ocr: From 1825, the brutal persecution of the Catholic community, originally converted by French priests in the 17th century, gave France the excuse to colonize Cochin-China, Annam and Tonkin, and then merge them with Laos and Cambodia. 01920 "Quocngu" (Roman script): replaces Chinese script. 1930 Ho Chi Minh founds Indochina Communist Party. 1940 Japanese invade but tolerate Vichy administration until 1945. a 1941 Viet Minh resistance founded in exile in China; aided by USA. la 1945 Viet Minh take Saigon and Hanoi. Emperor abdicates. Republic with Ho Chi Minh as president. 1946 French (rearmed by ...
