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Japanese coup d'état in French Indochina

The Japanese coup d'état in French Indochina, known as Meigō Sakusen (明号作戦, Operation Bright Moon),[5][6] was a Japanese operation that took place on 9 March 1945, towards the end of World War II. With Japanese forces losing the war and the threat of an Allied invasion of Indochina imminent, the Japanese were concerned about an uprising against them by French colonial forces.[7]

Despite the French having anticipated an attack, the Japanese struck in a military campaign attacking garrisons all over the colony. The French were caught off guard and all of the garrisons were overrun, with some then having to escape to Nationalist China, where they were harshly interned.[2] The Japanese replaced French officials, and effectively dismantled their control of Indochina. The Japanese were then able to install and create a new Empire of Vietnam, Kingdom of Kampuchea and Kingdom of Luang Phrabang which under their direction would acquiesce with their military presence and forestall a potential invasion by the Allies.[8][9]

The Vietnamese TV series in 2006 dedicated an episode about the coup d'état in 1945.

Under The Flag of Great Cause

The French film in 2018, directed by Guillaume Nicloux, set during the Japanese coup, where a French soldier sought revenge against a Việt Minh officer for the deaths of his friends and relatives under the Japanese.

To the Ends of the World

The French film (The Last Men) directed by David Oelhoffen which was released in 2024, is set during the retreat to China following the March Coup. It was adapted from the novel Les Chiens jaunes written by Alain Gandy in 1991.[59]

Les Derniers Hommes

C.L.I.

Force 136

Japanese invasion of French Indochina

Franco-Thai War

Vietnamese famine of 1944–1945

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Schoepfel, Ann-Sophie (2014). "The War Court as a Form of State Building: The French Prosecution of Japanese War Crimes at the Saigon and Tokyo Trials". In Cheah, Wui Ling; Yi, Ping (eds.). Historical Origins of International Criminal Law: Volume 2. Torkel Opsahl Academic. pp. 119–141.  9788293081135.

ISBN

Schoepfel, Ann-Sophie (2016). "Justice and Decolonization: War Crimes on Trial in Saigon, 1946–1950". In von Lingen, Kerstin (ed.). War Crimes Trials in the Wake of Decolonization and Cold War in Asia, 1945–1956. Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 167–194.  9783319429878.

ISBN

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doi

Windrow, Martin (2009). The Last Valley: Dien Bien Phu and the French Defeat in Vietnam. Da Capo Press.  9780786737499.

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The 9 March 1945 onslaught (3-part dossier)

(in French) , Dr. Jean-Philippe Liardet

Japanese intervention of 1945

French newsreels archives (Les Actualités Françaises), 15 July 1945

The General Sabattier in Lambaesis, French Algeria