Why did the rat hunt began to the Vietnam in 1902
Answers
The deplorable condition of sanitation in Hanoi resulted in plague striking the city. Rats entered the houses through sewage and spread bubonic plague in the city. The French, distraught, started the rat hunt mission in 1902. They hired Vietnamese workers to catch rats for a bounty. Thousands of rats were caught for money and the Vietnamese came up with innovative ideas to make money and also oppose the colonial rule. They discovered that by collective bargaining they could demand more bounty. Since rat tails were collected as proof before the money was paid, some Vietnamese cut-off rats' tails and let them free so that can collect money repeatedly. Some even bred rats for the money they fetched. Seeing their folly, the French ultimately stopped the bounty for rat's tail programme and the rat-hunt came to an end. The plague also became worse from 1903.
ANSWER..
The city of Hanoi was built by using modern engineering and architecture. A beautiful city was built for the colonial masters. It had wide avenues and well laid out sewer system. The irony was that the sewer system; which was being touted as the symbol of hygiene became the perfect breeding ground for rats and led to the plague epidemic in Hanoi. The Rat Hunt: To stop the spread of plague, as rat hunt was started in 1902. Vietnamese workers were hired for the task and were paid for each rat being caught. People began to catch rats in thousands. The payment was done when a tail of a rat was shown as a proof that a rat had been killed. Many people began just clipping the tails and collecting the bounty. Many people even began to raise rat to earn more. This incident showed that at some juncture even the superior power of a colonial master fails and even the weak can assume a very strong bargaining position.