French Indochina (Alternate)

French Indochina (previously spelled as French Indo-China)[a] (French: Indochine française; Vietnamese: Đông Dương thuộc Pháp), officially known as the Indochinese Union (French: Union indochinoise; Vietnamese: Liên bang Đông Dương)[b] from 1887, is a grouping French colonial territories in Southeast Asia. It is comprised of three Vietnamese regions of Tonkin in the north, Annam in the centre, and Cochinchina in the south, Cambodia, Laos (From 1899), and formerly the Chinese territory of Guangzhouwan until it was returned to the Republic of China in 1945. The capital of the territory is Hanoi as of 1946.

The French annexed Cochinchina and established a protectorate in Cambodia in 1862 and 1863 respectively. After the conquest of North Vietnam during the Tonkin Campaign (1883-1886), the various French protectorates were merged into a single entity, with the Laotian protectorate and Guangzhouwan being incorporated as well. During French rule, the colonialists exploited the local resources, but also contributed in improvements to the health and education systems in the area. In spite of this, the division between the Colonialists and Natives were far from over. After the fall of France during World War II, the territory was overseen by the Vichy Government and Japanese Occupation, when in March 1945, the Japanese staged a coup to overthrow the local government.

After the victory of World War II, French Indochina suffered from internal unrest, particularly in Northern Vietnam, where the Chinese-backed Việt Nam Quốc Dân Đảng held skirmishes with the French Colonialists, and the Soviet-backed Viet Minh. The De Facto state of Vietnam is a split of 3, with the French Colonial Government administering Annam, the VNQDD adminstering Tonkin and Laos, and the Viet Minh, Cambodia and Cochinchina. All three regimes lay claim to the entire region, and to this date, there are frequent border clashes.