History Notes Indochina The French ruled Vietnam but allowed the emperors to remain as a figurehead. He ruled the country as far as when things interfered with the French, then he was censored. He was effectively a puppet of the French. The French's police force was called 'gendarmerie'. Bao Dai was Vietnams last emperor he cooperated with the French and became a Francophile - accepted the French culture. The French were in Vietnam to exploit …showed first 75 words of 704 total…

…showed last 75 words of 704 total…casualties on both sides. In 1954, hundreds of nations met at the Geneva Conference. They decided the French would depart Tonkin within 300 days and the people army would leave Annam and cochin china and Vietnam would be temporarily divided at the 17th parallel until a new election be held. US rigged elections and later Ngo Dinh Diem was appointed head. He was anti French and anti communist. Diem later proclaimed the Republic of Vietnam (RVN) in 1955.