- 著者
-
難波 ちづる
- 出版者
- 公益財団法人 史学会
- 雑誌
- 史学雑誌 (ISSN:00182478)
- 巻号頁・発行日
- vol.118, no.11, pp.1963-1988, 2009-11-20 (Released:2017-12-01)
The purpose of this article is to discuss the propaganda developed by the French authorities in Indochina between 1940 and 1945, in particular under the Vichy regime, in the new context of 1) losing the War, 2) occupation of the mother country by the Germans, and 3) the Japanese presence in the colony, especially the relation to propaganda efforts being made by the Japanese. The local French government's extensive propaganda campaign in Indochina was based on the idea of a "national revolution" in order to legitimize colonial rule. However, the influence exerted on the campaign by the Japanese presence was both strong and diverse, as exemplified by the various French reactions, ranging from compromise and antipathy based on points of common interest to resistance and indifference to obstructive cooperation. The campaign itself clearly reflected the basic problems facing the French authorities in ruling Indochina at that time. The slogans frequently raised at the time indicate that the French government had been forced to reconsider and then adjust its assimilative and "modernist" colonial policy approach of the previous years, which assumed "universal" republicanism and the introduction of necessary institutions for its implementation. Moreover, the French were powerless to deny the Japanese entry to the colonies, and in the midst of faulty maritime connections with the homeland, their claims of benefits to be derived from the "great French empire" soon proved ineffective in maintaining colonial authority. Having been forced to recognize the Japanese presence, the French had no alternative than to "accept" indigenous "values" and emphasize the bonds that tied Indochina to France. On the other hand, the Japanese propaganda hailing cultural attributes similar to the Indochinese, Asian solidarity, the gap that existed between East and West and superiority of Japanese leadership jolted the French campaign and weakened its effectiveness. In this sense, the appearance of a "Japanese factor" not only forced new developments to occur in French colonial policy, but at the same time hastened the end to French rule over the region.