1946 in French Indochina

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1946
in
French Indochina

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

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Hồ Chí Minh, born Nguyễn Sinh Cung, also known as Nguyễn Tất Thành, Nguyễn Ái Quốc, Bác Hồ, or simply Bác, was a Vietnamese revolutionary and politician. He served as Prime Minister of Vietnam from 1945 to 1955 and President from 1945 to 1969. Ideologically a Marxist–Leninist, he served as Chairman and First Secretary of the Workers' Party of Vietnam.

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The First Indochina War began in French Indochina on December 19, 1946, and lasted until July 20, 1954. Fighting between French forces and their Việt Minh opponents in the south dated from September 1945. The conflict pitted a range of forces, including the French Union's French Far East Expeditionary Corps, led by France and supported by Bảo Đại's Vietnamese National Army against the Việt Minh, led by Hồ Chí Minh and the People's Army of Vietnam led by Võ Nguyên Giáp. Most of the fighting took place in Tonkin in northern Vietnam, although the conflict engulfed the entire country and also extended into the neighboring French Indochina protectorates of Laos and Cambodia.

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Operation Léa was French Union military operation between 7 October and 8 November 1947 during the First Indochina War. It is also known as the Viet Bac Campaign by the Viet Minh. It was an attempt by the French General Valluy to crush the Việt Minh. An airborne force would capture the Việt Minh leadership and three French columns would strike into the Việt Minh heartland.

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North Vietnam, officially the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV) was a state in Southeast Asia from 1945 to 1954 and a country from 1954 to 1976.

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Lê Trọng Tấn Vietnamese general

General Lê Trọng Tấn was an officer of the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) during 1945 to 1986. During this period of his military career, Lê Trọng Tấn held several senior positions of the Army. Lê Trọng Tấn participated in the Viet Minh movement before the August Revolution in 1945 and gradually became one of the most important figures of the Vietnam People's Army during the Second Indochina War. Being one of the key figures of the North Vietnam armed forces in Vietnam War, Lê Trọng Tấn was Deputy Commander of the Viet Cong (VC) and second commander of the 1975 Spring Offensive that effectively ended the war. Afterwards, he became Chief of the General Staff and Deputy Minister of Defence of Vietnam until his death in December 1986. Lê Trọng Tấn was widely appreciated by his comrades, whom of which include general Võ Nguyên Giáp, as one of the finest commanders of the Vietnam People's Army.

Battle of Hanoi (1946) battle

On December 19, 1946, Viet Minh soldiers detonated explosives in Hanoi, and the ensuing battle, known as the Battle of Hanoi marked the opening salvo of the First Indochina War.

Hoàng Văn Thái Vietnamese general (1915-1986)

Hoàng Văn Thái, born Hoàng Văn Xiêm, was a Vietnamese Army General and a communist political figure. His hometown was Tây An, Tiền Hải District, Thái Bình Province. During the Tết Offensive, he was the highest senior North Vietnamese officer in South Vietnam. He was the first chief of staff of the Vietnam People's Army, and was responsible for key military forces in North Vietnam. He was also Chief of Staff in the Battle of Điện Biên Phủ.

Political organizations and Armed forces in Vietnam

Political organizations and Armed forces in Vietnam, since 1912 :

1940–1946 in French Indochina

1940—1946 in French Indochina focuses on events that happened in French Indochina during and after World War II and which influenced the eventual decision for military intervention by the United States in the Vietnam War. French Indochina in the 1940s was divided into five protectorates: Cambodia, Laos, Tonkin, Annam, and Cochinchina. The latter three made up Vietnam. In 1940, the French controlled 23 million Vietnamese with 12,000 French soldiers, about 40,000 Vietnamese soldiers, and the Sûreté, a powerful police force. At that time, the U.S. had little interest in Vietnam or French Indochina as a whole. Fewer than 100 Americans, mostly missionaries, lived in Vietnam and U.S. government representation consisted of one consul resident in Saigon.

Haiphong incident French masacre by cruiser in Haiphong, at the start of the First Indochina War

The Haiphong Incident or the Haiphong Massacre occurred on November 23, 1946, when the French cruiser Suffren bombarded the Vietnamese coastal city of Haiphong, killing some 6,000 Vietnamese people. The incident, also known as the Shelling of Haiphong, is thought of as the first armed clash in a series of events that would lead to the Battle of Hanoi on December 19, 1946, and with it the official outbreak of the First Indochina War.

OSS Deer Team Oss deer team

The OSS Deer Team was established by the United States Office of Strategic Services on May 16, 1945 to attack and intercept materials on the railroad from Hanoi in central Vietnam to Lạng Sơn in northeast Vietnam with the hope of keeping Japanese military units from entering China. They sent intelligence reports to OSS agents stationed in China. The team provided training, medical and logistical assistance to Hồ Chí Minh and the Việt Minh in 1945.

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