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Three happy dancing children, one French, one Vietnamese and one Japanese in this Vichy-Japanese propaganda poster from World War II. French, Japanese and French Indochina flags flutter in the background.<br/><br/> In September 1940, during World War II, the newly created regime of Vichy France granted Japan's demands for military access to Tonkin with the invasion of French Indochina (or Vietnam Expedition). This allowed Japan better access to China in the Second Sino-Japanese War against the forces of Chiang Kai-shek, but it was also part of Japan's strategy for dominion over the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere.<br/><br/> On 9 March 1945, with France liberated, Germany in retreat, and the United States ascendant in the Pacific, Japan decided to take complete control of Indochina. The Japanese launched the Second French Indochina Campaign. The Japanese kept power in Indochina until the news of their government's surrender came through in August.
The Japanese Invasion of French Indochina, also known as the Vietnam Expedition, was a move by the Empire of Japan in September 1940, during the Second Sino-Japanese War, to prevent China from importing arms and fuel through French Indochina, via the Sino-Vietnamese Railway from the port of Haiphong through Hanoi to Kunming in Yunnan.<br/><br/> Japan occupied northern Indochina, which tightened the blockade of China, and made continuation of the drawn out Battle of South Guangxi unnecessary. In March 1945, Japan launched the Second French Indochina Campaign and ousted the Vichy French and formally installed Emperor Bảo Đại in the short-lived Empire of Vietnam. In August 1945, Japanese forces surrendered in Indochina at the end of World War II.
In September 1940, during World War II, the newly created regime of Vichy France granted Japan's demands for military access to Tonkin with the invasion of French Indochina (or Vietnam Expedition). This allowed Japan better access to China in the Second Sino-Japanese War against the forces of Chiang Kai-shek, but it was also part of Japan's strategy for dominion over the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere.<br/><br/> On 9 March 1945, with France liberated, Germany in retreat, and the United States ascendant in the Pacific, Japan decided to take complete control of Indochina. The Japanese launched the Second French Indochina Campaign. The Japanese kept power in Indochina until the news of their government's surrender came through in August.