Jean Decoux
Encyclopedia
Jean Decoux was a French politician, who was the Governor-General of French Indochina
from 1940 to 1945, representing the Vichy French
government.
. In 1940 he was named French governor
of Indocina.
Decoux’s task there was to reverse the policy of appeasement towards the Japan
ese led by his predecessor general Georges Catroux
, but political realities soon forced him to continue down the same road.
Decoux reportedly received demands from the Japanese in early August for permission to move troops through Tonkin
(later Vietnam
) in order to build air bases and block Allied supply routes to China
. Decoux cabled his Vichy
superiors for help, but when no help was forthcoming signed treaty September 20, 1940 opening Haiphong
harbor to the Japanese giving them the right to station troops in the region. http://www.answers.com/topic/1940
Decoux worked to improve relations between French colonists and the Vietnamese, establishing a grand federal council containing twice as many Vietnamese as Frenchmen and installing Vietnamese in civil-service positions with equal pay to that of French civil servants. http://www.answers.com/topic/1940
Decoux enforced the discriminatory laws against Gaullists and Freemasons, as well as the anti-Semitic Statute on Jews
, despite decrying the laws harmful to the Vichy agenda.
Decoux also showed a terrible unconcern during the famine between 1943 and 1945. During this time two million Vietnamese died of starvation in the countryside and urban cities. The Decoux government did nothing to help the Vietnamese peasants, farmers, and poor, despite soliciting and courting the Vietnamese elite.
In 1945, the Japanese took direct control of the government and ousted Decoux, establishing the Empire of Vietnam
.
Arrested and tried after the war, Decoux was not convicted. He was restored to his rank and prerogatives in 1949. He later wrote the book A la barre de l'Indochine. He died in Paris in 1963.
Governor-General of French Indochina
-External links:*...
from 1940 to 1945, representing the Vichy French
Vichy France
Vichy France, Vichy Regime, or Vichy Government, are common terms used to describe the government of France that collaborated with the Axis powers from July 1940 to August 1944. This government succeeded the Third Republic and preceded the Provisional Government of the French Republic...
government.
Biography
Decoux was born in BordeauxBordeaux
Bordeaux is a port city on the Garonne River in the Gironde department in southwestern France.The Bordeaux-Arcachon-Libourne metropolitan area, has a population of 1,010,000 and constitutes the sixth-largest urban area in France. It is the capital of the Aquitaine region, as well as the prefecture...
. In 1940 he was named French governor
Vichy France
Vichy France, Vichy Regime, or Vichy Government, are common terms used to describe the government of France that collaborated with the Axis powers from July 1940 to August 1944. This government succeeded the Third Republic and preceded the Provisional Government of the French Republic...
of Indocina.
Decoux’s task there was to reverse the policy of appeasement towards the Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese led by his predecessor general Georges Catroux
Georges Catroux
Georges Catroux was a French Army general and diplomat who served in both World War I and World War II, and served as Grand Chancellor of the Légion d'honneur from 1954 to 1969.-Biography:...
, but political realities soon forced him to continue down the same road.
Decoux reportedly received demands from the Japanese in early August for permission to move troops through Tonkin
Tonkin
Tonkin , also spelled Tongkin, Tonquin or Tongking, is the northernmost part of Vietnam, south of China's Yunnan and Guangxi Provinces, east of northern Laos, and west of the Gulf of Tonkin. Locally, it is known as Bắc Kỳ, meaning "Northern Region"...
(later Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
) in order to build air bases and block Allied supply routes to China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
. Decoux cabled his Vichy
Vichy
Vichy is a commune in the department of Allier in Auvergne in central France. It belongs to the historic province of Bourbonnais.It is known as a spa and resort town and was the de facto capital of Vichy France during the World War II Nazi German occupation from 1940 to 1944.The town's inhabitants...
superiors for help, but when no help was forthcoming signed treaty September 20, 1940 opening Haiphong
Haiphong
, also Haiphong, is the third most populous city in Vietnam. The name means, "coastal defence".-History:Hai Phong was originally founded by Lê Chân, the female general of a Vietnamese revolution against the Chinese led by the Trưng Sisters in the year 43 C.E.The area which is now known as Duong...
harbor to the Japanese giving them the right to station troops in the region. http://www.answers.com/topic/1940
Decoux worked to improve relations between French colonists and the Vietnamese, establishing a grand federal council containing twice as many Vietnamese as Frenchmen and installing Vietnamese in civil-service positions with equal pay to that of French civil servants. http://www.answers.com/topic/1940
Decoux enforced the discriminatory laws against Gaullists and Freemasons, as well as the anti-Semitic Statute on Jews
Statute on Jews
The Statute on Jews was discriminatory legislation against French Jews passed on October 3, 1940 by the Vichy Regime, grouping them as a lower class and depriving them of citizenship before rounding them up at Drancy internment camp then taking them to be exterminated in concentration camps...
, despite decrying the laws harmful to the Vichy agenda.
Decoux also showed a terrible unconcern during the famine between 1943 and 1945. During this time two million Vietnamese died of starvation in the countryside and urban cities. The Decoux government did nothing to help the Vietnamese peasants, farmers, and poor, despite soliciting and courting the Vietnamese elite.
In 1945, the Japanese took direct control of the government and ousted Decoux, establishing the Empire of Vietnam
Empire of Vietnam
The Empire of Vietnam was a short-lived puppet state of Imperial Japan governing the whole of Vietnam between March 11 and August 23, 1945.-History:...
.
Arrested and tried after the war, Decoux was not convicted. He was restored to his rank and prerogatives in 1949. He later wrote the book A la barre de l'Indochine. He died in Paris in 1963.