FRENCH ECONOMIC POLICIES IN OCCUPIED ZONES AND THE COUNTERMEASURES OF THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF VIETNAM (1945 - 1954)

Abstract

From 1945 to 1954, the French colonial authorities, while reoccupying Vietnam, enacted policies aimed at resource exploitation, which included investments in agriculture and industry, as well as the establishment of a stringent economic control system in the temporarily occupied regions. Nonetheless, these French policies encountered significant resistance from the Government of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam and the Vietnamese populace. The economic struggle occurred concurrently with military activities, resulting in a complex geopolitical and geo-economic-social context. This article examines various factors associated with French economic policy in temporarily occupied regions and the counteractions taken by the Government of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, highlighting the role of economic warfare in the broader success of the Vietnamese revolution against French colonial re-invasion.