1946 in French Indochina

← 1945 1944 1943 1946 in French Indochina → 1947 1948 1949
Decades:	1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s
See also:	Other events of 1946 History of Vietnam

The following lists events that happened during 1946 in French Indochina .

Events

January

• January 26 - French troops clashed with Vietnamese rebels at Phong Thổ District in the first battle between the two sides in French Indochina. The Viet Quoc Armed Force unit under Deo Van Bao surrendered after a two-day battle. ^[1]

February

• February 7 – In its colony in Vietnam, the military forces of France made a large scale assault to recapture the Bến Tre Province, which had been under control of the Việt Minh since August 25, 1945. The province was quickly brought back under French rule, but guerrilla activity continued. ^[2]
• February 28 – Ho Chi Minh, the newly elected President of North Vietnam, sent a telegram to U.S. President Harry S. Truman, asking that the United States use its influence to persuade France not to send occupation forces back into Vietnam, and to "interfere urgently in support of our independence". Truman's reply was that the U.S. would support France, and Ho sought assistance from the Soviet Union instead. ^[3]

March

• March 6 – North Vietnam agreed to allow troops from France to return to its cities in return for recognition as "a free country within the framework of the French Union". General Võ Nguyên Giáp later wrote that the intent was for the peaceful withdrawal of Nationalist Chinese occupation, but that a new war began when French forces continued their occupation. ^[4]

References

1. Văn Đào Hoàng, Viet Nam Quoc Dan Dang: A Contemporary History of a National Struggle: 1927–1954 (Rose Dog Books, 2008), pp405–406
2. Nguyen Thi Dinh and Mai Elliott, No Other Road to Take (Cornell University Press, 2000), pp11–12
3. Robert L. LaPointe, PJs in Vietnam: The Story of Airrescue in Vietnam As Seen Through the Eyes of Pararescuemen (Northern PJ Press, 2000) pp26–27; photograph of telegram
4. "Vietnamese Victory: Dien Bien Phu, 1954" by General Võ Nguyên Giáp, in Gettleman, Vietnam and America: A documented history (Grove Press, 1995) p53