1940, June 19. 2001. The Encyclopedia of World History

The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.


1940, June 19

On the eve of the Franco-German armistice (June 22), Japan announced that it would oppose any change in the status quo of the French (Vichy) possessions in Indochina. Japan would thus rule through the colonial institutions already in place. Although this policy violated the “liberator” image Japan painted for itself in Southeast Asia, allegedly freeing those countries from the colonial rule of European imperialists and returning Asia to the Asians, the policy remained in place until it was clear, early in 1945, that Japan was going to be defeated in the war. Many French puppets under the Japanese then switched sides, effectively destroying the colonial structure of rule.	1

Sept. 23

Japanese troops invaded Lang Son province in northern Vietnam from southern China. Pressure on Hanoi forced the French troops to flee, and in the anarchy that followed, a Communist-led, anti-French rebellion in the mountainous region of Bac Son in northern Vietnam broke out on Sept. 27.	2


The Encyclopedia of World History, Sixth edition. Peter N. Stearns, general editor. Copyright © 2001 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Maps by Mary Reilly, copyright © 2001 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.