Contents


xiSection I: Events and Processes


I. The Rise of Nationalism in Europe 3


II. The Nationalist Movement in Indo-China 25


III.Nationalism in India 4


Section II: Livelihoods, Economies and Societies


IV. The Making of a Global World 77


V.The Age of Industrialisation 97


V


I. Work, Life and Leisure 117


Section III: Everyday Life, Culture and Politics


VII. Print Culture and the Modern World 141


VIII. Novels, Society and History 159


Foreword iii


Introduction ix      In 1848, Frédéric Sorrieu, a French artist, prepared a series of four


prints visualising his dream of a world made up of ‘democratic


and social Republics’, as he called them. The first print (Fig. 1) of theseries, shows the peoples of Europe and America – men and women


of all ages and social classes – marching in a long train, and offering


homage to the statue of Liberty as they pass by it. As you wouldrecall, artists of the time of the French Revolution personified Liberty


as a female figure – here you can recognise the torch of Enlightenment


she bears in one hand and the Charter of the Rights of Man in theother. On the earth in the foreground of the image lie the shattered


remains of the symbols of absolutist institutions. In Sorrieu’s


utopian  vision, the peoples of the world are grouped as distinct


nations, identified through their flags and national costume. Leading


the procession, way past the statue of Liberty, are the United States


and Switzerland, which by this time were already nation-states. France,


The  Rise  of  Nationalism  in  Europe


Fig. 1 — The Dream of Worldwide Democratic and Social Republics – The Pact Between Nations, a print prepared by


Frédéric Sorrieu, 1848.


Chapter I


The Rise of Nationalism in Europe


New words


Absolutist – Literally, a government or


system of rule that has no restraints onthe power exercised. In history, the term


refers to a form of monarchical


government that was centralised,militarised and repressive


Utopian – A vision of a society that is so


ideal that it is unlikely to actually exist


In what way do you think this print (Fig. 1)


depicts a utopian vision?ActivityIndia and the Contemporary World


4identifiable by the revolutionary tricolour, has just reached the statue.


She is followed by the peoples of Germany, bearing the black, redand gold flag. Interestingly, at the time when Sorrieu created this


image, the German peoples did not yet exist as a united nation – the


flag they carry is an expression of liberal hopes in 1848 to unify thenumerous German-speaking principalities into a nation-state under


a democratic constitution. Following the German peoples are the


peoples of Austria, the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, Lombardy,Poland, England, Ireland, Hungary and Russia. From the heavens


above, Christ, saints and angels gaze upon the scene. They have


been used by the artist to symbolise fraternity among the nations ofthe world.


This chapter will deal with many of the issues visualised by Sorrieu


in Fig. 1. During the nineteenth century, nationalism emerged as aforce which brought about sweeping changes in the political and


mental world of Europe. The end result of these changes was the


emergence of the nation-state  in place of the multi-national dynastic


empires of Europe. The concept and practices of a modern  state, in


which a centralised power exercised sovereign control over a clearlydefined territory, had been developing over a long period of timein Europe. But a nation-state  was one in which the majority of its


citizens, and not only its rulers, came to develop a sense of commonidentity and shared history or descent. This commonness did notexist from time immemorial; it was forged through struggles, through


the actions of leaders and the common people. This chapter will


look at the diverse processes through which nation-states andnationalism came into being in nineteenth-century Europe.Ernst Renan, ‘What is a Nation?’


In a lecture delivered at the University of


Sorbonne in 1882, the French philosopher ErnstRenan (1823-92) outlined his understanding ofwhat makes a nation. The lecture  wassubsequently published as a famous essay entitled‘Qu’est-ce qu’une nation?’ (‘What is a Nation?’).In this essay Renan criticises the notion suggestedby others that a nation is formed by a commonlanguage, race, religion, or territory:


‘A nation is the culmination of a long past ofendeavours, sacrifice and devotion. A heroic past,great men, glory, that is the social capital uponwhich one bases a national idea. To havecommon glories in the past, to have a commonwill in the present, to have performed great deedstogether, to wish to perform still more, theseare the essential conditions of being a people. Anation is therefore a large-scale solidarity … Itsexistence is a daily plebiscite … A province is its


inhabitants; if anyone has the right to beconsulted, it is the inhabitant. A nation neverhas any real interest in annexing or holding on toa country against its will. The existence of nationsis a good thing, a necessity even. Their existenceis a guarantee of liberty, which would be lost ifthe world had only one law and only one master.’


SourceSource A


Summarise the attributes of a nation, as Renan


understands them. Why, in his view, are nations


important?DiscussNew words


Plebiscite – A direct vote by which all the


people of a region are asked to accept or reject


a proposal5


Nationalism   in   Europe1  The French Revolution and the Idea of the Nation


The first clear expression of nationalism came with


the French Revolution in 1789. France, as you


would remember, was a full-fledged territorial state


in 1789 under the rule of an absolute monarch.The political and constitutional changes that came


in the wake of the French Revolution led to the


transfer of sovereignty from the monarchy to abody of French citizens. The revolution proclaimed


that it was the people who would henceforth


constitute the nation and shape its destiny.


From the very beginning, the French revolutionaries


introduced various measures and practices that


could create a sense of collective identity amongstthe French people. The ideas of la patrie (the


fatherland) and le citoyen  (the citizen) emphasised


the notion of a united community enjoying equal rights under aconstitution. A new French flag, the tricolour,   was chosen to replace


the former royal standard. The Estates General  was elected by the


body of active citizens and renamed the National Assembly. Newhymns were composed, oaths taken and martyrs commemorated,


all in the name of the nation. A centralised administrative system


was put in place and it formulated uniform laws for all citizenswithin its territory. Internal customs duties and dues were abolished


and a uniform system of weights and measures was adopted.


Regional dialects were discouraged and French, as it was spokenand written in Paris, became the common language of the nation.


The revolutionaries further declared that it was the mission and the


destiny of the French nation to liberate the peoples of Europefrom despotism, in other words to help other peoples of Europe


to become nations.


When the news of the events in France reached the different cities


of Europe, students and other members of educated middle classes


began setting up Jacobin clubs. Their activities and campaigns


prepared the way for the French armies which moved into Holland,Belgium, Switzerland and much of Italy in the 1790s. With the


outbreak of the revolutionary wars, the French armies began to


carry the idea of nationalism abroad.


Fig. 2 — The cover of a German almanac


designed by the journalist Andreas Rebmann in1798.The image of the French Bastille being stormedby the revolutionary crowd has been placednext to a similar fortress meant to represent thebastion of despotic rule in the German provinceof Kassel. Accompanying the illustration is theslogan: ‘The people must seize their ownfreedom!’ Rebmann lived in the  city of Mainzand was  a member of a German Jacobin group.India and the Contemporary World


6Within the wide swathe of territory that came under his control,


Napoleon set about introducing many of the reforms that he had


already introduced in France. Through a return to monarchyNapoleon had, no doubt, destroyed democracy in France, but in


the administrative field he had incorporated revolutionary principles


in order to make the whole system more rational and efficient. TheCivil Code of 1804 – usually known as the Napoleonic Code –


did away with all privileges based on birth, established  equality


before the law and secured  the right to property. This Code wasexported to the regions under French control. In the Dutch Republic,


in Switzerland, in Italy and Germany, Napoleon simplified


administrative divisions, abolished the feudal system and freedpeasants from serfdom and manorial dues. In the towns too, guild


restrictions were removed. Transport and communication systems


were improved. Peasants, artisans, workers and new businessmen


Fig. 3 —  Europe after the


Congress of Vienna, 1815.ICELAND


(DENMARK)


NORWAY


(SWEDEN)


SWEDEN


DENMARK


HABOVER


(G.B.)


NETHERLANDSENGLANDWALESIRELAND GREAT


BRITA NSCOTLAND


FRANCE


SPA N


PORTUGAL


MOROCCOALGERIATUNIS


EGYPTPALEST NESYRIA


CYPRUSMESOPOTAMIAARMENIAOTTOMAN EMPIRE


CRETEGREECEBULGARIAROMANIA


SERBIAHUNGARYAUSTRIAN EMPIRE


AUSTRIAGALICIA


BAVARIA


SWITZERLANDPRUSSIA


POLANDRUSSIAN EMPIRE


SARDINIACORSICASMALL


STATES


KINGDOM


OF  THE


TWO


SIC L ESGEORGIA


PERSIA


MEDITERRANEAN SEAATLANTIC  SEA7


Nationalism   in   Europeenjoyed a new-found freedom. Businessmen and small-scale


producers of goods, in particular, began to realise that uniform


laws, standardised weights and measures, and a common national


currency would facilitate the movement and exchange of goodsand capital from one region to another.


However, in the areas conquered, the reactions of the local


populations to French rule were mixed. Initially, in many places suchas Holland and Switzerland, as well as in certain cities like Brussels,


Mainz, Milan and Warsaw, the French armies were welcomed as


harbingers of liberty. But the initial enthusiasm soon turned to hostility,as it became clear that the new administrative arrangements did not


go hand in hand with political freedom. Increased taxation,


censorship, forced conscription into the French armies required toconquer the rest of Europe, all seemed to outweigh the advantages


of the administrative changes.


Fig. 4 — The Planting of Tree of Liberty in Zweibrücken, Germany.


The subject of this colour print by the German painter Karl Kaspar Fritz is the occupation of the town of Zweibrückenby the French armies. French soldiers, recognisable by their blue, white and red uniforms, have been portrayed asoppressors as they seize a peasant’s cart (left), harass some young women (centre foreground) and force a peasant


down to his knees. The plaque being affixed to the Tree of Liberty carries a German inscription which in translation


reads: ‘Take freedom and equality from us, the model of humanity.’ This is a sarcastic reference to the claim of theFrench as being liberators who opposed monarchy in the territories they entered.


Fig. 5 —  The courier of Rhineland loses all that


he has on his way home from Leipzig.Napoleon here is represented as a postman onhis way back to France after he lost the battle ofLeipzig in 1813. Each letter dropping out of hisbag bears the names of the territories he lost.India and the Contemporary World


8If you look at the map of mid-eighteenth-century Europe you will


find that there were no ‘nation-states’ as we know them today.


What we know today as Germany, Italy and Switzerland were


divided into kingdoms, duchies and cantons whose rulers had theirautonomous territories. Eastern and Central Europe were under


autocratic monarchies within the territories of which lived diverse


peoples. They did not see themselves as sharing a collective identityor a common culture. Often, they even spoke different languages


and belonged to different ethnic groups. The Habsburg Empire


that ruled over Austria-Hungary, for example, was a patchwork ofmany different regions and peoples. It included the Alpine regions


– the Tyrol, Austria and the Sudetenland – as well as Bohemia,


where the aristocracy was predominantly German-speaking. It alsoincluded the Italian-speaking provinces of Lombardy and Venetia.


In Hungary, half of the population spoke Magyar while the other


half spoke a variety of dialects. In Galicia, the aristocracy spokePolish. Besides these three dominant groups, there also lived within


the boundaries of the empire, a mass of subject peasant peoples –


Bohemians and Slovaks to the north, Slovenes in Carniola, Croatsto the south, and Roumans to the east in Transylvania. Such


differences did not easily promote a sense of political unity. The


only tie binding these diverse groups together was a commonallegiance to the emperor.


How did nationalism and the idea of the nation-state emerge?


2.1 The Aristocracy and the New Middle Class


Socially and politically, a landed aristocracy was the dominant class


on the continent. The members of this class were united by a


common way of life that cut across regional divisions. They ownedestates in the countryside and also town-houses. They spoke French


for purposes of diplomacy and in high society. Their families were


often connected by ties of marriage. This powerful aristocracy was,however, numerically a small group. The majority of the population


was made up of the peasantry. To the west, the bulk of the land


was farmed by tenants and small owners, while in Eastern andCentral Europe the pattern of landholding was characterised by


vast estates which were cultivated by serfs.2  The Making of Nationalism in Europe


Some important dates


Napoleon invades Italy; Napoleonic warsbegin.


Fall of Napoleon; the Vienna PeaceSettlement.


Greek struggle for independence begins.


Revolutions in Europe; artisans, industrialworkers and peasants revolt againsteconomic hardships; middle classesdemand constitutions and representativegovernments; Italians, Germans, Magyars,Poles, Czechs, etc. demand nation-states.


Unification of Italy.


Unification of Germany.


Slav nationalism gathers force in theHabsburg and Ottoman Empires.9


Nationalism   in   EuropeIn Western and parts of Central Europe the growth of industrial


production and trade meant the growth of towns and the emergence


of commercial classes whose existence was based on productionfor the market. Industrialisation began in England in the secondhalf of the eighteenth century, but in France and parts of the German


states it occurred only during the nineteenth century. In its wake,


new social groups came into being: a working-class population, andmiddle classes made up of industrialists, businessmen, professionals.In Central and Eastern Europe these groups were smaller in number


till late nineteenth century. It was among the educated, liberal middle


classes that ideas of national unity following the abolition ofaristocratic privileges gained popularity.


2.2 What did Liberal Nationalism Stand for?


Ideas of national unity in early-nineteenth-century Europe were closelyallied to the ideology of liberalism. The term ‘liberalism’ derivesfrom the Latin root liber, meaning free. For the new middle classes


liberalism stood for freedom for the individual and equality of all


before the law. Politically, it emphasised the concept of government


by consent. Since the French Revolution, liberalism had stood forthe end of autocracy and clerical privileges, a constitution andrepresentative government through parliament. Nineteenth-century


liberals also stressed the inviolability of private property.


Yet, equality before the law did not necessarily stand for universal


suffrage . You will recall that in revolutionary France, which marked


the first political experiment in liberal democracy, the right to vote


and to get elected was granted exclusively to property-owning men.


Men without property and all women were excluded from politicalrights. Only for a brief period under the Jacobins did all adult malesenjoy suffrage. However, the Napoleonic Code went back to limited


suffrage and reduced women to the status of a minor, subject to


the authority of fathers and husbands. Throughout the nineteenthand early twentieth centuries women and non-propertied menorganised opposition movements demanding equal political rights.


In the  economic sphere, liberalism stood for the freedom of markets


and the abolition of state-imposed restrictions on the movement


of goods and capital. During the nineteenth century this was a strongdemand of the emerging middle classes. Let us take the example of


the German-speaking regions in the first half of the nineteenth


century. Napoleon’s administrative measures had created out ofNew words


Suffrage – The right to voteIndia and the Contemporary World


10countless small principalities a confederation of 39 states. Each of


these possessed its own currency, and weights and measures. Amerchant travelling in 1833 from Hamburg to Nuremberg to sellhis goods would have had to pass through 11 customs barriers andpay a customs duty of about 5 per cent at each one of them. Dutieswere often levied according to the weight or measurement of thegoods. As each region had its own system of weights and measures,


this involved time-consuming calculation. The measure of cloth,


for example, was the elle  which in each region stood for a different


length. An elle  of textile material bought in Frankfurt would get you


54.7 cm of cloth, in Mainz 55.1 cm, in Nuremberg 65.6 cm, inFreiburg 53.5 cm.


Such conditions were viewed as obstacles to economic exchange


and growth by the new commercial classes, who argued for the


creation of a unified economic territory allowing the unhinderedmovement of goods, people and capital.  In 1834, a customs unionor zollverein  was formed at the initiative of Prussia and joined by


most of the German states. The union abolished tariff barriers andreduced the number of currencies from over thirty to two. The


creation of a network of railways further stimulated mobility,


harnessing economic interests to national unification. A wave ofeconomic nationalism strengthened the wider nationalist sentimentsgrowing at the time.


2.3 A New Conservatism after 1815


Following the defeat of Napoleon in 1815, European governments


were driven by a spirit of conservatism . Conservatives believed


that established, traditional institutions of state and society –  like the


monarchy, the Church, social hierarchies, property and the family –should be preserved. Most conservatives, however, did not proposea return to the society of pre-revolutionary days. Rather, they realised,from the changes initiated by Napoleon, that modernisation could


in fact strengthen traditional institutions like the monarchy. It could


make  state  power more effective and strong. A modern army, anefficient bureaucracy, a dynamic economy, the abolition of feudalismand serfdom could strengthen the autocratic monarchies of Europe.


In 1815, representatives of the European powers – Britain, Russia,


Prussia and Austria – who had collectively defeated Napoleon, met


at Vienna to draw up a settlement for Europe. The Congress was


hosted by the Austrian Chancellor Duke Metternich. The delegatesEconomists began to think in terms of the national


economy. They talked of how the nation coulddevelop and what economic measures could helpforge this nation together.


Friedrich List, Professor of Economics at the


University of Tübingen in Germany, wrote in 1834:


‘The aim of the zollverein is to bind the Germans


economically into a nation. It will strengthen thenation materially as much by protecting itsinterests externally as by stimulating its internalproductivity. It ought to awaken and raisenational sentiment through a fusion of individualand provincial interests. The German people haverealised that a free economic system is the onlymeans to engender national feeling.’


SourceSource B


Describe the political ends that List hopes to


achieve through economic measures.Discuss


New words


Conservatism – A political philosophy that


stressed the importance of tradition, establishedinstitutions and customs, and preferred gradual


development to quick change11


Nationalism   in   Europedrew up the Treaty of Vienna of 1815 with the object of undoing


most of the changes that had come about in Europe during the


Napoleonic wars. The Bourbon dynasty, which had been deposedduring the French Revolution, was restored to power, and France


lost the territories it had annexed under Napoleon. A series of states


were set up on the boundaries of France to prevent French expansionin future. Thus the kingdom of the Netherlands, which included


Belgium, was set up in the north and Genoa was added to Piedmont


in the south. Prussia was given important new territories on its westernfrontiers, while Austria was given control of northern Italy. But the


German confederation of 39 states that had been set up by Napoleon


was left untouched. In the east, Russia was given part of Polandwhile Prussia was given a portion of Saxony. The main intention


was to restore the monarchies that had been overthrown by


Napoleon, and create a new conservative order in Europe.


Conservative regimes set up in 1815 were autocratic. They did not


tolerate criticism and dissent, and sought to curb activities that


questioned the legitimacy of autocratic governments.  Most of themimposed censorship laws to control what was said in newspapers,


books, plays and songs and reflected the ideas of liberty and freedomPlot on a map of Europe the changes drawn


up by the Vienna Congress.Activity


Fig. 6 — The Club of Thinkers, anonymous caricature dating to c. 1820.


The plaque on the left bears the inscription: ‘The most important question of today’s meeting: How


long will thinking be allowed to us?’The board on the right lists the rules of the Club which include the following:‘1. Silence is the first commandment of this learned society.2. To avoid the eventuality whereby a member of this club may succumb to the temptation ofspeech, muzzles will be distributed to members upon entering.’What is the caricaturist trying to depict?DiscussIndia and the Contemporary World


12associated with the French Revolution. The memory of the French


Revolution nonetheless continued to inspire liberals. One of the majorissues taken up by the liberal-nationalists, who criticised the new


conservative order, was freedom of the press.


2.4 The Revolutionaries


During the years following 1815, the fear of repression drove manyliberal-nationalists underground. Secret societies sprang up in many


European states to train revolutionaries and spread their ideas. Tobe revolutionary at this time meant a commitment to oppose


monarchical forms that had been established after the Vienna


Congress, and to fight for liberty and freedom. Most of theserevolutionaries also saw the creation of nation-states as a necessary


part of this struggle for freedom.


One such individual was the Italian revolutionary Giuseppe Mazzini.


Born in Genoa in 1807, he became a member of the secret society


of the Carbonari. As a young man of 24, he was sent into exile in


1831 for attempting a revolution in Liguria. He subsequently foundedtwo more underground societies, first, Young Italy in Marseilles,


and then, Young Europe in Berne, whose members were like-minded


young men from Poland, France, Italy and the German states.Mazzini believed that God had intended nations to be the natural


units of mankind. So Italy could not continue to be a patchwork of


small states and kingdoms. It had to be forged into a single unifiedrepublic within a wider alliance of nations. This unification alone


could be the basis of Italian liberty. Following his model, secret


societies were set up in Germany, France, Switzerland and Poland.Mazzini’s relentless opposition to monarchy and his vision of


democratic republics frightened the conservatives.  Metternich


described him as ‘the most dangerous enemy of our social order’.


Fig. 7 — Giuseppe Mazzini and the founding of


Young Europe in Berne 1833.Print by Giacomo Mantegazza.13


Nationalism   in   Europe3  The Age of Revolutions: 1830-1848


As conservative regimes tried to consolidate their power, liberalism


and nationalism came to be increasingly associated with revolution


in many regions of Europe such as the Italian and German states,


the provinces of the Ottoman Empire, Ireland and Poland. Theserevolutions were led by the liberal-nationalists belonging to theeducated middle-class elite, among whom were professors, school-teachers, clerks and members of the commercial middle classes.


The first upheaval took place in France in July 1830.  The Bourbon


kings who had been restored to power during the conservative


reaction after 1815, were now overthrown by liberal revolutionarieswho installed a constitutional monarchy with Louis Philippe at itshead. ‘When France sneezes,’ Metternich once remarked, ‘the rest ofEurope catches cold.’  The July Revolution sparked an uprising inBrussels which led to Belgium breaking away from the United


Kingdom of the Netherlands.


An event that mobilised nationalist feelings among the educated elite


across Europe was the Greek war of independence. Greece hadbeen part of the Ottoman Empire since the fifteenth century. Thegrowth of revolutionary nationalism in Europe sparked off a struggle


for independence amongst the Greeks which began in 1821.


Nationalists in Greece got support from other Greeks living in exileand also from many West Europeans who had sympathies for ancientGreek culture. Poets and artists lauded Greece as the cradle ofEuropean civilisation and mobilised public opinion to support itsstruggle against a Muslim empire. The English poet Lord Byron


organised funds and later went to fight in the war, where he died of


fever in 1824. Finally, the Treaty of Constantinople of 1832recognised Greece as an independent nation.


3.1 The Romantic Imagination and National Feeling


The development of nationalism did not come about only throughwars and territorial expansion. Culture played an important role in


creating the idea of the nation: art and poetry, stories and music


helped express and shape nationalist feelings.


Let us look at Romanticism, a cultural movement which sought to


develop a particular form of nationalist sentiment. Romantic artistsand poets generally criticised the glorification of reason and scienceIndia and the Contemporary World


14Fig. 8 — The Massacre at Chios, Eugene Delacroix, 1824.


The French painter Delacroix was one of the most important French Romanticpainters. This huge painting (4.19m x 3.54m) depicts an incident in which20,000 Greeks were said to have been killed by Turks on the island of Chios. Bydramatising the incident, focusing on the suffering of women and children, andusing vivid colours, Delacroix sought to appeal to the emotions of the spectators,and create sympathy for the Greeks.


and focused instead on emotions, intuition and mystical feelings.


Their effort was to create a sense of a shared collective heritage, acommon cultural past, as the basis of a nation.


Other Romantics such as the German philosopher Johann Gottfried


Herder (1744-1803) claimed that true German culture was to bediscovered among the common people – das volk . It was through


folk songs, folk poetry and folk dances that the true spirit of thenation ( volksgeist ) was popularised. So collecting and recording these


forms of folk culture was essential to the project of nation-building.


Nationalism   in   EuropeThe Grimm Brothers: Folktales and


Nation-building


Grimms’ Fairy Tales  is a familiar name. The brothers


Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm were born in theGerman city of Hanau in 1785 and 1786respectively. While both of them studied law,they soon developed an interest in collecting oldfolktales. They spent six years travelling fromvillage to village, talking to people and writingdown fairy tales, which were handed downthrough the generations. These were popularboth among children and adults. In 1812, theypublished their first collection of tales.Subsequently, both the brothers became activein liberal politics, especially the movementfor freedom of the press. In the meantime theyalso published a 33-volume dictionary of theGerman language.


The Grimm brothers also saw French domination


as a threat to German culture, and believed thatthe folktales they had collected were expressionsof a pure and authentic German spirit. Theyconsidered their projects of collecting folktalesand developing the German language as part ofthe wider effort to oppose French dominationand create a German national identity.The emphasis on vernacular language and the collection of local


folklore was not just to recover an ancient national spirit, but also to


carry the modern nationalist message to large audiences who were


mostly illiterate. This was especially so in the case of Poland, whichhad been partitioned at the end of the eighteenth century by theGreat Powers – Russia, Prussia and Austria. Even though Poland no


longer existed as an independent territory, national feelings were kept


alive through music and language. Karol Kurpinski, for example,celebrated the national struggle through his operas and music, turningfolk dances like the polonaise and mazurka into nationalist symbols.


Language too played an important role in developing nationalist


sentiments. After Russian occupation, the Polish language was forcedout of schools and the Russian language was imposed everywhere.In 1831, an armed rebellion against Russian rule took place which


was ultimately crushed. Following this, many members of the clergy


in Poland began to use language as a weapon of national resistance.Polish was used for Church gatherings and all religious instruction.As a result, a large number of priests and bishops were put in jail or


sent to Siberia by the Russian authorities as punishment for their


refusal to preach in Russian. The use of Polish came to be seen as asymbol of the struggle against Russian dominance.


3.2 Hunger, Hardship and Popular Revolt


The 1830s were years of great economic hardship in Europe. The


first half of the nineteenth century saw an enormous increase in


population all over Europe. In most countries there were moreseekers of jobs than employment. Population from rural areasmigrated to the cities to live in overcrowded slums. Small producers


in towns were often faced with stiff competition from imports of


cheap machine-made goods from England, where industrialisationwas more advanced than on the continent. This was especially so intextile production, which was carried out mainly in homes or small


workshops and was only partly mechanised. In those regions of


Europe where the aristocracy still enjoyed power, peasants struggledunder the burden of feudal dues and obligations. The rise of foodprices or a year of bad harvest led to widespread pauperism in


town and country.


The year 1848 was one such year. Food shortages and widespread


unemployment brought the population of Paris out on the roads.Barricades were erected and Louis Philippe was forced to flee. ADiscuss the importance of language and


popular traditions in the creation of national


identity.DiscussBox 1India and the Contemporary World


16National Assembly proclaimed a Republic, granted suffrage to all


adult males above 21, and guaranteed the right to work. National


workshops to provide employment were set up.


Earlier, in 1845, weavers in Silesia had led a revolt against contractors


who supplied them raw material and gave them orders for finished


textiles but drastically reduced their payments. The journalist Wilhelm


Wolff described the events in a Silesian village as follows:


In these villages (with 18,000 inhabitants) cotton weaving is the


most widespread occupation … The misery of the workers is


extreme. The desperate need for jobs has been taken advantageof by the contractors to reduce the prices of the goods they


order …


On 4 June at 2 p.m. a large crowd of weavers emerged from


their homes and marched in pairs up to the mansion of their


contractor demanding higher wages. They were treated with


scorn and threats alternately. Following this, a group of themforced their way into the house, smashed its elegant window-


panes, furniture, porcelain … another group broke into the


storehouse and plundered it of supplies of cloth which theytore to shreds … The contractor fled with his family to a


neighbouring village which, however, refused to shelter such a


person. He returned 24 hours later having requisitioned the army.In the exchange that followed, eleven weavers were shot.


Fig. 9 — Peasants’ uprising, 1848.


Describe the cause of the Silesian weavers’


uprising. Comment on the viewpoint of the


journalist.Discuss


Imagine you are a weaver who saw the eventsas they unfolded. Write a report on what you saw.Activity17


Nationalism   in   Europe3.3 1848: The Revolution of the Liberals


Parallel to the revolts of the poor, unemployed and starving peasants


and workers in many European countries in the year 1848, a revolutionled by the educated middle classes was under way. Events of February


1848 in France had brought about the abdication of the monarch


and a republic based on universal male suffrage had been proclaimed.In other parts of Europe where independent nation-states did not


yet exist – such as Germany, Italy, Poland, the Austro-Hungarian


Empire – men and women of the liberal middle classes combinedtheir demands for constitutionalism with national unification. They


took advantage of the growing popular unrest to push their


demands for the creation of a nation-state on parliamentaryprinciples – a constitution, freedom of the press and freedom


of association.


In the German regions a large number of political associations whose


members were middle-class professionals, businessmen and


prosperous artisans came together in the city of Frankfurt and decided


to vote for an all-German National Assembly. On 18


May 1848,


831 elected representatives marched in a festive procession to take


their places in the Frankfurt parliament convened in the Church of


St Paul. They drafted a constitution for a German nation to beheaded by a monarchy subject to a parliament. When the deputies


offered the crown on these terms to Friedrich Wilhelm IV, King of


Prussia, he rejected it and joined other monarchs to oppose theelected assembly. While the opposition of the aristocracy and military


became stronger, the social basis of parliament eroded. The


parliament was dominated by the middle classes who resisted thedemands of workers and artisans and consequently lost their support.


In the end troops were called in and the assembly was forced


to disband.


The issue of extending political rights to women was a controversial


one within the liberal movement, in which large numbers of women


had participated actively over the years. Women had formed theirown political associations, founded newspapers and taken part in


political meetings and demonstrations. Despite this they were deniedHow were liberty and equality for women


to be defined?


The liberal politician Carl Welcker, an elected


member of the Frankfurt Parliament, expressedthe following views:


‘Nature has created men and women to carry


out different functions … Man, the stronger, thebolder and freer of the two, has been designatedas protector of the family, its provider, meant forpublic tasks in the domain of law, production,defence. Woman, the weaker, dependent andtimid, requires the protection of man. Her sphereis the home, the care of the children, thenurturing of the family … Do we require anyfurther proof that given such differences, equalitybetween the sexes would only endangerharmony and destroy the dignity of the family?’


Louise Otto-Peters (1819-95) was a political


activist who founded a women’s journal andsubsequently a feminist  political association. The


first issue of her newspaper (21 April 1849) carriedthe following editorial:


‘Let us ask how many men, possessed by


thoughts of living and dying for the sake of Liberty,would be prepared to fight for the freedom ofthe entire people, of all human beings? Whenasked this question, they would all too easilyrespond with a “Yes!”, though their untiringefforts are intended for the benefit of only onehalf of humanity – men. But Liberty is indivisible!Free men therefore must not tolerate to besurrounded by the unfree …’


An anonymous reader of the same newspaper


sent the following letter to the editor on 25 June1850:


‘It is indeed ridiculous and unreasonable to deny


women political rights even though they enjoythe right to property which they make useof. They perform functions and assumeresponsibilities without however getting thebenefits that accrue to men for the same … Whythis injustice? Is it not a disgrace that even thestupidest cattle-herder possesses the rightto vote, simply because he is a man, whereashighly talented women owning considerableproperty are excluded from this right, eventhough they contribute so much to themaintenance of the state?’


SourceSource C


New words


Feminist – Awareness of women’s rights and interests based on


the belief of the social, economic and political equality of the gendersIndia and the Contemporary World


Fig. 10 — The Frankfurt parliament in the Church of St Paul.


Contemporary colour print. Notice the women in the upper left gallery.


Compare the positions on the question of


women’s rights voiced by the three writers cited


above. What do they reveal about liberal


ideology ?Discuss


Ideology – System of ideas reflecting a


particular social and political visionsuffrage rights during the election of the Assembly. When theFrankfurt parliament convened in the Church of St Paul, womenwere admitted only as observers to stand in the visitors’ gallery.


Though conservative forces were able to suppress liberal movements


in 1848, they could not restore the old order. Monarchs werebeginning to realise that the cycles of revolution and repression could


only be ended by granting concessions to the liberal-nationalist


revolutionaries. Hence, in the years after 1848, the autocraticmonarchies of Central and Eastern Europe began to introduce the


changes that had already taken place in Western Europe before 1815.


Thus serfdom and bonded labour were abolished both in theHabsburg dominions and in Russia. The Habsburg rulers granted


more autonomy to the Hungarians in 1867.19


Nationalism   in   Europe4  The Making of Germany and Italy


4.1 Germany – Can the Army be the Architect of a Nation?


After 1848, nationalism in Europe moved away from its association


with democracy and revolution. Nationalist sentiments were often


mobilised by conservatives for promoting state power and achievingpolitical domination over Europe.


This can be observed in the process by which Germany and Italy came


to be unified as nation-states. As you have seen, nationalist feelings werewidespread among middle-class Germans, who in 1848 tried to unite


the different regions of the German confederation into a nation-state


governed by an elected parliament. This liberal initiative to nation-buildingwas, however, repressed by the combined forces of the monarchy and


the military, supported by the large landowners (called Junkers) of Prussia.


From then on, Prussia took on the leadership of the movement fornational unification. Its chief minister, Otto von


Bismarck, was the architect of this process carried


out with the help of the Prussian army andbureaucracy. Three wars over seven years – with


Austria, Denmark and France – ended in Prussian


victory and completed the process of unification.In January 1871, the Prussian king, William I,


was proclaimed German Emperor in a ceremony


held at Versailles.


On the bitterly cold morning of 18 January 1871,


an assembly comprising the princes of the


German states, representatives of the army,important Prussian ministers including the chief


minister Otto von Bismarck gathered in the


unheated Hall of Mirrors in the Palace of Versaillesto proclaim the new German Empire headed


by Kaiser William I of Prussia.


The nation-building process in Germany had


demonstrated the dominance of Prussian state


power. The new state placed a strong emphasis


on modernising the currency, banking, legaland judicial systems in Germany. Prussian


measures and practices often became a model for


the rest of Germany.


Fig. 11 — The proclamation of the German empire in the Hall of


Mirrors at Versailles, Anton von Werner.  At the centre stands the


Kaiser and the chief commander of the Prussian army, General vonRoon. Near them is Bismarck. This monumental work (2.7m x2.7m) was completed and presented by the artist to Bismarck onthe latter’s 70th birthday in 1885.India and the Contemporary World


204.2 Italy Unified


Like Germany, Italy too had a long history of political fragmentation.


Italians were scattered over several dynastic states as well as the


multi-national Habsburg Empire. During the middle of thenineteenth century, Italy was divided into seven states, of which


only one, Sardinia-Piedmont, was ruled by an Italian princely house.


The north was under Austrian Habsburgs, the centre was ruled bythe Pope and the southern regions were under the domination


of the Bourbon kings of Spain. Even the Italian language had


not acquired one common form and still had many regional andlocal variations.


During the 1830s, Giuseppe Mazzini had sought to put together a


coherent programme for a unitary Italian Republic. He had alsoformed a secret society called Young Italy for the dissemination of


his goals. The failure of revolutionary uprisings both in 1831 and


1848 meant that the mantle now fell on Sardinia-Piedmont underits ruler King Victor Emmanuel II to unify the Italian states through


war. In the eyes of the ruling elites of this region, a unified


Italy offered them the possibility of economic development andpolitical dominance.


Fig. 13 — Caricature of Otto von Bismarck in


the German reichstag (parliament), from Figaro ,


Vienna, 5 March 1870.


Describe the caricature. How does it represent


the relationship between Bismarck and the


elected deputies of Parliament? What


interpretation of democratic processes is the


artist trying to convey?Activity


NORTH SEA


SCHLESWIG-


HOLSTE N


MECKLENBURG-


SCHWER N


THUR NGIAN


STATESHANOVER


WESTPHALIA


HESSEN  NASSARHINELANDBRUNSWICK


BAVARIA BADENWURTTEMBERGAUSTRIAN


EMPIRES LESIAPOSENBRANDENBURGPOMERANIAWEST PRUSSIAEAST PRUSSIABALTIC SEA


PRUSSIA


RUSSIAN


EMP RE


Prussia before 1866


Conquered by Prussia in Austro-Prussia


War, 1866


Austrian territories excluded from German


Confederation 1867


Joined with Prussia to form German


Confederation, 1867


South German states joining with Prussia to


form German Empire, 1871


Won by Prussia in Franco-Prussia War, 1871


Fig. 12 — Unification of Germany (1866-71).21


Nationalism   in   Europe


Chief Minister Cavour who led the movement to unify the regions


of Italy was neither a revolutionary nor a democrat. Like manyother wealthy and educated members of the Italian elite, he spoke


French much better than he did Italian. Through a tactful diplomatic


alliance with France engineered by Cavour, Sardinia- Piedmont


succeeded in defeating the Austrian forces in 1859. Apart from regular


troops, a large number of armed volunteers under the leadership of


Giuseppe Garibaldi joined the fray. In 1860, they marched into SouthItaly and the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies and succeeded in winning


the support of the local peasants in order to drive out the Spanish


rulers. In 1861 Victor Emmanuel II was proclaimed king of unitedItaly. However, much of the Italian population, among whom rates


of illiteracy were very high, remained blissfully unaware of liberal-


nationalist ideology. The peasant masses who had supported Garibaldiin southern Italy had never heard of Italia, and believed that ‘La  Talia’


was Victor Emmanuel’s wife!


Fig. 14(a) — Italian states before unification, 1858.


Fig. 14(b) — Italy after unification.


The map shows the year in which differentregions (seen in Fig 14(a) become part of aunified Italy.SWITZERLAND


VENETIALOMBARDY


SAVOY


SARD NIA PARMA


MODENA


TUSCANYSAN MARINO


PAPAL


STATE


KINGDOM


OF BOTH


SICIL ES


TUNIS


4.3  The Strange Case of Britain


The model of the nation or the nation-state, some scholars have


argued, is Great Britain. In Britain the formation of the nation-stateAUSTRIALook at Fig. 14(a). Do you think that the people


living in any of these regions thought of


themselves as Italians?


Examine Fig. 14(b). Which was the first region


to become a part of unified Italy? Which was the


last region to join? In which year did the largest


number of states join?Activity


1858India and the Contemporary World


22was not the result of a sudden upheaval or revolution. It was the


result of a long-drawn-out process. There was no British nationprior to the eighteenth century. The primary identities of the people


who inhabited the British Isles were ethnic  ones – such as English,


Welsh, Scot or Irish. All of these ethnic groups had their own cultural


and political traditions. But as the English nation steadily grew in


wealth, importance and power, it was able to extend its influence


over the other nations of the islands. The English parliament, whichhad seized power from the monarchy in 1688 at the end of a


protracted conflict, was the instrument through which a nation-state,


with England at its centre, came to be forged. The Act of Union(1707) between England and Scotland that resulted in the formation


of the ‘United Kingdom of Great Britain’ meant, in effect, that


England was able to impose its influence on Scotland. The Britishparliament was henceforth dominated by its English members. The


growth of a British identity meant that Scotland’s distinctive culture


and political institutions were systematically suppressed. The Catholicclans that inhabited the Scottish Highlands suffered terrible repression


whenever they attempted to assert their independence. The Scottish


Highlanders were forbidden to speak their Gaelic language orwear their national dress, and large numbers were forcibly driven


out of their homeland.


Ireland suffered a similar fate. It was a country deeply divided


between Catholics and Protestants. The English helped the Protestants


of Ireland to establish their dominance over a largely Catholic country.


Catholic revolts against British dominance were suppressed. After afailed revolt led by Wolfe Tone and his United Irishmen (1798),


Ireland was forcibly incorporated into the United Kingdom in 1801.


A new ‘British nation’ was forged through the propagation of adominant English culture. The symbols of the new Britain – the


British flag (Union Jack), the national anthem (God Save Our Noble


King), the English language – were actively promoted and the oldernations survived only as subordinate partners in this union.


New words


Ethnic – Relates to a common racial, tribal, or


cultural origin or background that a communityidentifies with or claimsThe artist has portrayed Garibaldi as holding on to the base of


the boot, so that the King of Sardinia-Piedmont can enter it from


the top. Look at the map of Italy once more. What statement is


this caricature making?ActivityGiuseppe Garibaldi (1807-82) is perhaps the


most celebrated of Italian freedom fighters. He


came from a family engaged in coastal trade andwas a sailor in the merchant navy. In 1833 hemet Mazzini, joined the Young Italy movementand participated in a republican uprising inPiedmont in 1834. The uprising was suppressedand Garibaldi had to flee to South America, wherehe lived in exile till 1848. In 1854, he supportedVictor Emmanuel II in his efforts to unify theItalian states. In 1860, Garibaldi led the famousExpedition of the Thousand to South Italy. Freshvolunteers kept joining through the course ofthe campaign, till their numbers grew to about30,000. They were popularly known as RedShirts.


In 1867, Garibaldi led an army of volunteers to


Rome to fight the last obstacle to the unificationof Italy, the Papal States where a French garrisonwas stationed. The Red Shirts proved to be nomatch for the combined French and Papal troops.It was only in 1870 when, during the war withPrussia, France withdrew its troops from Romethat the Papal States were finally joinedto Italy.Box 2


Fig. 15 – Garibaldi helping King Victor


Emmanuel II of Sardinia-Piedmont to pull on theboot named ‘Italy’. English caricature of 1859.23


Nationalism   in   Europe5  Visualising the Nation


While it is easy enough to represent a ruler through a portrait or a


statue, how does one go about giving a face to a nation? Artists in


the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries found a way out bypersonifying a nation. In other words they represented a country as


if it were a person. Nations were then portrayed as female figures.


The female form that was chosen to personify the nation did notstand for any particular woman in real life; rather it sought to give


the abstract idea of the nation a concrete form. That is, the female


figure became an allegory  of the nation.


You will recall that during the French Revolution artists used the


female allegory to portray ideas such as Liberty, Justice and the


Republic. These ideals were represented through specific objects orsymbols.  As you would remember, the attributes of Liberty are the


red cap, or the broken chain, while Justice is generally a blindfolded


woman carrying a pair of weighing scales.


Similar female allegories were invented by artists in the nineteenth


century to represent the nation. In France she was christened


Marianne, a popular Christian name, which underlined the idea of apeople’s nation. Her characteristics were drawn from those of Liberty


and the Republic – the red cap, the tricolour, the cockade. Statues


of Marianne were erected in public squares to remind the public ofthe national symbol of unity and to persuade them to identify with


it. Marianne images were marked on coins and stamps.


Similarly, Germania became the allegory of the German nation. In


visual representations, Germania wears a crown of oak leaves, as


the German oak stands for heroism.


New words


Allegory – When an abstract idea (for instance, greed, envy,


freedom, liberty) is expressed through a person or a thing. Anallegorical story has two meanings, one literal and one symbolicFig. 16 — Postage stamps of 1850 with the


figure of Marianne representing the Republic ofFrance.


Fig. 17 — Germania, Philip Veit, 1848.


The artist prepared this painting of Germania on acotton banner, as it was meant to hang from theceiling of the Church of St Paul where the Frankfurtparliament was convened in March 1848.


India and the Contemporary World


24Box 3


Meanings of the symbols


Attribute Significance


Broken chains Being freed


Breastplate with eagle Symbol of the German empire – strength


Crown of oak leaves Heroism


Sword Readiness to fight


Olive branch around the sword Willingness to make peace


Black, red and gold tricolour Flag of the liberal-nationalists in 1848, banned by the Dukes of the


German states


Rays of the rising sun Beginning of a new era


With the help of the chart in Box 3, identify the attributes of Veit’s


Germania and interpret the symbolic meaning of the painting.


In an earlier allegorical rendering of 1836, Veit had portrayed the


Kaiser’s crown at the place where he has now located the


broken chain. Explain the significance of this change.Activity


Fig. 18 — The fallen Germania, Julius Hübner, 1850.


Describe what you see in Fig. 17. What historical events could Hübner bereferring to in this allegorical vision of the nation?Activity


Nationalism   in   Europe


Fig. 19 — Germania guarding the Rhine.


In 1860, the artist Lorenz Clasen was commissioned to paint this image. The inscriptionon Germania’s sword reads: ‘The German sword protects the German Rhine.’


Look once more at Fig. 10. Imagine you were a citizen of Frankfurt in March 1848 and were present during the


proceedings of the parliament. How would you (a) as a man seated in the hall of deputies, and (b) as a woman


observing from the galleries, relate to the banner of Germania hanging from the ceiling?ActivityIndia and the Contemporary World


266  Nationalism and Imperialism


By the last quarter of the nineteenth century nationalism no longer


retained its idealistic liberal-democratic sentiment of the first half


of the century, but became a narrow creed with limited ends. During


this period nationalist groups became increasingly intolerant of eachother and ever ready to go to war. The major European powers, in


turn, manipulated the nationalist aspirations of the subject peoples


in Europe to further their own imperialist aims.


The most serious source of nationalist tension in Europe after 1871


was the area called the Balkans. The Balkans was a region of


geographical and ethnic variation comprising modern-day Romania,Bulgaria, Albania, Greece, Macedonia, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina,


Slovenia, Serbia and Montenegro whose inhabitants were broadly


known as the Slavs. A large part of the Balkans was under the controlof the Ottoman Empire. The spread of the ideas of romantic


nationalism in the Balkans together with the disintegration of the


Ottoman Empire made this region very explosive. All through thenineteenth century the Ottoman Empire had sought to strengthen


itself through modernisation and internal reforms but with very


little success. One by one, its European subject nationalities brokeaway from its control and declared independence. The Balkan


peoples based their claims for independence or political rights on


nationality and used history to prove that they had once beenindependent but had subsequently been subjugated by foreign


powers. Hence the rebellious nationalities in the Balkans thought of


their struggles as attempts to win back their long-lost independence.


As the different Slavic nationalities struggled to define their identity


and independence, the Balkan area became an area of intense conflict.


The Balkan states were fiercely jealous of each other and each hopedto gain more territory at the expense of the others. Matters were


further complicated because the Balkans also became the scene of


big power rivalry. During this period, there was intense rivalry amongthe European powers over trade and colonies as well as naval and


military might. These rivalries were very evident in the way the Balkan


problem unfolded. Each power – Russia, Germany, England,Austro-Hungary – was keen on countering the hold of other powers


over the Balkans, and extending its own control over the area. This


led to a series of wars in the region and finally the First World War.27


Nationalism   in   EuropeNationalism, aligned with imperialism, led Europe to disaster in 1914.


But meanwhile, many countries in the world which had beencolonised by the European powers in the nineteenth century began


to oppose imperial domination. The anti-imperial movements that


developed everywhere were nationalist, in the sense that they allstruggled to form independent nation-states, and were inspired by


a sense of collective national unity, forged in confrontation with


imperialism. European ideas of nationalism were nowherereplicated, for people everywhere developed their own specific variety


of nationalism. But the idea that societies should be organised into


‘nation-states’ came to be accepted as natural and universal.


Fig. 20 — A map celebrating the British Empire.


At the top, angels are shown carrying the banner of freedom. In the foreground, Britannia — the


symbol of the British nation — is triumphantly sitting over the globe. The colonies are represented


through images of tigers, elephants, forests and primitive people. The domination of the world isshown as the basis of Britain’s national pride.India and the Contemporary World


Project1. Explain what is meant by the 1848 revolution of the liberals.  What were the political, social


and economic ideas supported by the liberals?


2. Choose three examples to show the contribution of culture to the growth of nationalism


in Europe.


3. Through a focus on any two countries, explain how nations developed over the nineteenth


century.


4. How was the history of nationalism in Britain unlike the rest of Europe?


5. Why did nationalist tensions emerge in the Balkans?


Find out more about nationalist symbols in countries outside Europe. For one or two countries,


collect examples of pictures, posters or music that are symbols of nationalism. How are these


different from European examples?


DiscussWrite in brief


1. Write a note on:


a) Guiseppe  Mazzinib) Count Camillo de Cavour


c) The Greek war of independence


d)  Frankfurt parliament


e) The role of women in nationalist struggles


2. What steps did the French revolutionaries take to create a sense of collective


identity among the French people?


3. Who were Marianne and Germania? What was the importance of the way in


which they were portrayed?


4. Briefly trace the process of German unification.


5. What changes did Napoleon introduce to make the administrative system more


efficient in the territories ruled by him?


Write in brief


Project    Vietnam gained formal independence in 1945, before India, but


it took another three decades of fighting before the Republic


of Vietnam was formed. This chapter on Indo-China willintroduce you to one of the important states of the peninsula, namely,


Vietnam.  Nationalism in Indo-China developed in a colonial context.


The knitting together of a modern Vietnamese nation that broughtthe different communities together was in part the result of


colonisation but, as importantly, it was shaped by the struggle against


colonial domination.


If you see the historical experience of Indo-China in relation to that


of India, you will discover important differences in the way colonial


empires functioned and the anti-imperial movement developed. Bylooking at such differences and similarities you can  understand  the


variety of ways in which nationalism has developed and shaped the


contemporary world.


The  Nationalist  Movement  in  Indo-China Chapter II The Nationalist Movement in


Indo-China


Fig.1 – Map of Indo-China.


India and the Contemporary World


301  Emerging from the Shadow of China


Indo-China comprises the modern countries of Vietnam, Laos and


Cambodia (see Fig. 1). Its early history shows many different groups


of people living in this area under the shadow of the powerful


empire of China. Even when an independent country was establishedin what is now northern and central Vietnam, its rulers continued


to maintain the Chinese system of government as well as


Chinese culture.


Vietnam was also linked to what has been called the maritime silk


route that brought in goods, people and ideas. Other networks of


trade connected it to the hinterlands where non-Vietnamese peoplesuch as the Khmer Cambodians lived.


Fig. 2 – The port of Faifo.


This port was founded by Portuguese merchants. It was one ofthe ports used by European trading companies much before thenineteenth century.


1.1 Colonial Domination and Resistance


The colonisation of Vietnam by the French brought the people of


the country into conflict with the colonisers in all areas of life. The


most visible form of French control was military and economic


domination but the French also built a system that tried to reshape


the culture of the Vietnamese. Nationalism in Vietnam emergedthrough the efforts of different sections of society to fight against


the French and all they represented.31


The Nationalist Movement in Indo-ChinaFig. 3 – Francis Garnier, a French officer who led


an attack against the ruling Nguyen dynasty,being killed by soldiers of the court.Garnier was part of the French team that exploredthe Mekong river. In 1873 he was commissionedby the French to try and establish a Frenchcolony in Tonkin in the north. Garnier carried outan attack on Hanoi, the capital of Tonkin, but waskilled in the fight.


French troops landed in Vietnam in 1858


and by the mid-1880s they had established


a firm grip over the northern region.After the Franco-Chinese war the


French  assumed control of Tonkin and


Anaam and, in 1887, French Indo-Chinawas formed. In the following decades


the French sought to consolidate


their position, and people in Vietnambegan reflecting on the nature of the


loss that Vietnam was suffering. Nationalist


resistance developed out of this reflection.


Fig. 4 – The Mekong river, engraving by the French Exploratory Force, in which Garnier participated.


Exploring and mapping rivers was part of the colonial enterprise everywhere in the world. Colonisers wanted to knowthe route of the rivers, their origin, and the terrain they passed through. The rivers could then be properly used fortrade and transport. During these explorations innumerable pictures and maps were produced.India and the Contemporary World


32The famous blind poet Ngyuyen Dinh Chieu (1822-88) bemoaned


what was happening to his country:


I would rather face eternal darkness


Than see the faces of traitors.


I would rather see no manThan encounter one man’s suffering.


I would rather see nothing


Than witness the dismembering of the countryin decline.


1.2 Why the French thought Colonies Necessary


Colonies were considered essential to supply natural resources andother essential goods. Like other Western nations, France also thought


it was the mission of the ‘advanced’ European countries to bring


the benefits of civilisation to backward peoples.


The French began by building canals and draining lands in the Mekong


delta to increase cultivation. The vast system of irrigation works –


canals and earthworks – built mainly with forced labour, increasedrice production and allowed the export of rice to the international


market. The area under rice cultivation went up from 274,000


hectares in 1873 to 1.1 million hectares in 1900 and 2.2 million in1930. Vietnam exported two-thirds of its rice production and by


1931 had become the third largest exporter of rice in the world.


This was followed by infrastructure projects to help transport goods


for trade, move military garrisons and control the entire region.


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.


By the 1920s, to ensure higher levels of profit for their businesses,


French business interests were pressurising the government in Vietnam


to develop the infrastructure further.


1.3 Should Colonies be Developed?


Everyone agreed that colonies had to serve the interests of the mothercountry. But the question was – how? Some like Paul Bernard, aninfluential writer and policy-maker, strongly believed that theImagine a conversation between a French


coloniser and a Vietnamese labourer in the


canal project. The Frenchman believes he is


bringing civilization to backward people and


the Vietnamese labourer argues against it. In


pairs act out the conversation they may have


had, using evidence from the text.Activity33


The Nationalist Movement in Indo-Chinaeconomy of the colonies needed to be developed. He argued that


the purpose of acquiring colonies was to make profits. If theeconomy was developed and the standard of living of the people


improved, they would buy more goods. The market would


consequently expand, leading to better profits for French business.


Bernard suggested that there were several barriers to economic


growth in Vietnam: high population levels, low agricultural


productivity and extensive indebtedness amongst the peasants. Toreduce rural poverty and increase agricultural productivity it was


necessary to carry out land reforms as the Japanese had done in the


1890s. However, this could not ensure sufficient employment. Asthe experience of Japan showed, industrialisation would be essential


to create more jobs.


The colonial economy in Vietnam was, however, primarily based


on rice cultivation and rubber plantations owned by the French and


a small Vietnamese elite. Rail and port facilities were set up to service


this sector. Indentured  Vietnamese labour was widely used in the


rubber plantations. The French, contrary to what Bernard would


have liked, did little to industrialise the economy. In the rural areas


landlordism spread and the standard of living declined.New words


Indentured labour – A form of labour widely


used in the plantations from the mid-nineteenth


century. Labourers worked on the basis of


contracts that did not specify any rights oflabourers but gave immense power to


employers. Employers could bring criminal


charges against labourers and punish and jailthem for non-fulfilment of contracts.


Fig. 5  – A French weapons merchant, Jean Dupuis, in Vietnam in the late


nineteenth century.


Many like him explored the regions in the hope of making profits from trade. He wasone of those who persuaded the French to try and establish a base in Vietnam.India and the Contemporary World


342  The Dilemma of Colonial Education


French colonisation was not based only on economic exploitation.


It was also driven by the idea of a ‘civilising mission’. Like the Britishin India, the French claimed that they were bringing modern civilisationto the Vietnamese. They took for granted that Europe had developedthe most advanced civilisation. So it became the duty of theEuropeans to introduce these modern ideas to the colony even ifthis meant destroying local cultures, religions and traditions, becausethese were seen as outdated and prevented modern development.


Education was seen as one way to civilise the ‘native’. But in order


to educate them, the French had to resolve a dilemma. How farwere the Vietnamese to be educated? The French needed an educatedlocal labour force but they feared that education might createproblems. Once educated, the Vietnamese may begin to questioncolonial domination. Moreover, French citizens living in Vietnam(called colons) began fearing that they might lose their jobs – asteachers, shopkeepers, policemen – to the educated Vietnamese. Sothey opposed policies that would give the Vietnamese full access toFrench education.


2.1 Talking Modern


The French were faced with yet another problem in the sphere ofeducation: the elites in Vietnam were powerfully influenced byChinese culture. To consolidate their power, the French had tocounter this Chinese influence. So they systematically dismantled thetraditional educational system and established French schools forthe Vietnamese. But this was not easy. Chinese, the language used bythe elites so far, had to be replaced. But what was to take its place?Was the language to be Vietnamese or French?


There were two broad opinions on this question. Some policy-


makers emphasised the need to use the French language as themedium of instruction. By learning the language, they felt, theVietnamese would be introduced to the culture and civilisation ofFrance. This would help create an ‘Asiatic France solidly tied toEuropean France’. The educated people in Vietnam would respectFrench sentiments and ideals, see the superiority of French culture,and work for the French. Others were opposed to French beingthe only medium of instruction. They suggested that Vietnamese betaught in lower classes and French in the higher classes. The few35


The Nationalist Movement in Indo-Chinawho learnt French and acquired French culture were to be rewarded


with French citizenship.


However, only the Vietnamese elite – comprising a small fraction


of the population – could enroll in the schools, and only a few


among those admitted ultimately passed the school-leavingexamination. This was largely because of a deliberate policy of failing


students, particularly in the final year, so that they could not qualify


for the better-paid jobs. Usually, as many as two-thirds of the studentsfailed. In 1925, in a population of 17 million, there were less than


400 who passed the examination.


School textbooks glorified the French and justified colonial rule.


The Vietnamese were represented as primitive and backward, capable


of manual labour but not of intellectual reflection; they could work


in the fields but not rule themselves; they were ‘skilled copyists’ butnot creative. School children were told that only French rule could


ensure peace in Vietnam: ‘Since the establishment of French rule the


Vietnamese peasant no longer lives in constant terror of pirates …Calm is complete, and the peasant can work with a good heart.’


2.2 Looking Modern


The Tonkin Free School was started in 1907 to provide a Western-style education. This education included classes in science, hygiene


and French (these classes were held in the evening and had to be


paid for separately). The school’s approach to what it means tobe ‘modern’ is a good example of the thinking prevalent at that


time. It was not enough to learn science and Western ideas: to be


modern the Vietnamese had to also look modern. The schoolencouraged the adoption of Western styles such as having a short


haircut. For the Vietnamese this meant a major break with their own


identity since they traditionally kept long hair. To underline theimportance of a total change there was even a ‘haircutting chant’:


Comb in the left handScissors in the right,Snip, snip, clip, clip!


Watch out, be careful,


Drop stupid practices,Dump childish things


Speak openly and frankly


Study Western customsImagine you are a student in the Tonkin Free


School in 1910. How would you react to:


¾what the textbooks say about the


Vietnamese?


¾what the school tells you about hairstyles?Activity


Fig. 6  – A local caricature ridiculing the


Vietnamese who has been westernised.


Abandoning his own culture, he has begunwearing Western clothes and playing tennis.India and the Contemporary World


362.3 Resistance in Schools


Teachers and students did not blindly follow the curriculum.


Sometimes there was open opposition, at other times there was


silent resistance. As the numbers of Vietnamese teachers increased


in the lower classes, it became difficult to control what was actuallytaught. While teaching, Vietnamese teachers quietly modified the text


and criticised what was stated.


In 1926 a major protest erupted in the Saigon Native Girls School.


A Vietnamese girl sitting in one of the front seats was asked


to move to the back of the class and allow a local French student


to occupy the front bench. She refused. The principal, also acolon (French people in the colonies), expelled her. When angry


students protested, they too were expelled, leading to a further


spread of open protests. Seeing the situation getting out of control,the government forced the school to take the students back.


The principal reluctantly agreed but warned the students, ‘I will crush


all Vietnamese under my feet. Ah! You wish my deportation. Knowwell that I will leave only after I am assured Vietnamese no longer


inhabit Cochinchina.’


Elsewhere, students fought against the colonial government’s efforts


to prevent the Vietnamese from qualifying for white-collar jobs.


They were inspired by patriotic feelings and the conviction that it


was the duty of the educated to fight  for the benefit of society.This brought them into conflict with the French as well as the


traditional elite, since both saw their positions threatened. By the


1920s, students were forming various political parties, such as theParty of Young Annan, and publishing nationalist journals such as


the Annanese Student .


Schools thus became an important place for political and cultural


battles. The French sought to strengthen their rule in Vietnam through


the control of education. They tried to change the values, norms


and perceptions of the people, to make them believe in the superiorityof French civilisation and the inferiority of the Vietnamese.


Vietnamese intellectuals, on the other hand, feared that Vietnam was


losing not just control over its territory but its very identity: its ownculture and customs were being devalued and the people were


developing a master-slave mentality. The battle against French


colonial education became part of the larger battle against colonialismand for independence.Some important dates


Nguyen Anh becomes emperor symbolising


the unification of the country under the Nguyen


dynasty.


Cochinchina (the South) becomes a French


colony.


Creation of the Indo-china Union, including


Cochinchina, Annam, Tonkin, Cambodia and


later, Laos.


Ho Chi Minh forms the Vietnamese


Communist Party.


Vietminh start a general popular insurrection.


Bao Dai abdicates. Ho Chi Minh declares


independence in Hanoi (September 23).


The French army is defeated at Dien Bien Phu.


Kennedy decides to increase US military aid to


South Vietnam.


Paris Peace Treaty.


1975 (April 30)


NLF troops enter Saigon.


The Socialist Republic of Vietnam is


The Nationalist Movement in Indo-China3  Hygiene, Disease and Everyday Resistance


Education was not the only sphere of everyday life in which such


political battles against colonialism were fought. In many other


institutions we can see the variety of small ways in which the colonised


expressed their anger against the colonisers.


3.1 Plague Strikes Hanoi


Take the case of health and hygiene. When the French set aboutcreating a modern Vietnam, they decided to rebuild Hanoi.The latest ideas about architecture and modern engineering skills


were employed to build a new and ‘modern’ city. In 1903,


the modern part of Hanoi was struck by bubonic plague. Inmany colonial countries, measures to control the spread of disease


created serious social conflicts. But in Hanoi events took a peculiarly


interesting turn.


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


Fig. 7 – Modern Hanoi.


Colonial buildings like this one came up in


the French part of Hanoi.India and the Contemporary World


38What does the 1903 plague and the measures


to control it tell us about the French colonial


attitude towards questions of health and


hygiene?Discussquarter’ was not provided with any modern facilities. The refuse


from the old city drained straight out into the river or, during heavy


rains or floods, overflowed into the streets. Thus what was installedto create a hygienic environment in the French city became the cause


of the plague. The large sewers in the modern part of the city, a


symbol of modernity, were an ideal and protected breeding groundfor rats. The sewers also served as a great transport system, allowing


the rats to move around the city without any problem. And rats


began to enter the well-cared-for homes of the French through thesewage pipes. What was to be done?


3.2 The Rat Hunt


To stem this invasion, a rat hunt was started in 1902.  The Frenchhired Vietnamese workers and paid them for each rat they caught.


Rats began to be caught in thousands: on 30 May, for instance, 20,000


were caught but still there seemed to be no end. For the Vietnamesethe rat hunt seemed to provide an early lesson in the success of


collective bargaining. Those who did the dirty work of entering


sewers found that if they came together they could negotiate a higherbounty. They also discovered innovative ways to profit from this


situation. The bounty was paid when a tail was given as proof that


a rat had been killed. So the rat-catchers took to just clipping thetails and releasing the rats, so that the process could be repeated,


over and over again. Some people, in fact, began  raising  rats to


earn a bounty.


Defeated by the resistance of the weak, the French were forced to


scrap the bounty programme. None of this prevented the bubonic


plague, which swept through the area in 1903 and in subsequentyears. In a way, the rat menace marks the limits of French power


and the contradictions in their ‘civilising mission’. And the actions of


the rat-catchers tell us of the numerous small ways in whichcolonialism was fought in everyday life.39


The Nationalist Movement in Indo-China4  Religion and Anti-colonialism


Fig. 8  – The execution of Father Borie, a Catholic


missionary.


Images like this by French artists were publicisedin France to stir up religious fury.Box 1


Confucius (551-479 BCE), a Chinese thinker,


developed a philosophical system based on good


conduct, practical wisdom and proper socialrelationships. People were taught to respect theirparents and submit to elders. They were toldthat the relationship between the ruler and thepeople was the same as that between childrenand parents.


Colonial domination was exercised by control over all areas of private


and public life. The French occupied Vietnam militarily but they also


sought to reshape social and cultural life. While religion played an


important role in strengthening colonial control, it also providedways of resistance. Let us consider how this happened.


Vietnam’s religious beliefs were a mixture of Buddhism,


Confucianism and local  practices. Christianity, introduced by Frenchmissionaries, was intolerant of this easygoing attitude and viewed


the Vietnamese tendency to revere the supernatural as something to


be corrected.


From the eighteenth century, many  religious movements were hostile


to the Western presence. An early movement against French control


and the spread of Christianity was the Scholars Revolt in 1868. Thisrevolt was led by officials at the imperial court angered by the spread


of Catholicism and French power. They led a general uprising inIndia and the Contemporary World


40New words


Syncretic – Characterised by syncretism; aimsto bring together different beliefs and practices,


seeing their essential unity rather than their


differenceConcentration camp – A prison where people


are  detained without due process of law. The


word evokes an image of a place of tortureand brutal treatmentNgu An and Ha Tien provinces where over a thousand Catholics


were killed. Catholic missionaries had been active in winning converts


since the early seventeenth century, and by the middle of theeighteenth century had converted some 300,000.  The French crushed


the movement but this uprising served to inspire other patriots to


rise up against them.


The elites in Vietnam were educated in Chinese and Confucianism.


But religious beliefs among the peasantry were shaped by a variety


of syncretic  traditions that combined Buddhism and local beliefs.


There were many popular religions in Vietnam that were spread by


people who claimed to have seen a vision of God. Some of these


religious movements supported the French, but others inspiredmovements against colonial rule.


One such movement was the Hoa Hao. It began in 1939


and gained great popularity in the fertile Mekong delta area. Itdrew on religious ideas popular in anti-French uprisings of the


nineteenth century.


The founder of Hoa Hao was a man called Huynh Phu So. He


performed miracles and helped the poor. His criticism against useless


expenditure had a wide appeal. He also opposed the sale of child


brides, gambling and the use of alcohol and opium.


The French tried to suppress the movement inspired by Huynh


Phu So. They declared him mad, called him the Mad Bonze,


and put him in a mental asylum. Interestingly, the doctor whohad to prove him insane became his follower, and finally in 1941,


even the French doctors declared that he was sane. The French


authorities exiled him to Laos and sent many of his followers toconcentration camps .


Movements like this always had a contradictory relationship withmainstream nationalism. Political parties often drew upon theirsupport, but were uneasy about their activities.  They could neither


control or discipline these groups, nor support their rituals


and practices.


Yet the significance of these movements in arousing anti-imperialist


sentiments should not be underestimated.41


The Nationalist Movement in Indo-ChinaIn Japan, Phan Boi Chau and Phan Chu Trinh


spent time together, discussing their visions ofVietnamese independence, and debating theirdifferences. This is what Phan Boi Chau laterwrote about their discussions:


‘Thereafter over more than ten days, he and I


debated time and again, and our opinions werediametrically opposed. That is to say, he wishedto overthrow the monarchy in order to create abasis for the promotion of popular rights; I, onthe contrary, maintained that first the foreignenemy should be driven out, and after ournation’s independence was restored we couldtalk about other things. My plan was to makeuse of the monarchy, which he opposedabsolutely. His plan was to raise up the peopleto abolish the monarchy, with which I absolutelydisagreed. In other words, he and I were pursuingone and the same goal, but our means wereconsiderably different.’


SourceSource A


New words


Republic – A form of government based on


popular consent and popular representation.


It is based on the power of the people asopposed to monarchyFrench colonialism was resisted at many levels and in various forms.


But all nationalists had to grapple with one set of questions: Whatwas it to be Modern? What was it to be Nationalist?  In order to bemodern, was it necessary to regard tradition as backward and rejectall earlier ideas and social practices?  Was it necessary to consider the‘West’ as the symbol of development and civilisation, and try andcopy the West?


Different answers were offered to such questions. Some intellectuals


felt that Vietnamese traditions had to be strengthened to resistthe domination of the West, while others felt that Vietnam hadto learn from the West even while opposing foreign domination.These differing visions led to complex debates, which could not beeasily resolved.


In the late nineteenth century, resistance to French domination was


very often led by Confucian scholar-activists, who saw their worldcrumbling. Educated in the Confucian tradition, Phan Boi Chau(1867-1940) was one such nationalist. He became a major figure inthe anti-colonial resistance from the time he formed the RevolutionarySociety (Duy Tan Hoi) in 1903, with Prince Cuong  De as the head.


Phan Boi Chau met the Chinese reformer Liang Qichao (1873-1929)in Yokohama in 1905. Phan’s most influential book, The History of


the Loss of Vietnam  was written under the strong influence and advice


of Qichao. It became a widely read bestseller in Vietnam and Chinaand was even made into a play. The book focuses on two connectedthemes: the loss of sovereignty and the severing of ties with China –ties that bound the elites of the two countries within a shared culture.It is this double loss that Phan laments, a lament that was typical ofreformers from within the traditional elite.


Other nationalists strongly differed with Phan Boi Chau. One such


was Phan Chu Trinh (1871-1926). He was intensely hostile to themonarchy and opposed to the idea of resisting the French with thehelp of the court.  His desire was to establish a democratic republic .


Profoundly influenced by the democratic ideals of the West, he didnot want a wholesale rejection of Western civilisation. He acceptedthe French revolutionary ideal of liberty but charged the Frenchfor not abiding by the ideal. He demanded that the French set uplegal and educational institutions, and develop agriculture


and industries.5  The Vision of Modernisation


What ideas did Phan Boi Chau and Phan


Chu Trinh share in common? What did they


differ on?DiscussIndia and the Contemporary World


425.1 Other Ways of Becoming Modern: Japan and China


Early Vietnamese nationalists had a close relationship with Japan


and China. 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.


In the first decade of the twentieth century a ‘go east movement’


became popular.  In 1907-08 some 300 Vietnamese students went


to Japan to acquire modern education. For many of them the primaryobjective was to drive out the French from Vietnam, overthrow


the puppet emperor and re-establish the Nguyen dynasty that had


been deposed by the French. These nationalists looked for foreignarms and help. They appealed to the Japanese as fellow Asians.


Japan had modernised itself and had resisted colonisation by the


West. Besides, its victory over Russia in 1907 proved its militarycapabilities. Vietnamese students established a branch of the


Restoration Society in Tokyo but after 1908, the Japanese Ministry


of Interior clamped down on them. Many, including Phan Boi Chau,were deported and forced to seek exile in China and Thailand.


Developments in China also inspired


Vietnamese nationalists. In 1911, the longestablished monarchy in China was


overthrown by a popular movement under


Sun Yat-sen, and a Republic was set up.Inspired by these developments, Vietnamese


students organised the Association for the


Restoration of Vietnam (Viet-NamQuan Phuc Hoi). Now the nature of the


anti-French independence movement


changed. The objective was no longer toset up a constitutional monarchy but a


democratic republic.


Soon, however, the anti-imperialist movement


in Vietnam came under a new type


of leadership.


Fig. 9 – Cartoon of Vietnamese nationalists chasing away imperialists.


In all such nationalist representations of struggle the nationalistsappear heroic, marching ahead, while the imperial forces flee.43


The Nationalist Movement in Indo-China6  The Communist Movement and Vietnamese Nationalism


The Great Depression of the 1930s had a profound impact on


Vietnam. 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. These provinces were among the poorest,had an old radical tradition, and have been called the ‘electrical fuses’


of Vietnam – when the system was under pressure they were the


first to blow. The French put these uprisings down with great severity,even using planes to bomb demonstrators.


In February 1930, Ho Chi Minh brought together competing


nationalist groups to establish the Vietnamese Communist (VietnamCong San Dang) Party, later renamed the Indo-Chinese Communist


Party. He was inspired by the militant demonstrations of the European


communist parties.


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 ofVietnam (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 Vietnamwas formed and Ho Chi Minh became Chairman.


6.1 The New Republic of Vietnam


The new republic faced a number of challenges. The French tried toregain control by using the emperor, Bao Dai, as their puppet. Faced


with the French offensive, the Vietminh were forced to retreat to


the hills. After eight years of fighting, the French were defeated in1954 at  Dien Bien Phu.


The Supreme French Commander of the French armies, General


Henry Navarre had declared confidently in 1953 that they wouldsoon be victorious. But on 7 May 1954, the Vietminh annihilated


and captured more than 16,000 soldiers of the French Expeditionary


Corps. The entire commanding staff, including a general, 16 colonelsand 1,749 officers, were taken prisoner.


In the peace negotiations in Geneva that followed the French defeat,


the Vietnamese were persuaded to accept the division of the country.North and south were split: Ho Chi Minh and the communists tookDeclaration of independence


The declaration of the new republic began by


reaffirming the principles of the declaration ofindependence of the United States in 1771 andof the French Revolution in 1791 but added thatthe French imperialists do not follow theseprinciples for they


‘have violated our fatherland and oppressed our


fellow citizens. They have acted contrary to theideals of humanity and justice.


‘In the field of politics, they have deprived


us of all liberties. They have imposed upon usinhuman laws … They have built more prisonsthan schools. They have mercilessly slain ourpatriots; they have drowned our uprisings inrivers of blood.


‘They have fettered public opinion; they have


practiced obscurantism  against our people …


‘For these reasons, we members of the


Provisional Government, representing the entire


population of Vietnam, declare that we shallhenceforth have no connection with imperialistFrance; that we abolish all the privileges whichthe French have arrogated to themselves onour territory …


‘We solemnly proclaim to the entire world:


Vietnam has the right to be free andindependent, and in fact has become free andindependent.’


SourceSource B


New words


Obscurantist – Person or ideas that misleadIndia and the Contemporary World


44power in the north while Bao Dai’s regime was put in power


in the south.


This division set in motion a series of events that turned


Vietnam into a battlefield bringing death and destruction to


its people as well as the environment. The Bao Dai regimewas soon overthrown by a coup led by Ngo Dinh Diem.


Diem built a repressive and authoritarian government. Anyone


who opposed him was called a communist and was jailedand killed. Diem retained Ordinance 10, a French law that


permitted Christianity but outlawed Buddhism. His dictatorial


rule came to be opposed by a broad opposition united underthe banner of the National Liberation Front (NLF).


With the help of the Ho Chi Minh government in the north,


the NLF fought for the unification of the country. The US


Fig. 10 – The French Commander in Indo-China,


General Henri Navarre (right).


Navarre wanted to attack the Vietminh even in theirremote bases. As a consequence the French openedmany fronts of attack and scattered their forces.Navarre’s plans backfired in the North Eastern Valleyof Dien Bien Phu.


Box 2


At Dien Bien Phu the French were outwitted by the Vietminh forces led by General Vo Nguyen Giap. The French


Commander, Navarre, had not thought of all the problems he would face in the battle. The valley where French garrisonswere located was flooded in the monsoon and the area was covered with bushes, making it difficult to move troops andtanks, or trace the Vietminh anti-aircraft guns hidden in the jungle.


From their base in the hills, the Vietminh surrounded the French garrisons in the valley below, digging trenches and tunnels


to move without being detected. Supplies and reinforcements could not reach the besieged French garrison, the woundedFrench soldiers could not be moved, and the French airstrip became unusable because of continuous artillery fire.


Dien Bien Phu became a very important symbol of struggle. It strengthened Vietminh conviction in their capacity to fight


powerful imperial forces through determination and proper strategy. Stories of the battle were retold in villages and citiesto inspire people.


Fig. 11  – Supplies being taken


to Dien Bien Phu.


Vietminh forces used bicyclesand porters to transportsupplies. They went throughjungles and hidden tracks toescape enemy attacks.


The Nationalist Movement in Indo-ChinaBox 3


Ho Chi Minh (1890-1969)


Little is known about his early life mostly because Minh chose to downplay his personal background and identify himself


with the cause of Vietnam. Probably born as Nguyen Van Thanh in Central Vietnam, he studied at French schools thatproduced leaders such as Ngo Dinh Diem, Vo Nguyen Giap and Pham Van Dong. He briefly taught in 1910, and in 1911,learnt baking and took a job on a French liner on the Saigon-Marseilles run. Minh became an active member of theCommintern, meeting Lenin and other leaders. In May 1941, after 30 years abroad in Europe, Thailand and China, Minhfinally returned to Vietnam. In 1943 he took the name Ho Chi Minh (He Who Enlightens). He became president of theVietnam Democratic Republic. Ho Chi Minh died on 3 September 1969. He led the party successfully for over 40 years,struggling to preserve Vietnamese autonomy.


watched this alliance with fear. Worried about communists gaining


power, it decided to intervene decisively, sending in troopsand arms.


6.2 The Entry of the US into the War


US entry into the war marked a new phase that proved costly to theVietnamese as well as to the Americans. From 1965 to 1972, over


3,403,100 US services personnel served in Vietnam (7,484 were


women). Even though the US had advanced technology and good


Fig. 12 – American soldiers searching rice fields for Vietcongs.India and the Contemporary World


46Box 4


Agent Orange: The Deadly Poison


Agent Orange is a defoliant, a plant killer, so called


because it was stored in drums marked with anorange band. Between 1961 and 1971, some11 million gallons of this chemical was sprayedfrom cargo planes by US forces. Their plan wasto destroy forests and fields, so that it would beeasier to kill if there was no jungle cover forpeople to hide in. Over 14 per cent of thecountry’s farmland was affected by this poison.Its effect has been staggering, continuing toaffect people till today. Dioxin, an element ofAgent Orange, is known to cause cancer andbrain damage in children, and, according to astudy, is also the cause of the high incidence ofdeformities found in the sprayed areas.


The tonnage of bombs, including chemical arms,


used during the US intervention (mostly againstcivilian targets) in Vietnam exceeds that usedthroughout the Second World War.medical supplies, casualties were high. About 47,244 died in battle


and 303,704 were wounded. (Of those wounded, 23,014 were listedby the Veterans Administration to be 100 per cent disabled.)


This phase of struggle with the US was brutal. Thousands of US


troops arrived equipped with heavy weapons and tanks and backedby the most powerful bombers of the time – B52s. The wide spread


attacks and use of chemical weapons – Napalm,  Agent Orange, and


phosphorous bombs – destroyed many villages  and decimated jungles.


Civilians died in large numbers.


The effect of the war was felt within the US as well. Many were


critical of the government for getting involved in a war that they saw


as indefensible. When the youth were drafted for the war, the anger


spread. Compulsory service in the armed forces, however, could bewaived for university graduates. This meant that many of those sentto fight did not belong to the privileged elite but were minorities and


children of working-class families.


The US media and films played a major role in both supporting as


well as criticising the war. Hollywood made films in support of thewar, such as John Wayne’s 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 war. Other films weremore critical as they tried to understand the reasonsfor this war. John Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now (1979)


reflected the moral confusion that the war had causedin the US.


The war grew out of a fear among US policy-planners


that the victory of the  Ho Chi Minh government would


start a domino effect – communist governments would


be established in other countries in the area. Theyunderestimated the power of nationalism to movepeople to action, inspire them to sacrifice their home and family, live


under horrific conditions, and fight for independence. They


underestimated the power of a small country to fight the mosttechnologically advanced country in the world.


Fig. 13  – In December 1972 Hanoi was bombed.


New wordsNapalm – An organic compound used to thicken gasoline for firebombs. The mixture burns slowly and when it


comes in contact with surfaces like the human body, it sticks and continues to burn. Developed in the US, it wasused in the Second World War. Despite an international outcry, it was used in Vietnam.


The Nationalist Movement in Indo-China6.3 The Ho Chi Minh Trail


The story of the Ho Chi Minh trail is one way of understanding the


nature of the war that the Vietnamese fought against the US. It


symbolises how the Vietnamese used their limited resources to great


advantage. The trail, an immense network of footpaths and roads,was used to transport men and materials from the north to the south.


The trail was improved from the late 1950s, and from 1967 about


20,000 North Vietnamese troops came south each month on this trail.


The trail had support bases and hospitals along the way. In some parts


supplies were transported in trucks, but mostly they were carried by


porters, who were mainly women. These porters carried about 25kilos on their backs, or about 70 kilos on their bicycles.


Most of the trail was outside Vietnam in neighbouring Laos


and Cambodia with branch lines extending into South Vietnam. TheUS regularly bombed this trail trying to disrupt supplies, but efforts


to destroy this important supply line by intensive bombing failed


because they were rebuilt very quickly.


Fig. 15 – Rebuilding damaged roads.


Roads damaged by bombs were quickly rebuilt.Fig.14 – The Ho Chi Minh trail.Notice how the trail moved through Laos andCambodia.


NORTH


VIETNAM


Khesanh


Hue


Danang


Quangngai


QuinhonDakto


Pheiku


Banmethuot


Tayninh


SaigonLAOS


THAILAND


CAMBODIA


SOUTH


South China SeaTonle SapMekongMekongHo


ChiMinhTrailIndia and the Contemporary World


Fig.16 – On the Ho Chi Minh trail.


Letters of Mr Do Sam


Do Sam was a colonel in the North Vietnamese artillery regiment. He was part of the Tet Offensive started in 1968, to