The document summarizes Japan's invasion and occupation of Vietnam between 1940-1945. It discusses Japan's concerns about European colonialism in Asia which led them to invade French Indochina in 1940 in order to control Vietnam's resources and cut off supplies to China. The Vietnamese initially welcomed Japanese rule over the French, but grew to resent the harsh occupation. A famine caused by Japanese rice hoarding and bad weather killed over 1 million Vietnamese by 1945. Vietnamese nationalism and resistance to foreign rule grew as a result of the harsh and exploitative Japanese occupation.

1. VIETNAMESE
RESISTANCE
JAPAN
INVADES
VIETNAM
5

3. JAPAN’S CONCERNS
At the turn of the 20th century Japan was concerned that
European countries had managed to colonise many of its
neighbouring countries.
These nations posed a military threat to Japan but also an
economic one.
The Wall Street Crash of 1929 led to a global depression.
Japan’s economy crashed which created the perfect
conditions for a radical new political system.
A new military focussed Japan emerged.
They would soon ally themselves with Nazi Germany and
become a major military force in both Asia and the Pacific.

4. WHY DID JAPAN INVADE INDOCHINA?
Victory in Southeast Asia and the Pacific would achieve a
number of objectives for Japan.
1. Provide them with natural resources which could be
used for the war effort and therefore bypass American
trade restrictions.
2. The extensive rice plantations in Indochina would
feed the Japanese army as they advanced through the
Pacific.
3. It would liberate an Asian country that was under
European control. Returning Asia to Asians.
4. Japan had been at war with China since 1937 so
controlling North Vietnam would cut off vital war
supplies from being able to enter China.

5. WHY COLONISE VIETNAM?
Vietnam’s geographic location explains why so many
countries have wanted to occupy Vietnam.
Vietnam offers a perfect gateway into South East Asia and
also the mainland of Asia. It is a vital trading point in Asia.
Vietnam also had a wealth of resources: rice, copper, coal
tin and zinc. Vietnamese labour was cheap.
The deep water harbours of the east coast and the extensive
waterways of the Red River Delta in the North and the
Mekong Delta in the South, meant that raw materials could
be extracted easily and exported back to France.

6. Video – Japan Invading Indochina

7. THE INVASION
France was focussed on the war in Europe
and they were in no position to defend its
overseas colonies.
Japan invaded Haiphong Harbour in
September 1940 and began its occupation of
North Vietnam.
800 French troops were killed in the
invasion and they were forced to surrender.
Initially many Vietnamese welcomed the
Japanese as they were impressed that an
Asian power were able to defeat a European
colonial power.

8. Japanese Imperial Army soldiers advance to Lang Son, in September 1940 in French Indochina.

9. The Faux Namti (Wujiazhai) Bridge over the
Sicha River, in the Nanxi Valley region. More
than 800 Chinese coolies died here.

10. THE 1945 FAMINE
The Japanese occupation lasted from 1940-1945. For the most
part the years of Japanese occupation were harsh and cruel.
They pillaged the region of its natural resources and hoarded
rice to fuel their armies and their homeland.
Appalling weather and the lack of rice led to a severe famine
throughout North Vietnam.
By 1945 it was estimated that between 1.5 - 2 million people
— 25% of North Vietnams population — had starved to death.

11. Vietnamese villagers attacking
a rice warehouse built by
Japanese forces during the
Japanese occupation, 1945.

12. Japanese troops on leave in Saigon during World War II.

13. IMPACT OF JAPANESE OCCUPATION
The Vietnamese soon began to resent the Japanese
occupation just as they did the French.
They resented the fact that neither the Japanese nor the
French attempted to take responsibility for the famine.
This led to an increased number of resistance movements
forming, committed to removing any foreign oppressors from
Vietnam.
Vietnamese nationalism was continuing to grow.

14. READING
Vietnamese historian Tran on Famine during the Japanese
occupation (2003):
“During that time, in our estimate, at least 40,000 starving,
poor peasants arrived in Hanoi to beg for food and wait for
handouts. The Japanese specifically forbade the local people
from organising any hunger relief. People dug into the garbage
dumps in order to find any edible thing at all. They also
ate rats. But this was not enough to keep them alive. The
Viet Minh encouraged hungry Vietnamese to attack Japanese
food stores.”

15. SURRENDER
The Japanese exited the war on the 10th of August 1945 after
the dropping of the atomic bombs on both Hiroshima
and Nagasaki.
Japanese Emperor Hirohito announced a complete surrender,
which brought an end to Japan’s control of Indochina.

16. LOCAL RESISTANCE
A French poster
critical of Japanese
imperialism in
Indochina, forgetting
to mention the
French colonialism
with all its
“benefits”.