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No more than ten percent of Vietnamese received any formal schooling at all. But some of those who received western-based schooling were to have enormous political impact. The schools were filled with the sons of government officials and merchants, both French and Vietnamese. They became versed in the French concept of Liberté, Égalité and Fraternité. So it isn’t surprising that some of these students would become oppositional to a colonial system that looked down on and exploited the native population. These were young people for the most part, and many felt that their elders had debased themselves for French favors. The result was the emergence of a strong strain of Vietnamese self-awareness with a powerful anti-French edge. And it was the better educated who would drive the virulent anti-French sentiments as time went on…. MORE>>
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