Question

What happened to Vietnam during WWII?

Answer 1

It belonged to France

Explanation:

Vietnam was part of Indochina and remained a French colony during WWII. Its independence was declared shortly after the end of the war in 1946.

Answer 2

Vietnam remained Vichy French but The Japanese were ceded control over it in 1940. Eventually the French Administration was disarmed and interned.

Explanation:

The Japanese got important Naval and Air bases in French Indo-China that assisted in the conquest of Asia in the early times of the Pacific War. The nature of the take over and the continued French Administrative presence made the political situation fairly murky. The Americans and British didn't want the Japanese there. The British threatened action against French naval assets and the American threatened the Japanese with economic sanctions.

The odd Administrative setup continued until 1944 when Japanese interned or killed the French. The Japanese set up Bao Dai as head of the government thereafter.

The Americans sent a small OSS team to work with the Communists against the Japanese in 1945.

Ho Chi Minh and the Vietminh set up in China and moved into Vietnam. They and other independence organizations made a fair amount of headway in the War years. The Vietminh were numerous, armed and present on liberation. The British were the first to effectively liberate Indo-China and they got the Japanese to do some guard duty as they were a bit short handed. Clashes between the Vietminh, British and Japanese after the war's end were recorded. The British assisted the French in re-establishing French Colonial control.

The Vietminh established a core resistance organization and built political credability that continued into the conflicts post World War 2.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Indochina_in_World_War_II