Y3 French Vietnam Notes

Colonialism: Case Study of French Vietnam (Indochina) Vietnam before the 19th Century ➔ 2 Vietnamese Kingdoms (North and South), both open to foreign traders ◆ European Catholic Missionaries were less welcomed ➔ Local rebellions ◆ Tay Son Rebellion (1771) Vietnam in the 19th Century ➔ The relationship between the Vietnamese and French deteriorated so rapidly in the early 19th century because of the irreconcilability between the Vietnamese emperors´s attitude and actions taken towards Catholicism and French missionaries on the one hand, as well as French interests on the other Extension of French Control beyond Cochin China ➔ French Presence in the region grew into political and military control over Southern Vietnam ➔ Ambition interrupted by the Franco-Prussian War ◆ French defeat ◆ Establishment of new government ➔ Pursued colonialism in Africa and South East Asia aggressively Is the extension of French control beyond Cochin China justified? French Interests/International Circumstances Social Reasons (God) ➔ Desire to spread the Catholic Faith and Civilise Vietnam

◆ Higher Races (French) had a right over the lower races (Vietnamese) because they had a duty to civilise them ◆ Believed that European Nations should do this with generosity, grandeur and sincerity ➔ Missionary Impulse ➔ Saw colonialism as vital because it provided a response to the grave difficulties that accompanied its work in the societies of a newly industrialized Europe Gold ➔ Address Demand for Trading Bases, Raw Materials, New Markets ◆ Demand for raw materials and cash crops ● Result of the Industrial Revolution intensifying in the late 19th Century ● Turned to Vietnam as it possessed valuable mineral resources ○ Tin ◆ Manufacture French Goods ○ Zinc ◆ Manufacture French Goods ○ Coal ◆ Needed for the expanding French Navy to fuel their Steamships ○ Phosphate ● Vietnam’s availability of raw materials provided good economic incentive and encouraged the French to expand their control beyond Cochin China ◆ Possibility of Commercial trading opportunities and new trading bases ● French hoped Vietnam could be used as an inroad to China ● Initial interest in diverting all trade with China towards Saigon ○ Believed that Southern Vietnam via the Mekong River provides a convenient inroad ○ However, it was unsuitable and unsafe ○ Later turned their attention towards another access route via the Red River ◆ Enticed the French and motivated them to extend control beyond Cochin China Glory ➔ Competition among