Indochina was the name for the nations of South East Asia in the 1800's and early 1900's

indochina-c1885
Originally uploaded by Ladygrey_Twinings.

The French reigned in this region - excluding Thailand - from the mid-1800's to mid-1900's. They brought capitalism, technology, the Roman Catholic religion, French-style government and their language. Saigon was known as Little Paris for the beauty of its boulevards.

The French explolited the labor, gems, silk and wood of the region. One of their profit-making enterprises was rubber plantations.

The French were expelled by Ho Chi Minh's army in 1954.