Indochina was a quiet French colonial backwater in the first four decades of the century. Within the cataclysm of global war, events there from 1939 to 1945 seldom made headlines. And in the post-war years, even when the conflict in Vietnam became one of the defining events of America in the second half of the century, few remember Indochina's role in the receding history of the Second World War.

But events there shaped the course of World War II more than most people realize.

While Japanese factions bitterly disputed the "northern" and "southern" strategies for conquest and expansion, the German Wehrmacht thousands of miles away with its startling blitzkrieg victory over France in summer 1940 set the stage for the Pacific war. With France defeated and the Vichy regime unable to project its vastly diminished power into Southeast Asia, Japan took advantage of French weakness in Indochina to issue demands for transit rights and airfields for Imperial troops and aircraft. When the French hesitated, the Japanese attacked from China, bombed Haiphong, and landed troops outside the port city. By January 1941 Thailand had invaded Indochina to recover territories lost to the French in the 19th century. Japan imposed a settlement and in July, with Vichy unable or unwilling to resist, began moving large numbers of troops and aircraft into new bases in the south of Vietnam. These bases made possible the invasion of Malaya, the capture of Singapore, the sinking of Prince of Wales and Repulse, and indeed the entire "southern" strategy, causing Japan to protect its Pacific flank by attacking the American fleet anchored at Pearl Harbor.

Those events in 1940 and 1941 make Indochina a fascinating topic. The denouement in 1945 is equally absorbing as the prelude to a new era and a new war.

Although occupied by Japanese armed forces, Indochina remained nominally under Vichy sovereignty and administration. With the Allied victories against Germany and Italy and the evaporation of the Vichy regime, Indochina existed in a political limbo, faithful to a government which no longer existed. In March 1945 Japan put that fiction to rest with a coup d'etat, combat operations against the colonial army, and declaration of Indochinese "independence" under the figurehead Emperor Bao Dai. In the waning months of the war the Viet Minh began to seize power while the British, French, Americans, and Chinese contended for control of events in post-war Southeast Asia. Upon Japanese surrender there were no French forces capable of inserting themselves into Indochina; Japanese troops, now collaborating with the Viet Minh, continued to exert control while Chinese forces slowly moved to occupy the north and British forces eventually landed in the south.

The story of Indochina during World War II may not be as dramatic, important, or well-known as D-Day or Stalingrad or Guadalcanal or other familiar battles and campaigns, but there are a few books that illuminate this very interesting corner of the war. Here are some of them.

Aldrich, Richard J. Key to the South: Britain, the United States, and Thailand during the Approach of the Pacific War, 1929-1942. Kuala Lumpur: Oxford University Press, 1993. Thailand is the focus of this study, but the book also contains extensive information about the diplomatic aspects of the Thai invasion of Indochina.

Catroux, Georges. Deux Actes du Drame Indochinois. Paris: 1959. In French. The Governor-General of Indochina, dismissed for his pro-Gaullist leanings, went on to important positions with the Free French. His memoirs and those of successor, Decoux, cross swords.

Chen, King C. Vietnam and China, 1938-1954. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1969. The British, French, and Americans were not the only ones with plans for the future of Indochina.

De Gaulle, Charles. Complete War Memoirs of Charles de Gaulle. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1964. Well-written and well translated into English. De Gaulle's memoirs range far and wide and Indochina comprises only a small fraction. Still, this is an important source for the international maneuverings there in 1945. It's almost possible to hear de Gaulle's voice when he describes a meeting with President Truman: "'In any case,' he said, 'my government offers no opposition to the return of the French Army and authority in Indochina.' I replied, 'Although France need ask no permission or approval in an affair which is hers alone, I note with satisfaction the intentions you express.'" With "God so high and France so far" de Gaulle continues to see evidence of American treachery in every event in the distant colonies and admonishes the Americans in China for refusing supplies, support, and air strikes to French forces resisting the Japanese coup. (Although Spector, for example, has quite a different view of the situation.)

Decoux, Jean. A la Barre de l'Indochine: Histoire de Mon Gouverment Generale, 1940-1945. Paris: Plon, 1949. In French. The Governor-General of Indochina from 1940 until the Japanese coup. A conservative admiral, very much in tune with and loyal to Vichy, replaced Catroux. Served in Indochina with the unswerving goal of preserving French sovereignty there no matter what the circumstances or humiliations.

Dunn, Peter M. The First Vietnam War. London: C. Hurst & Company, 1985. Dunn provides background on the pre-war and early WWII period, as well as the events of March 1945, but the bulk of his book covers the period from the arrival of British occupation forces to their withdrawal in 1946. Dunn disputes Hammer's book (among others) on a number of points, criticizes American policy (or lack thereof) in Indo-China, has nothing favorable to say about the Viet Minh, and praises General Douglas Gracey (commander of British occupation troops). Interesting to note that Colonel Dunn was "born in India of British parents" but served three tours in Vietnam and flew "over 150 combat missions over North Vietnam and Laos."

Hammer, Ellen J. Struggle for Indochina, 1940-1955. Stanford: Stanford U Press, 1966. Devotes about 100 pages to 1939-1945, much of that on the events of March - September 1945. Good, but a little dated.

Hesse d'Alzon, Claude. Guerre 1939-1945: La Presence Militaire Francaise en Indochine (1940-1945). Chateau de Vincennes: Service Historique de l'Armee, 1985. In French. This book from the French Army is far and away the best on military operations. Covers in detail the 1940 combat against Japanese forces; military operations to suppress the 1940 uprisings; war with Thailand; and actions during the Japanese coup. Orders of battle (including Thailand and some Japanese forces), TOEs, unit histories, color plates of insignia, chronology, biographical sketches, color maps of battles and deployments. Although all the text is in French, much data can be easily extracted even if you don't know enough of the language to order a beer in Paris. This is, by the way, still in print and available without too much difficulty by mail from France.

Langer and Gleason. The Challenge to Isolation. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1952. Good for diplomatic background of the Japanese pressure on Indochina after the fall of France.

Langer and Gleason. The Undeclared War, 1940-1941. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1953. Good for diplomatic background of the Japanese pressure on Indochina after the fall of France.

Marr, David G. Vietnam 1945: The Quest for Power. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1995. The definitive account of the year 1945 in Vietnam. This is a newer book, very thoroughly researched in archives in France and Vietnam and including material from the author's interviews with Japanese and Vietnamese participants dating back to the 1960s. Ample background material on 1939-1944. Excellent treatment of OSS operations, US Fourteenth Air Force air strikes, and the policy imbroglio in Washington that finally leads to consent for pro-French assistance. (Quoted elsewhere as "...it [is] all right to help the Frogs, providing such help does not interfere with [our] operations.") Especially valuable for those interested in internal Vietnamese -- and Viet Nam Doc Lap Dong Minh Hoi -- politics. Very scholarly.

Naval Intelligence. Geographical Handbook: Indo-China. London: HMSO, 1943. The ultimate war-time guide to geology, climate, history, government, population, agriculture, industry, commerce, ports, roads, railways, waterways, and more. Many charts, tables, and maps within its 500+ pages.

Spector, Ronald H. Advice and Support: The Early Years of the United States Army in Vietnam. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1983. Originally published by the GPO as the first volume in the Army's official history of Vietnam (and later reprinted in softcover by The Free Press). Mostly covering post-war US involvement. The opening chapters describe the situation in Indochina through March 1945 in terms not very sympathetic to Vichy or Decoux. For example, Spector writes of the French being "intimidated" into giving concessions to the Japanese but makes no mention of the Japanese assault on Lang Son, the bombing of Haiphong, or the landings there. Better on the increasing US participation after March 1945, US diplomatic gridlock, the feud between Wedemeyer and Mountbatten over their inter-theater boundary, etc. "The British continued to carry out operations from Jessore, near Calcutta in eastern India [after being banned from conducting flights from US-controlled airfields in China], and on the night of 23 January 1945 fighters of the Fourteenth Air Force mistook three British bombers, on an intelligence mission to Indochina, for Japanese planes and shot them down. The Royal Air Force liaison officer with the Fourteenth Air Force had not been informed of the mission 'owing to the [inter-Allied] political situation.'"

Tonnesson, Stein. Vietnamese Revolution of 1945: Roosevelt, Ho Chi Minh, and de Gaulle in a World at War. London: SAGE, 1991. Good diplomatic material with a wide perspective.

For more specialized information, see Christienne and Lissarrague for information and OB on French air forces in Indochina; Auphan and Mordal for a chapter on naval operations during the Thai-Indochinese war; Morison for a chapter on American carrier-based air raids against Indochinese targets in January 1945; Kirby from the British official series for Japanese penetration of Indochina and British occupation in 1945; and Singh in the Indian official series for occupation forces in southern Vietnam.