Group during the March coup. After the 1944 Liberation of France and the fall of Nazi Germany in Europe the following year, the French authorities wanted to "free" the last Axis powers occupied territories in Southeast Asia, these included the newly established Empire of Vietnam, which was a Japanese colony. On June 7, 1945, Leclerc was nominated commander of the CEFEO. On June 22, Leclerc transferred command of the 2nd Armored Division (2ème D.B.) -the famous unit which had liberated Paris in August 1944- to Colonel Dio. Leclerc received command of the Far East French Forces (Forces Françaises en Extrême-Orient) on August 15. First Indochina War (1946–1954) In 1946, nationalist, then communist popular rebellion movement rose up against established colonial rule in the French Indochina federation then including Laos, Cambodia, Tonkin (North Vietnam), the Annam (Middle Vietnam) and Cochinchina (South Vietnam), all states being protectorates excluding the latter which was a colony with Saigon as its capital. In 1946, they would become associated states within the French Union and by 1949 Tonkin, Annam and the Republic of Cochin China would merge as the State of Vietnam. The communist Viet Minh led by Ho Chi Minh overwhelmed its rival nationalist movements and organized itself as a guerilla army using guerrilla warfare, then in the 1950s support—using conventional warfare. The First Indochina War officially lasted from November 20, 1946 until July 20, 1954 and was settled by the Geneva Agreements. Dissolution (1956) After withdrawal of the last CEFEO troops from the independent Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia in 1956, the corps was disbanded by General Pierre Jacquot. Commanders Philippe Leclerc de Hauteclocque (1945–46) Jean Etienne Valluy (1946–48) Roger Blaizot (1948–49) Marcel Carpentier (1949–50) Jean de Lattre de Tassigny (1950–51) Raoul Salan (1952–53) Henri Navarre (1953–54) Paul Ély (1954–55) Pierre Jacquot (1955–56) Far East Forces North West Operation Group (Groupe d'Opération Nord-Ouest, GONO) Commander: General Christian de Castries (1954) Far East Ground Forces (Forces Terrestres en Extrême-Orient, FTEO) North Vietnam Ground Forces (Forces Terrestres du Nord Vietnam, FTNV) Commander: General René Cogny (1954) South Vietnam Ground Forces (Forces Terrestres du Sud Vietnam, FTSV) Among the French ground forces in the Far East was the 6th Engineers Regiment (6 RG). Far East Naval Forces (Forces Maritimes en Extrême-Orient, FMEO) Commanders: Georges Thierry d'Argenlieu (1946–47) Emile Bollaert (1947) Vice-Admiral Auboyneau (1952–54) Far East Naval Directorate (Direction Navale d'Extrême-Orient, DNEO) Commander: Contre-Admiral Bosvieux (1952) Far East Air