French Colonialism in Vietnam undoubtably had a profound impact on the nation’s development and formation. The effects of French rule, while extended and pervasive, were not felt equally in the entire nation. French rule left a far different legacy in northern Vietnam as opposed to southern Vietnam. By establishing themselves in the South first, the French had a much different influence there in Cochinchina than they did in the Tonkin in the North. Since French rule began in the South, many Vietnamese collaborators with the French would find benefits to their support of the colonizers. Once French rule arrived in the North, the same spirit of collaboration was not felt, but rather a spirit of nationalism was more prominent. French colonial
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After Paul Doumer worked to centralize the government of the three provinces of Vietnam, he hoped to tax the nation and turn it into a profitable colony. In addition, a large amount of capital was invested in the nation in order to dig the canals and dredge the rivers to make agriculture and transportation easier. These improvements in infrastructure were meant to help the Vietnamese people be more productive and therefore make the colony more profitable. The end result, however, was much different. The first problem with Vietnamese economic policy was the way that the French distributed land. After their arrival in Vietnam, the French implemented their own policies when distributing lands and made imperial law more important than village customs. This policy often leads to land given to elite Catholic collaborators which provides them with power and money. All of this land that was privately controlled by wealthy collaborators forced poor farmers in both the North and South to become sharecroppers who struggle to keep food on the table. This system of cheap labor and independent merchants caused a boom in the production of rice, which made the French happy. This boom in economy and credit eventually collapsed in 1930 when rice prices dropped. This depression lowers wages even further work peasant farmers in the North and primarily in the …show more content…
The main social division occurred between the normal peasants and the collaborators. This division could be expanded even further to the divide between Catholicism and more classical religions such as Confucianism and Buddhism. The peasant farmers loathe their elite land owners, and want to go back to the village system when traditional land assignments were more important than religion or collaboration. In addition, the North’s political atmosphere leads to a social environment where nationalist parties attempt to be vehicles of social changes. The social environment in the North and the South were both ones of unrest, but the members of society that try to revolt are what separate the two
After Paul Doumer worked to centralize the government of the three provinces of Vietnam, he hoped to tax the nation and turn it into a profitable colony. In addition, a large amount of capital was invested in the nation in order to dig the canals and dredge the rivers to make agriculture and transportation easier. These improvements in infrastructure were meant to help the Vietnamese people be more productive and therefore make the colony more profitable. The end result, however, was much different. The first problem with Vietnamese economic policy was the way that the French distributed land. After their arrival in Vietnam, the French implemented their own policies when distributing lands and made imperial law more important than village customs. This policy often leads to land given to elite Catholic collaborators which provides them with power and money. All of this land that was privately controlled by wealthy collaborators forced poor farmers in both the North and South to become sharecroppers who struggle to keep food on the table. This system of cheap labor and independent merchants caused a boom in the production of rice, which made the French happy. This boom in economy and credit eventually collapsed in 1930 when rice prices dropped. This depression lowers wages even further work peasant farmers in the North and primarily in the …show more content…
The main social division occurred between the normal peasants and the collaborators. This division could be expanded even further to the divide between Catholicism and more classical religions such as Confucianism and Buddhism. The peasant farmers loathe their elite land owners, and want to go back to the village system when traditional land assignments were more important than religion or collaboration. In addition, the North’s political atmosphere leads to a social environment where nationalist parties attempt to be vehicles of social changes. The social environment in the North and the South were both ones of unrest, but the members of society that try to revolt are what separate the two