Colonies were considered essential to supply natural resources and other essential goods. French colonisation was not based only on economic exploitation. It was also driven by the idea of a ‘civilising mission’. Like the British in India, the French claimed that they were bringing modern civilisation to the Vietnamese. They took for granted that Europe had developed the most advanced civilisation. So it became the duty of the Europeans to introduce these modern ideas to the colony even if this meant destroying local cultures, religions and traditions, because these were seen as outdated and prevented modern development.

Huynh Phu so was the founder of the movement named Hoa-Hao in Indo China. He performed miracles and helped the poor. His criticism against useless expenditure had wide appeal. He opposed the sale of child brides, gambling and the use of alcohol and opium. The French tried to suppress the movement inspired by him. They declared him mad and put him in a mental asylum. He was exiled to Laos. His followers were also arrested and placed in concentration camps.

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-third of the students failed. In 1925, only 400 students out of a total population of 17 million were passed school leaving examinations.

The French began 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, increased rice production and allowed the export of rice to the international market. The area under rice cultivation went up from 2,74,000 hectares in 1873 to 1.1 million hectares in 1900 and 2.2 million hectares in 1930. Vietnam exported two-thirds of its rice production and by 1931 had become the third largest exporter of rice in the world.