French Indochina

French Indochina (previously spelled as French Indo-China), officially known as the Indochinese Union and after 1941 as the Indochinese Federation, was a group of French dependent territories in Southeast Asia from 1887 to 1954. It was initially a federation of French colonies (1887–1949), later a confederation of French associated states (1949–1954). It comprised Cambodia, Laos (from 1899), Guangzhouwan (1898–1945), Cochinchina, and Vietnamese regions of Tonkin and Annam. It was established in 1887 and was dissolved in 1954. In 1949, Vietnam was reunited and it regained Cochinchina. Its capitals were Hanoi (1902–1945) and Saigon (1887–1902, 1945–1954).

The Second French Empire colonized Cochinchina in 1862 and established a protectorate in Cambodia in 1863. After the Third French Republic took over northern Vietnam through the Tonkin campaign, the various protectorates were consolidated into one union in 1887. Two more entities were incorporated into the union: the Laotian protectorate and the Chinese territory of Guangzhouwan. The French exploited the resources in the region during their rule, while also contributing to limited and uneven improvements of the health and education system in the region, designed to benefit the French and, to an extent, a tiny group of native elites, rather than most of the local population. Deep divides remained between the native population and the colonists, leading to sporadic rebellions by the former.

After the Fall of France during World War II, the colony was administered by the Vichy government and was under Japanese occupation until 9 March 1945, when the Japanese army overthrew the colonial regime. They established puppet states including the Empire of Vietnam. After the Japanese surrender, the communist Viet Minh led by Ho Chi Minh declared Vietnam's independence. France sought to restore control with the help of the British in the war in southern Vietnam (1945–1946), which led to all-out Vietnamese resistance in the First Indochina War.

In 1945, France returned Guangzhouwan to China. To counter the Viet Minh and as part of decolonization, France, working with Vietnamese nationalists, formed the anti-communist State of Vietnam as an associated state within the French Union in 1949. This led to Cochinchina returning to Vietnam in June. Laos and Cambodia also became French associated states the same year. French efforts to retake Indochina were unsuccessful, culminating in defeat at the Battle of Điện Biên Phủ. On 22 October and 9 November 1953, Laos and Cambodia gained independence, as did Vietnam with the Geneva Accords of 21 July 1954, ending French Indochina.