French Conquest of Vietnam

1. David, Whit, and Nikki French Conquest of Vietnam

2. Important Dates • 1865 – Unusually high incidents of natural disasters increases dislike of monarchy • 1870 – Taxes extracted from Cochinchina increases ten fold under French rule • 1887 – France formally establishes the Indochinese Union • 1900s – French is the official language of Vietnam • 1925 – 5,000 European Administrators ruling an Indochinese population of 30 million, no more than 1 in 10 children were receiving schooling • 1930 – 80% Riceland owned by 25% of landowners, 57 % of rural population were landless peasants

3. Map

4. What happened? • Some Vietnamese resisted French colonization, but some agreed because the French gave them land and low government positions • Under French rule taxes increase heavily, rice exports reach 229,00 tons per year • 70% of the government’s operating cost came from taxes on opium, salt, and alcohol • At first there is a quick turnover of governors until the French become the main force in the government • Vietnamese are prohibited from travelling between districts without papers and are forbidden to meet or organize • Vietnamese are subject to corvee • A large gap forms between upper and lower class as the upper class owns the majority of the land • Literacy drops significantly among Vietnamese as the French only teach French and children don’t attend schools • Vietnamese students go to Japan for an education

5. Pictures