Back الهند الصينية الفرنسية Arabic Indochina francesa AST Fransa Hind-Çini Azerbaijani فرانسه چین هیندی AZB Француз Һинд-Ҡытайы Bashkir Indotsinang Pranses BCL Французскі Індакітай Byelorussian Френски Индокитай Bulgarian ফরাসি ইন্দোচীন Bengali/Bangla Indez-Sina c'hall Breton
Indochinese Union | |
|---|---|
| 1887–1954 | |
| Motto: "Liberté, égalité, fraternité" "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity" | |
| Anthem: La Marseillaise ("The Marseillaise") | |
Vietnamese-style seal of the Governor-General of French Indochina[b] | |
![French Indochina in 1937 (includes Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Guangzhouwan (Now Zhanjiang)[image reference needed]](view_image.php?q=French_Indochina&sq=&lang=en&file=File:French_Indochina_in_1937_(orthographic_projection).svg) French Indochina in 1937 (includes Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Guangzhouwan (Now Zhanjiang)[image reference needed] | |
| Status | Federation of French colonies (1887–1949) Confederation of French associated states (1949–1954) |
| Capital | |
| Common languages | French (official) |
| Ethnic groups (1936)[2] | |
| Religion | |
| Demonym(s) | Indochinese |
| Membership | |
| Governor-General | |
• 1887–1888 (first) | Ernest Constans |
• 1955–1956 (last) | Henri Hoppenot[d] |
| Historical era | New Imperialism and the Cold War |
| 1858–1885 | |
• French Cochinchina established | 17 October 1862 |
| 19 April 1899 | |
• Addition of Guangzhouwan | 5 January 1900 |
| 22 September 1940 | |
| Oct. 1940 – May 1941 | |
| 9 March 1945 | |
| 2 September 1945 | |
| 13 September 1945 | |
| 19 December 1946 | |
| 21 July 1954 | |
| Area | |
• Total | 737,000 km2 (285,000 sq mi) |
| Population | |
• 1900 | 15,164,500 |
• 1937 | 23,300,000 |
| Currency | French Indochinese piastre South Vietnamese đồng (from 1953) |
| Today part of | Vietnam Laos Cambodia China ∟Zhanjiang |
| |
![Great Seal[a] of French Indochina](view_image.php?q=French_Indochina&sq=&lang=en&file=File:French_Indo-Chinese_version_of_the_Great_Seal_of_the_French_Republic_(Jean_Auguste_Barre).svg)
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French Indochina (previously spelled as French Indo-China),[a][b] officially known as the Indochinese Union[c][d] and after 1941 as the Indochinese Federation,[e] was a group of French dependent territories in Southeast Asia from 1887 to 1954. It was initially a federation of French colonies (1887-1949), later a confederation of French associated states (1949–1954).[4] It comprised Cambodia, Laos (from 1899), Guangzhouwan (1898–1945), Cochinchina, and Vietnamese regions of Tonkin and Annam. It was established in 1887 and was dissolved in 1954. In 1949, Vietnam was reunited and it regained Cochinchina. Its capitals were Hanoi (1902–1945) and Saigon (1887–1902, 1945–1954).
The Second French Empire colonized Cochinchina in 1862 and established a protectorate in Cambodia in 1863. After the French Third Republic took over northern Vietnam through the Tonkin campaign, the various protectorates were consolidated into one union in 1887. Two more entities were incorporated into the union: the Laotian protectorate and the Chinese territory of Guangzhouwan. The French exploited the resources in the region during their rule, while also contributing to improvements of the health and education system in the region. Deep divides remained between the native population and the colonists, leading to sporadic rebellions by the former.
After the Fall of France during World War II, the colony was administered by the Vichy government and was under Japanese occupation until 9 March 1945, when the Japanese army overthrew the colonial regime. They established puppet states including the Empire of Vietnam. After the Japanese surrender, the communist Viet Minh led by Ho Chi Minh declared Vietnamese independence. France sought to restore control with the help of the British in the 1945–1946 war, which led to all-out Vietnamese resistance in the First Indochina War.[5]
In 1945, France returned Guangzhouwan to China. To counter the Viet Minh and as part of decolonization, France formed the anti-communist State of Vietnam as an associated state within the French Union in March 1949. This led to Cochinchina returning to Vietnam in June.[6] Laos and Cambodia also became French associated states the same year. French efforts to retake Indochina were unsuccessful, culminating in defeat at the Battle of Điện Biên Phủ. On 22 October and 9 November 1953, Laos and Cambodia gained independence, as did Vietnam[7][f] with the Geneva Accords of 21 July 1954, ending French Indochina.
- ^ Lecompte, Jean. Monnaies et jetons de l'Indochine Française. (Principality of Monaco, 2013) Quote: "Les légendes sont bien sûr modifiées. A gauche, les attributs de l'agriculture et des beaux-arts sont remplacés par des épis de riz et à droite figure une ancre symbolisant le ministère de la Marine et des Colonies. Hélas, Albert-Désiré Barre décède le 29 décembre 1878 et c'est alors son frère aîné Auguste-Jean Barre qui lui succède et mène à terme le projet. Les premières frappes sortent en 1879." (in French))
- ^ "French Indo-China: Demographic Imbalance and Colonial Policy". Population Index. 2 (11): 68–81. 1945. doi:10.2307/2730333. JSTOR 2730333.
- ^ a b c "Cochinchine, Vietnam, 1945, Digithèque MJP".
- ^ "Federalism and Federation | the Princeton Encyclopedia of Self-Determination". Archived from the original on 9 February 2025. Retrieved 22 January 2025.
- ^ Bradley, Mark Philip (2009). Vietnam at war. Oxford University Press. p. 47. ISBN 978-0-19-280349-8.
- ^ Fac-similé JO du 5 juin 1949, French Indochina Legifrance.gouv.fr.
- ^ The Pentagon Papers Gravel Edition Volume 1, Chapter 5, "Origins of the Insurgency in South Vietnam, 1954–1960" (Boston: Beacon Press, 1971) Archived 23 June 2017 at the Wayback Machine Trích: "France, as the third party in Vietnam, then became pivotal to any political settlement, its executor for the West. But France had agreed to full independence for the GVN on ngày 4 tháng 6 năm 1954, nearly six weeks before the end of the Geneva Conference. By the terms of that June agreement, the GVN assumed responsibility for international contracts previously made on its behalf by France; but, there having been no reference to subsequent contracts, it was technically free of the Geneva Agreements. It has been argued to the contrary that the GVN was bound by Geneva because it possessed at the time few of the attributes of full sovereignty, and especially because it was dependent on France for defense. But such debates turn on tenuous points of international law regarding the prerogatives of newly independent or partitioned states. France speedily divested itself of responsibilities for "civil administration" in South Vietnam"
- ^ "Vietnam, indépendance, Digithèque MJP". Archived from the original on 19 January 2025. Retrieved 14 January 2025.
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