‘native quarter’ was not provided with any modern facilities. The refuse from the old city drained straight out into the river or, during heavy rains or floods, overflowed into the streets. Thus what was installed to create a hygienic environment in the French city became the cause of the plague in Vietnam.
60. What were an ideal and protected breeding ground for rats in Hanoi when plague struck Hanoi in 1903?
Answer: When plague struck Hanoi in 1903, the large sewers in the modern part of the city, a symbol of modernity, were an ideal and protected breeding ground for rats.
61. What allowed the rats to move around the city without any problem when plague struck Hanoi in 1903?
Answer: When plague struck Hanoi in 1903, the sewers served as a great transport system, allowing the rats to move around the city without any problem.
The Rat Hunt during The Nationalist Movement in Indo-China
62. When was the rat hunt started in Hanoi?
Answer: The rat hunt was started in Hanoi in 1902.
63. Whom did the French hire to catch rats in Hanoi?
Answer: The French hired Vietnamese workers and paid them for each rat they caught.
64. What did the rat hunt seem to provide for the Vietnamese?
Answer: For the Vietnamese the rat hunt seemed to provide an early lesson in the success of collective bargaining with the French.
65. What did the Vietnamese who did the dirty work of entering sewers to catch rats find?
Answer: The Vietnamese who did the dirty work of entering sewers to catch rats found that if they came together they could negotiate a higher bounty.
66. What were the innovative ways the Vietnamese discovered to profit from catching rats in Hanoi?
Answer: The Vietnamese saw that the bounty was paid when a tail was given as proof that a rat had been killed. So the rat-catchers took to just clipping the tails and releasing the rats, so that the process could be repeated, over and over again. Some people, in fact, began raising rats to earn a bounty.
67. What forced the French to scrap the bounty programme of killing rats in Hanoi?
Answer: Defeated by the resistance of the weak, the French were forced to scrap the bounty programme of killing rats in Hanoi.
68. What marks the limits of French power and the contradictions in their ‘civilising mission’ in Vietnam?
Answer: The rat menace marks the limits of French power and the contradictions in their ‘civilising mission’ in Vietnam.
69. What do the actions of the rat-catchers in Vietnam tell us?
Answer: The actions of the rat-catchers in Vietnam tell us of the numerous small ways in which colonialism was fought in everyday life.
Religion and Anti-Colonialism during The Nationalist Movement in Indo-China
70. How did the French occupy Vietnam?
Answer: The French occupied Vietnam militarily.
71. What did the French seek to reshape in Vietnam?
Answer: The French sought to reshape social and cultural life of the people in Vietnam.
72. What were Vietnam’s religious beliefs?
Answer: Vietnam’s religious beliefs were a mixture of Buddhism, Confucianism and local practices.
73. What problems did Christianity introduced by French missionaries create in Vietnam?
Answer: Christianity, introduced by French missionaries, was intolerant of the easy-going attitude of Vietnamese and viewed the Vietnamese tendency to revere the supernatural as something to be corrected.
74. What do you know about the Scholars Revolt in 1869?
Answer: An early movement against French control and the spread of Christianity was the Scholars Revolt in 1868.
75. Who led the Scholars Revolt in 1868?
Answer: The Scholars Revolt in 1868 was led by officials at the imperial court angered by the spread of Catholicism and French power.
76. What did officials at the imperial court in Vietnam do during the Scholars Revolt?
Answer: Officials at the imperial court in Vietnam led a general uprising in Ngu An and Ha Tien provinces where over a thousand Catholics were killed. Catholic missionaries had been active in winning converts since the early seventeenth century, and by the middle of the eighteenth century had converted some 300,000. The French crushed the movement but this uprising served to inspire other patriots to rise up against them.
77. What were the elites in Vietnam educated in?
Answer: The elites in Vietnam were educated in Chinese and Confucianism.
78. What shaped religious beliefs among the peasantry in Vietnam?
Answer: Religious beliefs among the peasantry in Vietnam were shaped by a variety of syncretic traditions that combined Buddhism and local beliefs. There were many popular religions in Vietnam that were spread by people who claimed to have seen a vision of God.
79. When did the Hoa Hao movement begin?
Answer: The Hoa Hao movement began in 1939.
80. Who was the founder of Hoa Hao?
Answer: The founder of Hoa Hao was a man called Huynh Phu So.
81. What do you know about Huynh Phu So?
Answer: Huynh Phu So 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.
82. What happened to the Hoa Hao movement inspired by Huynh Phu So?
Answer: The French tried to suppress the movement inspired by Huynh Phu So. They declared him mad, called him the Mad Bonze, and put him in a mental asylum.
83. What happened when Huynh Phu So was put in a mental asylum?
Answer: Interestingly, the doctor who had to prove him insane became his follower, and finally in 1941, even the French doctors declared that he was sane. The French authorities exiled him to Laos and sent many of his followers to concentration camps.
84. What was the relationship between mainstream nationalism and the Hoa Hao movement?
Answer: The Hoa Hao movement had a contradictory relationship with mainstream nationalism. Political parties often drew upon their support, but were uneasy about their activities. They could neither control or discipline these groups, nor support their rituals and practices.
The Vision of Modernisation during The Nationalist Movement in Indo-China
85. Which differing visions led Vietnamese intellectuals to complex debates?
Answer: Some Vietnamese intellectuals felt that Vietnamese traditions 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. These differing visions led Vietnamese intellectuals to complex debates, which could not be easily resolved.
86. Who led resistance to French domination in Vietnam in the late nineteenth century?
Answer: In the late nineteenth century, resistance to French domination in Vietnam was very often led by Confucian scholar-activists, who saw their world crumbling.
87. Who formed the Revolutionary Society (Duy Tan Hoi) in Vietnam?
Answer: The Revolutionary Society (Duy Tan Hoi) in Vietnam was formed by Phan Boi Chau.
88. When was the Revolutionary Society (Duy Tan Hoi) formed?
Answer: The Revolutionary Society (Duy Tan Hoi) was formed in 1903.
89. When and where did Phan Boi Chau meet the Chinese reformer Liang Qichao?
Answer: Phan Boi Chau met the Chinese reformer Liang Qichao in Yokohama in 1905.
90. Name the most influential book written by Phan Boi Chau.
Answer: Phan’s most influential book was ‘The History of the Loss of Vietnam’.
91. Under whose strong influence and advice Phan Boi Chau wrote ‘The History of the Loss of Vietnam’?
Answer: Phan Boi Chau wrote ‘The History of the Loss of Vietnam’ under the strong influence and advice of Liang Qichao.
92. What does the book ‘The History of the Loss of Vietnam’ focus on?
Answer: The book ‘The History of the Loss of Vietnam’ focuses on two connected themes: the loss of sovereignty and the severing of ties with China – ties that bound the elites of the two countries within a shared culture.
93. Name any nationalist who strongly differed with Phan Boi Hau.
Answer: Phan Chu Trinh
94. What did Phan Chu Trinh desire to establish in Vietnam?
Answer: Phan Chu Trinh was intensely hostile to the monarchy and opposed to the idea of resisting the French with the help of the court. His desire was to establish a democratic republic in Vietnam.
95. What did Phan Chu Trinh feel about the democratic ideals of the West?
Answer: Profoundly influenced by the democratic ideals of the West, Phan Chu Trinh did not want a wholesale rejection of Western civilisation. He accepted the French revolutionary ideal of liberty but charged the French for not abiding by the ideal. He demanded that the French set up legal and educational institutions, and develop agriculture and industries.
Other Ways of Becoming Modern : Japan and China
96. Why did early Vietnamese nationalists have a close relationship with Japan and China?
Answer: Early Vietnamese nationalists had a close relationship with Japan and China for a variety of reasons. They provided models for those looking to change, a refuge for those who were escaping French police, and a location where a wider Asian network of revolutionaries could be established.
97. When did a ‘go east movement’ become popular and what happened during it?
Answer: A ‘go east movement’ became popular in the first decade of the twentieth century. In 1907-08 some 300 Vietnamese students went to Japan to acquire modern education.
98. What was the primary objective of Vietnamese students who went to acquire modern education in Japan?
Answer: The primary objective of Vietnamese students who went to acquire modern education in Japan was to drive out the French from Vietnam, overthrow the puppet emperor and re-establish the Nguyen dynasty that had been deposed by the French.
99. What did the Vietnamese students (nationalists) do in Japan during the French rule in Vietnam?
Answer: The Vietnamese nationalists looked for foreign arms and help. They appealed to the Japanese as fellow Asians. Vietnamese students established a branch of the Restoration Society in Tokyo but after 1908, the Japanese Ministry of Interior clamped down on them. Many, including Phan Boi Chau, were deported and forced to seek exile in China and Thailand.
100. When and how was a Republic set up in China?
Answer: In 1911, the long established monarchy in China was overthrown by a popular movement under Sun Yat-sen, and a Republic was set up.
101. Who organised the Association for the Restoration of Vietnam (Viet-Nam Quan Phuc Hoi)?
Answer: Vietnamese students organised the Association for the Restoration of Vietnam (Viet-Nam Quan Phuc Hoi).
102. How did the nature of the anti-French independence movement in Vietnam change?
Answer: In 1911, the long established monarchy in China was overthrown by a popular movement under Sun Yat-sen, and a Republic was set up. Developments in China inspired Vietnamese nationalists. Inspired by these developments, Vietnamese students organised the Association for the Restoration of Vietnam (Viet-Nam Quan Phuc Hoi). Now the nature of the anti-French independence movement changed. The objective was no longer to set up a constitutional monarchy but a democratic republic.
103. What was the impact of the Great Depression of the 1930s on Vietnam?
Answer: The Great Depression of the 1930s had a profound impact on Vietnam. The prices of rubber and rice fell, leading to rising rural debts, unemployment and rural uprisings, such as in the provinces of Nghe An and Ha Tinh.
104. Which provinces of Vietnam have been called the ‘electrical fuses’ of Vietnam?
Answer: The provinces of Nghe An and Ha Tinh of Vietnam were among the poorest, had an old radical tradition, and have been called the ‘electrical fuses’ of Vietnam.
105. Who established the Vietnamese Communist (Vietnam Cong San Dang) Party?
Answer: Ho Chi Minh established the Vietnamese Communist (Vietnam Cong San Dang) Party.
106. When was the Vietnamese Communist (Vietnam Cong San Dang) Party established?
Answer: The Vietnamese Communist (Vietnam Cong San Dang) Party was established in February 1930.
107. Which party was renamed the Indo-Chinese Communist Party?
Answer: The Vietnamese Communist (Vietnam Cong San Dang) Party was renamed the Indo-Chinese Communist Party.
108. What was the inspiration of Ho Chi Minh?
Answer: Ho Chi Minh was inspired by the militant demonstrations of the European communist parties.
109. When did Japan occupy Vietnam?
Answer: Japan occupied Vietnam in 1940.
110. Why did Japan occupy Vietnam?
Answer: Japan occupied Vietnam as part of its imperial drive to control Southeast Asia.
111. What came to be known as the Vietminh?
Answer: The League for the Independence of Vietnam (Vietnam Doc Lap Dong Minh) came to be known as the Vietminh.
112. When was Hanoi recaptured from the Japanese occupation?
Answer: Hanoi was recaptured from the Japanese occupation in 1945.
113. Who fought the Japanese occupation to recapture Hanoi?
Answer: The League for the Independence of Vietnam (Vietnam Doc Lap Dong Minh), which came to be known as the Vietminh, fought the Japanese occupation to recapture Hanoi.
114. Who became Chairman of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam?
Answer: Ho Chi Minh became Chairman of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam.
The New Republic of Vietnam during The Nationalist Movement in Indo-China
115. Which challenges did the new Republic of Vietnam face?
Answer: The new republic faced a number of challenges. The French tried to regain control by using the emperor, Bao Dai, as their puppet. Faced with the French offensive, the Vietminh were forced to retreat to the hills.
116. When did the Vietminh defeat the French?
Answer: After eight years of fighting, the Vietminh defeated the French in 1954 at Dien Bien Phu.
117. How many soldiers of the French Expeditionary Corps were captured by the Vietminh?
Answer: On 7 May 1954, the Vietminh annihilated and captured more than 16,000 soldiers of the French Expeditionary Corps.
118. Which French officers were taken prisoner by the Vietminh?
Answer: The entire commanding staff, including a general, 16 colonels and 1,749 officers, were taken prisoner by the Vietminh.
119. What were the Vietnamese persuaded to accept in the peace negotiations in Geneva?
Answer: In the peace negotiations in Geneva that followed the French defeat, the Vietnamese were persuaded to accept the division of the country. North and south were split: Ho Chi Minh and the communists took power in the north while Bao Dai’s regime was put in power in the south.
120. What happened to those who opposed Ngo Dinh Diem?
Answer: Those who opposed Ngo Dinh Diem was called a communist and was jailed and killed.
121. Under which banner a broad opposition was united to oppose the dictatorial rule of Ngo Dinh Diem?
Answer: A broad opposition was united to oppose the dictatorial rule of Ngo Dinh Diem under the banner of the National Liberation Front (NLF).
122. Who fought for the unification of Vietnam?
Answer: With the help of the Ho Chi Minh government in the north, the NLF fought for the unification of Vietnam.
123. Who watched the alliance of the Ho Chi Minh government and the NLF with fear?
Answer: The US watched the alliance of the Ho Chi Minh government and the NLF with fear.
The Entry of the US into the War during The Nationalist Movement in Indo-China
124. How did the entry of the US affect the war in Vietnam?
Answer: US entry into the war marked a new phase that proved costly to the Vietnamese as well as to the Americans. This 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 wide spread attacks and use of chemical weapons – Napalm, Agent Orange, and phosphorous bombs – destroyed many villages and decimated jungles. Civilians died in large numbers.
125. Why were the people within the US critical of the US government for getting involved in the war in Vietnam?
Answer: From 1965 to 1972, over 3,403,100 US services personnel served in Vietnam (7,484 were women). Even though the US had advanced technology and good medical supplies, casualties were high. About 47,244 died in battle and 303,704 were wounded. (Of these wounded, 23,014 were listed by the Veterans Administration to be 100 percent disabled.) The effect of the war was felt within the US as well. That is why, the people within the US were critical of the US government for getting involved in the war in Vietnam.
126. What role did the US media and films play during the war in Vietnam?
Answer: The US media and films played a major role in both supporting as well as critising the war in Vietnam. Hollywood made films in support of the war, such as John Wayne’s Green Berets (1968). This has been cited by many as an example of an unthinking propaganda film that was responsible for motivating many young men to die in the war. Other films were more critical as they tried to understand the reasons for this war. Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now (1979) reflected the moral confusion that the war had caused in the US.
127. Which fear led the US policy-planners fight the war with Vietnam?
Answer: The war with Vietnam grew out of a fear among US policy-planners that the victory of the Ho Chi Minh government would start a domino effect – communist governments would be established in other countries in the area.
128. What did the US policy-planners underestimate during the war in Vietnam?
Answer: During the war in Vietnam, the US policy-planners underestimated the power of nationalism to move people to action, inspire them to sacrifice their home and family, live under horrific conditions, and fight for independence. They underestimated the power of a small country to fight the most technologically advanced country in the world.
The Ho Chi Minh Trail during The Nationalist Movement in Indo-China
129. How to understand the nature of the war that the Vietnamese fought against the US?
Answer: The story of the Ho Chi Minh trail is one way of understanding the nature of the war that the Vietnamese fought against the US.
130. What does the Ho Chi Minh trail symbolise?
Answer: The Ho Chi Minh trail symbolises how the Vietnamese used their limited resources to great advantage. The trail, an immense network of footpaths and roads, was used to transport men and materials from the north to the south.
131. When was the Ho Chi Minh trail improved?
Answer: The Ho Chi Minh trail was improved from the late 1950s, and from 1967 about 20,000 North Vietnamese troops came south each month on this trail.
132. What facilities were available along the way of the Ho Chi Minh Trail?
Answer: The Ho Chi Minh trail had support bases and hospitals along the way. 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 backs, or about 70 kilos on their bicycles.
133. What was the extent of the Ho Chi Minh trail?
Answer: Most of the Ho Chi Minh trail was outside Vietnam in neighbouring Laos and Cambodia with branch lines extending into South Vietnam.
134. Why could the US not destroy the important supply line of the Ho Chi Minh trail?
Answer: The US could not destroy the important supply line of the Ho Chi Minh trail by intensive bombing because they were rebuilt very quickly.
135. What was the traditional status of women in Vietnam?
Answer: Women in Vietnam traditionally enjoyed greater equality than in China, particularly among the lower classes, but they had only limited freedom to determine their future and played no role in public life.
136. Whom did the writers and political thinkers begin to idealise when the nationalist movement grew in Vietnam?
Answer: As the nationalist movement grew, the status of women came to be questioned and a new image of womanhood emerged. Writers and political thinkers began idealising women who rebelled against social norms.
137. Why did a famous novel by Nhat Linh cause a scandal?
Answer: In 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, someone who was involved in nationalist politics.
138. What marked the arrival of the new woman in Vietnamese society?
Answer: The rebellion against social conventions marked the arrival of the new woman in Vietnamese society.
Heroes of Past Times
139. What was the basis of the play written by the nationalist Phan Boi Chau in 1913?
Answer: In 1913, the nationalist Phan Boi Chau wrote a play based on the lives of the Trung sisters who had fought against Chinese domination in 39-43CE. In this play he depicted these sisters as patriots fighting to save the Vietnamese nation from the Chinese.
140. When did the Trung sisters come to be idealised and glorified?
Answer: The Trung sisters came to be idealised and glorified after Phan’s play in which he depicted the Trung sisters as patriots.
141. In which way were the Trung sisters depicted?
Answer: The Trung sisters were depicted in paintings, plays and novels as representing the indomitable will and the intense patriotism of the Vietnamese.
142. How did the Trung sisters resist the Chinese?
Answer: We are told that The Trung sisters gathered a force of over 30,000, resisted the Chinese for two years, and when ultimately defeated, they committed suicide, instead of surrendering to the enemy.
143. What do you know about Trieu Au?
Answer: Trieu Au was one of the most venerated women rebels of the past who lived in the third century CE. Orphaned in childhood, she lived with her brother. On growing up she left home, went into the jungles, organised a large army and resisted Chinese rule.
144. What did Trieu Au do when her army was crushed?
Answer: When her army was crushed, she drowned herself.
145. What did the photographs in magazines and journals in the 1960s show women as?
Answer: In the 1960s, photographs in magazines and journals showed women as brave fighters. There were pictures of women militia shooting down planes. They were portrayed as young, brave and dedicated.
146. What did the stories about the women warriors in Vietnam tell?
Answer: Stories were written to show how happy they felt when they joined the army and could carry a rifle. Some stories spoke of their incredible bravery in single-handedly killing the enemy – Nguyen Thi Xuan, for instance, was reputed to have shot down a jet with just twenty bullets.
147. How were the Vietnamese women represented as workers?
Answer: Vietnamese women were shown with a rifle in one hand and a hammer in the other. Whether young or old, women began to be depicted as selflessly working and fighting to save the country.
148. When were the Vietnamese women urged to join the struggle in large numbers?
Answer: As casualties in the war increased in the 1960s, women were urged to join the struggle in large numbers.
149. What role did Vietnamese women play during the resistance movement?
Answer: Many Vietnamese women responded and joined the resistance movement. They helped in nursing the wounded, constructing underground rooms and tunnels and fighting the enemy.
150. What did the young volunteers do along the Ho Chi Minh trail?
Answer: Along the Ho Chi Minh trail young volunteers kept open 2,195 km of strategic roads and guarded 2,500 key points. They built six airstrips, neutralised tens of thousands of bombs, transported tens of thousands of kilograms of cargo, weapons and food and shot down fifteen planes.
151. What was the percentage of women among youths who worked along the Ho Chi Minh trail between 1965 and 1975?
Answer: Between 1965 and 1975, of the 17,000 youth worked along the Ho Chi Minh trail, 70 to 80 per cent were women.
152. What according to on military historian was the number of women participating in the resistance movement in Vietnam?
Answer: On military historian argues that there were 1.5 million women in the regular army, the militia, the local forces and professional teams.
153. When did Vietnamese women begin to predominate as workers?
Answer: By the 1970s, as peace talks began to get under way and the end of the war seemed near, Vietnamese women were no longer represented as warriors. Now the image of women as workers begins to predominate. They are shown working in agricultural cooperatives, factories and production units, rather than as fighters.
The End of the War
154. What were the objectives of the war in Vietnam that the US failed to achieve?
Answer: The objectives of the war in Vietnam that the US failed to achieve were as follows:
(a) the Vietnamese resistance had not been crushed;
(b) the support of the Vietnamese people for US action had not been won.
155. Name the first television war.
Answer: The war in Vietnam which ended with a peace settlement signed in Paris in January 1974 is called the first television war. Battle scenes were shown on the daily news programmes.
156. What did the scholar Noam Chomsky call the US war in Vietnam?
Answer: The scholar Noam Chomsky called the US war in Vietnam ‘the greatest threat to peace, to national self-determination, and to international cooperation’.
157. When was the peace settlement to end the war in Vietnam signed?
Answer: The peace settlement to end the war in Vietnam was signed in Paris in January 1974.
158. When was Vietnam unified?
Answer: Vietnam was unified on 30 April 1975 when the NLF occupied the presidential palace in Saigon.
159. When did the NLF occupy the presidential palace in Saigon?
Answer: The NLF occupied the presidential palace in Saigon on 30 April 1975.
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| Question - Answers of The Nationalist Movement in Indo-China |
1. When did Vietnam get formal independence?
Answer: Vietnam got formal independence in 1945.
2. In which context nationalism develop in Indo-China?
Answer: Nationalism developed in Indo-China in a colonial context.
3. What made the knitting together of a modern Vietnamese nation possible?
Answer: The knitting together of a modern Vietnamese nation that brought the different communities together was in part the result of colonisation but, as importantly, it was shaped by the struggle against colonial domination.
Emerging from the Shadow of China during The Nationalist Movement in Indo-China
4. Name the modern countries of Indo-China region.
Answer: Indo-China comprises the modern countries of Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia.
5. What did the rulers do even when an independent country was established in what is now northern and central Vietnam?
Answer: Even when an independent country was established in what is now northern and Central Vietnam, its rulers continued to maintain the Chinese system of government as well as Chinese culture.
6. What connected Vietnam to the hinterlands where non-Vietnamese people lived?
Answer: Networks of trade connected Vietnam to the hinterlands where non-Vietnamese people such as the Khmer Cambodians lived.
7. What helped Vietnam bring in goods, people and ideas?
Answer: The link to the maritime silk route helped Vietnam bring in goods, people and ideas.
8. Who founded the port of Faifo?
Answer: The port of Faifo was founded by Portuguese merchants. It was one of the ports used by European trading companies much before the nineteenth century.
Colonial Domination and Resistance during The Nationalist Movement in Indo-China
9. What brought the people of Vietnam into conflict with the colonisers in all areas of life?
Answer: The colonisation of Vietnam by the French brought the people of the country into conflict with the colonisers in all areas of life.
10. What was the most visible form of French control in Vietnam?
Answer: The most visible form of French control in Vietnam was military and economic domination but the French also built a system that tried to reshape the culture of the Vietnamese.
11. Whose efforts helped nationalism emerge in Vietnam?
Answer: Nationalism in Vietnam emerged through the efforts of different sections of society to fight against the French and all they represented.
12. When did French troops land in Vietnam?
Answer: French troops landed in Vietnam in 1858.
13. When did the French assumed control of Tonkin and Anaam?
Answer: The French assumed control of Tonkin and Anaam after the Franco-Chinese war.
14. When was French Indo-China formed?
Answer: French Indo-China was formed in 1887.
15. What did the people in Vietnam begin to reflect on when the French sought to consolidate their position in Vietnam?
Answer: The people in Vietnam began reflecting on the nature of the loss that Vietnam was suffering when the French sought to consolidate their position in Vietnam.
Why the French thought Colonies Necessary?
16. Why colonies were considered essential?
Answer: Colonies were considered essential to supply natural resources and other essential goods.
17. According to France, what was the mission of the ‘advanced’ European countries?
Answer: According to France, it was the mission of the ‘advanced’ European countries to bring the benefits of civilisation to backward peoples.
18. What did the French do to increase cultivation in the Mekong delta?
Answer: The French started building canals and draining lands to increase cultivation in the Mekong delta.
19. How did Vietnam become the third largest exporter of rice in the world by 1931?
Answer: The vast system of irrigation works – canals and earthworks – built by the French mainly with forced labour, increased rice production and allowed the export of rice to the international market. Vietnam exported two-thirds of its rice production and by 1931 had become the third largest exporter of rice in the world.
20. When was the construction of a trans-Indo-China rail network completed?
Answer: The construction of a trans-Indo-China rail network was completed by 1910.
21. Why were the French business interests pressurising the government in Vietnam by the 1920s?
Answer: By the 1920s, the French business interests were pressurising the government in Vietnam to develop the infrastructure further.
Should Colonies be Developed?
22. What did everyone agree about colonies?
Answer: Everyone agreed that colonies had to serve the interests of the mother country.
23. According to Paul Bernard, how could colonies serve the interests of the French business?
Answer: Paul Bernard strongly believed that the economy of the colonies needed to be developed. He argued that the purpose of acquiring colonies was to make profits. If the economy was developed and the standard of living of the people improved, they would buy more goods. The market would consequently expand, leading to better profits for French business.
24. According to Paul Bernard, what were the barriers to economic growth in Vietnam?
Answer: According to Paul Bernard, high population levels, low agricultural productivity and extensive indebtedness amongst the peasants were the barriers to economic growth in Vietnam.
25. What did Paul Bernard suggest to reduce rural poverty and increase agricultural productivity in Vietnam?
Answer: In Vietnam, Paul Bernard suggested that it was necessary to carry out land reforms as the Japanese had done in the 1890s.
26. After the land reforms done in the 1890s, what did the experience of Japan show?
Answer: After the land reforms done in the 1890s, the experience of Japan showed that industrialisation would be essential to create more jobs.
27. What was the colonial economy in Vietnam based on?
Answer: The colonial economy in Vietnam was primarily based on rice cultivation and rubber plantations owned by the French and a small Vietnamese elite.
28. What do you mean by ‘Indentured labour’?
Answer: Indentured labour was 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-fulfilment of contracts.
29. Which labour was used in the rubber plantations in Vietnam?
Answer: Indentured Vietnamese labour was widely used in the rubber plantations in Vietnam.
30. Why did the standard of living of the Vietnamese decline even after Paul Bernard’s suggestions?
Answer: Even after Paul Bernard’s suggestion the standard of living of the Vietnamese declined because the French did little to industrialise the economy. In the rural areas landlordism spread and the standard of living declined.
The Dilemma of Colonial Education during The Nationalist Movement in Indo-China
31. French colonisation was also driven by the idea of a ‘civilising mission’. What does a ‘civilising mission’ mean here?
Answer: Like the British in India, the French claimed that they were bringing modern civilisation to the Vietnamese. They took for granted that Europe had developed the most advanced civilisation. So it became the duty of the Europeans to introduce these modern ideas to the colony even if this meant destroying local cultures, religions and traditions, because these were seen as outdated and prevented modern development.
32. Which dilemma had the French to resolve in order to educate the Vietnamese?
Answer: In order to educate the Vietnamese, the French had to resolve a dilemma of ‘How far the Vietnamese to be educated?’
33. What problem education might create to colonial domination in Vietnam?
Answer: Once educated, the Vietnamese may begin to question colonial domination in Vietnam.
34. Why did the French citizens living in Vietnam oppose policies that would give the Vietnamese full access to French Education?
Answer: The French citizens living in Vietnam began fearing that they might lose their jobs – as teachers, shopkeepers, policemen – to the educated Vietnamese. So they opposed policies that would give the Vietnamese full access to French education.
Talking Modern during The Nationalist Movement in Indo-China
35. Why did the French systematically dismantle the traditional educational system and establish French schools for the Vietnamese in Vietnam?
Answer: The elites in Vietnam were powerfully influenced by Chinese culture. To consolidate their power, the French had to counter this Chinese influence. So they systematically dismantled the traditional educational system and established French schools for Vietnamese in Vietnam.
36. Why some policy-makers in Vietnam emphasised the need to use the French language as the medium of instruction?
Answer: Some policy-makers in Vietnam felt that by learning the language the Vietnamese would be introduced to the culture and civilisation of France. This would help create an ‘Asiatic France solidly tied to European France’. The educated people in Vietnam would respect French sentiments and ideals, see the superiority of French culture, and work for the French.
37. Who were to be rewarded with French citizenship in Vietnam?
Answer: Some policy-makers in Vietnam suggested that Vietnamese be taught in lower classes and French in the higher classes. The few who learnt French and acquired French culture were to be rewarded with French citizenship in Vietnam.
38. Why only a few Vietnamese elite among those admitted ultimately passed the school-leaving examination in Vietnam?
Answer: Only the Vietnamese elite – comprising a small fraction of the population – could enrol in the schools, and only a few among those admitted ultimately passed the school-leaving examination. This was largely because of a deliberate policy of failing students, particularly in the final year, so that they could not qualify for the better-paid jobs.
39. How many Vietnamese passed the school-leaving examination in 1925?
Answer: In 1925, in a population of 17 million, there were less than 400 who passed the examination.
40. What did the school textbooks in Vietnam glorify during the French rule?
Answer: The school textbooks in Vietnam glorified the French and justified colonial rule.
41. How were the Vietnamese represented in school textbooks during the colonial rule in Vietnam?
Answer: The Vietnamese were represented as primitive and backward, capable of manual labour but not of intellectual reflection; they could work in the fields but not rule themselves; they were ‘skilled copyists’ but not creative.
42. What were the Vietnamese school children told about French rule during colonial rule in Vietnam?
Answer: During colonial rule in Vietnam, the Vietnamese school children were told that only French rule could ensure peace in Vietnam: ‘Since the establishment of French rule the Vietnamese peasant no longer lives in constant terror of pirates… Calm is complete, and the peasant can work with a good heart.’
Looking Modern during The Nationalist Movement in Indo-China
43. When and why was the Tonkin Free School started?
Answer: The Tonkin Free School was started in 1907 to provide a Western-style education.
44. What was the Tonkin Free School’s approach to what it means to be ‘modern’?
Answer: The Tonkin Free School’s approach to what it means to be ‘modern’ is a good example of the thinking prevalent at that time. It was not enough to learn science and Western ideas: to be modern the Vietnamese had to also look modern. The school encouraged the adoption of Western styles such as having a short haircut.
45. What did having a short haircut mean for the Vietnamese?
Answer: Having a short haircut meant a major break with their own identity since they traditionally kept long hair.
Resistance in Schools during The Nationalist Movement in Indo-China
46. What did the Vietnamese teachers do while teaching during the colonial rule?
Answer: The teachers and students did not blindly follow the curriculum. Sometimes there was open opposition, at other times there was silent resistance. As the number of Vietnamese teachers increased in the lower classes, it became difficult to control what was actually taught. While teaching, Vietnamese teachers quietly modified the text and criticised what was stated.
47. What happened in the Saigon Native Girls School in 1926?
Answer: In 1926 a major protest erupted in the Saigon Native Girls School. A Vietnamese girl sitting in one of the front seats was asked to move to the back of the class and a local French student to occupy the front bench. She refused. The principal, also a colon (French people in the colonies), expelled her. When angry students protested, they too were expelled, leading to a further spread of open protests.
48. What did the principal of the Saigon Native School warn the students in 1926?
Answer: The principal of the Saigon Native School warned the students in 1926, ‘I will crush all Vietnamese under my feet. Ah! You wish my deportation. Know well that I will leave only after I am assured Vietnamese no longer inhabit Cochinchina.’
49. What inspired students fight against the colonial government’s efforts to prevent the Vietnamese from qualifying for white-collar jobs?
Answer: Students who fought against the colonial government’s efforts to prevent the Vietnamese from qualifying for white-collar jobs were inspired by patriotic feelings and the conviction that it was the duty of the educated to fight for the benefit of society.
50. Name any political party formed by students of Vietnam by the 1920s.
Answer: The Party of Young Annan
51. Name any nationalist journal published by students of Vietnam by the 1920s.
Answer: The Annanese Student
52. How did the French seek to strengthen their rule in Vietnam?
Answer: The French sought to strengthen their rule in Vietnam through the control of education.
53. What did the French try to do to make the Vietnamese believe in the superiority of French civilisation?
Answer: The French tried to change the values, norms and perceptions of the people, to make them believe in the superiority of French civilisation and the inferiority of the Vietnamese.
54. What did the Vietnamese intellectuals fear during the colonial rule in Vietnam?
Answer: During the colonial rule in Vietnam, the Vietnamese intellectuals feared that Vietnam was losing not just control over its territory but its very identity: its own culture and customs were being devalued and the people were developing a master-slave mentality.
Hygiene, Disease and Everyday Resistance during The Nationalist Movement in Indo-China
55. Is it right to say that education was the only sphere of everyday life in Vietnam in which political battles against colonialism were fought? Why?
Answer: No. Education was not the only sphere of everyday life in Vietnam in which political battles against colonisation were fought. In many other institutions we can see the variety of small ways in which the colonised expressed their anger against the colonisers.
Plague Strikes Hanoi during The Nationalist Movement in Indo-China
56. How did the French decide to rebuild Hanoi?
Answer: When the French set about creating a modern Vietnam, they decided to rebuild Hanoi. The latest ideas about architecture and modern engineering skills were employed to build a new and ‘modern’ city.
57. Which part of Hanoi was struck by bubonic plague in 1903?
Answer: The modern part of Hanoi was struck by bubonic plague in 1903.
58. What created serious social conflicts in many colonial countries?
Answer: In many colonial countries, measures to control the spread of disease created serious social conflicts.
59. How did what was installed to create a hygienic environment in the French city become the cause of the plague in Vietnam?
Answer: The French part of Hanoi was built as a beautiful and clean city with wide avenues and a well-laid-out sewer system, while the ‘native quarter’ was not provided with any modern facilities. The refuse from the old city drained straight out into the river or, during heavy rains or floods, overflowed into the streets. Thus what was installed to create a hygienic environment in the French city became the cause of the plague in Vietnam.
60. What were an ideal and protected breeding ground for rats in Hanoi when plague struck Hanoi in 1903?
Answer: When plague struck Hanoi in 1903, the large sewers in the modern part of the city, a symbol of modernity, were an ideal and protected breeding ground for rats.
61. What allowed the rats to move around the city without any problem when plague struck Hanoi in 1903?
Answer: When plague struck Hanoi in 1903, the sewers served as a great transport system, allowing the rats to move around the city without any problem.
The Rat Hunt during The Nationalist Movement in Indo-China
62. When was the rat hunt started in Hanoi?
Answer: The rat hunt was started in Hanoi in 1902.
63. Whom did the French hire to catch rats in Hanoi?
Answer: The French hired Vietnamese workers and paid them for each rat they caught.
64. What did the rat hunt seem to provide for the Vietnamese?
Answer: For the Vietnamese the rat hunt seemed to provide an early lesson in the success of collective bargaining with the French.
65. What did the Vietnamese who did the dirty work of entering sewers to catch rats find?
Answer: The Vietnamese who did the dirty work of entering sewers to catch rats found that if they came together they could negotiate a higher bounty.
66. What were the innovative ways the Vietnamese discovered to profit from catching rats in Hanoi?
Answer: The Vietnamese saw that the bounty was paid when a tail was given as proof that a rat had been killed. So the rat-catchers took to just clipping the tails and releasing the rats, so that the process could be repeated, over and over again. Some people, in fact, began raising rats to earn a bounty.
67. What forced the French to scrap the bounty programme of killing rats in Hanoi?
Answer: Defeated by the resistance of the weak, the French were forced to scrap the bounty programme of killing rats in Hanoi.
68. What marks the limits of French power and the contradictions in their ‘civilising mission’ in Vietnam?
Answer: The rat menace marks the limits of French power and the contradictions in their ‘civilising mission’ in Vietnam.
69. What do the actions of the rat-catchers in Vietnam tell us?
Answer: The actions of the rat-catchers in Vietnam tell us of the numerous small ways in which colonialism was fought in everyday life.
Religion and Anti-Colonialism during The Nationalist Movement in Indo-China
70. How did the French occupy Vietnam?
Answer: The French occupied Vietnam militarily.
71. What did the French seek to reshape in Vietnam?
Answer: The French sought to reshape social and cultural life of the people in Vietnam.
72. What were Vietnam’s religious beliefs?
Answer: Vietnam’s religious beliefs were a mixture of Buddhism, Confucianism and local practices.
73. What problems did Christianity introduced by French missionaries create in Vietnam?
Answer: Christianity, introduced by French missionaries, was intolerant of the easy-going attitude of Vietnamese and viewed the Vietnamese tendency to revere the supernatural as something to be corrected.
74. What do you know about the Scholars Revolt in 1869?
Answer: An early movement against French control and the spread of Christianity was the Scholars Revolt in 1868.
75. Who led the Scholars Revolt in 1868?
Answer: The Scholars Revolt in 1868 was led by officials at the imperial court angered by the spread of Catholicism and French power.
76. What did officials at the imperial court in Vietnam do during the Scholars Revolt?
Answer: Officials at the imperial court in Vietnam led a general uprising in Ngu An and Ha Tien provinces where over a thousand Catholics were killed. Catholic missionaries had been active in winning converts since the early seventeenth century, and by the middle of the eighteenth century had converted some 300,000. The French crushed the movement but this uprising served to inspire other patriots to rise up against them.
77. What were the elites in Vietnam educated in?
Answer: The elites in Vietnam were educated in Chinese and Confucianism.
78. What shaped religious beliefs among the peasantry in Vietnam?
Answer: Religious beliefs among the peasantry in Vietnam were shaped by a variety of syncretic traditions that combined Buddhism and local beliefs. There were many popular religions in Vietnam that were spread by people who claimed to have seen a vision of God.
79. When did the Hoa Hao movement begin?
Answer: The Hoa Hao movement began in 1939.
80. Who was the founder of Hoa Hao?
Answer: The founder of Hoa Hao was a man called Huynh Phu So.
81. What do you know about Huynh Phu So?
Answer: Huynh Phu So 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.
82. What happened to the Hoa Hao movement inspired by Huynh Phu So?
Answer: The French tried to suppress the movement inspired by Huynh Phu So. They declared him mad, called him the Mad Bonze, and put him in a mental asylum.
83. What happened when Huynh Phu So was put in a mental asylum?
Answer: Interestingly, the doctor who had to prove him insane became his follower, and finally in 1941, even the French doctors declared that he was sane. The French authorities exiled him to Laos and sent many of his followers to concentration camps.
84. What was the relationship between mainstream nationalism and the Hoa Hao movement?
Answer: The Hoa Hao movement had a contradictory relationship with mainstream nationalism. Political parties often drew upon their support, but were uneasy about their activities. They could neither control or discipline these groups, nor support their rituals and practices.
The Vision of Modernisation during The Nationalist Movement in Indo-China
85. Which differing visions led Vietnamese intellectuals to complex debates?
Answer: Some Vietnamese intellectuals felt that Vietnamese traditions 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. These differing visions led Vietnamese intellectuals to complex debates, which could not be easily resolved.
86. Who led resistance to French domination in Vietnam in the late nineteenth century?
Answer: In the late nineteenth century, resistance to French domination in Vietnam was very often led by Confucian scholar-activists, who saw their world crumbling.
87. Who formed the Revolutionary Society (Duy Tan Hoi) in Vietnam?
Answer: The Revolutionary Society (Duy Tan Hoi) in Vietnam was formed by Phan Boi Chau.
88. When was the Revolutionary Society (Duy Tan Hoi) formed?
Answer: The Revolutionary Society (Duy Tan Hoi) was formed in 1903.
89. When and where did Phan Boi Chau meet the Chinese reformer Liang Qichao?
Answer: Phan Boi Chau met the Chinese reformer Liang Qichao in Yokohama in 1905.
90. Name the most influential book written by Phan Boi Chau.
Answer: Phan’s most influential book was ‘The History of the Loss of Vietnam’.
91. Under whose strong influence and advice Phan Boi Chau wrote ‘The History of the Loss of Vietnam’?
Answer: Phan Boi Chau wrote ‘The History of the Loss of Vietnam’ under the strong influence and advice of Liang Qichao.
92. What does the book ‘The History of the Loss of Vietnam’ focus on?
Answer: The book ‘The History of the Loss of Vietnam’ focuses on two connected themes: the loss of sovereignty and the severing of ties with China – ties that bound the elites of the two countries within a shared culture.
93. Name any nationalist who strongly differed with Phan Boi Hau.
Answer: Phan Chu Trinh
94. What did Phan Chu Trinh desire to establish in Vietnam?
Answer: Phan Chu Trinh was intensely hostile to the monarchy and opposed to the idea of resisting the French with the help of the court. His desire was to establish a democratic republic in Vietnam.
95. What did Phan Chu Trinh feel about the democratic ideals of the West?
Answer: Profoundly influenced by the democratic ideals of the West, Phan Chu Trinh did not want a wholesale rejection of Western civilisation. He accepted the French revolutionary ideal of liberty but charged the French for not abiding by the ideal. He demanded that the French set up legal and educational institutions, and develop agriculture and industries.
Other Ways of Becoming Modern : Japan and China
96. Why did early Vietnamese nationalists have a close relationship with Japan and China?
Answer: Early Vietnamese nationalists had a close relationship with Japan and China for a variety of reasons. They provided models for those looking to change, a refuge for those who were escaping French police, and a location where a wider Asian network of revolutionaries could be established.
97. When did a ‘go east movement’ become popular and what happened during it?
Answer: A ‘go east movement’ became popular in the first decade of the twentieth century. In 1907-08 some 300 Vietnamese students went to Japan to acquire modern education.
98. What was the primary objective of Vietnamese students who went to acquire modern education in Japan?
Answer: The primary objective of Vietnamese students who went to acquire modern education in Japan was to drive out the French from Vietnam, overthrow the puppet emperor and re-establish the Nguyen dynasty that had been deposed by the French.
99. What did the Vietnamese students (nationalists) do in Japan during the French rule in Vietnam?
Answer: The Vietnamese nationalists looked for foreign arms and help. They appealed to the Japanese as fellow Asians. Vietnamese students established a branch of the Restoration Society in Tokyo but after 1908, the Japanese Ministry of Interior clamped down on them. Many, including Phan Boi Chau, were deported and forced to seek exile in China and Thailand.
100. When and how was a Republic set up in China?
Answer: In 1911, the long established monarchy in China was overthrown by a popular movement under Sun Yat-sen, and a Republic was set up.
101. Who organised the Association for the Restoration of Vietnam (Viet-Nam Quan Phuc Hoi)?
Answer: Vietnamese students organised the Association for the Restoration of Vietnam (Viet-Nam Quan Phuc Hoi).
102. How did the nature of the anti-French independence movement in Vietnam change?
Answer: In 1911, the long established monarchy in China was overthrown by a popular movement under Sun Yat-sen, and a Republic was set up. Developments in China inspired Vietnamese nationalists. Inspired by these developments, Vietnamese students organised the Association for the Restoration of Vietnam (Viet-Nam Quan Phuc Hoi). Now the nature of the anti-French independence movement changed. The objective was no longer to set up a constitutional monarchy but a democratic republic.
The Communist Movement and Vietnam during The Nationalist Movement in Indo-China
103. What was the impact of the Great Depression of the 1930s on Vietnam?
Answer: The Great Depression of the 1930s had a profound impact on Vietnam. The prices of rubber and rice fell, leading to rising rural debts, unemployment and rural uprisings, such as in the provinces of Nghe An and Ha Tinh.
104. Which provinces of Vietnam have been called the ‘electrical fuses’ of Vietnam?
Answer: The provinces of Nghe An and Ha Tinh of Vietnam were among the poorest, had an old radical tradition, and have been called the ‘electrical fuses’ of Vietnam.
105. Who established the Vietnamese Communist (Vietnam Cong San Dang) Party?
Answer: Ho Chi Minh established the Vietnamese Communist (Vietnam Cong San Dang) Party.
106. When was the Vietnamese Communist (Vietnam Cong San Dang) Party established?
Answer: The Vietnamese Communist (Vietnam Cong San Dang) Party was established in February 1930.
107. Which party was renamed the Indo-Chinese Communist Party?
Answer: The Vietnamese Communist (Vietnam Cong San Dang) Party was renamed the Indo-Chinese Communist Party.
108. What was the inspiration of Ho Chi Minh?
Answer: Ho Chi Minh was inspired by the militant demonstrations of the European communist parties.
109. When did Japan occupy Vietnam?
Answer: Japan occupied Vietnam in 1940.
110. Why did Japan occupy Vietnam?
Answer: Japan occupied Vietnam as part of its imperial drive to control Southeast Asia.
111. What came to be known as the Vietminh?
Answer: The League for the Independence of Vietnam (Vietnam Doc Lap Dong Minh) came to be known as the Vietminh.
112. When was Hanoi recaptured from the Japanese occupation?
Answer: Hanoi was recaptured from the Japanese occupation in 1945.
113. Who fought the Japanese occupation to recapture Hanoi?
Answer: The League for the Independence of Vietnam (Vietnam Doc Lap Dong Minh), which came to be known as the Vietminh, fought the Japanese occupation to recapture Hanoi.
114. Who became Chairman of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam?
Answer: Ho Chi Minh became Chairman of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam.
The New Republic of Vietnam during The Nationalist Movement in Indo-China
115. Which challenges did the new Republic of Vietnam face?
Answer: The new republic faced a number of challenges. The French tried to regain control by using the emperor, Bao Dai, as their puppet. Faced with the French offensive, the Vietminh were forced to retreat to the hills.
116. When did the Vietminh defeat the French?
Answer: After eight years of fighting, the Vietminh defeated the French in 1954 at Dien Bien Phu.
117. How many soldiers of the French Expeditionary Corps were captured by the Vietminh?
Answer: On 7 May 1954, the Vietminh annihilated and captured more than 16,000 soldiers of the French Expeditionary Corps.
118. Which French officers were taken prisoner by the Vietminh?
Answer: The entire commanding staff, including a general, 16 colonels and 1,749 officers, were taken prisoner by the Vietminh.
119. What were the Vietnamese persuaded to accept in the peace negotiations in Geneva?
Answer: In the peace negotiations in Geneva that followed the French defeat, the Vietnamese were persuaded to accept the division of the country. North and south were split: Ho Chi Minh and the communists took power in the north while Bao Dai’s regime was put in power in the south.
120. What happened to those who opposed Ngo Dinh Diem?
Answer: Those who opposed Ngo Dinh Diem was called a communist and was jailed and killed.
121. Under which banner a broad opposition was united to oppose the dictatorial rule of Ngo Dinh Diem?
Answer: A broad opposition was united to oppose the dictatorial rule of Ngo Dinh Diem under the banner of the National Liberation Front (NLF).
122. Who fought for the unification of Vietnam?
Answer: With the help of the Ho Chi Minh government in the north, the NLF fought for the unification of Vietnam.
123. Who watched the alliance of the Ho Chi Minh government and the NLF with fear?
Answer: The US watched the alliance of the Ho Chi Minh government and the NLF with fear.
The Entry of the US into the War during The Nationalist Movement in Indo-China
124. How did the entry of the US affect the war in Vietnam?
Answer: US entry into the war marked a new phase that proved costly to the Vietnamese as well as to the Americans. This 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 wide spread attacks and use of chemical weapons – Napalm, Agent Orange, and phosphorous bombs – destroyed many villages and decimated jungles. Civilians died in large numbers.
125. Why were the people within the US critical of the US government for getting involved in the war in Vietnam?
Answer: From 1965 to 1972, over 3,403,100 US services personnel served in Vietnam (7,484 were women). Even though the US had advanced technology and good medical supplies, casualties were high. About 47,244 died in battle and 303,704 were wounded. (Of these wounded, 23,014 were listed by the Veterans Administration to be 100 percent disabled.) The effect of the war was felt within the US as well. That is why, the people within the US were critical of the US government for getting involved in the war in Vietnam.
126. What role did the US media and films play during the war in Vietnam?
Answer: The US media and films played a major role in both supporting as well as critising the war in Vietnam. Hollywood made films in support of the war, such as John Wayne’s Green Berets (1968). This has been cited by many as an example of an unthinking propaganda film that was responsible for motivating many young men to die in the war. Other films were more critical as they tried to understand the reasons for this war. Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now (1979) reflected the moral confusion that the war had caused in the US.
127. Which fear led the US policy-planners fight the war with Vietnam?
Answer: The war with Vietnam grew out of a fear among US policy-planners that the victory of the Ho Chi Minh government would start a domino effect – communist governments would be established in other countries in the area.
128. What did the US policy-planners underestimate during the war in Vietnam?
Answer: During the war in Vietnam, the US policy-planners underestimated the power of nationalism to move people to action, inspire them to sacrifice their home and family, live under horrific conditions, and fight for independence. They underestimated the power of a small country to fight the most technologically advanced country in the world.
The Ho Chi Minh Trail during The Nationalist Movement in Indo-China
129. How to understand the nature of the war that the Vietnamese fought against the US?
Answer: The story of the Ho Chi Minh trail is one way of understanding the nature of the war that the Vietnamese fought against the US.
130. What does the Ho Chi Minh trail symbolise?
Answer: The Ho Chi Minh trail symbolises how the Vietnamese used their limited resources to great advantage. The trail, an immense network of footpaths and roads, was used to transport men and materials from the north to the south.
131. When was the Ho Chi Minh trail improved?
Answer: The Ho Chi Minh trail was improved from the late 1950s, and from 1967 about 20,000 North Vietnamese troops came south each month on this trail.
132. What facilities were available along the way of the Ho Chi Minh Trail?
Answer: The Ho Chi Minh trail had support bases and hospitals along the way. 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 backs, or about 70 kilos on their bicycles.
133. What was the extent of the Ho Chi Minh trail?
Answer: Most of the Ho Chi Minh trail was outside Vietnam in neighbouring Laos and Cambodia with branch lines extending into South Vietnam.
134. Why could the US not destroy the important supply line of the Ho Chi Minh trail?
Answer: The US could not destroy the important supply line of the Ho Chi Minh trail by intensive bombing because they were rebuilt very quickly.
The Nation and Its Heroes : Women as Rebels during The Nationalist Movement in Indo-China
135. What was the traditional status of women in Vietnam?
Answer: Women in Vietnam traditionally enjoyed greater equality than in China, particularly among the lower classes, but they had only limited freedom to determine their future and played no role in public life.
136. Whom did the writers and political thinkers begin to idealise when the nationalist movement grew in Vietnam?
Answer: As the nationalist movement grew, the status of women came to be questioned and a new image of womanhood emerged. Writers and political thinkers began idealising women who rebelled against social norms.
137. Why did a famous novel by Nhat Linh cause a scandal?
Answer: In 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, someone who was involved in nationalist politics.
138. What marked the arrival of the new woman in Vietnamese society?
Answer: The rebellion against social conventions marked the arrival of the new woman in Vietnamese society.
Heroes of Past Times
139. What was the basis of the play written by the nationalist Phan Boi Chau in 1913?
Answer: In 1913, the nationalist Phan Boi Chau wrote a play based on the lives of the Trung sisters who had fought against Chinese domination in 39-43CE. In this play he depicted these sisters as patriots fighting to save the Vietnamese nation from the Chinese.
140. When did the Trung sisters come to be idealised and glorified?
Answer: The Trung sisters came to be idealised and glorified after Phan’s play in which he depicted the Trung sisters as patriots.
141. In which way were the Trung sisters depicted?
Answer: The Trung sisters were depicted in paintings, plays and novels as representing the indomitable will and the intense patriotism of the Vietnamese.
142. How did the Trung sisters resist the Chinese?
Answer: We are told that The Trung sisters gathered a force of over 30,000, resisted the Chinese for two years, and when ultimately defeated, they committed suicide, instead of surrendering to the enemy.
143. What do you know about Trieu Au?
Answer: Trieu Au was one of the most venerated women rebels of the past who lived in the third century CE. Orphaned in childhood, she lived with her brother. On growing up she left home, went into the jungles, organised a large army and resisted Chinese rule.
144. What did Trieu Au do when her army was crushed?
Answer: When her army was crushed, she drowned herself.
Women as Warriors during The Nationalist Movement in Indo-China
145. What did the photographs in magazines and journals in the 1960s show women as?
Answer: In the 1960s, photographs in magazines and journals showed women as brave fighters. There were pictures of women militia shooting down planes. They were portrayed as young, brave and dedicated.
146. What did the stories about the women warriors in Vietnam tell?
Answer: Stories were written to show how happy they felt when they joined the army and could carry a rifle. Some stories spoke of their incredible bravery in single-handedly killing the enemy – Nguyen Thi Xuan, for instance, was reputed to have shot down a jet with just twenty bullets.
147. How were the Vietnamese women represented as workers?
Answer: Vietnamese women were shown with a rifle in one hand and a hammer in the other. Whether young or old, women began to be depicted as selflessly working and fighting to save the country.
148. When were the Vietnamese women urged to join the struggle in large numbers?
Answer: As casualties in the war increased in the 1960s, women were urged to join the struggle in large numbers.
149. What role did Vietnamese women play during the resistance movement?
Answer: Many Vietnamese women responded and joined the resistance movement. They helped in nursing the wounded, constructing underground rooms and tunnels and fighting the enemy.
150. What did the young volunteers do along the Ho Chi Minh trail?
Answer: Along the Ho Chi Minh trail young volunteers kept open 2,195 km of strategic roads and guarded 2,500 key points. They built six airstrips, neutralised tens of thousands of bombs, transported tens of thousands of kilograms of cargo, weapons and food and shot down fifteen planes.
151. What was the percentage of women among youths who worked along the Ho Chi Minh trail between 1965 and 1975?
Answer: Between 1965 and 1975, of the 17,000 youth worked along the Ho Chi Minh trail, 70 to 80 per cent were women.
152. What according to on military historian was the number of women participating in the resistance movement in Vietnam?
Answer: On military historian argues that there were 1.5 million women in the regular army, the militia, the local forces and professional teams.
Women in Times of Peace during The Nationalist Movement in Indo-China
153. When did Vietnamese women begin to predominate as workers?
Answer: By the 1970s, as peace talks began to get under way and the end of the war seemed near, Vietnamese women were no longer represented as warriors. Now the image of women as workers begins to predominate. They are shown working in agricultural cooperatives, factories and production units, rather than as fighters.
The End of the War
154. What were the objectives of the war in Vietnam that the US failed to achieve?
Answer: The objectives of the war in Vietnam that the US failed to achieve were as follows:
(a) the Vietnamese resistance had not been crushed;
(b) the support of the Vietnamese people for US action had not been won.
155. Name the first television war.
Answer: The war in Vietnam which ended with a peace settlement signed in Paris in January 1974 is called the first television war. Battle scenes were shown on the daily news programmes.
156. What did the scholar Noam Chomsky call the US war in Vietnam?
Answer: The scholar Noam Chomsky called the US war in Vietnam ‘the greatest threat to peace, to national self-determination, and to international cooperation’.
157. When was the peace settlement to end the war in Vietnam signed?
Answer: The peace settlement to end the war in Vietnam was signed in Paris in January 1974.
158. When was Vietnam unified?
Answer: Vietnam was unified on 30 April 1975 when the NLF occupied the presidential palace in Saigon.
159. When did the NLF occupy the presidential palace in Saigon?
Answer: The NLF occupied the presidential palace in Saigon on 30 April 1975.
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