The Impact of World War II

1940 defeat of France opens door to Japanese occupation of Indochina for rice and location

1941 Ho is released from jail to lead Vietnamese resistance to Japanese

September 1941 formation of the Viet Minh or Vietnam Independence League: broad-based organization
for rapidly achieving independence; led by communists

1942-1944 Viet Minh organize and engage in small scale guerilla operations against the French and some
against the Japanese

1944 Viet Minh have an army of 5,000 located mostly in northern mountains

March 1945 Japanese seize all administration from the French; push Bao Dai (in line to be emperor) to
declare independence

March to September 1945:

Terrible famine in Tonkin which Japanese ignore; Viet Minh organize to attack rice stocks and gain
much peasant support
Disintegration of Japanese administration and interment of the French give Viet Minh the
opportunity to move toward power
August 25, 1945 Viet Minh seize Hanoi from the Japanese
September 2, 1945 Ho Chi Minh proclaims the Democratic Republic of Vietnam in Hanoi using
language drawn from the American Declaration of Independence
British troops occupy the south and free French to retake control
KMT Chinese trops occupy the north, including Hanoi