French Indochina in World War II

In 1940, Nazi Germany quickly defeated the French Third Republic, and control of French Indochina (today’s Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia) moved to the French State, known as Vichy France. Japan, a powerful nation, gained many advantages here, such as using ports, airfields, and railroads. Japanese troops first entered parts of Indochina in September 1940 and later took control of the whole area by July 1941.

The United States worried about Japan’s growing power and began putting embargoes on sending steel and oil to Japan in July 1940. Japan wanted resources to escape these limits, which helped lead to its attack on the British Empire in Hong Kong and Malaya, and the United States at the Philippines and Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. This brought the United States into World War II on the side of the British Empire and its allies against the Axis powers.

Japanese propaganda poster exalting collaboration between the Empire of Japan, Vichy France and the Vietnamese in Indochina, c. 1942

During this time, Vietnamese communists set up a secret base, and many resistance groups worked against Japanese and French control. One key leader was Ho Chi Minh, who helped form the Viet Minh to oppose the Japanese. In March 1945, Japan took direct control of Vietnam by imprisoning French leaders. By August 1945, Vietnamese nationalists, led by the Viet Minh, declared independence during the August Revolution. However, France took back control of the country in 1945–1946.

At the end of World War II, different groups had strong but clashing ideas about the future of Southeast Asia. Western powers wanted to stop communist ideas from spreading and supported France. Many local people wanted independence from French rule. And communists, both local and from other countries, wanted to grow their influence. These groups did not always agree, and some worked together only because it was useful at the time. Before he died in 1945, Franklin D. Roosevelt had said he did not want France to regain control of Indochina.

Pre-war events

1936

In France, a group called the Popular Front announced new policies for its colonies, including Indochina (now Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia). A similar group called the Indochinese Democratic Front formed in response.

The old governor was replaced, which encouraged Vietnamese nationalists to share their concerns with a French commission. However, by the time the commission arrived, the leaders in France were more worried about Japan’s growing power.

1937

French Indochina c.1933

From 1937 to 1941, tensions grew in East and Southeast Asia as Japan expanded into China. The U.S. president, Franklin D. Roosevelt, saw this as a threat to U.S. interests in China. The U.S. had already received an apology and payment from Japan after they bombed the USS Panay, a U.S. ship on a river in China.

1938

The Popular Front in France lost power, and the Indochinese Democratic Front stopped operating openly. A new French government formed in August 1938, worried about protecting France and its empire.

One of its first actions was to appoint General Georges Catroux as the new governor of Indochina. He was the first military governor since 1879, showing how concerned France was about defending against Japan, which was fighting in nearby China.

1939

Both the French and Indochinese Communist parties were no longer allowed to operate.

World War II

See also: 1940–1946 in French Indochina

1940

After France lost a battle, much of the country came under Germany's control. The rest of southeast France and its colonies were led by a government not fully independent, headed by a famous war hero, Marshal Philippe Pétain. Japan asked Germany for help in stopping supplies from going through Indochina to China.

Increased Axis pressure

Main article: Japanese invasion of French Indochina

General Catroux stopped the trade to China to avoid upsetting Japan. A Japanese group, led by Issaku Nishimura, entered Indochina on 25 June.

On the same day Nishimura arrived, the French government dismissed Catroux and replaced him with Vice Admiral Jean Decoux, who was in charge of French naval forces in the Far East and based in Saigon. Decoux and Catroux agreed on policies and focused on managing Nishimura. Decoux had other concerns. The senior British admiral in the area visited Decoux and suggested he might be ordered to attack Decoux's ships, implying Decoux could save his ships by moving them to Singapore. While the British had not yet attacked French ships that refused to side with the Allies, this would happen at Mers-el-Kébir in North Africa within two weeks; it is unclear if Decoux knew or suspected this. Decoux delayed arriving in Hanoi until 20 July, while Catroux stalled Nishimura on basing negotiations and asked for U.S. help.

Reacting to the Japanese presence in Indochina, on 5 July, the U.S. Congress passed the Export Control Act, banning the shipment of aircraft parts and key minerals and chemicals to Japan, followed three weeks later by restrictions on petroleum products and scrap metal.

Decoux managed to get an agreement between the French Ambassador in Tokyo and the Japanese Foreign Minister, promising to respect Indochina's integrity in return for cooperation against China. Nishimura gave Decoux an ultimatum on 20 September: agree to the basing, or the 5th Division would enter.

Japan entered Indochina on 22 September 1940. An agreement was signed but quickly broken, in which Japan promised to station no more than 6,000 troops in Indochina and never have more than 25,000 passing through the colony. Rights were given for three airfields, with all other Japanese forces forbidden to enter Indochina without Vichy consent. Immediately after signing, Japanese officers attacked the border post of Đồng Đăng, laid siege to Lạng Sơn, which surrendered four days later.

With the signing of the Tripartite Pact on 27 September 1940, creating the Axis of Germany, Japan, and Italy, Decoux had new worries: the Germans could pressure France to support their ally, Japan.

Japan apologized for the Lạng Sơn incident on 5 October. Decoux relieved senior commanders he believed should have anticipated the attack but also ordered hunting down the Lạng Sơn deserters, as well as Viet Minh who had entered Indochina while the French seemed preoccupied with Japan.

Through much of the war, the French colonial government mostly stayed in place, though as Japan's puppets, as the Vichy government was on reasonably friendly terms with Japan. Japan did not enter southern Indochina until 1941, so conflicts from 1939 to the fall of France had little impact on a colony such as Indochina. The Japanese allowed the French to suppress nationalist rebellions in 1940.

1941

In July 1941, Japan successfully pressured the Vichy government to allow their armed forces in Indochina. This alarmed the United States, not only because it showed Japan was willing to occupy other nations' colonial possessions in Asia, but also because Indochina was an important source of rubber and tin for the United States. Sumner Welles reported that President Roosevelt sought a compromise with Japan "to regard Indochina as a neutralized country the same way Switzerland had up to now by the powers as a neutralized country..." This suggestion was relayed to Kichisaburō Nomura, but was either not forwarded to Japanese leadership or not considered before the outbreak of the Pacific War. When the Pacific War started, Japan used Indochina as a base to attack Malaya, the Philippines, and the Dutch East Indies.

Birth of the Việt Minh

In February 1941, Hồ Chí Minh returned to Vietnam and established his base in a cave at Pắc Bó in Cao Bằng Province, near the Sino-Vietnamese border. In May, the Indochinese Communist Party convened its eighth plenum where it placed nationalist goals ahead of communist goals: it prioritized Vietnam's independence ahead of leading the communist revolution, fomenting class war, or aiding workers. To that end, the plenum established the "League for the Independence of Vietnam" (Viet Nam Độc lập Đồng minh hội, Việt Minh for short). All Vietnamese political groups were welcomed to join the Viet Minh provided they supported ICP-led action against the Japanese and French colonizers. Hồ Chí Minh's greatest accomplishment during this period was unifying urban nationalist groups with his own peasant communist rebels and creating a single anti-colonial independence movement.

Vichy agreements with Japan about Indochina

Vichy France signed the Protocol Concerning Joint Defense and Joint Military Cooperation on 29 July. This agreement defined the Franco-Japanese relationship for Indochina, until the Japanese abrogated it in March 1945. It gave Japan a total of eight airfields, allowed them to have more troops present, and to use the Indochinese financial system, in return for a fragile French autonomy. In December, 24,000 Japanese troops sailed from Vietnam to Malaya.

1942

The Chinese organized the Đồng minh hội (ĐMH) coalition to gain intelligence from Indochina, dominated by the VNQDĐ. The only actual assets in Indochina, however, were Việt Minh.

During the Japanese occupation, even during French administration, the Việt Minh exiled to China had a chance to quietly rebuild their infrastructure. They had been strongest in Tonkin, the northern region, so moving south from China was straightforward. They had a concept of establishing "base areas" (chiến khu) or "safe areas" (an toàn khu) in the often mountainous jungle. Of these areas, the "homeland" of the VM was near Bắc Kạn Province. (see map)

Additional chiến khu developed in Yên Bái Province, Thái Nguyên Province (the "traditional" stronghold of the PCI), Pắc Bó in Cao Bằng Province, Ninh Bình Province and Đông Triều in Quảng Ninh Province. As with many other revolutionary movements, part of building their base was providing "shadow government" services. They attacked landlords and moneylenders, as well as providing various useful services. They offered education, which contained substantial amounts of political indoctrination.

They collected taxes, often in the form of food supplies, intelligence on enemy movement, and service as laborers rather than in money. They formed local militias, which provided trained individuals, but they were certainly willing to use violence against reluctant villagers. Gradually, they moved this system south, although not obtaining as much local support in Annam, and especially Cochinchina. While later organizations would operate from Cambodia into the regions of South Vietnam that corresponded to Cochin-China, this was well in the future.

Some of their most important sympathizers included educated civil servants and soldiers, who provided clandestine human-source intelligence from their workplaces, as well as providing counterintelligence on French and Japanese plans.

In August, while on a trip in southern China to meet with Chinese Communist Party officials, Hồ was arrested by the Kuomintang for two years.

1943

To make the Dong Minh Hoi an effective intelligence operation, the Chinese released Ho and put him in charge, replacing the previously Kuomintang-affiliated Vietnamese nationalists.

1944

In 1944, Ho, then in China, had requested a United States visa to go to San Francisco to make Vietnamese language broadcasts of material from the U.S. Office of War Information, the U.S. official or "white" propaganda. The visa was denied.

By August, Ho convinced the Kuomintang commander to support his return to Vietnam, leading 18 guerrillas against the Japanese. Accordingly, Ho returned to Vietnam in September with eighteen men trained and armed by the Chinese. Discovering that the ICP had planned a general uprising in the Việt Bắc, he disapproved but encouraged the establishment of "armed propaganda" teams. These teams would participate in the Viet Minh's first battle against the French.

Vietnamese famine of 1944–1945

Main article: Vietnamese famine of 1944–1945

From late 1944 and throughout 1945, a great famine ravaged across Vietnam. Its causes were attributed to natural disasters, the ongoing war, and poor administration by the French and the Japanese. The Viet Minh successfully directed public resentment toward the occupation powers and, as a result, transformed itself from a guerilla organization into a mass movement.

End of Western rule

Trần Trọng Kim and other ministers in the Vietnamese imperial cabinet.

The Japanese revoked French administrative control on 9 March and took French administrators prisoner. This had the secondary effect of cutting off much Western intelligence about the Japanese in Indochina. They retained Bảo Đại as a nominal leader.

Even before there was a government of the newly proclaimed Empire of Vietnam, the French Provisional Government declared an intention, on 24 March, to have a French Union that would include an Indochinese Federation. While France would retain control over foreign relations and major military programs, the Federation would have its own military and could form relationships outside the Federation, especially with China.

There would, however, continue to be a top French official, called High Commissioner rather than Governor General, but still in control. The five states, Annam, Cambodia, Cochin-China, Laos, and Tonkin would continue; there would be no Vietnam. In August, Admiral Georges d'Argenlieu would be named as High Commissioner, with General Leclerc as his military deputy.

Ho's forces rescued an American pilot in March. Washington ordered Major Archimedes Patti to do whatever was necessary to reestablish the intelligence flow, and the OSS mission was authorized to contact Ho. He asked to meet Gen. Claire Chennault, the American air commander, and that was agreed, under the condition he did not ask for supplies or active support.

The visit was polite but without substance. Ho, however, asked for the minor favor of an autographed picture of Chennault. Later, Ho used that innocent item to indicate, to other Northern groups, that he had American support.

Following the Japanese assumption of power in March 1945, they created a government under Bảo Đại. He invited Ngô Đình Diệm to become Prime Minister but, after receiving no response, turned to Trần Trọng Kim and formed a cabinet of French-trained but nationalist ministers.

His authority extended only to Tonkin and Annam; the Japanese simply replaced the former French officials in Cochinchina; Cao Đài and Hòa Hảo members also gained power there.

Chinese occupation of Northern French Indochina

General Lu Han's 200,000 Chinese soldiers occupied north Vietnam starting August 1945. 90,000 arrived by October, the 62nd army came on 26 September to Nam Dinh and Haiphong. Lang Son and Cao Bang were occupied by the Guangxi 62nd army corps and the red river region and Lai Cai were occupied by a column from Yunnan. Vietnamese VNQDD fighters accompanied the Chinese soldiers.

French Permanent Military Tribunal in Saigon

Main article: French Permanent Military Tribunal in Saigon

The French Permanent Military Tribunal in Saigon, also known as Saigon Trials, was a war crimes tribunal which held 39 separate trials against suspected Japanese war criminals between October 1946 and March 1950.

The FPMTS examined war crimes committed between 9 March 1945 and 15 August 1945.

Cambodia in World War II

Main article: Japanese occupation of Cambodia

When Japan entered the area in 1940, Thailand invaded parts of Cambodia. After a war between France and Thailand, Japan made a treaty in 1941 that forced France to give up part of Cambodia.

In 1941, Japanese soldiers entered Cambodia and set up a base. French leaders were allowed to stay in charge until 1945. Near the end of World War II, Japan took full control, removing the French leaders.

On March 9, 1945, the young king, Norodom Sihanouk, announced that Cambodia was now independent, after Japan asked him to do so. Japanese control ended when Japan surrendered in August 1945.

Some supporters of a local leader named Son Ngoc Thanh escaped to an area still controlled by Thailand, where they joined a group called the Khmer Issarak. Over time, they worked with another group called the Viet Minh.

In May 1947, King Sihanouk agreed to a new rule that made him more of a symbolic leader, placing Cambodia within the French Union.

Laos during World War II

U.S. postwar policy

Franklin D. Roosevelt believed people should choose their own leaders and was not strongly on France's side. After he passed away, the Truman administration faced big challenges, like the Berlin Blockade in 1948–1949. During these times, France was seen as a helpful ally.

When Communist leaders came to power in China in 1949 and the Korean War began in 1950, the U.S. became very worried about communism spreading in East and Southeast Asia. Because of this, the U.S. started to support French policies in the area. This meant ignoring the wishes of people in places like Vietnam who wanted independence. The U.S. was more focused on stopping communism than supporting independence movements.

Viet Minh insurgency

After Japan surrendered in World War II, Vietnamese fighters led by Ho Chi Minh took control in Hanoi. They asked the French leader, Emperor Bảo Đại, to step down. Two small French teams arrived in Vietnam but faced difficult situations. One team was captured, while the other was held by Vietnamese fighters.

Ho Chi Minh announced Vietnam's independence in September 1945, inspired by declarations from the United States and France. However, the French quickly regained control. Different groups in Vietnam had various ideas about how the country should be governed, leading to confusion and tension. The United States received messages from Ho Chi Minh asking for support but did not help Vietnam become independent at that time.