A yellow army.

Abstract

The article mentions an almost unknown event in Vietnamese history. “A Yellow Army” was a project proposed in 1911 by General Pennequin, who was in Indochina for 19 years between 1877 and 1913 and Commander of Indochina Forces from 1911 to 1913.
The basis of the project originated from the international military situation affecting the defense of Indochina: the new Chinese Army after the 1911 Revolution, the armed Siam, Japanese Empire defeated Russia in 1905 and occupied Korea in 1910, and French Forces in the colony were inefficient in defence. Understanding the strength of Vietnamese warriors through the reality of war and seeing the change of Vietnamese society after 30 years of colonization, which appeared a middle class that France needed to rely on, Pennequin realized that the path to independence in colonial countries could begin with the building of a national army with total indigenous officers. The project failed due to the strong protest of the officials and colonists in Indochina.
The World War I broke out forcing the French Parliament to consider restarting the project of “recruiting indigenous army”. Phan Chu Trinh then living in France, saw this recruitment an opportunity to implement modernization ideas. To him, the independence of the country can only be noticed after an initial period of training Vietnamese society towards the modern economy, politics and culture of the West. So he considered the project as a political impetus when sending young intellectuals and skilled workers to France for training. But this program is entirely based on the will of France. Once again, Pennequin’s project failed because of the French colonists in Indochina. This time, it crashed in the egg the wishes of a Vietnamese patriot.