The definition of imperialism as provided by the Merriam-Webster dictionary is stated as “the policy, practice, or advocacy of extending the power and dominion of a nation especially by direct territorial acquisitions or by gaining indirect control over the political or economic life of other areas.'' However, this does not truly encompass the full picture of imperialism. To dominate other humans in a land distant from the center of an empire necessitates justification by the host country, typically it is based upon the idea that the colonizing country is aiding the colony with its rule. Historically, such justification of imperialism has been rooted in the idea that other races are inferior to that of the colonizer and need modernizing and civilizing missions to meet the standards set by the colonizer. In modern times, such justification would not be successful, however it has been utilized on many occasions in the past, one prominent example being the French settlement of Vietnam. The French justification can be seen in the graphic history titled “The Great Hanoi Rat Hunt” by Michael G. Vann and Liz Clarke in tandem with the primary sources the work referenced. The work and its references indicate that French Imperialism in Hanoi was based off the idea that the Vietnamese had been of a lower class. This resulted in the French attempting to modernize Hanoi in a variety of ways, such as the French sewer system. As plague entered Vietnam, the French had blamed the Vietnamese for being “unclean” and lacking health standards, yet it had actually been spread by the development of the French sewer system aiding the rising rat populations. This serves as a metaphor for the French colonizing effort; an attempt to “help” a population, but rather helping themselves and blatantly hurting the natives while eventually leaving the area worse than it was prior to the French. Overall, the idea of imperialism relies upon its justification within racism and the international consensus that the white man’s burden must be acted upon, allowing international powers such as France to exploit others across the world.
French Imperialism in Hanoi was based upon race both ideologically and physically. The physical aspect could be seen by all visitors of Hanoi through its division into the French quarter and the Vietnamese. The French quarter of Hanoi was created in order to resemble a European city in the heart of Indochina, while being able to separate the native Vietnamese from the French. Page 13 of the graphic history indicates that “in French eyes Hanoi was backwards and chaotic, not really a city but a collection of dirty villages”. The belief that Hanoi, which was built upon years of Vietnamese traditions and culture, was inferior was based mainly on the premise that it was different to what French cities had typically looked like. In reference to the primary source titled “The French In Tonkin And South China” by Alfred Cunningham, Hanoi had been based upon the Vietnamese culture of city planning where each street would be devoted to a single trade and homes of workers, which was a practical method for the Vietnamese, however, the French rejected the idea and tore down large sections of the city citing that it was a “civilizing mission”.
The division of cities into quarters as a method to modernize the areas in which the French colonized was also looked upon with admiration from other empires, providing justification of their work internationally. Alfred Cunninham in the primary source “The French In Tonkin And South China” detailed the impressions that French Hanoi had upon James G. Scott, an English war correspondent. Scott saw the French imperialist “modernizing” effort to be far more of a success than the English effort and commended the French for clearing the Vietnamese quarters for their own estates. Scott praises the French engineers for keeping the natives in their own quarters and believes that if the French engineers had built Kowloon they would have allocated a space for the Chinese and kept them there, which he implies to be superior than to have them amongst the colonizers. Scott in the same document states that the picture of shops and cafes lining the streets of Hanoi “all run by French and not Asiations, is an attractive picture…”. This quote explicitly references that French were far more desirable to run shops than the natives of the land, indicating that there was a clear divide between the races. To take a city by force and impose one’s culture was necessary and accepted by Europeans, to then separate the two races while tearing down the homes and businesses of the natives in order to “modernize” the city was seen as heroic and admirable. This international appreciation of the division of natives and colonizers indicates the extent to which the European states founded their imperialism upon race.
Ideologically, French racism against the Vietnamese took many forms, holding constant only the idea that the natives were of a lesser race. One of the most clear examples of French racism can be found in their actions during the plague crisis in Indochina. The French understood that the plague was spread by fleas that latched onto rats due to the work of Alexander Yersin. Using this knowledge, the French attempted to rid the rat population of Hanoi in order to prevent the spread of the plague from running rampant within the city, especially the white quarter. The French administrators at the time assumed that the rats had been centered in the native quarters of the city and assumed that it was due to their lack of health standards as referenced by page 77 of the graphic history. However reports of rats in the French built sewers, utilized only by the French due to the segregation of Hanoi, forced the French to deal with the problem within their own quarters. The solution that they had created to address the rat population problem indicates the extent of the racial divides in the city; rather than hire Frenchmen to rid the rats within the sewer system, the administrators created an incentive for villagers in the native quarters to hunt rats. The rationale was based upon the belief that cleaning of the sewers was a dirty job far below that of a Frenchman, but suitable for an Asian. There was also the belief that using pay incentives to get the Asian natives to catch the rats in the sewers and streets would teach their “backwards minds” a lesson in both capitalism and urban hygiene as mentioned on page 89 of the graphic history. Of these two lessons, the latter had been of high priority. One of the most egregious actions that the French had taken in Hanoi was the burning down of native homes and possessions in order to stop the spread of the plague. As referenced by the letter titled as “Citizens of Hanoi to Governor General”, all possessions and homes near a native who had died as a result of the plague were burned down to the ground with no remorse, with only bricks surviving the flames if the housing was not made out of straw. Within the letter it can be seen that the natives wish nothing but for explanations to why the French had been committing such acts against them. The natives even state within the letter that if the French were there to protect the interests of the Vietnamese and promote their civilization, why were they the ones forcefully burning down Vietnamese homes and leaving the families without resources.
However, the view that Asians were of a lower race was not solely a French imperialist view, but the view of all white imperialist countries, even America. During the spread of the plague in 1900, an article titled “The Scourge of the Century” was run in America. The primary source detailed American Surgeon General Wyman stating that there was no danger of the plague in America due to the plague being considered a dirt disease that only could take foothold in areas where people were unclear, malnourished, and backwards. Wyman then gave the direct example of India and China, where both the British and French had colonies, as being the places where people were dirty, weak, and lacked any sort of modern sanitation. The Surgeon General then goes on to identify that the reason that Europeans were less likely to die from the plague was due to the fact that Europeans had “better blood and stamina” as well as greater intelligence which allowed the European to visit a doctor. In contrast, he cited the “ignorance and prejudice of Orientals” as a reason that other races had been more affected by the plague. Such rhetoric makes clear that the white male of the late 19th and early 20th century found themselves to be superior in all physical and mental facets of life, thus providing a basis for domination under the guise of “civilizing”. Such racism had even taken hold in the domestic policy of America, where citizens were calling for the extension of the Chinese exclusion acts as seen in the primary source titled “Memorial of the Exclusion Convention Addressed to the President and Congress” in 1901. Not only did white people at the time see other races as being necessary to dominate, they found it revolting that they should ever be allowed into their own country as immigrants looking for work.
Lastly, the divide of race was understood not only by the French and the imperial nations, but by the natives of the lands as well. In reference to the primary source titled “Poem on True Heroism” by an anonymous author, the plight of the Vietnamese can be seen on full display. They had been taxed relentlessly by the French and had obeyed due to fear of their lives. Combined with the plight of natural disaster as well as French rule, the Vietnamese felt as if they had no hope. Famine, drought, and debt all combined to cripple the lives of thousands. The Vietnamese that had helped the French had turned on their own brethren and subjugated their own brothers to survive. The Vietnamese understood the concept of race, but had experienced and correlated nothing but racism with the concept. To the Vietnamese, imperialism and racism went hand in hand, the French dominated the Vietnamese physically and by the idea of race, there was no question about where the justification came from other than the violence that French imperialism wielded heavy handedly.
What can be derived from the primary resources and the graphic history is that imperialist nations in the late 19th and early 20th century had utilized the ideology of racism in order to justify imperialist behavior that they would otherwise have no justification for. The idea that the Vietnamese natives were weak, backwards, and unclean not only justified the colonization of Hanoi to the French, but was used to demolish large areas of land create large French estates and shops, to create segregated quarters within Hanoi to keep the French and other Europeans away from the native Vietnamese, and to burn the homes and possessions of native Vietnamese in order to avoid the plague that had been spread by French themselves through their sewer system. Whether it be the French, the Americans, or the British, imperial nations had dominated other areas of the world and utilized race as a justification for their treatment of natives as inferiors, all using “modernization” and “civilizing missions” as frill attempts to veil their racism. From both the graphic history and the primary sources utilized, it can be understood that imperialism as an ideology is inherently based upon racism as a justification for its harm.