HCM City (VNA) – The French Institute inHo Chi Minh City held a workshop highlighting Vietnam-France memories in theFirst World War (1914-1918) ahead of the 100th anniversary of the end of thewar.

The event featured Vietnamese and Frenchhistorical and literature researchers and students from universities andcolleges across the southern economic hub.

Participants were given an overview of theengagement of Indochinese soldiers and workers in the war and introduced toVietnamese historical and literature documents on World War I, including somepublished during the war.

Professor Pham Quang Minh, Rector of theUniversity of Social Sciences and Humanities under Vietnam National University– Hanoi, said more than 20 million people died or went missing.

When the war ended, France was seriously damagedwhile the US gained the most, he added.

According to PhD Henri Eckert, a lecturer ofhistory at Sorbonne Paris IV University, in 1915, a year after the war began inFrance, the European country conducted a search for residents in its coloniesto join the war. 

For France, Indochinese people were hard-workingand skillful. Therefore, by 1916, France deployed nearly 100,000 Indochinese toperform different tasks in the country.

During the workshop, youngsters had anopportunity to study historical periods of Vietnam and the world at large inaddition to exchanging their viewpoints about Vietnam-France history andliterature.

The event is also meant to promote culturalcooperation between the two countries.-VNA