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The Second French Indochina Campaign, also known as the Japanese coup of March 1945, was a Japanese military operation in Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam, then a French colony and known as French Indochina. Vietnam was not a real colony at this time. The area known as Cochinchina was a colony proper. However, the regions of Annam and Tonkin were French "protectorates".
It resulted in short-lived independence of the Empire of Vietnam, the Kingdom of Laos and the Kingdom of Cambodia, and in the complete disorganization of Indochina's French administration. A small-scale campaign of guerrilla warfare followed, while France prepared to retaliate, but Japan ultimately surrendered before any major military engagements could take place.
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The Coup
In 1945, the Japanese feared an Allied offensive in French Indochina. The Vichy regime had ceased to exist in Europe, but its colonial administration was still in place in Indochina. In early March, Japanese forces were redeployed around many of the main French garrison towns, and on 9 March, 1945, the Japanese delivered an ultimatum for the French troops to disarm, without warning. Those that refused were immediately attacked and in most cases massacred. In Saigon the two senior Vichy officials, General Emile-René Lemonnier and Resident Auphalle, were executed by decapitation.[2] The French upcountry garrisons fared better, however, and, under the leadership of Major-General Marcel Alessandri, a column of 5,700 French troops fought its way through to Nationalist China.[2]
The French administration was effectively dismantled. The Japanese pressed the Empire of Vietnam, the Kingdom of Laos and the Kingdom of Cambodia to declare their independence. Emperor Bao Dai complied in Vietnam and collaborated with the Japanese. King Norodom Sihanouk also obeyed, but the Japanese did not trust the francophile monarch. Nationalist leader Son Ngoc Thanh, who had been exiled in Japan and was considered a more trustworthy ally than Sihanouk, returned to Cambodia and became Minister of foreign affairs in May, then became Prime Minister in August. In Laos however, King Sisavang Vong, who favoured French rule, refused to declare independence, finding himself at odds with his Prime Minister, Prince Phetsarath Rattanavongsa.
Resistance
The Republic of China, which had given shelter to escaped French troops, and the United States, was reluctant to start a large-scale operation to restore French authority, as they did not favour colonial rule.
Commandos from the British liaison organisation Force 136 had been conducting minor operations in French Indochina since late 1944. After the coup, French and British reinforcements were parachuted into Indochina and conducted guerrilla operations against the Japanese. French troops which had escaped from the Japanese coup in March joined the French and British commandos to take part in the fighting. French resistance groups had more latitude for action in Laos, as the Japanese had less control over this part of the territory. However, the commandos lacked precise orders from their governments and the practical means to mount any large-scale operations.[1] In northern Vietnam, Hô Chi Minh's Viet Minh started their own guerrilla against the Japanese.
In France, recently liberated from Nazi occupation, the French Far East Expeditionary Corps was established and prepared to be sent to Indochina to fight the Japanese.
However, Japanese troops surrendered when Emperor Hirohito announced Japan's capitulation in August. On 19 August, the Japanese surrendered to the Viet Minh. As Bao Dai abdicated, the Viet Minh took control of Hanoi. Hô Chi Minh proclaimed Vietnam's independence on 2 September.
Aftermath
Troops from the United Kingdom - the 20th Indian Division - and the Republic of China (National Revolutionary Army) entered the country, and started disarming the Japanese troops. They were joined by the French Far East Expeditionary Corps, which arrived in September. Jacques Massu's troops took control of Saigon.
French Indochina was left in chaos by the Japanese occupation. Admiral Jean Decoux, who had supported the Vichy regime instead of Free France, was sent to France to face trial. In Laos, Phetsarath Rattanavongsa's Lao Issara deposed the King in October and declared the country's independence, but its government had to flee in April 1946, as the French troops advanced towards Laos. In Cambodia, Son Ngoc Thanh was arrested by the French. Hô Chi Minh found himself in partial control of north Vietnam, setting the stage for the First Indochina War.
See also
References
Printed sources
- Grandjean, Philippe (2004). L'Indochine face au Japon : Decoux-de Gaulle, un malentendu fatal. L'Harmattan.
Media links
- Conflict in Indochina, French newsreels archives (Les Actualités Mondiales), January 15, 1941
External links
- The 9th March 1945 onslaught (3-part dossier)
- (French) Japanese intervention of 1945, Dr. Jean-Philippe Liardet
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