Indo-China comprises the modern countries of Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia.
Vietnam followed a Chinese system of government as well as Chinese Culture.
Vietnam was linked to the maritime silk route that brought in goods, people and ideas.
The hinterlands where non – Vietnamese people such as the Khmer Cambodian lived.
Colonial Domination and Resistance
The colonization of Vietnam by the French brought the people of the country into conflict.
The most visible form of French control was military and economic domination but the French also built a system that tried to reshape the culture of the Vietnamese.
French troops landed in Vietnam in 1858.
French Indo – China was formed.
Exploring and mapping rivers were part of the colonial enterprise everywhere in the world.
The famous blind poet Ngyuyen Dinh Chieu bemoaned what was happening to his country.
Why the French thought Colonies Necessary
Colonies were considered essential to supply natural resources and other essential goods.
The area under rice cultivation went up from 274,000 hectares in 1873 to 1.1 million in 1930.
Vietnam exported two-thirds of its rice production and by 1931 had become the third largest exporters of rice in the world.
French built infrastructure projects to help transport goods for trade, move military garrisons and control the entire region.
Construction of a trans – Indo – China rail network that would link the northern and southern parts of Vietnam and China was begun.
Vietnam to siam (as Thailand was then called) Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh.
Should Colonies be Developed?
Paul Bernard, an influential writer and policymaker, strongly believed that the economy of the colonies needed to be developed.
There were several barriers to economies growth in Vietnam.
The colonial economy in Vietnam was based on rice cultivation and rubber plantations owned by the French and a small Vietnamese elite.
Labourers worked on the basis of contracts that did not specify any right of labourers but gave immense power to employers.
