THE PIASTRE PARADOX: MONETARY IMPERIALISM AND FINANCIAL DEPENDENCY IN COLONIAL VIETNAM (1885–1936)

Abstract

This paper analyzes the mechanisms of French colonial monetary manipulation in Vietnam through the "paradox" of the Indochinese Silver Piastre between 1885 and 1936. While the global financial system was decisively shifting toward the Gold Standard, the Banque de l’Indochine (BIC) deliberately maintained a Silver Standard within the colony to establish an asymmetric "monetary imperialism." Drawing upon World-Systems Theory and the concept of monetary imperialism, this study argues that the preservation of the Piastre was not a project of modernization but a strategic maneuver to institute permanent financial dependency. By controlling exchange rates and exercising exclusive issuance privileges, the BIC transformed global silver price fluctuations into an instrument for extracting economic surplus from key export sectors and impoverishing the indigenous peasantry. The findings confirm that the Piastre functioned as an "invisible chain," eroding the autonomy of the Hue Court and locking the Vietnamese economy into the capitalist orbit of Paris, resulting in profound social disruptions that persisted until the mid-20th century.