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From 1940 to 1954, France's brutal war in Indochina marked one of the 20th century's bloodiest decolonisation conflicts. We revisit the forgotten precursor to the Vietnam War through vivid images and powerful eyewitness accounts.
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00:09France waged a remote war more than 9,000 kilometers from Paris.
00:21It was an horrific war, marked by bargaining and betrayal, idealism and disillusionment.
00:33It was a war of liberation and servitude, of hope and hell.
00:48This war devastated a country, caused hundreds of thousands of deaths and initiated the collapse of the French colonial empire.
01:03It was a war with many facets, a colonial war, a war of independence, a cold war and a long
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01:35In the 1930s, France controlled an immense empire of nearly 40 territories, spanning Asia, Africa, America and Oceania.
01:44It ruled over nearly 100 million people, covering 12 million kilometers.
01:55French Indochina, made up of Laos, Cambodia and the three parts of Vietnam, Tonkin, Annam and Cochin China, was regarded
02:03as the crown jewel of the empire.
02:06France had been flying its flag there for 70 years.
02:20In the streets of Saigon, Hanoi and Hue, the same scenes were played out over and over again.
02:27.
02:43Most of the colonists lived well in these cities, which combined European living standards with exotic charms.
02:53businessmen negotiated lucrative deals on cafe terraces, while their wives busied themselves in a world designed for their gratification.
03:06A paradise considered by many to be a model colony.
03:37A CIDADE NO BRASIL
03:40As 36,000 colonists enjoyed the gentle tropics, daily life for the vast majority of the 23 million Indo-Chinese
03:47under French rule was much bleaker.
03:54Vaccination campaigns reduced mortality rates, and a middle class benefited from the French presence, but many Vietnamese still worked in
04:03mines, fields, and factories.
04:08Decades after the abolition of slavery, brutal forms of exploitation were still present.
04:23The colonizers exploited the country's immense natural resources, ore, wood, coal, tea, rice, and above all, rubber trees, which brought
04:34in huge profits.
04:37These resources generated the fortunes of major industrial groups like Riveau Halle and Michelin.
04:46As the popular song goes, the rubber leaf is a magnificent green.
04:51Each tree is nourished by the corpses of the workers.
05:05In this society, where the colonists and the indigenous people rarely saw one another, other than in the huge brothels
05:12in Saigon's Xolong district, independence movements were already making noise.
05:20They were all violently suppressed by the colonial authorities.
05:24Woe to anyone who dared to raise their voice.
05:29But an incident was about to disrupt this situation.
05:42In June 1940, France was completely annihilated by Nazi Germany in less than six weeks.
05:51The empire was stunned.
05:57Go Van Xu, a young man from Vietnam, recalled,
06:02Back home, we used to say,
06:04What fools the Germans are, attacking such a great empire.
06:07The defeat of 1940 was so unexpected that some people refused to believe it.
06:13There was something distorted in our ideas.
06:26While the Germans paraded through Paris, their Japanese allies entered Indochina.
06:42Weak French administrators supinely accept Japanese occupation and the fiction of Japanese protection.
06:49Imagine the feelings of French officers betrayed by the government at Vichy and forced to facilitate the plans of those
06:54who are working against France and her former ally.
07:05They recognized the sovereignty of Vichy, France over the region, but they plundered the country and established control over it.
07:12For the Indochinese, it was a double blow.
07:15They were being exploited by their former rulers as well as their new ones.
07:21Shackles that the Vietnamese nationalists could not accept.
07:27An outspoken activist, Wyn Icock, was at the forefront of the struggle.
07:33The man was an experienced revolutionary.
07:38Born in 1890, a member of the Socialist Party and then the French Communist Party,
07:43he cut his teeth in Paris, Moscow and Beijing before founding the Vietnamese Communist Party.
07:50This committed communist changed his name a hundred times to evade the authorities.
07:56He was nevertheless registered by the French security services.
08:01Wyn Icock, known as Wyn Tattan.
08:04Wyn Vantan, known as Wyn Sinkung, or Wyn Bikon, known as Littui.
08:10Often changes his name, carefully conceals his true origin, forges his accent.
08:18The pseudonyms he adopted reflected his ambition.
08:21First, he christened himself Wyn Icock, Wyn the Patriot.
08:26Then in 1941, he took the name he would bear for the rest of his life, Ho Chi Minh, Ho
08:32of Enlightened Will.
08:36That same year, he founded the League for the Independence of Vietnam, better known as Viet Minh.
08:45At the age of 50, Ho Chi Minh was looking for the right opportunity to gain independence for his country.
08:52It didn't take long for the opportunity to present itself.
09:00In March 1945, Germany and Japan knew they were going to lose the war.
09:06After occupying Indochina for five years, the Japanese wanted to expel the French from the Asian continent.
09:14They attacked the colonists.
09:17The majority of French soldiers were interned in camps.
09:25Those who dared to resist were tortured, shot, or beheaded.
09:36In Lang Son, in northern Vietnam, the mass graves of hundreds of civilians and soldiers killed by the Japanese were
09:44discovered.
09:51To put an end to French sovereignty, Tokyo granted independence to the three Indochinese states.
09:58In Cambodia, the young king, Norodom Sianuk, declared independence.
10:04King Sisevang Vong took over in Laos.
10:08And Emperor Bao Dai, forever sporting his sunglasses, declared independence in Vietnam.
10:15But while these rulers may have won their thrones, they didn't have any power.
10:20The Japanese remained the rulers.
10:23French Indochina ceased to exist.
10:35In May 1945, after five years of bloodshed and tears, the Third Reich laid down its arms.
10:42The war in Europe was finally over.
10:51The war is over was the message in every country where victory was being celebrated.
10:58But in the Pacific, the Second World War continued.
11:02The Japanese were putting up fierce resistance.
11:05To win, the Americans needed intelligence on the Japanese troops occupying Indochina.
11:16As Ho Chi Minh was opportunistic, he approached the Americans.
11:20He was looking for legitimacy.
11:23He placed his few men at the service of agents from the OSS, the forerunner of the CIA, which operated
11:29in the Far East.
11:32They provided invaluable information on the occupying forces.
11:36In return, the United States trained around 200 Viet Minh militants.
11:42Grenade throwing.
11:44Rifle marksmanship.
11:45Operating a rocket launcher.
11:47When the time came, they would be able to rise up against the Japanese invaders.
11:54Major Archimedes Patti, in charge of the OSS in Indochina, confessed.
12:00Although they were Marxist, the real aim of these Viet Minh guerrillas was to fight the Japs.
12:05And that was the primary objective of our plan.
12:12A few photos captured this unusual collaboration.
12:16Ho Chi Minh can be seen among the American officers.
12:20These smiling men are unaware that 20 years later, they would clash in the Vietnam War.
12:33A few months later, in August 1945, the atomic bombs rained down on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
12:40Like Germany, Japan capitulated.
12:44For Ho Chi Minh, it was the perfect opportunity.
12:47The Japanese troops were leaving the country, and the French troops had not yet returned.
12:52The road was clear.
12:55Ho Chi Minh called on his supporters to take over the official buildings.
13:00On September 2nd, 1945, he entered Hanoi's Bad Dinh Square and gave a speech that would go down in history.
13:12It was a caso from the first to82 andaffle.
13:21As for her training, the Allies was första and the third to Pardon the Vietnam War.
13:30Inamıio wieder
13:31On September 2nd, came on with the Vietnam War here.
13:45Quando Ho Chi Minh
13:46raised the flag of independence,
13:48he won the hearts of the Vietnamese people
13:50who called him Uncle Ho.
13:54The popular momentum was immense.
13:57The battle was not yet won,
13:59but the fight was on.
14:05A schoolboy remembered.
14:08After 60 years of carrying the dishonor
14:10of being under foreign domination,
14:12we had our president and a declaration of independence
14:15like every other free country in the world.
14:21A young Vietnamese man wrote in his diary.
14:25Today we are free.
14:27Free to laugh, to sing, to live independently.
14:31Free to cry and suffer for the country of our fathers.
14:40In mainland France,
14:42this coup de force was unacceptable.
14:45For de Gaulle,
14:46then president of the provisional government,
14:49Paris did not have to obey
14:50the dictates of this rebel.
14:53France had to reestablish its reputation
14:56with blood and steel if necessary.
15:00La France fixe comme l'un des buts principaux
15:05de son activité
15:07dans sa puissance renaissante
15:09et dans sa grandeur retrouvée
15:11le développement de l'Union Indochinoise.
15:16C'est pourquoi,
15:18dans l'Union Indochinoise,
15:20elle est
15:21et elle restera
15:23sa propre mandataire.
15:32Restoring the empire was a priority.
15:37De Gaulle sent General Leclerc,
15:39a hero of the Second World War,
15:41to Indochina immediately.
15:45The country had to be taken back
15:47from the Viet Minh.
15:49Leclerc's 45,000 men
15:51quickly began the reconquest.
15:53But de Gaulle didn't think
15:54about any diplomatic solutions.
15:56It was up to the guns
15:57to provide the answers.
16:01Ho Chi Minh could not afford a war.
16:04He was pragmatic,
16:05negotiating with the French
16:06and allowing their troops
16:08to return to Vietnam.
16:17Leclerc had conquered Kufra,
16:18Paris, and Strasbourg.
16:20Now he had added Saigon and Hanoi
16:23to his list of victories.
16:25The French colonists
16:27could breathe a sigh of relief.
16:29Three months earlier,
16:30they had been massacred
16:31by the Japanese
16:32and feared for their future.
16:33They were relieved
16:35and welcomed their liberators
16:36with jubilation.
16:41It reminds us of Paris,
16:43said the veterans
16:43of the 2nd Armored Division.
16:46Colonial order was restored.
16:50But this recapture
16:51did not bring peace.
16:53to halt the gunfire,
16:55negotiations in France
16:56had to begin.
17:07A few months later,
17:09on May 31st, 1946,
17:12Ho Chi Minh flew back to France.
17:18The timing was bad.
17:19The Fourth Republic
17:21was in the middle
17:21of a political crisis.
17:23De Gaulle had left office
17:24a few months earlier
17:25and Felix Guan's government
17:27had just fallen.
17:29But no matter,
17:31the Viet Minh leader
17:31was urged to be patient
17:33and to explore the riches
17:34of the Basque region.
17:41He visited Biarritz
17:43and Saint-Jean-de-Luz
17:44and learned to play pelota
17:47until a government
17:48until a government
17:48was finally formed.
17:56After three weeks
17:57of forced tourism,
17:59Ho Chi Minh finally arrived
18:00at Le Bourget,
18:01full of hope
18:02to the cheers
18:03of a delegation
18:03of compatriots.
18:06He addressed his hosts
18:08in French.
18:10Frères Français,
18:11laissez-moi vous dire
18:12que Français
18:14et Vietnamiens,
18:15nous avons
18:16le même idéal,
18:18liberté,
18:19égalité
18:19et fraternité.
18:21Nous poursuivons
18:22le même but,
18:24la démocratie
18:24et la paix.
18:26C'est pourquoi
18:27je suis sûr
18:28que Français
18:29et Vietnamiens,
18:30nous arriverons
18:31à l'entente
18:33et à la collaboration
18:35égale,
18:36loyale
18:36et fraternelle.
18:40Two weeks later,
18:42negotiations opened
18:43in Fontainebleau
18:44on July 6, 1946.
18:47Georges Bideau,
18:48the new prime minister,
18:50welcomed
18:50the Vietnamese leader.
18:53But things got off
18:54to a bad start.
18:56Ho Chi Minh
18:56had barely left Saigon
18:58when the high commissioner
18:59in Indochina,
19:00Thierry Darjean Yeu,
19:02proclaimed
19:02the creation
19:03of an autonomous republic
19:04in Cochin, China,
19:06a prosperous region
19:07in southern Vietnam,
19:08where most of the colonists
19:09and their businesses
19:10were concentrated.
19:12Darjean Yeu
19:13acted without consulting Paris.
19:15The move constituted
19:17a betrayal
19:17as Ho Chi Minh
19:18had laid claim
19:19to the entirety of Vietnam.
19:21It was a serious blow
19:23to the negotiations.
19:28The conference
19:29ended in failure.
19:33A Vietnamese negotiator
19:35acknowledged,
19:37We agreed on just one thing
19:39and that was
19:41that we agreed on nothing.
19:49However,
19:50Ho Chi Minh
19:50did not return
19:51with nothing.
19:52The negotiations
19:53had given him
19:54an international stature
19:55that enhanced
19:55his prestige.
19:57He announced,
20:00If we have to fight,
20:01we'll fight.
20:02You'll kill ten of us
20:03and we'll kill
20:03just one of you
20:04and in the end
20:05you'll be the one
20:06who gets tired of it.
20:19The unthinkable
20:21quickly happened.
20:24On November 23rd,
20:251946,
20:26after clashes
20:28following the seizure
20:29of a Viet Minh junk
20:30carrying weapons,
20:31the French Navy
20:32bombed the port
20:33of Haifeng.
20:38The young
20:38Fan Tam Tan
20:39remembered.
20:41I was 14.
20:43Haifeng was known
20:44as the city
20:45of red blazes.
20:47In May,
20:48the trees bloomed.
20:50But it was November.
20:53The red colour
20:54came not from the flowers
20:55but from the fires.
21:01The death toll
21:03between 300
21:04and 6,000
21:05depending on the sources.
21:22Ho Chi Minh
21:23decided to fight back.
21:24A month later,
21:25on December 19th,
21:271946,
21:28he called on
21:28the Vietnamese people
21:29to rise up.
21:32He who has a gun,
21:33let him use his gun.
21:34He who has a sword,
21:35let him use his sword.
21:37Let everyone
21:38fight colonialism.
21:40In the north,
21:41Hanoi went up
21:42in flames.
21:46French nationals
21:47were massacred
21:48and buildings
21:49ransacked.
21:51A chain of escalating
21:53violence was set
21:54in motion.
21:54The French army
21:56shelled Hanoi
21:57day and night.
22:03In February 1947,
22:06French troops
22:06finally regained control
22:08of the Indochinese capital.
22:10Ho Chi Minh
22:11and his men
22:12had gone underground
22:12in the north of the country,
22:14in Tonkin.
22:18This was just the beginning
22:19of the Indochina war.
22:29The French people
22:31remained indifferent
22:31to the drama unfolding
22:33so far from their borders.
22:35Two years after the end
22:37of the liberation,
22:38many towns
22:39remain in ruins.
22:41The citizens of France
22:42were still trying
22:43to keep warm,
22:44feed themselves,
22:44and find shelter.
22:46The difficulty
22:47of daily life
22:48eclipsed
22:49any opposition
22:50to the war.
22:51Only a handful
22:52of intellectuals
22:53and pacifist activists
22:54spoke out.
22:57As Jean-Paul Sartre
22:58wrote in his journal
22:59Les Tons Modernes,
23:02It's unimaginable
23:03that after four years
23:04of occupation,
23:05the French don't recognize
23:06the face that is now theirs
23:07in Indochina.
23:09Don't they see
23:09that it's the face
23:10of the Germans in France?
23:13A declaration which,
23:15at the time,
23:16resembled a lone cry
23:17in the wilderness.
23:22Especially as there was
23:23no clear head of state.
23:25Since de Gaulle's resignation,
23:27there had been
23:28five successive governments,
23:29five governments
23:30within two years.
23:32These repeated crises
23:34prevented any meaningful
23:35decisions from being taken.
23:38General Leclerc warned,
23:41You need 500,000 men
23:43to win.
23:43Otherwise,
23:44we might as well
23:44settle the matter now.
23:46Grant independence
23:46and save ourselves a war.
23:48We can't win.
23:49Leclerc was not listened to.
23:52In 1947,
23:54Paul Ramadier's government
23:55finally decided
23:56on a strategy.
23:57It announced,
23:58we will end the war
23:59as soon as there is
24:00order and security.
24:02It was a way of buying time
24:04because no government
24:05wanted to give up
24:06Indochina.
24:06It was essential
24:07to the greatness
24:08of the empire.
24:09It was time
24:10for a confrontation.
24:26The Far East Expeditionary Force
24:28numbered 100,000 soldiers.
24:30They enlisted
24:31because they wanted adventure,
24:33to defend the flag
24:34or to earn a few stripes.
24:43Po Chi Minh had only 60,000
24:45motivated
24:46but poorly equipped men.
24:52As a result,
24:54in less than a month,
24:55the French regained
24:56partial control
24:57of the territory.
24:59A soldier wrote
25:01out to his brother.
25:02My old friend,
25:03incredibly,
25:04the enemy
25:04has almost vanished
25:05into thin air.
25:06It's a perfect
25:07military expedition.
25:16Ho Chi Minh,
25:17like all the
25:18Viet Minh leaders,
25:19eluded the French.
25:22His fighters
25:23refined their strategies.
25:25At their head
25:27was a former
25:28history teacher,
25:29General Giap.
25:31This Napoleon enthusiast
25:33had a tenacious
25:34hatred of the colonizers.
25:35and with good reason.
25:37His first wife
25:38had died in French prison
25:40and his sister-in-law
25:41was executed
25:42for her communist activism.
25:45These wounds
25:46continued to sting.
25:51Since the Battle of Hanoi,
25:53Giap understood
25:53that his men
25:54had no chance
25:55of defeating
25:55the French army
25:56in regular confrontations.
25:58Their only advantage
26:00was guerrilla warfare.
26:01They would exploit
26:02their knowledge
26:03of the terrain
26:04to force their opponents
26:05into a war of attrition.
26:08Ho Chi Minh compared
26:09his army to a tiger
26:10facing an elephant.
26:13If the tiger
26:14doesn't move,
26:15the elephant
26:16will pierce it
26:16with its powerful tusks.
26:19But the tiger
26:19is always on the move,
26:20striking fast and hard
26:22before disappearing.
26:26From then on,
26:28the Viet Minh
26:28would attack,
26:29escape,
26:30and withdraw
26:30into impenetrable areas.
26:39The enemy was invisible.
26:41The French army
26:42had to flush them out.
26:46The military stroll
26:48of the earlier days
26:49was transformed
26:50into a living hell.
26:58Every path,
26:59every jungle,
27:00every rice field
27:01became a trap
27:02for an ambush.
27:06A corporal confided.
27:10These hidden traps
27:11that pierce the foot
27:12have become
27:12our worst fear.
27:14Every time it's a wound
27:15that gets infected,
27:16a blow to morale,
27:18and then two or three
27:19of us are called upon
27:20to transport
27:21the injured person.
27:28This war without
27:29a battlefront
27:30was unsettling
27:31the officers.
27:33One captain confessed,
27:35here we're finding
27:36it hard to control
27:36this unpredictable opponent.
27:39It's not much like
27:40what we were taught
27:40at Saint-Cyr.
27:42As for our material
27:43superiority,
27:44it doesn't help us
27:45much in this terrain
27:46where tanks and lorries
27:48get bogged down.
27:52The stalemate
27:53was just beginning.
28:01Pictures received
28:02from Indochina
28:02certainly underline
28:04the difficulties
28:04in which France
28:05is involved
28:06in the Far East.
28:07As always
28:08in such conflicts,
28:09the resulting hardship
28:10for many people
28:11in the country
28:11is very great.
28:13French difficulties
28:14too are very real.
28:16Interrogations
28:17play a big part
28:17in the struggle.
28:18It's hard to know
28:19who is friend
28:20and who is foe.
28:21Here, for example,
28:22is an eight-year-old boy,
28:23innocent enough perhaps
28:24that he'd been used
28:24by the Vietnam
28:25as a spy.
28:39Badgered
28:39and isolated
28:40in the midst
28:41of a population
28:41they distrusted,
28:43the French soldiers
28:44sometimes gave in
28:45to violence
28:45or became embroiled
28:47in bloodthirsty
28:48acts of revenge.
28:50Sergeant Jean-Claude Messerman
28:51wrote to his future wife,
28:55The first village
28:56we came across
28:56was sacked
28:57and gutted.
28:59We didn't want them
29:00to start
29:01so we burnt down
29:01the village.
29:06On November 29th, 1947,
29:09the French army
29:10entered the village
29:10of Cao Ho
29:11in South Vietnam.
29:14286 inhabitants
29:15were massacred.
29:18Far from winning
29:19over the people,
29:21the expeditionary force
29:22alienated them.
29:30Win Kong Hong,
29:32then a young teenager,
29:34was hit by a French bullet.
29:36He described his experience.
29:39I don't know what I was
29:40thinking about
29:41except killing the French.
29:42I was obsessed with that,
29:44but everyone was
29:45thinking about that.
29:46That's what we do
29:48when we grew up,
29:49kill the French.
29:56The acts of reprisal
29:57by the colonial army
29:58and the brutalization
30:00of Vietnamese society
30:01drove thousands
30:02of recruits
30:03into the arms
30:04of Ho Chi Minh.
30:38Far from the jungle
30:39and the countryside,
30:40in the streets
30:41of Saigon and Hanoi,
30:42the French community
30:43still held on
30:44to the belief
30:45that better days
30:46lay ahead.
30:47Life there
30:48was peaceful.
30:49Young soldiers
30:50and colonists
30:51enjoyed the cafes,
30:53bars,
30:53and dance halls.
30:57On Radio France Asia,
30:59the very young presenter
31:00Jacques Chancel
31:01played songs
31:02requested by soldiers.
31:13Years later,
31:14the famous journalist
31:15would say,
31:17Nobody except
31:18perhaps a few soldiers
31:19who took advantage
31:20of Leave
31:21to drink their pay
31:22in the bars of Cholent
31:23seemed to appreciate
31:24the extent of the war
31:25raging in the bush.
31:28The soldiers on Leave
31:29were attempting
31:30to escape
31:30the miserable times.
31:31They gambled
31:32at the casino,
31:33experimented with opium
31:35and socialized
31:36with the women.
31:37Sometimes these women
31:38were part of
31:39Ho Chi Minh's
31:39love brigades,
31:40providing valuable
31:41intelligence.
31:46The war was atrocious,
31:48but it made a lot
31:49of people rich.
31:50Prostitutes,
31:51gunrunners,
31:52merchants,
31:53shopkeepers,
31:53they were all involved
31:55in trafficking.
31:56Not least with the
31:57Viet Minh.
31:59Opium,
32:00weapons,
32:00everything could be
32:01bought and sold.
32:03They bought
32:04Indochinese piastres
32:05for 10 francs
32:06and sold them
32:07in France
32:07at the official rate
32:08of 17 francs,
32:09pocketing the difference
32:10on the way.
32:14War had its benefits.
32:20A Frenchman
32:20in the import-export
32:21business confided,
32:23How many more good years
32:24do you think
32:24there'll be in Indochina?
32:26Let's hope the war lasts.
32:33Despite some attacks
32:34by the Viet Minh,
32:35the authorities
32:36were reassuring,
32:37as the Minister
32:38for War declared
32:38in 1947.
32:41I believe that there's
32:43no longer a military
32:44problem in Indochina.
32:45The success of our
32:46weapons is total.
32:49Terrible blindness.
32:55In Bombay,
32:57the farewell to
32:57Britain's last troops
32:58to leave.
32:59The departure
33:00of the Somersets
33:01from Bombay,
33:02together with the farewell
33:03already said
33:04by the Black Watch
33:04at Karachi,
33:05meant that the British
33:06army had now left
33:07both dominions.
33:08Great friendliness
33:09had marked the final
33:10leave-taking
33:10and strict ceremony
33:11was the order of the day.
33:13For our men,
33:14it must have been
33:14a moment of mixed feelings.
33:15For Indians,
33:16a new era had begun.
33:20Throughout the world,
33:21colonial empires
33:22were crumbling.
33:24The British crown
33:25had already given up
33:26India,
33:27Ceylon,
33:27and Burma.
33:30The Netherlands
33:31was beginning
33:31to let go
33:32of Indonesia.
33:36French leaders
33:37were not blind.
33:39They recognized
33:40that sooner or later
33:41they would have
33:41to make concessions,
33:43but France clung
33:44to its empire.
33:45In 1947,
33:47it crushed
33:47a bloody revolt
33:48in Madagascar
33:49and was striving
33:50to hold on
33:51to its African colonies.
34:00The deadline
34:01had to be postponed
34:02for as long as possible.
34:04Between investments
34:06by French companies,
34:07raw materials,
34:08and the desire
34:09to maintain its stature,
34:11there seemed
34:11to be too much
34:12at stake
34:12to abandon
34:13the crown jewel
34:14of the empire.
34:23To prevent
34:24the loss
34:24of its territory
34:25and crush communism,
34:27Paris devised
34:28a political strategy.
34:30It had to deprive
34:32Ho Chi Minh
34:32of popular support
34:33by relying
34:34on a nationalist figure
34:35recognized
34:36by all Vietnamese.
34:42The lucky man
34:43was none other
34:43than Bao Dai,
34:45the ex-emperor
34:46with sunglasses
34:46who had been supported
34:47by the Japanese
34:48in 1945.
35:16The French had confidence
35:17in this sophisticated bourgeois
35:19who had also been brought up
35:20in France.
35:21But his lordship preferred
35:23a life of leisure
35:24with occasional buffalo hunting
35:25rather than take on
35:27the role of head of state.
35:28His nickname,
35:29the emperor of casinos.
35:33Paris urged him
35:34to lead an independent Vietnam
35:36that would remain
35:37in the bosom of France.
35:38But he hesitated.
35:41Paris lost precious time
35:43and controlling the population
35:45had become
35:46a crucial issue.
35:49While the French
35:50were banking on Bao Dai,
35:52Ho Chi Minh
35:53was banking on the masses.
36:01In 1948,
36:02the Viet Minh
36:03launched their first
36:04major patriotic campaign.
36:06a well-established propaganda tool
36:09in the communist world.
36:11The goal?
36:12To strengthen their hold
36:14on the peasantry.
36:18The party organized competitions
36:20to identify the villages
36:21that donated the most rice,
36:23clothing, or meat
36:24to Viet Minh fighters
36:25in order to obtain
36:27a certificate of patriotism.
36:31Viet Minh political commissars
36:33traveled the countryside,
36:35encouraging crowds
36:36to spread the word.
36:39The Viet Minh
36:40soon boosted its ranks
36:41to 400,000 men.
36:44Membership
36:45was often seen
36:46as an honor.
36:49The young Fan Tan Tan wrote,
36:53This is one of the happiest days
36:54of my life.
36:55I'm no longer alone.
36:56I now belong to the
36:572,000-strong E-34 regiment
36:59whose motto is,
37:00We are certain of our victory.
37:05The indoctrination
37:07worked all the better
37:08as opponents
37:08were murdered
37:09in cold blood.
37:11Beneath his seemingly
37:12unassuming appearance,
37:14Ho Chi Minh
37:14was a true warlord.
37:16Nothing diverted him
37:17from his two objectives,
37:19independence
37:19and the establishment
37:20of a communist regime.
37:23While the French
37:25were committing atrocities,
37:26the communists
37:27were waging
37:28a bloody crackdown
37:29on rival nationalist movements.
37:33The influx of volunteers
37:35gave communist leaders
37:36the opportunity
37:37to switch from guerrilla warfare
37:39to more ambitious operations.
37:41On March 1, 1948,
37:43they attacked a convoy
37:45escorted by 150 soldiers
37:47on the Saigon-Dalat Road.
37:54The toll was dramatic.
37:56Almost 100 dead
37:57and over 200 hostages.
38:00A disaster.
38:07Despite the press coverage
38:09of the event,
38:10the French public
38:10were still largely indifferent.
38:12The reason?
38:14Only professionals
38:15and volunteers
38:16were fighting in Indochina.
38:18and many of the troops
38:20were recruited
38:20from within the French Empire.
38:25Algerians,
38:26Moroccans
38:26and soldiers
38:27from sub-Saharan Africa.
38:30Colonized people
38:31fighting other colonized people.
38:34As a result,
38:35the vast majority
38:36of the population
38:37overlooked the drama
38:39unfolding
38:39in this far-flung
38:40battleground.
38:49A soldier told his story.
38:52It's an ignored war.
38:54It hurts my heart
38:55when I think
38:56of the heroism
38:56of many of my comrades.
38:58My lieutenants killed.
39:05Yet, criticism about the war
39:07was starting to emerge.
39:09At the time,
39:11the Communist Party
39:12was one of France's
39:13strongest parties.
39:14It denounced
39:15the Foul War,
39:16which, it said,
39:17served the interests
39:18of finance
39:19and big business.
39:20Its slogan?
39:22Not one man,
39:23not one penny
39:24for the Vietnam War.
39:26This was during
39:27the Cold War
39:28and Moscow's influence
39:29was felt far and wide.
39:31In the ports,
39:33dockers went on strike
39:34to prevent arms
39:36being shipped
39:36to Indochina.
39:44To stir up
39:45public opinion,
39:47Communist militants
39:48secretly filmed
39:49what no one
39:49wanted to see.
39:50The dozens of coffins
39:52of French soldiers
39:53being unloaded
39:54every day
39:55in the greatest secrecy.
39:58The French leaders
39:59became increasingly worried.
40:01Confidence had to be
40:02restored at all costs.
40:21At the end of 1949,
40:23after three years of war,
40:25France had failed
40:26to crush the Viet Minh,
40:27despite the superiority
40:28of its army.
40:30In the absence
40:31of a military solution,
40:33the authorities
40:33finally granted
40:34independence to Vietnam
40:35and placed
40:36Emperor Bao Dai
40:37at its head,
40:38who had finally agreed
40:39to assume the position.
40:41Thank you.
40:42Thank you.
40:43Thank you.
40:44Thank you.
40:44Thank you.
40:44Thank you.
40:51Thank you.
40:53Thank you, please.
40:54Thank you.
41:10But the independence
41:11was entirely symbolic.
41:13Paris retained control
41:15of defense,
41:16currency,
41:17diplomacy,
41:18and trade.
41:21The French authorities thought this gesture would calm things down.
41:27Minister of War Costa Florea declared...
41:30"...we're finally out of the tunnel."
41:39But it was too late.
41:41The Viet Minh had consolidated its hold on the country...
41:44above all than the South.
41:46Japão e Ho Chi Minh desenvolveu seus armazes.
41:50As empresas se tornaram batalhões.
41:52Batalhões, regiões.
41:55Para os últimos três anos,
41:57a França sempre foi um passo atrás.
41:59Por não deixar de dar nada,
42:01a França acabou perdendo tudo.
42:04E outro evento
42:05mudou o balanço de poder.
42:13Na 1st, 1949,
42:16os Comunistas seized power em China.
42:19Mao Zedong proclaimed the People's Republic.
42:24From then on,
42:25the Viet Minh could count on the help
42:27of their big red brother to win the war.
42:32For Ho Chi Minh,
42:33this was an immense relief.
42:35Communist China supplied weapons
42:37and dispatched experts.
42:45It also offered General Jap a sanctuary
42:48where he could train his troops
42:49far from French guns.
42:52The repercussions were enormous.
42:54In the era of the Cold War,
42:56the United States became alarmed
42:58at the red wave sweeping across Asia.
43:03After conquering China,
43:05Communism turned to the land
43:06of the morning calm.
43:08In June 1950,
43:09North Korea's red troops
43:11attacked South Korea.
43:16American President Harry Truman,
43:18returning for a second term,
43:21set himself a goal.
43:22To contain the expansion
43:24of Soviet influence in the world.
43:27We are united in detesting Communist slavery.
43:31We know that the cost of freedom is high.
43:34But we are determined to preserve our freedom
43:37no matter what the cost.
43:41Like Roosevelt before him,
43:43the American President had always opposed colonialism.
43:47But due to the involvement of Communist China,
43:49he reconsidered his position.
43:51The nature of the Indochina War had changed.
43:54From a colonial war,
43:56it became a hot front in the Cold War,
43:58pitting the Communist camp against the free world.
44:01Truman pledged to support France.
44:08Mao's victory came as a shock to the French.
44:11Their strategists decided to abandon
44:14several fortified points in northern Indochina
44:16along the Chinese border.
44:18These garrisons on Colonial Route 4
44:21were too exposed to enemy threats
44:23and proved difficult to resupply.
44:31On October 3rd, 1950,
44:33just as the evacuation
44:34of the Kaobang outpost had begun,
44:37General Jap launched a full-scale attack
44:39with more than 30,000 men.
44:49Trapped on a narrow road,
44:51the French forces suffered a terrible assault.
44:59Even the reinforcements were caught off guard.
45:07A soldier reflected.
45:10They were shooting from above,
45:11to the left and to the right.
45:13Men were dropping like flies.
45:17I must have left dozens of wounded behind,
45:19calling out for their mothers in every language.
45:25Vietnam soldiers captured thousands of prisoners.
45:40French leaders fell into a state of panic.
45:43Bases were abandoned,
45:45even though they were in no way threatened.
45:51Tons of equipment was surrendered to the enemy
45:53without a fight.
45:56It was a horrendous blunder.
45:59The Viet Minh gained control of the northern border.
46:03Nothing could stop the flow
46:05of Chinese weapons and equipment.
46:07In two weeks,
46:09the French army had lost
46:10almost 5,000 of its best fighters.
46:14The troops were disgusted.
46:16A dejected young soldier,
46:18Bernard de Latres de Tessigny,
46:20wrote to his father.
46:23Without wanting or being able to criticize,
46:25I think we're being bossed around by arseholes.
46:32the French news continued to report
46:34that the situation was under control.
46:36that the situation was under control.
46:38The military measures
46:40taken by the following
46:40of the Kaobank disaster
46:42are in place.
46:43The communist offensive
46:43seems to stop.
46:51But it is about to the government
46:53to definitely point out
46:54that in the days that come,
46:55the policy that France will adopt
46:56in the pain of Chinese rabbins.
47:08The disaster at Kaobank shook up public opinion.
47:13In 1950,
47:15the French finally understood
47:16that their soldiers were fighting
47:18on the other side of the world
47:19and dying by the thousands.
47:26The French Communist Party
47:27increased its demonstrations.
47:48The Marseille Docker strike,
47:50which began in November 1949,
47:53soon spread to the railroads.
48:00The movement saw its first martyrs,
48:03like Raymond Dien,
48:04a 20-year-old typist
48:06who was imprisoned for lying down
48:08in front of a train
48:09carrying military equipment
48:10to the Far East.
48:13But above all else,
48:14it was the case of Henri Martin
48:15that mobilized public opinion.
48:18a volunteer in the French Navy.
48:20He was a communist activist
48:21who had witnessed the bombing
48:23of the port of Haiphong.
48:25He was arrested in March 1950
48:27and sentenced to five years in prison
48:30for distributing leaflets
48:31and newspapers in Toulon Harbor.
48:33Five years for daring to protest.
48:37In Paris and the provinces,
48:39defense committees were formed
48:41on the initiative of the Communist Party.
48:48Raymond Dien and Henri Martin,
48:51both convicted,
48:52became emblems of the cause.
48:54They symbolized the struggle
48:56of the French people
48:57against the bloody war in Indochina.
49:02From Jean Cocteau to Jean-Paul Sartre,
49:05the political, intellectual,
49:07and artistic world mobilized.
49:11Fernand Leger and Pablo Picasso
49:13each immortalized the features
49:15of the young sailor.
49:27The Communist Party brought the protest
49:29to the National Assembly.
49:31In the autumn of 1950,
49:34the radical deputy Pierre Mendez-France
49:36advocated negotiations.
49:38In an emotional moment,
49:40he announced,
49:42We simply don't have the means
49:44to implement the military victory
49:45we've been hoping for,
49:46for so long.
49:48Have the courage to face the truth.
49:52Have the courage to tell the country.
49:56His visionary speech caused a sensation,
49:58but one little support.
50:02For René Plevin,
50:03the 11th French Prime Minister
50:05since the start of the war,
50:06the very idea of a compromise
50:08with the Viet Minh
50:09was unthinkable.
50:12Negotiations would mean
50:12a victory of communism,
50:14which would therefore be a betrayal
50:15by France of its allies
50:17fighting the Reds in Korea.
50:19The shock of Cao Bang
50:21should have opened the eyes
50:23of France's leaders,
50:24but the Cold War blinded them.
50:26They decided to continue fighting.
50:29To restore the leaders' reputation
50:31and the morale of the troops,
50:32Paris desperately needed
50:33to find new inspiration.
50:37The End
50:37The End
50:37The End
50:38The End
50:55The End
50:56The End
50:57The End
50:57The End
51:07The End
51:08The End
51:09Legenda Adriana Zanotto
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