History of Vietnamese Essay

According to research findings, the history of Vietnam can be traced back to four thousand years. It is evident that this nation was under the rule of China between the periods 111BC to the beginning of the tenth century. This nation is known to have gained sovereignty early years of the 10th century. During the Yuan Dynasty, this nation repelled three invasions by Mongols. A look at the history of Vietnam shows that the independent period was cut short by France. This is when France decided to colonize Vietnam. When there was the World War II, the French were expelled by Imperial Japan. It is worth noting that this nation however, decided to retain the French administrators. When the war ended French tried to re-colonize Vietnam but failed because of the tight measures that were present at that time. (Nguy? n, 1999) Chinese dominated Vietnam during the period between 111BC and 938 AD. In 111BC, the Chinese invaded a region in Vietnam called Nanyue and literary established territories therein. During this period, the Chinese had some posts in the Vietnamese government. These posts included top officials and governors posts. The Vietnamese also managed some hightlands. These Vietnamese that had these management posts at that time were nobles. With time the Chinese dynasties decided to eliminate the Vietnamese nobles and their powers. Many elites in Vietnamese were coerced to assimilate the politics and the culture of the Chinese. The French colonized Vietnam till the 19th century. In the year 1784, there was a French priest who sailed to Vietnam to seek for some assistance. This assistance was in line with military backing. There was the brokering of the Little Treaty of Versailles that saw the promise of the aid that the priest requested for. Later on there was the breaking of the French revolution and therefore the Pigneaux plan did not succeed. In the year 1799, there was the capturing of Saigon. There was Dynasty of Nguyen in the year 1802. This dynasty tolerated Catholicism. It is worth noting that he employed some of the Europeans as advisors in the courts. The successors of this man (Nguyen), did not embrace westernization as expected during this time. They were very conservative instead. In the year 1858, the French gunships attacked the Da Nang port. During this time much damage was done on the property in this dam. In the year 1867, the French troops expanded their overall control. This was up to six provinces. Then there was the formation of the French Colony. Later on many French troops invaded Vietnam. Between the year 1884 to the year 1885, France assumed total control of Vietnam. This was after the Chinese- Franco War. There was the formation of French Indochina. (Fitzgerald, 1972) French colonialism was bitterly opposed by many Vietnamese. This was because the French literary took over the leadership powers in this nation. First of all there was the formation of policies that greatly affected the Vietnamese people negatively. There was so much oppression on the Vietnamese people. The policies included that the Vietnamese citizens could not hold most of the top positions or jobs in the government. Very few Vietnamese citizens that were employed were lowly paid and this issue made the Vietnamese to bitterly oppose the French colonialism. (Fitzgerald, 1972) Another reason is that there was direct discrimination of the Vietnamese citizens in many areas. This was in terms of education health and also housing sector. There was very minimal education for the Vietnamese people. There were schools that the Vietnamese were not allowed to attend but were just reserved for the French children or citizens. This actually denied the Vietnamese access to good education. In the health sector, the Vietnamese were not allowed to attend the good hospitals in Vietnam. It is only the French that easily accessed these essential facilities. In fact research reveals that health provision for the Vietnamese was non existent. This discrimination was extended even up to the residential sector. There were estates that were just reserved for the French people. The Vietnamese could not access this essential facility. This actually greatly annoyed the Vietnamese citizens. (Nguyen, 1885) Another thing that greatly annoyed the Vietnamese till they decided to oppose the French colonialism was the execution of Vietnam citizens. There was the massacre of leaders of various nationalist groups in Vietnam. These were especially those that tried to oppose the French colonialism. During the period when French colonized Vietnam, there was so much exploitation and oppression of the Vietnamese citizens. In fact all the rights of the Vietnamese were totally removed when French took over the control of this nation. The French government in Vietnam made no attempts to better the lives of Vietnamese. There was so much degradation of the Vietnamese people. The Vietnamese women were forced to be prostitutes so that they could provide the French male administrators with entertainment. Colonialists just lived a gracious and carefree lifestyle as the Vietnamese suffered. This factor made Vietnamese to bitterly oppose French colonialism. In relation to this there were so many movements that were formed against French colonialism. The only group of people that did not oppose the French colonialism was the nobles in Vietnam. This is because they were given some of the prestigious posts in the administration sector. The Vietnamese nobles were actually respected by the French colonialists. They were given some rights like in the education and the health sector. This made them not to feel the oppression that was carried out on the rest of the Vietnamese citizens. They actually shared so much with the French colonialists. The other reason as to why they never opposed the French colonialists was because they feared to lose their prestigious jobs. They were so used to the good lifestyle and therefore never wanted to lead the life that the rest of the Vietnamese led. This is because all the other citizens in Vietnam were greatly oppressed by the colonialist government. There was also the fear of execution in case the colonialists found out about there opposition. For these reasons the nobles in Vietnam never opposed the French colonialists. (Nguyen, 1885) There were also the communist Viet Minh that collaborated with the French. One of the communist called Ho signed an agreement to allow the French to continue to rule in Vietnam. The communists said that they just love French and that the French people were heroes. Research shows that there were so many arguments for and against Vietnamese independence in 1945. One of the arguments by scholars against the independence of Vietnam is very clear. The scholars argued that Vietnam was not ready for independence due to various reasons. One of the reasons was that because of the colonization, the Vietnamese citizens were not so much learned. They had been marginalized by the French colonialists. This meant that they did not have the necessary leadership skills to rule the Vietnam government. This is considering that the colonialists took quite a long time in this nation. That for over eighty years these Vietnamese citizens had gotten used to being led and every policy done for the. So the argument was that these citizens were not very educated to take up this noble responsibility. The few noble citizens that were given a chance to work in the government did not have enough experience. This made people to argue that Vietnamese could not have independence at that time. It wad argued that the lack of skilled personnel that could lead this nation could lead to the down fall of the overall economy of these nation. (Fitzgerald, 1972) . Still other arguments that were against were that the noble officials in this nation were the only ones that stood a high chance of leading this nation. Considering that they had been working hand in hand with the colonialists, there were high chances that the new government would carry forward previous policies and leadership skills that would be no different from the French colonialists. There was the strong fear of dictatorship in this nation. This is just what happened when Vietnam gained independence in the year 1945. (Nguy? n, 1999) The arguments for Vietnamese independence were that these people had suffered a great deal in the hands of French colonialists and therefore it was a high time that they led a good life. This was a high chance of a life devoid of oppression and where every person was equal with equal rights to the services and amenities in the nation. Conclusion Vietnam was colonized by both the China and French colonies. Chinese dominated Vietnam during the period between 111BC and 938 AD. Between the year 1884 to the year 1885, France assumed total control of Vietnam. This was after the Chinese- Franco War. Many Vietnamese bitterly opposed French colonialism because of the oppression that they witnessed. They were denied access to essential amenities and services. These included education and health. In the year 1945, the nobles and communists never opposed French because of fear and also because they were enjoying some favors from the French colonial government. This included access to some jobs in the government among other. Various arguments for and against Vietnamese independence existed in the year 1945.