Figure 1.--This colonial ear Fench post card shows the Tirailleurs Tonkinois (Tonkin Riflemen), French colonial troops in th Vietnam region of Indo-China. These were one of thev various rergional types of the Tirailleurs indochinois. The photograph was taken about 1912 just before World War I. At the time European colonial empires seemed a permanent fixture in world affairs. We see the soldiers with their children and wives. Notice the campment in the background. This woukd have included family quarters for the wives and children.

The first vry substantial French Empire was destroyed and largely incoprporated by yh British in its growing empire. After the Napoleonic Wars, France began building a second empire. mostly in Afriva and Soiutheast Asia. After France seized control of important areas of Southeast Asia, creating Indo-China. They began reorganising Tirailleurs indochinois finding this much less expensive than using all French soldiers. At the time, natiionalist sentiment was not yet a major issue. The colonial authorities began organizing several infantry regiments (1880). 【Rives and Deroo】 The most important of these units was the Tonkinese Rifles (Tirailleurs tonkinois), eventually five regiments were organized. Tonkin was an area of Vietnam. There are reports of widespread desertion when these units were first organized. 【Bouinais and Paulus, p. 190.】 Overtime, the French managed to establish more reliable forces. Officers were brought in from the regular French Marine (Colonial) Infantry and the the Tirailleurs indochinois was turned into a more effective force. As in Africa, organizing a local force was important in effectively occupying the colony. The Tirailleurs indochinois was not only used for domestic security. They were deployed in China during the Boxer Rebellion (1900), the Allied intervention in Siberia (1918–19), Syria (1920–21) and Morocco (1925–26). The major foreign deployment was during World War I (1914-18). The French Army was at first reluctant to deploy its Tirailleurs indochinois to Europe. As the War continued and huge casualties were sustained, The French Army turned increasingly to its colonies. Some 40,000 Tirailleurs indochinois were deployed to Europe, mostly Annamite and Cambodian tirailleurs. 【Jouineau, p. 63.】 Most did not see combat. They were deployed in rear areas in guard, depot, and factory-work duties. There was some limited combat action, including Verdun, the Chemin des Dames, and in Champagne. The Tirailleurs indochinoi also saw action in the Balkans,where Allied forced drove north from Greece to liberate Serbia. The French were shocked when 50 tirailleurs mutinied to support the Việt Nam Quốc Dân Đảng during the Yen Bai rebellion (1930). They were quickly overcome by loyal tirailleurs in that unit. 【Rives and Deroo, pp. 72–73.】 We are not sure to what extent the Tirailleurs indochinois became Catholic, but this seems likely given the long association with the French and may be part of the continued support for France during the French Indochina War. World War I saw the rise of nationalist sentiment in many of the European colonies. In Indo-China this was especially true in Vietnam. As a result, the French increasingly turned to non-ethnic Vietnamese recruits. The Viet Minh were organized during this period. The Japanese intervened in Indo-China during World War II after France fell to the Germans (June 1940). At first this was limited to northern Vietnam. As the Vichy regime set up in France cooperated with Japan's German ally, the Japanese did not replace the French Vichu civil administration, but it operated under Japanese supervision until the final months of the War. The Vichy authorities did not interfere with the Japanese militarily build up, or the occupation of the the south (June 1941). The Americans did react, embargoing oil shipments to Japsn (July 1941). As Japan was dependent on America oil, this ultimately led to Pearl Harbor (December 1941) and the Pacific War. Despite early successes, the War did not go well for either Japan or Germany. While Allied forces did not reach Indo-China during the War, he American began dropping military supplies to the Viet Minh whicvh was resisting the Japanese. The Allies invaded France (June 1944) and within a few months had liberated the county from the Germans, ending the Vichy regime. Japan reacted by deposing the Vichy authorities (spring 1945). The French forces in Indo-China including the Tirailleurs resisted, but were overwhelmed by the still vastly superior Japanese forces. It was a Quixotic fight given the situation on the ground in Indo-China. Some tirailleur units stood with the French during the fighting. We think this may have been a combination of anti-Japanese sentiment and pro-French support. The Vietnamese had come hate the Japanese for their brutality. This was also because of the terrible famine they caused, especially in north Vietnam. The "3e RTT" (3e régiment de tirailleurs tonkinois) fought bravely, but was annihilated by the Japanese. There were six Tonkinese and Annamite tirailleur regiments active then in existence. All were either smashed or had to disperse. Some of the men joined up with the Viet Minh. The Japanese imprisoning the French administrators and took direct control of the civil administration. The Viet Minh under Ho Chi Minh understood that the war was ending and the Japanese defeated, launched the August Revolution, and proclaimed Independence as the of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (August 1945). They did not take on the Japanese in a meaningful way and at the time were located in remote northwestern areas where the Japanese could not get at them with substantial force. After the Japanese surrender (September 1945). The French did not reconstitute tirailleur units when they returned. 【Rives and Deroo, pp. 98–99.】 The Viet Minh resisted the recolonization of Vietnam after the Japanese surrender leading to the French Indochina War (1946–54). Many ethnic Vietnamese troops served in the French Union Forces during the war. The final Indo-Chinese unit in the French Army was finally disbanded (1960). 【Rives and Deroo, pp. 125-27.】 Many tirailleurs being experienced professional soldiers became officers in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) after the French finally withdrew. It ould not be the French Tirailleurs or the French colonial masters or iltyimately the Americans that wiould detemine the future of Viet Nam. It would thast would be the Viet Minh which emerged as a Communist force. The future is ucertain. Other Asian Cmmunist regimes have emerged as dystopian nighhmares. Vietnams's fate is unclear. In the future as Communist authorities seek to mainatin control rsther than allow democtstic development, the same may occur in Vietnam.

Sources

Bouinais, Albert Marie Aristide and A. Paulus. L'Indo-Chine française contemporaine: Cochinchine (Cambodge: 1885).

Jouineau, Andre. French Army 1918 1915 to Victory (2009).

Rives, Maurice and Eric Deroo. Les Lính tâp: Histoire des militaires indochinois au service de la France, 1859-1960 (1999).

Created: 10:39 PM 8/24/2024
Last updated: 11:05 AM 8/24/2024