1945 was a tumultuous year for Vietnam. After the Japanese were defeated by the Allies in 1945, Ho Chi Minh declared Vietnamese independence from France, unaware that Allied leaders had agreed at the Potsdam Conference to divide the the former French colony at the 17th parallel. Under the agreement, the British occupied the south and the Chinese nationalists the north until French colonial authority could be reestablished.

By the end of 1946, the French had returned and hostilities with the Viet Minh had escalated, setting off the Anti-French Resistance War (aka the First Indochina War).

But in the lull between 1945 and 1946, the country was relatively peaceful, as seen in the 1945 video below.

Rickshaws. Everywhere.

The first half of the film covers Saigon with the remainder showing post-war Hue, Dalat and other major centers.