French Indochina

Indochinese Union Union Indochinoise (French) 聯邦東洋 (Vietnamese) 印度支那聯邦 (Chinese) ສະຫະພາບອິນດູຈີນ (Lao) សហភាពឥណ្ឌូចិន (Khmer)
1887–1954
Flag Great Seal[a]
Motto: "Liberté, égalité, fraternité" "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity"
Anthem: La Marseillaise ("The Marseillaise")
Vietnamese-style seal of the Governor-General of French Indochina[b]
Map of French Indochina, excluding Guangzhouwan
Status	Federation of French colonial possessions
Capital	Saigon (1887–1902) Hanoi (1902–1945) Saigon–Cholon (1945–1954)
Common languages	French (official) Vietnamese Tây Bồi Cham Bahnar Rade Jarai Stieng Mnong Koho Tai Dam Teochew Khmer Lao Cantonese Siamese[c] Kam Mueang
Ethnic groups (1936)[2]	72% Vietnamese 13% Khmer 6% Thai (Thai, Lao, Tay, Thái, Nung, etc) 1.4% Chinese and other Asiatics (Bahnar, Cham, Hmong, Yao, Khmu, etc...) 0.2% Europeans (French, Germans, Jews) 7.3% others (Negrito (Rade, Jarai, Mnong, Stieng, Hre, etc...), Arabs, West Africans, etc...)
Religion	Buddhism Taoism Confucianism Chinese folk religion Vietnamese folk religion Caodaism Hòa Hảo Tai folk religion Hinduism Islam Baháʼí Faith Christianity
Demonym(s)	Indochinese
Membership	Tonkin Protectorate Annam Protectorate French Cochinchina Cambodia Protectorate Laos Protectorate Guangzhouwan [d]
Governor-General
• 1887–1888 (first)	Ernest Constans
• 1955–1956 (last)	Henri Hoppenot[e]
Historical era	New Imperialism
• French conquest of Vietnam	1858–1885
• French Cochinchina established	17 October 1862
• Addition of Laos	19 April 1899
• Addition of Guangzhouwan	5 January 1900
• Japanese occupation	22 September 1940
• Franco-Thai War	Oct. 1940 – May 1941
• First disestablishment	9 March 1945
• DRV proclaimed	2 September 1945
• Reestablishment	13 September 1945
• Indochina War	19 December 1946
• Second disestablishment	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
Preceded by Succeeded by 1887: Protectorate of Annam Protectorate of Tonkin French Cochinchina French Protectorate of Cambodia 1889: Twelve Tai Cantons 1898: Qing dynasty 1899: French protectorate of Laos 1900: Kouang-Tchéou-Wan 1904: Kingdom of Champasak Kingdom of Siam Kingdom of Kampuchea 1946: Lao Issara Thailand 1941: Thailand 1945: Empire of Vietnam Kingdom of Cambodia Kingdom of Luang Phrabang Kouang-Tchéou-Wan Empire of Japan Democratic Republic of Vietnam 1954: State of Vietnam First Kingdom of Cambodia Kingdom of Laos
Today part of	Vietnam Laos Cambodia China  ∟Zhanjiang
^ Localised version of the Great Seal of France removing a number of French nationalistic symbols related to universal suffrage, science, and the Gallic cock while adding an anchor and rice wheat.[1] ^ Used on Classical Chinese language documents, its inscription reads Đại Pháp Quốc Khâm mệnh Tổng thống Đông Dương Toàn quyền đại thần quan nho (大法國欽命總統東洋全權大臣關伩) written in seal script. ^ Changed the name to "Thai" since 1939 ^ Administered by, but not part of French Indochina ^ As Commissioner-General

French Indochina (previously spelled as French Indo-China),^[a][b] officially known as the Indochinese Union^[c][d] and after 1947 as the Indochinese Federation,^[e] was a grouping of French colonial territories in Mainland Southeast Asia until its end in 1954. It comprised Cambodia, Laos (from 1899), the Chinese territory of Guangzhouwan (from 1898 until 1945), and the Vietnamese regions of Tonkin in the north, Annam in the centre, and Cochinchina in the south. The capital for most of its history (1902–1945) was Hanoi; Saigon was the capital from 1887 to 1902 and again from 1945 to 1954.

The Second French Empire annexed 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, but also contributed to improvements of the health and education system in the region. Nevertheless, 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 March 1945, when the Japanese overthrew the colonial regime. After the Japanese surrender, the Viet Minh, led by Hồ Chí Minh, declared Vietnamese independence, but France subsequently took back control of French Indochina with the help of the British. An all-out independence war, known as the First Indochina War, broke out in late 1946 between French and Viet Minh forces.

To counter the Viet Minh, the State of Vietnam, led by former Emperor Bảo Đại, was proclaimed by the French in 1949. French efforts to retake Vietnam were unsuccessful, culminating in defeat at the Battle of Điện Biên Phủ. On 22 October and 9 November 1953, the Kingdom of Laos and Kingdom of Cambodia proclaimed their respective independences. Following the Geneva Accord of 1954, the French were forced to withdraw from Vietnam, which had been split into the two countries (until 1976), and French Indochina was no more.

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