Question

Describe three steps taken by the French to develop agriculture in Vietnam.

Answer 1

Hint: The Vietnam Freedom struggle was a long series of events which had originally started as a war against the French colonialists but later turned into a Cold war between communism and free-market democracy. The French had colonised Vietnam to exploit its natural resources and agricultural capabilities.

Complete answer: There were several steps taken by the French to develop agriculture in Vietnam, three of them have been mentioned below:
-The French built canals in Vietnam, this led to an increase in cultivation and the rice production doubled because of this. This was done in the Mekong delta of Vietnam. However, it is important to remember that it was done with forced labour.
-The French built ports in Vietnam, this was done to export the surplus agricultural production, they were used to export rice to the global markets in Europe.
-They increased the area under rice cultivation. The area had increased from around 274000 hectares in 1873 to around 2 million hectares in 1931.
-By 1931, Vietnam had become the third-largest export of rice in the world. The French also started rubber plantations in Vietnam using indentured labour, this mostly profited the French businessmen.

Note: The French also built a railway line between China and Vietnam, it was completed in 1910 and a second railway line was also built after that between Vietnam and Thailand via Cambodia. The French were finally defeated by the Vietnamese on 7th May 1954.