The most influential legacy of the French colonialism in Vietnam is that it pressed Vietnam to become a communist country. As a result of the poor treatment from the French, the Vietnamese had to rebel. Their leader, Ho Chi Minh, had a strong willed and united army against the French, which is what allowed them to win the war. However, Ho Chi Minh was a supporter of the communist government and because of his large army and support, he was able to win the second war and turn Vietnam into a communist country. Considering communism restricts the freedoms of the Vietnamese, it had made improving their happiness and quality of life difficult. Although Vietnam does have a few capitalistic qualities, their slow approach to change and democracy means developing a high quality of life with more freedoms is hindered. this legacy can decrease their happiness and in turn, their quality of life.
Without the need for a rebellion against the French imperialists, Ho Chi Minh wouldn’t have rallied North Vietnam to become communists and thus start the Vietnam war. The aftermath of the war greatly obstructed the improvement of quality of life. Approximately 16 million acres of Vietnamese land is contaminated from Vietnam war with landmines, which has killed 42,000 people after the war. Agent Orange, one of the most deadly poisons causes tumors, birth defects, rashes, psychological symptoms and cancer and was used as a weapon by the United States. It remains in the environment today and has affected 3 million people and still continues to do so. Children continue to be born with defects. The Vietnamese government spends over 45 million dollars for the victims' health problems. This legacy of health issues has lessened the quality of life for the Vietnamese immensely and continues to impede their development of a better life.
The French created a capitalistic economy in Vietnam, and this resulted in people working not for themselves, but for the French government. This created an effect to lower a quality of life for Vietnamese in terms of material living conditions such as income, consumption and housing, because the French did not pay them, or often paid them very little amount which is still happening now. . Also, because of establishment of many factories, air pollution level increased, and Vietnamese people who were unfamiliar to these pollutants are suffering from various lung issues.
French has established many European-style architectural pieces to replace traditional Vietnamese buildings during their period of colonizing. Famous opera houses, Hanoi Opera House and Municipal Theatre in Ho Chi Minh are now top places to visit for tourists. The shows feature Vietnamese history and culture as well, creating a sense of hybridization of cultures. But, during the time of the missionaries when Vietnamese were under force to convert their religion, their quality of life were lowered, because the French were inconsiderate of their human rights, the right to practice religion of choice As a result of French aiming to convert Vietnam to Catholicism in order to civilize them, Catholicism is third ranked religion in Vietnam, where 7% of the Vietnamese are Catholic. This increased a positive aspect in terms of quality of life, because now there are more choices of religion for the people of Vietnam.
Significant aspects of the Vietnamese language was changed during France’s occupation in Vietnam. The reason why Vietnamese is now written in Latin alphabets, as opposed to the previous Chinese characters, is because the French altered the way Vietnamese was written from Chinese characters to the Latin alphabet. Many words in Vietnam are influenced by the French language. For example, the Vietnamese word for wool is “len”, which comes from the French word “laine”.. French is still taught in some bilingual classes of Vietnamese schools, maintaining French language as part of the identity of Vietnam. Currently, Vietnam has the largest Francophone community in southeast Asia because of France. As one of the countries of La Francophonie now, the Vietnamese take part in celebrating and maintaining the French culture and diversity in Vietnam. This creates a stronger political and historical connection, internationally, with other countries associated with La Francophonie. The French spread Catholicism to Vietnam, making it the third most popular religion in Vietnam. In a way, this had a positive effect: it increased quality of life as there are now more choices of religion for the people of Vietnam. The French also established many European-style architectural pieces to replace traditional Vietnamese buildings during their period of colonizing. Famous opera houses, such as the Hanoi Opera House, and the Municipal Theatre in Ho Chi Minh are now top places to visit for tourists. The shows feature Vietnamese history and culture as well, creating a sense of hybridization of cultures. These changes have expanded the Vietnamese culture and enabled the Vietnamese to have a more multifaceted identity when many things are controlled by the communist government.