Question 1.
Write a note on:
(a) What was meant by the
‘civilisation mission of the colonisers?
(b)
Huynh Phu So,
Answer:
(a) ‘Civilising mission’ was an idea which the Europeans developed. It was
meant to make the people of the colonies civilised by the colonisers, i.e,
bringing civilisation to the Vietnamese in the case of Vietnam.
(b) Huynh Phu So was the man who inspired the Hoa Hao movement (1939). The Fench | attempted to suppress the movement and called him Mad Bonze. He was put in mental asylum but the doctor who treated him become his follower.
Question 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 students it
had expelled.
(d) Rats were most common in
the modern, newly built areas Hanoi.
Answer:
(a) This was due to the
deliberative policy of the French colonisers called colons. The failed
students would not become eligible for the jobs availables.
(b) The French began building canals and draining the Mekong delts so to increase cultivation of rice. They are successful also because of this, the area under rice cultivation increased and Vietnam was the third-largest exporter of the rice in the world.
(c) The Saigon Native Girls School took back the expelled students because of the open protest by the Vietnamese students against the discriminatory policy adopted by the school authorities.
(d) Rats were most common in the modern newly built areas of Hanoi due to the sewerage pipelines from the refuse of the native old area of Hanoi. With no hygenic facilities available, rats moved freely and caused palgue in 1903.
Question 3.
Describe the ideas behind the
Tonkin Free School. To what extent was it a typical example of colonial ideas
in Vietnam?
Answer:
Tire Tonkin Free School started in 1907 so to provide a Western-style
education in Vietnam. The school’s approach was to make the Vietnamese
‘modem’, i.e, more French-like. The school encouraged the adoption of the
Western-style such as having a short haircut. For the Vietnamese, it was
colonising their tradition and cultures. The Vietnamese would keep long hair
traditionally. The efforts of the school was to impose the French culture on
the Vietnamese.
Question 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 (1971-1926) was a Vietnamese nationalist. He was hostile to
the monarchial system and hence wanted a democratic republic for Vietnam. Phan
Boi Chau (1867-1940) was also a nationalist. Educated in the Confusion
traditional he was opposed to the French domination of Vietnam. He was favour
of a free Vietnam having close ties with China.
Discuss
Question 1.
With reference to what you have
read in this chapter discuss the influence of China and Vietnam’s culture and
life.
Answer:
The influence of China on Vietnam’s culture and life was profound. This can
be stated as under:
- The Vietnamese ancient rulers always maintained the Chinese culture and also the Chinese system of government.
- The Vietnamese religion was a mixture of Buddism Confucianism and local religious practices.
- Vietnamese always kept its ties with China.
- Phan Boi Chau (1867-1940) lamented the severing of Vietnamese’s ties with the Chinese.
- The Vietnamese always looked to China for the solution of their struggle against the French colonies.
Question 2.
What was the role of religious
groups in the development of anti-colonial feeling in Vietnam?
Answer:
The role of the religious groups
in the development of anti-colonial feeling in Vietnam was significant.
- The Vietnamese’s religious beliefs, a combination of Buddhism, Confucianism and local religious practices, were those which had already united them;
- The Vietnamese opposed all efforts of the imposition of Christianity. The Scholars Revolt of 1968 was one such example through which the Vietnamese revolted against the spread of Christianity.
- Through the Vietnamese elite was educated in Confucianism, the vast majority of the Vietnamese peasantry was shaped by syncretic tradition, a tradition the Vietnamese had faith.
- Hoa Hao movement led by Huynh Phu So opposed Christianity severely.
Question 3.
Explain the causes of the US
involvement in the war in Vietnam. What effect did this involvement have on
life within US itself?
Answer:
The US involvement in the war in Vietnam can be summed up, briefly, as under
:
- The USA wanted to strength its power in the region. Why it came to assist South Vietnam.
- The USA wanted to contain the spread by communism in Vietnam.
The effect of the war was felt within the US as well. Many were critical of. the government for getting involved in a war that they saw as indefensible. When the youth were drafted for the war, the anger spread. Compulsory service in the armed forces, however, could be waived for university graduates. This meant that many sent to fight did not belong to the privileged elite but were authorities and children of working-class families.
Question 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 women soldier
Answer:
(a) A porter on the Ho Chi Minh Trail:
The
Vietnamese fought a heroic battle against the might USA. The Ho Chi Minh trail
was used to transport men and material from north to the south. In most cases,
the supplied were carried by porters, mainly women. A women porter would carry
about 25 kiloes on her back or about 70 kilos on her bicycle. From north
Vietnam, Laos Cambodia, supplies were made.
(b) A women soldier: The Vietnamese women played an important role in the Vietnam war in which the USA got involved. The Vietnamese women were represented as warriors and soldiers. They fought to save their country. As casualties in the war increased in 1960s, women joined the struggle in large numbers. They became active in resistance movement; they nursed the wounded, guarded the roads. An estimate is that there were 15 lakh women in regular army during the war.
Question 5.
What was the role of women in
the anti-imperial struggle in Vietnam? Compare this with role of women in the
national struggle in India.
Answer:
Women were represented not only as warriors but also as workers. They were
shown with a rifle in one hand and a hammer in the other. Whether young or
old, women began to be depicted as selflessly working and fighting to save the
country. As casualties in the war increased in the 1960s, women were urged to
join the struggle in larger numbers.
Many women responded and joined the resistance movement. They helped in nursing the wounded, constructing underground rooms and tunnels and fighting the enemy. Along the Ho ChiMinistria, young volunteers kept open 2.195 km of strategic roads and guarded 2,500 key points.
They built six airstrips, neutralised tens of thousand of bombs, transported tens of thousands of kilograms of cargo, weapons and food and shot down fifteen planes. Between 1965 and 1975, of the 17,000 youth who worked on the trail, 70 to 80 per cent were women. One military historian argues that there were 1.5 million women in the regular army, the militia, the local forces and professional teams.
Though the nationalist struggle in India was much different than what it was in Vietnam, yet the women, in India, took active part in the liberation struggle. At Gandhiji’s call, the women participated in the liberation movement: non-cooperation. civil disobedience and individual I satyagraha. Theydeinonstrated in front of shop selling foreign goods. They also propagated swadeshi and participated in Charkha.