Q.1. How was French Indo-China formed ?

Ans. (i) French troops landed in Vietnam in 1858.

(ii) By the mid-1880s, they had established a firm grip over the northern region.

(iii) After the Franco-Chinese war, the French assumed control of Tonkin and Anaam, in 1887,
French Indo-China was formed.

Q.2. The French thought colonialisation necessary. Give reasons. Or Why

did the French think that colonies were necessary ? Explain.

Ans. (i) Supply of raw materials : Colonies were considered essential to supply of natural
resources and other essential goods.

(ii) To civilize the uncivilized people : Most of the European countries were of the opinion that
the Afro-Asian people were uncivilized, and thought it was the mission of the advanced
European countries to bring the benefits of civilization to these backward people.

Q.3. Who was Paul Bernard ? What were his views regarding the development of colonies
? Or Describe the views of Paul Bernard on the question of
development of the colonies. Mention any three barriers to which were a hurdle in
improving the economy of Vietnam. Or How did Paul Bernard argue in favour of
economic development of Vietnam ? Explain.

Ans. Paul Bernard was an influential writer and policy maker who suggested a model to
develop the French colonies.

(i) Believer of development of colonies :

He strongly believed that economic development of the colony was the only method which could
help in serving the interests of the mother country.

(ii) Economic circle : He argued that the purpose of acquiring colonies was to make profits. If
the economy was developed and people had high per capita income, this would increase their
purchasing power, and they would buy more goods. The market would consequently expand,
leading to better profits for the French business.

According to Bernard there were following barriers :

(i) High Population levels. (ii) Low agricultural productivity.

(iii) Extensive indebtedness amongst the peasants.

Q.4. Describe any three steps taken by the French to develop agriculture in Vietnam.
Or Describe any five steps taken by the French for the
development of the Mekong Delta Region. Or What did France do to increase
cultivation in Vietnam ? How did it affect the rice cultivation by 1931 ? Or
Describe the major steps taken by the French to develop
agriculture in Vietnam.

Ans. (i) Building canals : The French began by building canals and draining land in the Mekong
delta to increase cultivation. The vast system of irrigation works canals and earthworks built
mainly with forced labour, increased rice production.

(ii) Building of ports : To export the surplus production French built ports. These ports were
used to export the rice to the international market.

(iii) Increasing area under rice cultivation :

The area under rice cultivation went up from 274,000 hectares in 1873 to 1.1 million hectares
in 1900 and 2.2 million in 1930. Vietnam exported two-thirds of its rice production and by
1931 had become the third largest exporter of rice in the world.

(iv) Construction of rail network :

Construction of a trans-Indo-China rail network that would link the northern and southern
parts of Vietnam and China was begun. This final link with Yunan in China was completed by
1910. The second line was also built, linking Vietnam to Siam (as Thailand was then called),
via the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh.

(v) Establishing rubber estates : Many new rubber estates owned by the French businessmen
were established. Indentured Vietnamese labour was widely used in the rubber plantations.

Q.5. Why did the French policy makers want to educate the people of Vietnam ? Explain.

Ans. (i) Civilizing Mission : Under this mission, the French claimed that they were bringing the
modern civilisation to the Vietnamese. They took for granted that Europe had developed the
most advanced civilisation. So it became the duty of the Europeans to introduce the modern
ideas to the colony even if this meant destroying local cultures, religions and traditions.
Education was seen as one way to civilise the native.

(ii) To counter Chinese influence : The elites in Vietnam were powerfully influenced by the
Chinese culture. To consolidate their power, the French had to counter this Chinese influence.
So they systematically dismantled the tradational educational system and established French
schools for the Vietnamese.

(iii) To create Asiatic France Solidarity :

There were many policy makers who felt that by learning French the Vietnamese would be
introduced to the culture and civilization of France. This would create Asiatic France Solidarity.
The educated people inVietnam would respect French culture and see the superiority of French
culture.

(iv) To justify Colonial rule : French also wanted to educate the people of Vietnam so that
through textbooks and other materials, they could justify the colonial rule.

Q.6. There were two broad opinions on the new education policy introduced by the
French in Vietnam. Discuss. Or Explain the two opinions on the question
of the use of the French language as the medium of instruction in the French schools
established for the Vietnamese in Vietnam. Or Why did some French
policy makers in Vietnam emphasis the need to use the French language as the medium
of instruction ?

Ans. (i) Supporters of French : Some policymakers were in favour of the French language as the
medium of instruction, because according to them, this would promote French culture in
Vietnam. By learning the language, they felt, the Vietnamese would be introduced to the
culture and civilisation of France. This would help to create an Asiatic France solidly tied to
European France\ The educatedpeople in Vietnam would respect Frenchsentiments and ideals,
see the superiority of French culture and work for the French.

(ii) Supporters of Vietnamese : However, there were other group of thinkers who were opposed
to French being the only medium of instruction. They suggested that Vietnamese be taught in
lower classes and French in the higher classes. The few who learnt French and acquired
French culture were to be rewarded with French citizenship.

Q.7. The battle against the French colonial education became a part of the larger battle
against colonialism and for the independence. Explain. Or The schools became
an important place for political and cultural battles in Vietnam against French
colonialism. Support the statement with examples.

Ans. (i) Educational and colonial battle. The French sought to strengthen their rule in Vietnam
through the control of education whereas Vietnamese intellectuals wanted to use education as
a power to motive the students to resist against colonial rule.

(ii) Teachers and education : Teachers and students did not follow the curriculum framed by
the French. While teaching, Vietnamese teachers used to modify the text which was against the
Vietnamese.

(iii) Saigon Native Girls School incident : In the Saigon Native Girls School, when a Vietname
girl was asked to vacate front seat for a French girl, she refused to do so. She was expelled
from the school. When angry students protested, they too were expelled. This led to an open
protest by the people forcing the government to take the student back.

(iv) Students and education : To fight against colonial government, students formed various
political parties such as Party of Young Annan. They also used print culture to highlight how
the French rule was dangerous for the people. They issued national journals such as the
Annanese Student.

(v) Go East Movement : It was a national movement launched by the students to drove the
French out of Vietnam. Under . this movement many Vietnamese students went to Japan to
look for foreign help.

Q.8. What were the major features of the new schools of Western learning introduced in
Vietnam by the French ? Or Explain four features of the education being given in the
Tonkin Free Schools which was started to provide the western style of education in
Vietnam.

Ans. (i) In the new education system, more stress was given to Science, Hygiene and French.

(ii) Along with the western education, the schools encouraged the adoption of western style
such as having a short haircut.

(iii) These schools also encouraged students to wear western clothes, and play the western
games like tennis.

(iv) For the traditional Vietnamese hair has the same significance as the head. So the
establishment of new schools gave a major setback to the Vietnamese traditional culture.

Q.9. What was rat hunt ? How was it contradictory to the civilising mission of the
French ?

Ans. The rate hunt was started in 1902 in Hanoi to check the spread of plague in the city.
Under this workers were asked to catch rats. It was contradictory in the civilising mission
because under the civilising mission the French claimed that they were bringing modem
civilisation to the Vietnamese but under rat hunt mission they asked locals to enter sewers to
catch rat for them.

Q.10. What was Scholars Revolt ? Explain.

Ans. (i) This was an anti French Movement launched in 1887.

(ii) The main aim of the movement was loyalty to the monarchy and hatred for the French.

(iii) The movement was led by officials at the imperial court.

(iv) The movement was very intense in Ngu An and Ha tien province.

(v) More than 1,000 Catholics were killed by the rebels.

(vi) Though movement was crushed by the French but it served to inspire people to rise up
against the French.

Q.11. What was Go East Movement?

Ans. (i) It was, movement which was launched in the first decade of the twentieth century.

(ii) In 1907-08, some 300 Vietnamese nationalist students went to Japan to acquire modem
education.

(iii) For most of them, the primary objective was to drive out the French from Vietnam,
overthrow the puppet emperor and reestablish the Nguyen dynasty that had been deposed by
the French.

(iv) These nationalists looked for foreign arms and help. They appealed to the Japanese help as
fellow Asians.

Q.12. Explain the reasons for the popularity of Go East Movement. [CBSE March 2011]

Ans. (i) The anti French movement was launched in the first decade of the 20th century.

(ii) The movement become popular because early Vietnamese nationalists had a close
relationship with Japan and China.
(iii) They provided models for those looking to change, a refuge for those who were escaping
French police, and a location where a wider Asian network of revolutionaries could be
established.

Q.13. What was the impact of the Great Depression of 1929 on Vietnam ?

Ans. The Great Depression of the 1930s which shattered most economies of the world had a
severe impact on Vietnam too.

(i) The prices of rubber and rice fell, leading to rising rural debts, unemployment and rural
uprisings, such as in the provinces of Nghe An and Ha Tinh.

(ii) These provinces were amongst the poorest, had an old radical tradition and were called the
electrical fuses of Vietnam. When the Great Depression started showing its impact, people
started demonstrating against the colonial government.

(iii) The colonial government put these uprisings down with great severity, even using planes to
bomb demonstrators. The Great Depression and the brutality of the French against the
workers provided an opportunity to the nationalist leaders to group together.

Q.14. The US media and films played a major role in both supporting as well as criticising the
Vietnam war/ Explain.

Ans. (i) Hollywood made films in support of the war, such as John Waynes Green Berets
(1968). This has been cited by many as an example of an unthinking propaganda film that was
responsible for motivating many young men to die in the Vietnam war.

(ii) Other films were more critical, as they tried to understand the reasons for this war. John
Ford Coppolas Apocalypse Now (1979) reflected the moral confusion that the war had caused
in the United States.

Q.15. Under what circumstances did the US enter the Vietnam war ? Explain.

Ans. (i) After the Geneva Peace Agreement, Vietnam was divided into the North and South
Vietnam.

(ii) Ho Chi Minh and the Communists, took power in the North while Bao Dais regime was put
in power in the South.

(iii) The Bao Dai regime was soon overthrown by a coup led by Ngo Dinh Diem.

(iv) His rule was opposed by many people and organisations including the National Liberation
Front (NLF). The NLF wanted unification of the country.

(v) America wanted the anti-communist government in South Vietnam to continue at any cost.
So it directly entered the war.

Q.16. Explain the impact of Vietnam War on Vietnam.

Ans. (i) Use of modern war equipments : Thousands of US War troops arrived in Vietnam with
heavy weapons and tanks, airships etc.

(ii) Use of Chemical weapons and gases : These War troops used all kind of chemical weapons
Napalm, Agent Orange, and phosphorous bombs which destroyed many cities, villages and
decimated jungles.

(iii) War and Women : War provided an opportunity to Vietnamese women to come out of the
houses.

In the 1960s, photographs in magazines and journals showed women as brave fighters. There
were pictures of women militia shooting down planes. They were portrayed as young, brave and
dedicated.

(iv) Women as workers : 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
number.
Many women responded and joined the resistance movement. They helped in nursing the
wounded, constructing underground rooms and tunnels and fighting the enemy.

Q.17. State the contribution of Ho Chi Minh In the Freedom movement of Vietnam.

Or

Who was Ho Chi Minh ? State his contribution in the freedom movement of Vietnam.
Or Explain any four contributions of Ho Chi Minh in Vietnams struggle for
Independence. Or How could you relate Communist Movement
with Vietnamese Nationalism? Explain in four points. Or Relate communist
movement with Vietnamese Nationalism and explain.

Ans. (i) As a leader : Ho Chi Minh, real name Nguyen Tat Thanh, Vietnamese Communist
leader and the principal force behind the Vietnamese struggle against French colonial rule .

(ii) Formation of Communist Party : In February 1930, Ho Chi Minh brought together
competing nationalist groups to establish the Vietnamese Communist (Vietnam Cong San
Dang) Party, later renamed the Indo-Chinese Communist Party. He was inspired by the
militant demonstrations of the European communist parties.

(iii) Chairman of Democratic Republic of Vietnam : In 1940 Japan occupied Vietnam, as part of
its imperial drive to control Southeast Asia. So nationalists now had to fight against the
Japanese as well as the French. The League for the Independence of Vietnam (Viet Nam Doc
Lap Dong Minh), which came to be known as the Vietminh, fought the Japanese occupation
and recaptured Hanoi in September 1945. The Democratic Republic of Vietnam was formed
and Ho Chi Minh became Chairman.

(iv) Important symbol for unification of Vietnam : He was an important symbol for the
unification of Vietnam. The importance of his role is clear from the fact that the most important
route connecting north and south Vietnam was named after him.

Q.18. What is the Ho Chi Minh trail? Describe any three points of its importance

Ans. The Ho Chi Minh trail was an immense network of footpaths and roads, used to transport
men and materials from the north to the south during the Vietnam war.

Importance :

(i) The story of the Ho Chi Minh trail is one way of understanding the nature of the war that the
Vietnamese fought against the United States.

(ii) It symbolises how the Vietnamese used their limited resources against the biggest military
power.

(iii) The trail was used by about 20,000 North Vietnamese troops who came to the south each
month using this trail.

Q.19. What was the main motive of the French to develop the Infrastructural projects in
Vietnam ? Explain how far did they succeed in their mission.

Ans. (i) The basic aim of the French to develop the infrastructural projects in Vietnam was to
get supply of natural resources and other essential goods.

(ii) The French succeeded in their mission as* The area under rice cultivation went from
merely 274,000 hectare in 1900 and 2.2 million in 1930.

* By 1930 Vietnam became the third largest exporter of rice in the world.

* The French succeeded in linking northern and southern parts of Vietnam through rail.

* Vietnam was also linked to other nation like China, Thialand through rail.

Q.20. How did students in Vietnam fight against the colonial governments efforts to
prevent Vietnamese from qualifying for white collar jobs ? Explain.

Ans. (i) They were inspired by patriotic feelings and the conviction that it was the duty of the
educated to fight for the benefit of society.
(ii) By the 1920s, students were forming various political parties, such as the Party of Young
Annan, and publishing nationalist journals such as the Annanese Student.
(iii) Many young students went to Japan under the Go-East movement to get higher education.
1. When did Vietnam get
independence?
(a) 1887 (b) 1945
(c) 1873 (d) 1858
2. Which imperialist power
dominated Vietnam?
(a) French (b) German
(c) Russian (d) None of these
3. Which out of the following
modern countries comprised
the Indo-China?
(a) India (b) Laos
(c) Italy (d) France
4. What was Thailand then
called?
(a) Yunan (b) Mekong
(c) Siam (d) None of these
5. What did Paul Bernard
think was necessary for the
economic development of the
colonies?
(a) Land reforms
(b) Increase in cultivation
(c) Curbing population
(d) None of these
6. The colonial economy in
Vietnam was primarily based
on:
(a) tea plantation
(b) rice cultivation
(c) cotton production
(d) both (b) and (c)
7. French colonisation of
Vietnam was based on:
17. When was the long established monarchy in China overthrown?
(a) 1910
18. Who brought together the competing nationalist groups to establish the Vietnamese Communist
Party?
(a) economic exploitation (b) (d) Vietnamese were
upliftment and growth disqualified for white collar
jobs
(c) bringing modern
civilisation 12. What was the 'Party of
Young Annan'?
(d) none of these
(a) Haircutting charm
8. Who were the 'Colons'?
(b) Student political party
(a) Educated Vietnamese (b)
Uneducated Vietnamese (c) Newspaper daily (d) None
of these
(c) Native people of Vietnam
13. What happened to the
(d) French citizens living in modern part of Hanoi in
Vietnam 1903?
9. What did school textbooks (a) Struck by famine
in Vietnam proclaim? (b) Struck by bubonic
plague
(a) Vietnamese should resist
colonisation (c) Struck by smallpox
(b) Vietnamese were more
(d) All of these
educated
14. Who was the founder of
(c) French rule could ensure
the Hoa Hao movement?
peace in Vietnam
(a) Boi Chau
(d) Vietnamese should stop
(b) Liang Qichao
working in the fields
(c) Huynh Phu So
10. What kind of education
did the Tonkin Free School in
(d) Phan Chu Trinh
1907, stress on?
15. Huynh Phu So's criticism
(a) Learning English language
against what had a wide
(b) Looking modern appeal?
c) Inculcating western ideas (a) Child marriage
(d) Both (b) and (c) (b) Child abuse
11. Why did a major protest (c) Alcohol abuse
erupt in the Saigon Native
Girls School, in 1926? (d) Useless expenditure
(a) A Vietnamese girl got 16. Who wrote the History of
expelled the Loss of Vietnam?
(b) French students bullied (a) Huynh Phu So
the Vietnamese students (b) Phan Boi Chau
(c) Vietnamese students were (c) Phan Chu
only punished
(d) None of these
(b) 1909 (c) 1911 (d) 1912
(a) Bao Dai (b) Henry Navarre (c) Ho Chi Minh (d) None of these

19. What was the 'Ordinance 10'?

(a) The coup that overthrew Bao's regime (b) The reason for North and South Vietnam

(c) Communist led government (d) French law that permitted Christianity but outlawed Buddhism

20. What was the 'Ho Chi Minh Trail'?

(a) Supply line of the Vietnamese (b) Hollywood film on Vietnam war

(c) A trail of bombs to attack US troops (d) None of these

21. Women in Vietnam traditionally enjoyed greater equality than in

(a) India (b) France (c) China (d) US

22. Who were the 'Trung Sisters'?

(a) Writers (b) Women rebels in Vietnam (c) Actors (d) None of these

23. Why could the US not destroy the Ho Chi Minh Trail?

(a) Rebuilt quickly (b) Never existed

(c) Lack of troops (d) Lack of ammunition

24. Why did the US intervene in Vietnam?

(a) To help Vietnam fight the Chinese (b) To bring peace to the nation

(c) To unite North and South Vietnam (d) Contain communism in Vietnam

25. Why was the Vietnam war called the first television war?

(a) Brought home stories from soldiers (b) Led to increased sale of television sets

(c) Battle scenes were shown on daily news

(d)NONE OF THESE

Q.Discuss the role of women in Vietnam.

Ans:

o Women in Vietnam traditionally enjoyed greater equality than in China, particularly

among the lower classes, but they had only limited freedom to determine their
future and played no role in public life.
o As the nationalist movement grew, the status of women came to be questioned and a
new image of womanhood emerged.
o Writers and political thinkers began idealizing women who rebelled against social
norms.
o In the 1930s, a famous novel by Nhat Linh caused a scandal because it showed a
woman leaving a forced marriage and marrying someone of her choice, someone
who was involved in nationalist politics.
o This rebellion against social conventions marked the arrival of the new woman in
Vietnamese society.

Q.when did the war between Vietnam and U.S. end?

Ans:

A peace settlement was signed in Paris in January 1974. This ended conflict with the US but
fighting between the Saigon regime and the NLF continued. The NLF occupied the
presidential palace in Saigon on 30 April 1975 and unified Vietnam.
Q.Examine the reasons for eruption of plague in Hanoi.

Ans:

o When the French set about creating a modern Vietnam, they decided to rebuild
Hanoi.
o The latest ideas about architecture and modern engineering skills were employed to
build a new and modern city.
o In 1903, the modern part of Hanoi was struck by bubonic plague.
o The French part of Hanoi was built as a beautiful and clean city with wide avenues
and a well-laid-out sewer system, while the native quarter was not provided with
any modern facilities.
o The refuse from the old city drained straight out into the river or, during heavy rains
or floods, overflowed into the streets.
o Thus what was installed to create a hygienic environment in the French city became
the cause of the plague.
o The large sewers in the modern part of the city, a symbol of modernity, were an
ideal and protected breeding ground for rats.
o The sewers also served as a great transport system, allowing the rats to move
around the city without any problem.
o The rats began to enter the well-cared-for homes of the French through the sewage
pipes.
o This led to the outbreak of plague in Hanoi.