The French Communist Party’s Colonial Republicanism and the Indochina War: Significance and limitations of French Anti-Colonialism after World War II

After World War II, the French Communist Party emphasized the need for a strong bond between France and Vietnam under republican principles rather than complete separation and independence of the colonies through the free consent of the Vietnamese People. This perception and strategy of the French Communist Party led to an ambiguous attitude that did not rigorously oppose the establishment of the French Union, which was designed to maintain the colonial system after World War II, and communists actually supported the extension of this new form of colonial rule system in principle. Communists considered France’s colonial rule as a tool to spread republican values, and remained silent as France created a new colonial ruling order system through the French Union. Communists, under the influence of patriotism in the post-war period, insisted on stronger solidarity with colonies and protectorates such as Cochinchina, Annam, and Tonkin for the benefit of France, and in return offered equal rights to the Vietnamese based on republican principles. This logic, which denied the Vietnamese people’s right to self-determination, ultimately contributed to the cause of the Indochina War that began at the end of 1946. In the end, with the outbreak of the Indochina War, Communists supported the oppressed colonial people and opposed the ‘dirty war’ that was a result of colonialism, but the role of the French Communist Party in the Tripartisme showed how ambiguous the communists’ anti-colonialism was as a political slogan.