Colonial Exploitation in Vietnam and the Philippines

Running head: COLONIAL EXPLOITATION IN VIETNAM AND THE PHILIPPINES
COLONIAL EXPLOITATION IN VIETNAM AND THE PHILIPPINES
Name of the student:
Name of the university:
Author note:

1COLONIAL EXPLOITATION IN VIETNAM AND THE PHILIPPINES
The policy of acquiring full or partial control politically over another country and
exploiting it economically is the main characteristic of colonialism. In order to gain power and
dominate other nations, few nations have practised colonialism (Glenn, 2015). The issue of one
nation assuming control over the other nations is only a way of exploitation and in no way
beneficial. The only way the colonized nations that are politically controlled by other nation gets
benefits are the resources brought in to exploit the nation. In a similar way Vietnam and
Philippines have a history of colonised years. The essay aims to discuss the colonial exploitation
for men and women of different classes in Vietnam and Philippines along with critically
examining it.
The lasting of French colonialism in Vietnam was more than six decades. According to
Elliott (2016), Vietnam was entirely under French control by 1880s and the nation was one
among the Indochina francais. The imperialism of France administration was justified by a set of
principles that was called mission. It was only a form of English ‘white man’s burden’. The
imperialists rooted their colonisation on the Vietnam land by calling it as a responsibility of
civilizing the underdeveloped people of Africa and Asia. However, the reason provided was a
façade, and the real motive was to exploit the economy of the country. The greed and demand for
resources, raw materials and cheap labour was the driving force of the French imperialism. The
imperialism of French was only perceived to be acting for the French interest.
According to McClintock, Mufti and Shohat (1997), the general view of French
colonialism is even more haphazard, brutal and expedient. Although the political management of
Indochina was in only a few of the governors, bureaucrats and officials who have manipulated
and misused the power in their own way. Since each governor was the provided with authority
and autonomy the power was wielded even more than what was ought to have. As a consequence

2COLONIAL EXPLOITATION IN VIETNAM AND THE PHILIPPINES
the colonial officials made Vietnam’s economy into a proto-capitalist system that was based on
majorly on the land ownership, low wages and increased production. The Vietnamese were no
longer worked for their living. Making profits was a far-reaching intention, it was only working
for the French benefits. According to Mackie (2012), women’s labour was far were not
considered to be part of the economic value. The French officials seized vast lands, utilising for
their production and exporting them later. The large landowners were hardly making any profits
due to several taxes imposed on them. Small landholders were provided with options that
included either remaining as a labourer on their land’s plantation or relocating somewhere else.
Places that were facing a shortage of labour, Viet farmers from the outlying villages were
recruited in mass. Often they enrolled voluntarily as they are lured by false promises of high
wages and crops. The main crops grown were mainly the cash crops as they are easy to earn
money. Among the cash crops, rice and rubber were the main cash crops for the plantation.
During the French colonization, several factories were constructed and several mines were built
in order to tap into the natural resources of Vietnam such as coal, tin and zinc. Most of the
materials that were manufactured were the for the export purpose mainly as the aim of the
French capitalists, investors and officials. The workers on plantations were paid poorly for long
hours with very low wages. Vietnam peasants who did not work on the field were unpaid labour
and were forced to work on governmental buildings, roads, dams and other infrastructure.
The French colonialism did provide few benefits to the Vietnamese society although they
were intended for their own benefits. The most notable improvement among all is the
improvement in education. In the end, it can be learned that it was chiefly for the economic
interest and that interest has dragged the exploitation to an extremely brutal way.