The Haiphong Incident or the Haiphong Massacre occurred on November 23, 1946, when the French cruiser Suffren and several avisos bombarded the Vietnamese coastal city of Haiphong, killing some 6,000 Vietnamese people. The incident, also known as the Shelling of Haiphong, is thought of as the first armed clash in a series of events that would lead to the Battle of Hanoi on December 19, 1946, and with it the official outbreak of the First Indochina War.

Haiphong is the third-largest city in Vietnam and is the principal port city of the Red River Delta. The municipality has an area of 1,526.52 km2 (589.39 sq mi), consisting of 8 urban districts and 7 rural districts. Two of the rural districts cover islands in the South China Sea: Bạch Long Vĩ and Cát Hải. It has a population of 2,359,000 in 2021. The city's economy has strength in manufacturing, as evident by large industrial parks and numerous smaller traditional handicraft villages. Historically, Haiphong is the first place in Vietnam and Mainland Southeast Asia to get electricity.