Vietnamese life under French rule

If there was any economic progress for Vietnam during colonial times, it was only for the French. Vietnamese peasants suffered:

·         From no access to rice, a major part of the Vietnamese food source. While rice cultivation skyrocketed from 1880 – 1930, the exportation of the rice for economic profit decreased the peasants’ consumption of rice. [C]

·         From being landless. New lands were not given to landless or peasants, but rather for the highest bidder, installing a landlord/tenant relationship between the wealthy and the poor. Peasants who did own land normally had to constantly pay off loans and debts, and ended up losing land to larger owners in the end. This resulted in half of the Vietnamese population landless before World War II. [C]

·         From high taxes and harsh labor. The French imposed taxes to fund the many new public works, and the Vietnamese were recruited as laborers as well. There were no laws against the exploitation of labor, poor working conditions, low salaries, and the absence of health care. [E]

·         From illiteracy. In 1939, only 15% schoolchildren were receiving schooling. 80% of the population was illiterate. There was only one university, with less than 700 students, and a small amount of children attended lycees, or secondary schools. [C]

The French policy dramatically changed the way of Vietnamese life. Any rebellions were suppressed and punished; the people were converted from Buddhism to Catholicism and other French customs. There was an “absence of civil liberties for the native population” and an “exclusion of Vietnamese from modern sector of the economy, especially industry and trade.” Foreign hands controlled all trade exports; therefore, capitalism became the equivalent of foreign power in the eyes of the Vietnamese. [E]