With the implementation of a new government in France, what is the situation in the French colonies of Southeast Asia. The new French government is at war with the Japanese.
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Here’s some surface level info about Indochina in 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.
From late 1944 and throughout 1945, a great famine ravaged across Vietnam, killing up to 2 million by estimates. 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.
24 January
President Roosevelt of the United States wrote that “Indo-China should not go back to France…France has had the country…one hundred years, and the people are worse off than they were at the beginning.” Roosevelt envisioned a post-World War II trusteeship for Indochina.
8 July
The French Sûreté discovered a Việt Minh base in Cao Bằng Province with arms and other material and warned of an immediate need “to re-establish authority.” The Việt Minh at this time controlled much of the border areas on northern Vietnam in Cao Bằng, Bắc Kạn, and Lạng Sơn provinces.
November
A major peasant revolt erupted north of Hanoi in Thai Nguyen and Tuyen Quang provinces. It stemmed out of frustration at agricultural policies that exacerbated an ongoing famine, with the French imposing unfavourable exchange ratios, charging laborers fees to work, and expropriating the crops for Japan - who already appropriated rice-growing land for industrial crops like jute, 6,000-7,000 peasants, aided by Viet Minh involvement, fought Foreign Legionnaires until artillery and tanks dispersed them into the jungles.
25 December
Viet Minh forces won the Battle of Khai Phat-Na Ngan
27 December
U.S. General Albert C. Wedemeyer in Chungking reported that Ambassador Patrick J. Hurley was displeased with aid given to intelligence operatives in Vietnam. Hurley “had increasing evidence that the British, French, and Dutch are working…for the attainment of imperialistic policies and he felt we should do nothing to assist them in their endeavors which run counter to U.S. policy.” Hurley was reflecting President Roosevelt’s position.
31 December
The Việt Minh claimed to have 500,000 members of whom 200,000 were in Tonkin, 150,000 in Annam, and 100,000 in Cochinchina. The Việt Minh military and political structure was strongest and best organized in Tonkin.
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I wonder what the French thought when they heard what Roosevelt
How are the French imposing unfavourabel exchange ratios? Aren’t the japanese in charge of vietnam?
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- I don’t think the French reacted well, but they weren’t in much of a position to complain being a government in exile. Additionally it did not matter too much because the Potsdam Conference reassured France that they owned Vietnam and Indochina. Afterwards, Britain, France, and Japan fought the 1945-1946 War in Vietnam code named Operation Masterdom by Britain where French rule was reestablished before the following First Indochina War
- While Japan was in control of Vietnam, the Vichy French still remained as a puppet government until Japan staged a coup in 1945 out of fear of a French and colonial rebellion. The French who did not escape to nationalist China were interned and harshly treated by the Japanese.
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