Japanese coup d'état in French Indochina
The Japanese coup d'état in French Indochina, known as Meigō Sakusen , was a Japanese operation that took place on 9 March 1945, towards the end of World War II. With Japanese forces losing the war and the threat of an Allied invasion of Indochina imminent, the Japanese were concerned about an uprising against them by French colonial forces.
French colonial troops retreating to the Chinese border during the Japanese Coup of March 1945
French Indochina (1913)
General Yuitsu Tsuchihashi
French army personnel captured by the Japanese at Hanoi
French Indochina in World War II
In mid-1940, Nazi Germany rapidly defeated the French Third Republic, and the colonial administration of French Indochina passed to the French State. Many concessions were granted to the Empire of Japan, such as the use of ports, airfields, and railroads. Japanese troops first entered parts of Indochina in September 1940, and by July 1941 Japan had extended its control over the whole of French Indochina. The United States, concerned by Japanese expansion, started putting embargoes on exports of steel and oil to Japan from July 1940. The desire to escape these embargoes and to become self-sufficient in resources ultimately contributed to Japan's decision to attack on December 7, 1941, the British Empire and simultaneously the USA. This led to the USA declaring war against Japan on December 8, 1941. The US then joined the side of the British Empire, at war with Germany since 1939, and its existing allies in the fight against the Axis powers.
Japanese propaganda poster exalting Vichy French and Vietnamese collaboration in Indochina, c. 1942
French Indochina c.1933
Japanese troops on bicycles advance into Saigon
Trần Trọng Kim and other ministers in the Vietnamese imperial cabinet.