Question

Describe any five steps taken by the French for the development of the Mekong Delta region.

Answer 1

Hint: The Mekong Delta lies in the south western region of Vietnam. The water size of the region changed in accordance to seasons.

Complete answer: The Mekong expedition took place by the French from 1866-1868 under the leadership of Ernest Doudard de Lagree. This was a naval and scientific exploration which took place in the Mekong river. This was conducted by the French authorities. The steps taken by the French authorities for the development of the Mekong Delta region are:
1.Canals were built to drain the lands of the Mekong delta region in order to increase cultivation.
2.The rice production increased due to the vast system of irrigation which was mainly built with forced labour.
3. Rice was exported to international market
4. Vietnam became the third largest producer of rice as it exported two third of the world's rice production.
5. The area under rice cultivation was increased from 2,74,000 hectares to 2 million hectares.
The French colonialism in Vietnam was mainly focussed on cheap labour, profit and production. Just like all european colonialism,the French too justified their oppression by developing the principle of ‘civilising mission’. This mission was mostly targeted towards pointing out the backwardness of Vietnamese culture and upholding the European ideals of education and culture. These were theories which were used by all colonisers to justify their colonisation over Asia, Africa and South America.

Note: The Vietnamese society was physically transformed. Traditional local temples and pagodas were destroyed and French style architecture was built.The names of Vietnamese cities were also changed to French.