The Power Vacuum: Vietnam 1945

Abstract

The Second World War in Europe ended in May 1945, but the war in the Far East awaited resolution. The victorious Allied leaders met at the town of Potsdam, just outside of Berlin, in July 1945 to formulate an adequate punishment for Germany and the shape of the post-war world order. Detailed Allied negotiations at the Potsdam Conference, concerning the ongoing war in the Far East, resulted in southern Indo-China being positioned within the range of Southeast Asia Command (SEAC) operational activities. By this stage in the Second World War, the French administration in Indo-China had been overthrown by the Japanese military. The Japanese established in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia independent national regimes. These were little more than puppet administrations. In reality, French Indo-China was a Japanese occupied territory similar to British Malaya, British Singapore and the Dutch East Indies. In the corridors of power, in London and Washington, Anglo-American war planners naturally expected the war in the Far East to continue well into 1946.KeywordsPolitical ViolenceHague ConventionFrench ColonialPower VacuumIndian ForceThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.