Jean Decoux

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jean Decoux (born May 5, 1884 in Bordeaux , † October 21, 1963 in Paris ) was a French naval officer with the rank of admiral . During the Second World War , Decoux was Governor General of French Indochina from July 1940 to March 9, 1945 in the service of the Vichy regime .

Life

Military career

Jean Decoux 1919

Decoux began his career as a naval officer when he entered the French Naval School at the age of 16. Decoux was raised to the rank of admiral in 1935.

In 1939 he was appointed as Rear Admiral Commander in Chief of the French Fleet in the Far East.

Political role

Shortly after the defeat of France, Decoux was installed as Governor General of Indochina by Philippe Pétain at the instigation of François Darlan on July 20, 1940. Although Decoux had no sympathy for the Axis powers, Petain was considered to be more reliable than his predecessor Georges Catroux . Decoux continued his policy of playing for a time against the strengthening Japan. Decoux tried unsuccessfully through a diplomatic initiative to get the USA to guarantee the status of Indochina. Decoux had to accept the stationing of Japanese troops first in the northern part of the colony and then also in the southern part.

In the fall of 1940, French troops put down a revolt of the Communist Party of Indochina under Ho Chi Minh in Tonkin with minor losses.

Decoux relied on concessions to the locals regarding the administration of the colony. The Vietnamese language and culture was promoted. The number of school-age children increased from 440,000 in 1939 to 700,000 in 1944. Sports and health programs have also been expanded. For the first time the name of the country was recognized as Vietnam by the colonial administration.

In the course of the annexation of Indochina by Japanese troops, Decoux was captured on March 9, 1945.

post war period

After his repatriation, Decoux was initially imprisoned. Press voices, including L'Humanité , called for the death penalty for Decoux. The admiral was imprisoned for two years, but charges were waived by the French state. In 1949, Decoux brought his view of things to the public in his book "À la barre de l'Indochine" . In 1951 he tried unsuccessfully to run for a neo-pétainist list for the National Assembly.

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Volker Nies: "Apaisement" in Asia: France and the Far East Conflict 1937-1940 , Munich, 2009, p. 293
  2. ↑ Volker Nies: "Apaisement" in Asia: France and the Far East Conflict 1937-1940 , Munich, 2009, p. 520
  3. ↑ Frederick Logevall: Embers of War - The Fall of an Empire and the Making of America's Vietnam , New York, 2013, pp. 32–33
  4. ↑ Frederick Logevall: Embers of War - The Fall of an Empire and the Making of America's Vietnam , New York, 2013, p. 39
  5. ↑ Frederick Logevall: Embers of War - The Fall of an Empire and the Making of America's Vietnam , New York, 2013, p. 39
  6. ↑ Frederick Logevall: Embers of War - The Fall of an Empire and the Making of America's Vietnam , New York, 2013, p. 39
  7. ^ Jacques Dalloz: Dictionnaire de la Guerre d'Indochine , Paris, 2006, p. 74
personal data
SURNAME Decoux, Jean
BRIEF DESCRIPTION French admiral and governor general of Indochina
DATE OF BIRTH May 5, 1884
PLACE OF BIRTH Bordeaux
DATE OF DEATH October 21, 1963
Place of death Paris