What this lesson teaches
I can judge how colonial rule changed politics, the economy and society in Southeast Asia after 1870, and who gained or lost.
Syllabus K330, Extension of European Control in Southeast Asia, Learning Outcomes. Evaluate the impact of European influence on Southeast Asia after 1870.
Make a guess
A small group of Vietnamese went to French-language schools. Do you think they all supported French rule?
- No, because the schools taught in Vietnamese and banned French ideas.
- Yes, French schooling turned them into loyal supporters of French rule.
- No, some used their learning to criticise and organise against it.
Show the answer
No, some used their learning to criticise and organise against it.
Education opened jobs and new ideas. Some took posts in the system; others used those ideas against unfair rule.
Some Vietnamese gained jobs or a French education, but many were landless, and all had fewer rights than the French.
Mines, plantations and towns drew workers from across Indochina. A plantation is a large farm growing crops for sale. Moving for work could bring wages. But it also cut people off from their villages. Landless peasants had to rent land or find paid work. So people's chances depended on their land, skills and access to jobs, not simply on whether the economy grew.
A small group went to French-language schools. They became a Western-educated elite. Their education opened doors to good jobs and new ideas. Some used their learning to criticise unfair treatment and to organise.
Going to a French school did not mean agreeing with French rule. And most Vietnamese could not go to these schools. Education did not give Vietnamese people equal power with French officials.
- Plantation
- Large farm growing crops for sale.
- Western-educated elite
- Small group schooled in French.
- Limit
- Most people had no access to these schools.
Worked example: Learning and questioning
An educated Vietnamese professional learns French ideas about liberty but faces unequal treatment.
- School teaches them about liberty and rights.
- At work, they see Vietnamese treated unequally.
- So their education gives them the words to criticise French rule.
Watch out for this
People who gained from French education must have supported French rule.
Many educated Vietnamese used what they learnt to question and oppose colonial rule.
Check your understanding
How could French education help Vietnamese opposition?
- It gave some people ideas and skills to criticise unequal treatment.
- It made educated people loyal to France and proud of French culture.
- It gave educated Vietnamese equal rights with French citizens.
Show the answer
It gave some people ideas and skills to criticise unequal treatment.
Yes. Education could be used to question French rule.