ABSTRACT
In building the franco-indigene school system in Indochina, Albert Sarraut was trying to settle a problem that had troubled the French since their arrival in Vietnam. But unfortunately for the French, a new chapter in the history of the activities of Vietnamese unreconciled to French rule was opened by the dramatic victory of the Japanese over the Russian fleet in 1905. For the first time an Asian power had inflicted a defeat on Europeans. The reasons for Japan's success were instantly clear to many of the Vietnamese who were politically coming of age in 1905. Jules Harmand insisted that exposing the natives to French education would increase the pressures on French rule. The University of Hanoi opened its doors at a time when Frenchmen were full of self congratulation about the empire. Named as minister of colonies in 1920, shortly after his return from Indochina, Sarraut presented detailed programs for the economic development of the colonies to the French Senate.
