Blog

SECTION A — THE FRENCH REVOLUTION AND THE IDEA OF A NATION, AND
MAKING OF NATIONALISM IN EUROPE

1. The first clear expression of nationalism came with the French Revolution in 1789.
2. The French Revolution proclaimed that it was the people who would henceforth constitute the nation and shape its destiny.
3. The revolutionary ideas spread in Europe after the outbreak of revolutionary wars and the rule of Napoleon.
4. In early nineteenth century Europe, national unity was allied to the ideology of Liberalism.
5. After the defeat of Napoleon in 1815, European governments were driven by a spirit of Conservatism, which led to repression and drove people to oppose monarchical governments.
6. Giuseppe Mazzini, an Italian revolutionary, set up ‘Young Italy’ in Marseilles (France) and ‘Young Europe’ in Berne (Switzerland).
7. Mazzini was described as ‘the most dangerous enemy of our social order’, by Metternich, the Austrian Chancellor, who hosted the Vienna Congress.

SECTION B — THE AGE OF REVOLUTION (1830–1848) AND
THE UNIFICATION OF GERMANY AND ITALY

1. Liberalism and nationalism became associated with the revolution in many regions of Europe such as the Italian and German states, the provinces of the Ottoman Empire, Ireland and Poland.
2. The first upheaval took place in France, in July 1830.
3. The Greek War of Independence was another event which mobilised nationalist feelings among the educated elite in Europe.
4. Culture played an important role in creating the idea of the nation. Art and poetry, stories, music helped express and shape nationalist feelings.
5. Romanticism was a cultural movement which sought to develop a particular form of nationalist sentiment.
6. Language too played an important role in developing nationalist sentiments.
7. The 1830s saw a rise in prices, bad harvest, poverty in Europe. Besides the poor, unemployed and starving peasants, even educated middle classes, revolted.
8. In 1848, an all-German National Assembly was voted for in Frankfurt.
9. The issue of extending political rights to women became a controversial one.
10. Conservative forces were able to suppress liberal movements in 1848, but could not restore the old order.
11. After 1848, nationalism in Europe moved away from its association with democracy and revolution.
12. In 1848, Germans tried to unite into a nation-state.
13. Prussia took the lead under its Chancellor, Otto von Bismarck. Three wars over seven years with Austria, Denmark and France ended in victory for Prussia and a unified Germany.
14. In January 1871, Prussian king, William I, was proclaimed German Emperor at a ceremony at Versailles.
15. Italy was fragmented, before unification it was a part of the multinational Habsburg Empire in the north, centre under the Pope and the south under the Bourbon kings of Spain.
16. Three Men – Giuseppe Mazzini, Chief Minister Cavour and Giuseppe Garibaldi played a leading role in unifying Italy during the 1830s.
17. In 1861, Victor Emmanuel II was proclaimed the king of united Italy.
18. In Britain, the formation of the nation state was not the result of a sudden upheaval but was the result of a long-drawn-out process.
19. The Act of Union (1707) – united Scotland and England and “the United Kingdom of Great Britain” was formed.
20. Ireland was forcibly incorporated into the United Kingdom in 1801. A new British nation was forged.

SECTION C — VISUALISING THE NATION :
NATIONALISM AND IMPERIALISM

1. People and artists in the 18th and 19th centuries personified a nation.
2. In France, Marianne became the allegory of the French nation, while Germania became the allegory of the German nation.
3. By the 1870s nationalism no longer retained its idealistic liberal democratic sentiment but became a narrow creed with limited ends.
4. The major European powers, manipulated the nationalist aspirations of the subject peoples in Europe to further their own imperialist aims.
5. People everywhere developed their own specific variety of nationalism.
6. The idea that societies should be organized into nation-states came to be accepted as natural and universal.

SECTION A — EMERGING FROM THE SHADOW OF CHINA
THE DILEMMA OF COLONIAL EDUCATION AND
HYGIENE, DISEASE AND EVERYDAY RESISTANCE

1. Indo-China comprises the modern countries of Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia.
2. Vietnam followed a Chinese system of government as well as Chinese culture.
3. The French colonised Vietnam. After defeating China, they assumed control of Tonkin and Anaam.
4. In 1887, French Indo-China was formed.
5. Colonies were considered essential to supply natural resources and other essential goods. The French built infrastructure projects to help transport goods for trade, move military garrisons and control the entire region.
6. The colonial economy in Vietnam was based on rice cultivation and rubber plantations. Very little industrialisation of Vietnam by France.
7. To counter Chinese influence, the French systematically dismantled the traditional educational system and established French schools for the Vietnamese.
8. The textbooks glorified French rule and culture.
9. Students fought against discrimination against the Vietnamese in white collar jobs. Schools became important place for cultural and political battles. Education became an important part of the larger battle against colonialism and for independence.
10. In 1902, the French part of Hanoi was hit by a rat menace. Vietnamese were paid to catch and kill the rats. Plague swept the area in 1903, as clever Vietnamese took to clipping the rats’ tails as proofs. They let the rats go.
11. Colonialism was fought in such resistant acts in everyday life.

SECTION B —

(I) RELIGION AND ANTI-COLONIALISM
(II) THE VISION OF MODERNISATION
(III) THE COMMUNIST MOVEMENT AND VIETNAMESE NATIONALISM

1. Religious beliefs of Vietnam were a mixture of Buddhism, Confucianism and local practices.
2. The French introduced Christianity, their Missionaries were hostile to the easy-going attitude of the Vietnamese towards religion.
3. Scholars’ Revolt of 1868 : Led by officials of the Imperial Court. Uprising in Ngu An and Ha Tien provinces killed a thousand Catholics. By the middle of the 18th century 300,000 people converted to Christianity. Revolt suppressed by the French.
4. The Hoa Hao Movement began in 1939 under its founder Huynh Phu So.
5. He performed miracles, helped the poor, opposed sale of brides, gambling and use of opium and alcohol.
6. The French declared him mad and sent him to a mental asylum. Freed in 1946, but exiled to Laos. Followers sent to concentration camps.
7. Vision of Modernisation : Two opinions held
   (i) Vietnamese traditions had to be strengthened to resist western domination.
   (ii) The second school felt that the Vietnamese had to learn from the West, while resisting its domination.
8. Phan Boi Chau (1867-1940) formed the ‘Revolution Society’ (Duy Tan Hoi) in 1903 with Prince Cuong De as the lead. He wrote a book, ‘History of the Loss of Vietnam’ under the influence of the Chinese reformer Liang Qichao (1873-1929). He believed that the French should be driven out first and then monarchy should be restored in Vietnam.
9. Phan Chu Trinh (1871-1926) differed strongly. He was totally opposed to monarchy and wanted to establish a democratic republic.
10. Go East Movement : Some 300 Vietnamese students went to Japan in 1907-08 to acquire modern education. Their aim was to drive out the French and re-establish the Ngu Yen dynasty. They wanted Japanese help and established a Restoration Society in Tokyo. But after 1908, the Japanese closed the society, and sent many of them, including Phan Boi Chau to exile in China and Thailand.
11. Whe Sun Yat Sen overthrew monarchy in China in 1911, a new association – Association for Restoration of Vietnam was formed. Their objective was to have a Democratic Republic and a Constitutional Monarchy in Vietnam.
12. The Communist Movement
13. The Great Depression of the 1930s led to unemployment, debts and rural uprisings in Vietnam.
14. A new leader, Ho Chi Minh, appeared on the scene in 1930. He established the Vietnamese Communist (Vietnam Cong San Dang) Party, inspired by Europeon communists.
15. Ho Chi Minh (He who enlightens) was born in Central Vietnam; later became an active member of the committee. He met Lenin and other leaders. After 30 years stay in Europe, Thailand and China he returned to Vietnam in May 1941. He became President of Vietnam Democratic Republic.
16. In 1940, Japan occupied Vietnam. The League for the Independence of Vietnam (known as the Viet Minh) fought the Japanese, recaptured Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh became the chairman of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam in September 1943.
17. Vietnamese Nationalism : The French set up a puppet regime under Bao Dai as Emperor. After years of fighting, the French were finally defeated in 1954 at Dien Bien Phu.
18. The Battle of Dien Bien Phu (1953-1954)
19. On 7 May, 1954, more than 16,000 soldiers of the French army were either killed or captured. The entire French commanding staff, including a General, 16 Colonels, 1749 officers were taken prisoner.
20. Vietnam was divided into North and South Vietnam. Ho Chi Minh and Bao Dai became rulers in north and south respectively.
21. The division led to war. The Bau Dai regime was overthrown by Ngo Dinh Diem. The south united and formed the National Liberation Front (NLF) and fought for unification of the country under Ho Chi Minh.
22. Fear of communism made the US intervene in Vietnam and a bitter war was fought during 1965-1972. Finally, peace was restored in 1974.

 

SECTION C — THE NATION AND ITS HEROES
THE END OF WAR

1. Women played no role in public life of the Vietnamese, but the freedom struggle led to an emerging new image of womanhood.
2. Women like Trung sisters (39-43 CE) became idols. Same was the case with Trieu Au of 3rd century CE.
3. In the 1960s, women were depicted as young, brave and dedicated. They were shown as warriors and workers.
4. The image of the warrior woman was replaced with the image of worker woman, in the 1970s, when the end of the war was near.
5. The US failed to achieve its objectives in the US Vietnam war.
6. The US-Vietnam war was called the first television war.
7. On 30 April, 1975 the North Liberation Front (NLF) occupied the presidential palace in Saigon and unified Vietnam.

Page No: 52

Write in Brief

1. Write a note on:

(a) What was meant by the ‘civilising mission’ of the colonisers: The European countries acquired colonies in the East Asian countries to exploit their natural resources. Like other European countries the French also propagated that it was their mission to bring the benefits of civilization to backward people. They posed that they were driven by the idea of the civilizing mission. Like the British in India, the French claimed they were bringing modern civilization to Vietnam. They considered that it was their duty to bring modern ideas into their colonies even at the cost of destroying the local culture, beliefs, etc.

(b) Huynh Phu So: Huynh Phu So was the founder of a nationalist movement called Hoa Hao. He 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. 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. But the doctor, who had to prove him mad, became his follower. Finally, he was exiled to Laos and many of his followers were sent to concentration camps.

2. Explain the following:
(a) Only one-third of the students in Vietnam would pass the school-leaving examinations.
(b) The French began building canals and draining lands in the Mekong delta.
(c) The government made the Saigon Native Girls School take back the students it had expelled.
(d) Rats were most common in the modern, newly built areas of Hanoi.

Answer

(a) Only one-third of the students in Vietnam would pass the school-leaving examinations because the French colonial administration followed a deliberate policy of failing students in their final year examinations so that they could not qualify for better-paid jobs. Only the wealthy Vietnamese could afford enrolment in these expensive schools, and to add to that, very few would pass the school-leaving examinations.
(b) The French began building canals and draining lands in the Mekong delta for increased cultivation. This was done under a garb to “civilise” Vietnam on a European model, but it was actually an economic idea meant to increase rice production and subsequent export of rice to the international market.

(c) When the French principal of the Saigon Native Girls School expelled the students protesting another student’s expulsion, there was widespread remonstration. Considering the gravity of the situation, the government decided to control the intensity of the protests by providing an outlet-making the school take back the students.

(d) Rats were most common in the modern, newly built areas of Hanoi because the modern and apparently hygienic sewage system provided ideal breeding grounds for rodents apart from being a good transport system as well, for the rats. Sewage from the old city was drained out into the river or overflowed in the streets during heavy rains. The large sewers now became a protected breeding and living space for rats. Hanoi, despite its “modernity”, became the chief cause of the plague in 1903.

3. Describe the ideas behind the Tonkin Free School. To what extent is it a typical example of colonial ideas in Vietnam?

Answer

Like other colonisers, the French also thought that they were on a civilising mission. Thus the Tonkin Free School was opened to give Western education. The school taught science, hygiene and French, other than the common subjects. For these three subjects the students had to attend evening classes and also pay separately. The students were not only made to attend these classes but they were asked to sport modern looks too. A typical example of this was that Vietnamese were asked to cut off their long hair and adopt a short hair cut which was absolutely against their culture.

4. What was Phan Chu Trinh’s objective for Vietnam? How were his ideas different from those of Phan Boi Chau?

Answer

Phan Chu Trinh’s objective for Vietnam was to make it a democratic republic, along the western ideals of liberty. He accused the French of not following their own national ideals, and demanded for the setting up of legal and educational institutions alongside the development of agriculture and industries.
Unlike Phan Boi Chau, Phan Chu Trinh was extremely opposed to the monarchy. Hence, their ideas had at their roots this fundamental difference.

Discuss

1. With reference to what you have read in this chapter, discuss the influence of China on Vietnam’s culture and life.

Answer

The influence of China on Vietnam’s culture and life was multifarious before the French colonised Vietnam. Even when the latter gained independence in 1945, the rulers maintained the use of Chinese governance systems and culture. The elites were vastly influenced by Chinese culture and life, as has been elucidated in Phan Boi Chau’s book “The History of the Loss of Vietnam”. Chinese language and Confucianism were followed by the upper classes in Vietnam. In 1911, when the Chinese Republic was set up, Vietnamese students followed suit in organising the Association for the Restoration of Vietnam. Vietnamese men also kept their hair long – a Chinese tradition.

2. What was the role of religious groups in the development of anti-colonial feelings in Vietnam?

Answer

Religion had always played a pivotal role in the lives of people in Vietnam. Vietnam’s religious beliefs were a mix of Buddhism, Confucianism and local customs. Christianity looked down upon their reverence for the supernatural. In 1868, the Scholars’ Revolt protested against the tyrannical spread of Christianity, and though the movement was defeated, it inspired others to follow suit. The Hoa Hoa movement in 1939 drew upon popular religious ideas of the nineteenth century, and its leader Huynh Phu So was a famous entity. These groups were not in tandem with political parties which tended to look down upon their activities with discomfort. Nevertheless, religious movements were successful in arousing anti-imperialist tendencies in the Vietnamese people.

3. Explain the causes of the US involvement in the war in Vietnam. What effect did this involvement have on life within the US itself?

Answer

The US got involved in the war in Vietnam because it feared that a communist government would come to power in Vietnam after the National Liberation Front formed a coalition with the Ho Chi Minh government in the north, against Ngo Dinh Diem’s regime. US policy-planners feared a spread of communism to other countries in the area.
This involvement in the Vietnam war affected life within the US itself because of widespread public dissent. Only university graduates were exempt from compulsory service in the army and this caused even more anger amongst the minorities and working-class families.

4. Write an evaluation of the Vietnamese war against the US from the point of
(a) a porter on the Ho Chi Minh trail.
(b) a woman soldier.

Answer

a) From 1965 to 1972, the US-Vietnam War continued and caused losses to both US and Vietnam.
The Vietnamese people suffered human and property losses, yet they never stopped their struggle for freedom. Here it is important to mention the role played by the porters in getting freedom and unity of Vietnam. The porters set out without fear on the Ho Chi Minh Trail which was a great expansive network of roads and footpaths. The heroic porters carried as much as 25 kg to 70 kg of weight on their backs or bicycles. They did not fear that they might fall over in the deep valleys. They bravely walked on the narrow, dangerous roads that marked the treacherous routes. They also did not feel afraid of being shot down by aircraft guns. They put all their fears aside and walked on to maintain the supply line. This fact showed that the porters were heroic and patriotic.

b) The Vietnamese women played an important role in the US-Vietnam War. They were both warriors and workers. As warriors and soldiers, the Vietnamese women constructed six air strips, they neutralised thousands of bombs and went on to shoot down fifteen planes. There were 1.5 million Vietnamese women in the regular army, the militia, the local forces and professional teams. The women workers were also engaged as porters, nurses and construction workers.

5. What was the role of women in the anti-imperial struggle in Vietnam? Compare this with the role of women in the nationalist struggle in India.

Answer

Women played a crucial role in the anti-imperial struggle in Vietnam. Women who rebelled against social conventions were idealised and rebel women of the past were likewise celebrated. Trieu Au was a popular figure in nationalist tales. In the 1960s, women were represented as brave soldiers and workers. They assisted in nursing wounded soldiers, constructing underground tunnels and fighting the enemy. Interestingly, between 1965 and 1975, 70-80% of the youth working on the Ho Chi Minh trail were women.
Compared to this very direct and active participation of Vietnamese women in the anti-imperial struggle, India women did not play a very dynamic role in the nationalist struggle of India against Great Britain. They followed Gandhian ideals of boycotting foreign goods and picketing liquor shops, but mainstream politics was controlled by men; although women like Sarojini Naidu, Kamla Nehru and Kasturba Gandhi were keenly involved.

https://www.imperialstudy.com/nationalist-movement-in-indo-china-notes/