For the Paris government, indeed, the March coup in Indochina, however disastrous militarily, was something of a political godsend, since it allowed de Gaulle and other leaders to say that France had spilled blood in the defense of her own territory. What’s more, the coup removed the political embarrassment that was the collaborationist Decoux regime; thenceforth Indochina would be squarely in the fight against Japan.
