War in southern Vietnam (1945–1946)
| War in Southern Vietnam | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the aftermath of World War II and the Indochina wars | ||||||||
 A Japanese naval officer surrendering his sword to a British naval lieutenant in Saigon on 24 November 1945 | ||||||||
| ||||||||
| Belligerents | ||||||||
 Japanese Surrendered Personnels |
|
 Hòa Hảo Cao Đài Vietnamese National Independence Party Đại Việt Nationalist Party Trotskyists | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | ||||||||
 Douglas Gracey Philippe Leclerc |
Hồ Chí Minh Võ Nguyên Giáp Trường Chinh Nguyễn Bình Trần Văn Giàu Lê Duẩn Phạm Ngọc Thạch Dương Văn Dương † Lê Văn Viễn |
Huỳnh Phú Sổ Phạm Công Tắc Hồ Văn Ngà  Nguyễn Tôn Hoàn Tạ Thu Thâu Phan Văn Hùm | ||||||
| Strength | ||||||||
| Unknown number of soldiers | Unknown number of soldiers |
At least 15,000 Hòa Hảo militants Unknown number of Cao Đài and VNQDD forces Some 2,500 Bình Xuyên forces | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | ||||||||
|
40 dead "Slightly higher than British casualties" |
British estimation: 2,700 dead (600 by British forces, the rest by French and Japanese) | Unknown | ||||||
The 1945–1946 War in Southern Vietnam, codenamed Operation Masterdom by the British, and also known as the Southern Resistance War (Vietnamese: Nam Bộ kháng chiến) by the Vietnamese, was an armed conflict in Vietnam south of the 16th parallel during which British-Indian and French forces fought to suppress Vietnamese independence movements, which included non-communist nationalists, Trotskyists, and the Stalinist-front Viet Minh, to take control of the southern half of the country. It began shortly after the end of World War II, specifically the unconditional surrender of Japan.
Starting in Saigon on 23 September, the British began facilitating the return of the French to the half of Indochina south of the 16th parallel. Almost all Vietnamese opposed the French return in August 1945, but the Viet Minh's killings of non-communist opponents eventually pushed some groups to join the French in fighting against the Viet Minh. By March 1946, British–French forces had defeated the Vietnamese resistance, allowing the French to reassert control over southern Vietnam. Later, failed negotiations and rising tensions in the north escalated into the full-scale First Indochina War.