“The Civilizing Mission:” French Colonialism in Vietnam (1858-1954)

Author: Bryan Hoang
Grade: 10

Suggested Amount of Time: 55-70 Minutes
Area of Study: Social & Political Transformations in 20th Century Vietnam

Compelling Question

• How did French colonialism, political ideologies and geopolitics shape the internal divisions of Vietnam?

Lesson Questions

• How did colonialism increase tensions between different religious and ethnic groups?
• What were the impacts of French colonialism on Vietnamese society and political identity? 
• How did colonialism impact the daily lives of individuals? How was this experience different/the same in rural and urban areas? How did these experiences shape political identities and social relations in the colonial and postcolonial period?

Lesson Objective

Trace and explain the causes and consequences of French colonialism of Vietnam from 1858-1940 by gathering information in primary sources to write a short response.

Lesson Background

The age of New Imperialism in the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries began an unprecedented pursuit and acquisition of colonies all over the world, as colonial powers that included most of Western Europe, the United States, and Japan began to scramble for territories in the Americas, Africa, and Asia. There were several reasons for the French invasion of Vietnam. First, there were incidents where European missionaries were expelled and even killed. In the name of defending the church and Europeans in Vietnam, Napoleon III ordered his navy to invade Vietnam in July 1857. Modern historians understand this as a convenient excuse to expand France's colonial power. Second, as France was competing against other European powers for economic and military superiority, they wanted to secure more strategic geographic positions to promote their international trade and capitalism. Because the Vietnamese lacked the weapons and technology to effectively resist the new western invaders, its leaders had little choice but to sign peace treaties with France in 1862. This treaty gave control of southern Vietnam to France, which was then renamed Cochinchina. However, it would take another 21 years before the French were able to finally conquer northern Vietnam. After doing so in 1883, they renamed that region Tonkin and combined with Cochinchina and central Vietnam (renamed Annam), Vietnam officially became a French colony, known as Indochina. As a colonized nation, Vietnam's natural resources were exploited, its people were treated with disdain and impoverished, and its leaders were rendered powerless. Resistance movements began to develop almost immediately.

The French were motivated to colonize Vietnam during the era of New Imperialism for two main reasons: (1) the desire for raw materials and markets spurred by nineteenth century industrialization, and (2) belief in the civilizing mission, or the duty of supposedly superior white races to uplift non-white savages, as described by those on this mission.  This resulted in paternalistic colonial policies that had enduring impacts on Vietnamese society.  

This lesson contains content that may be sensitive for some students. Teachers should exercise discretion in evaluating whether the resources are suitable for their class and provide a sensitive content warning to their students at the beginning of each day of the lesson.

Image Citation: Street in Saigon, capital and commercial centre of French Cochin China. (n.d.). https://www.flickr.com/photos/pingnews/501543678/