sought to reconcile with the Hòa Hảo, but Sổ, who was skeptical of them, turned them down. The Việt Minh then executed two Hòa Hảo leaders, Sổ's brother, and one of his Trotskyist advisers in October; by now, the uneasy alliance had collapsed. First Indochina War The return of the French colonial regime helped to keep the Hòa Hảo and the Việt Minh apart, but it was also a major disappointment to the Hòa Hảo. Sổ had hoped that his religious movement would become the de facto ruling power throughout most of Cochinchina, but the arrival of a larger French force put an end to such ambitions. The Hòa Hảo turned inward to strengthen their religious power and expand their political influence in the Mekong Delta. As the French grew increasingly skeptical of the Việt Minh, they started aiding the Hòa Hảo. In fact, throughout the First Indochina War (1946–1954), the French government issued support payments for Cao Đài, Hòa Hao, and Bình Xuyên armed forces in exchange for defense of the territories they controlled against the Việt Minh. They granted the Hòa Hảo hegemony over the southwestern Mekong Delta and eventually provided arms for some 20,000 Hoahaoists. In return for aid against the Việt Minh, the new Hòa Hảo leadership was willing to form alliances with the colonialists; they did not see such an agreement as a betrayal of their nationalist ideals because the ultimate goal of religious independence was not jeopardized. The Hòa Hảo periodically tied Việt Minh sympathizers together and threw them into the river to drown. The Việt Minh were worried by Sổ's nationalist credentials and social structure, and attempted to co-opt him into a National Unified Front (NUF). Moreover, Sơn Ngọc Thành, the Prime Minister of Cambodia, recognized the Democratic Republic of Vietnam when it was founded in 1945. Southern Vietnamese Việt Minh commanders established contact with Thành to orchestrate resistance to the French. For negotiations, the Khmer government sent a delegation. The talks collapsed after this delegation made itself unpopular by pressing the issue of Cambodia's irredentist claims over the Mekong Delta. The Hòa Hảo clashed with the Khmers in Trà Vinh province, and the French were determined to act firmly against Thành's government. The colonial authorities apprehended Thành, who was arrested and imprisoned upon his return to Saigon. Thành, who had been exiled to France, did not return to Cambodia until 1951. The