1. Introduction

On the French Indochina War and its political context, I felt overwhelmed writing about it, for it seems that we are dealing with a period historians didn't treat in a comprehensive and effective manner. One could not understand the US Vietnam War (1963-1972) without talking about the preceding Ngo Dinh Diem era. His stay in power (1954-1963) should be seen only as an intermission between the first Indochina War (1945-1954) and the American led war fought until the Paris Peace Accord was reached in 1972 ending US military involvement.

'Embers of War, The Fall of an Empire' the book written by Fredrik Logevall was a real eye opener. The author filled a big void with this monumental and meticulous work, answering many questions I've asked through the years about the underlying causes of the Indochina conflict. And to my mind the main question was: what makes Ho Chi Minh obtain Vietnamese independence and defeat the French colonial power when all the others have failed miserably? Logevall didn't quell my thirst with a clear answer. But his enlightening study enabled me to achieve the most intricate part of my effort, analyzing the Ho Chi Minh period (1945-1954).

Vietnam at the end of WWII could be seen as a conjunction of East and West clashes, a flashpoint where competing national interests and ideological influences collide. The events played out like a slow movie thriller where nations as protagonists were locked up in a high stake game. It was the most complicate political jigsaw one could imagine and the circumstances were unique in the history of the Far East. My aim will be to unravel the complex set of events and that in itself is a huge challenge.

Vietnam under the French rule in 1944 was unscrupulously attacked by the Japanese who considered it a crucial strategic position for the defense of its southern flank. Humiliated and diminished by the Germans in its own territory, France had little resources left to help and reinforce its colony. Her garrisons in Indochina had to defend themselves against the Japanese juggernaut. Although Japan was on the verge of losing the War, it still has the military punch to occupy VN and overtake the French, already crushed at home by the Nazi invasion. 

Unbeknownst to most people, Japan has occupied Indochina since September 1940 when France proper was defeated by Nazi Germany almost at the same time. Then followed an uneasy cooperation between the colonial authority under Vichy in charge of day to day administration by governor general Decoux and the Japanese newly invading force. This was the prelude to the first conflict in Indochina itself when the territory was occupied by 2 foreign enemies battling against a domestic uprising, a mind boggling situation indeed. And the following 4 years were to be the decisive period that shaped the popularity of the communist Viet Minh. As a grass root political force, it was leading the struggle for Vietnam independence with Ho Chi Minh and his associates having the opportunity of a lifetime, mobilizing the masses and being the pallbearer of the liberation movement. 

Indochinese people were under very challenging conditions during that time. It would be helpful knowing the attitude of the people towards their estranged French and Japaneses conquerors in 1944. That will shed some light on the extent of their power authority vis-à-vis the masses. Vietnamese opinion about the French colonial occupiers was divided. The bourgeois, the well to do with business dealings and vetting interests supported the French without reservation. The Catholic church, the civil servants, the army and other conservative elements, armed with their conservative mindset also aligned themselves with the colonial authorities while hanging on to their privileges. But the rest, the leftovers of a backward society, the poor 'nha que' peasants and surprisingly the majority of VN intelligentsia were against the colonial master. Standing out among the later group was Ho Chi Minh, still an unknown quantity. And by a stroke of luck or getting the Baraka he would be the undisputed leader of the VN revolution in August 1945.

The subsequent events are history engraved in big letters, at least for those who admired him. And writing about VN during that period is ascertaining and framing the complex personality of Ho.
The VN attitude vis-a-vis the Japanese will further explain Ho Chi Minh's popularity and giving him a big edge compared to other nationalist leaders. The Japanese were obviously the big spoilers in Indochina, coming not to liberate it, but as a second occupant. They turned a blind eye on French mistreatment and exploitation of the locals. Forget the propaganda of Asian sphere of co prosperity and so on. Japanese behavior and atrocities in Indochina were of the worst kind and they made the French seem like benefactors. We should not forget that Japan during the War was a fascist regime under the leadership of Tojo, the bloodthirsty henchman equal to his ally Adolf Hitler.

Ho chi Minh for these reasons would not cooperate with the Japanese, ever. But for the other VN political parties, a partnership with France was considered by ricochet as a tacit collaboration with the Japanese. As a superior strategist with a long term view, Ho already dismissed Japan's lasting influence in VN, being on the verge of defeat by the Western allies. He also thought that France's grip on Indochina will be short lived after WW2. And with their French master on the way out, the 'nationalist' groups competing against Ho would be hard pressed to win the support of the people. Being associated with the French and the Japanese, by design or not, they themselves got their own hands tied behind their back and were discredited in the eyes of the masses. Ho did even better, he also predicted that the US would be the sole superpower worthy of consideration for Indochina although his hope for US attention and assistance would not materialize.
  
After 4 years of uneasy accommodation, things changed abruptly in March 1945 when Indochina was totally under Japanese control. With the war drawing to a close, France was already planning for the return of assuming her complete rights over its colony. She wanted to recover her past grandeur over her vassal territories now that the winds of history have blown in her favor. But the Japanese have none of that. They easily put French troops under submission and took over Indochina. Their strategy was to secure the soft belly zone in their Southern flank and thought they still have a chance to surmount their losses and prolonged the war. A French presence under military defeat signaled a golden opportunity for the Viet Minh to launch their first offensive and demonstrated they are a force to be reckoned with. The road to total victory was still a long and tortuous road ahead. But Ho and his troops can look forward to the day of total victory 9 years later.

The Americans and their allies namely the British had to look for the future of Indochina now that the war was close to ending. Sensing France aim to recover Indochina under her rule, the Roosevelt administration launched the idea of trusteeship for Indochina which means the phased acquisition of independence for the French former colonies in Asia, under the supervision of victorious armies composed of the British and the Chinese. But Winston Churchill objected forcefully to the idea for an obvious reason, her colony India would be subjected to the same treatment.

With the death of Roosevelt in April 1945, just a few weeks before the end of the conflict, his successor Truman was persuaded by the British to let go the trusteeship concept or at least it was put on the back burner. And the new US president seemed more sympathetic to de Gaulle and his demand for the return of France colonies. It was a very delicate question for Truman who foresaw a new formidable foe in the horizon the rising menace of the Soviets under Stalin in Europe. The US hardly had the motivation to deprive France and England for that matter to reclaim their colonies in the face of the new communist threat all over the world. And France, la mère patrie still needed its colonies for her long sought recovery.