How nationalism in vietnam emerged through the efforts if different sections of the society to fight against the french ?

Nationalism in Vietnam was the result of the efforts of different sections of society :

a. Many religious movements began in Vietnam to show their hostility to the presence of French, and to Christianity. For example Scholars movement of 1868.

b. The role of Phan Boi Chau, who formed the revolutionary society to resist French domination, and who sought the support of the monarchy and the court to drive the French out.

c. The role of Phan Chi Trinh who resisted French presence but was not totally against the western ideas.

d. The Go East movement of the early 20thy century, which aimed to re establish the Nguyen dynasty by seeking Japanese and the Chinese help.

e. Students , teachers actively resisted French presence and domination in schools.

f. The role of the rat catchers cannot also be undermined. The rat menace revealed the limits of the colonial power.

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Resistance in Schools

Teachers and students did not blindly follow what was written in the curriculum. There could be open opposition as well as silent resistance. When the number of Vietnamese teachers increased in the lower classes, it was no longer possible to control what was being actually taught.

The schools proved to be fertile ground for developing the feeling of nationalism among the Vietnamese. By the 1920s, students began to form political parties and to publish nationalist journals. The Party of Young Annan (political party) and Annanese Student (journal) are some examples.

The imposition of French education and culture backfired as the Vietnamese intellectuals felt a threat on their own culture.

Huynh Phu So: Hoa Hao was another such movements. It began in 1939 and gained great popularity in the fertile Mekong delta area. It drew on religious ideas popular in anti-French uprisings of the nineteenth century. The founder of Hoa Hao was a man called Huynh Phu So. 

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