Since the late 19th century, the region known as Indochina (Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia) had been under French colonial rule. With the fall of France and the takeover of the German supported Puppet Government, Vietnam found itself as an Axis occupied territory under Vichy rule. Hoping to gain support from the Vietnamese people, they declared Vietnam to be a sovereign nation, and appointed the renowned scholar Tran Trong Kim as prime minister to lead a pro-Japanese government under the newly instated Vietnamese emperor Bao Dai.