The End of the First Indochina War: A Global History

301 Pages·2012·2.557 MB·English

by  James Waite

The End of the First Indochina War
Routledge Studies on History and Globalization
SERIES EDITORS: THOMAS ZEILER AND ALFRED ECKES
1 Globalizing Human Rights
Private Citizens, the Soviet Union,
and the West
Christian Philip Peterson
2 The Globalization of Music
in History
Richard Wetzel
3 The End of the First Indochina
War
A Global History
James Waite
The End of the
First Indochina War
A Global History
James Waite
NEW YORK LONDON
First published 2012
by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Simultaneously published in the UK
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group,
an informa business
© 2012 Taylor & Francis
The right of James Waite to be identified as author of this work has been
asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright,
Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now
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without intent to infringe.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Waite, James, 1976–
The end of the First Indochina War : a global history / by James Waite.
pages cm. — (Routledge studies on history and globalization ; 3)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Indochinese War, 1946-1954—Peace. 2. Geneva Conference (1954)
3. Indochinese War, 1946–1954—Diplomatic history. 4. World politics—
1945–1955. I. Title.
DS553.6.W35 2012
959.704'12—dc23
2012000176
ISBN: 978-0-415-88684-0 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-0-203-11004-1 (ebk)
Typeset in Sabon
by IBT Global.
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Figure 1 Indochina 1954.
Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction 1
PART I
Escalation and Negotiation, March 1953–May 1954
1 “More Important than Korea:” Background to Negotiation 15
2 Defeat in Vietnam? The Battle for Dien Bien Phu 35
3 The Vietnamese Confront the Cold War 51
4 Before Geneva: The Foundations of Western Disunity 65
5 In Search of a “Lesser Evil:” Partition as an Idea 81
6 United Action Averted 97
PART II
The Geneva Conference on Indochina, May–July 1954
7 The Geneva Conference: The Bidault Phase 121
8 Gouverner, c’est choisir 143
9 The Geneva Conference: The Mendès-France Phase 160
viii Contents
PART III
The Global Legacy, July 1954–July 1956
10 Making Partition Permanent 185
11 Global Implications 206
Epilogue: “Our Off spring” 220
Notes 229
Sources 279
Index 293
Acknowledgments
This study is based on my doctoral dissertation at Ohio University, where
I was lucky to belong to the small and collegial community that centers on
the Contemporary History Institute and History Department. I owe many
debts to the CHI Administrator, Kara Dunfee, and former CHI Director
Mike Grow. Among the student body, Jeff Bloodworth, Brent Geary, Rob-
ert Davis, Ricky Garlitz, Tom Bruscino, Stephen Tootle, Mark Rice, Jon
Peterson, and Steve George contributed to the success of this project. John
Brobst and Bill Frederick, both members of my dissertation committee,
patiently listened to my ideas and encouraged me to be ambitious.
I hope that this book lives up to the high academic standards set by
my instructors and fellow historians, but also refl ects the perspective of
a professional diplomat. Many observations and arguments in the book
have been moderated by my experience with the New Zealand Ministry of
Foreign Aff airs and Trade and the New Zealand Embassy in Indonesia. The
contents, however, are my responsibility alone and do not represent past or
present New Zealand Government policy.
I am grateful to Routledge for taking on this project with great enthusi-
asm and professionalism. Alfred E. Eckes, co-editor of this series, has been
a great supporter of my research. Thanks also to co-editor Thomas Zeiler,
Routledge editor Laura Stearns, and Stacy Noto from Routledge.
Beyond OU, Bob Brigham, George Herring, Jessica Chapman, Jessica
Elkind, Edward Miller, Chris Mann, Helge Pharo, Roberto Rabel, Robert
Egan, and Hallvard Notaker assisted in various ways. The Forum for Con-
temporary History at the University of Oslo and the War Studies Depart-
ment at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst, kindly hosted me and
listened to some of the ideas outlined in this book. Among the many archi-
vists who helped me, David Wyatt and Elaine Engst ensured that my trip to
the Carl A. Kroch Library at Cornell was a fruitful one. Dwight Stranberg
pointed me in the right direction at the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presiden-
tial Library in Abilene. Many archivists showed great patience during my
visits to France. I owe special thanks to: Dominique Parcollet at the Cen-
tre d’histoire de Science Po, Erik Langlinay at the Institut Pierre Mendès-
France, Lucette Vachier and Marie-Paule Blasini at the Centre des Archives
x Acknowledgments
d’Outre-Mer, and Françoise Aujogue and Patricia Gillet at the Archives
Nationales. Thanks to Greta Menzies for designing the maps in this book.
Fredrik Logevall kindly off ered to sit on my dissertation committee, pro-
vided valuable advice on French archives, made time to discuss my argu-
ments, and diligently commented on earlier versions of this study.
My PhD advisor, Chester Pach, helped me in immeasurable ways
throughout my time at Ohio and afterwards. His scrutiny, constructive
criticism, and encouragement ensured that I have been able to produce a
work of which I am proud.
This project received fi nancial support from Ohio University’s Contem-
porary History Institute; the History Department; the Council on Research,
Scholarship, and Creative Activity; the Baker Peace Committee; and the
College of Arts and Sciences. The book also contains some argumenta-
tion previously published in my 2006 article, “Contesting ‘the Right of
Decision:’ New Zealand, the Commonwealth, and the New Look.” Many
thanks to the Editor of Diplomatic History, Thomas Zeiler, for allowing
some material from that article to appear in this book.
Although this book contains new arguments, takes a global perspective,
and is largely based on original research, I am conscious that my research
builds upon the eff orts of many other historians. In particular, this study
draws on important works by David Anderson, James Cable, Philip Catton,
Chen Jian, William Hitchcock, I.V. Gaiduk, Christopher Goscha, Richard
Immerman, Mark Atwood Lawrence, George Herring, Edward Millar,
Kathryn Statler, Kevin Ruane, and Ronald Spector.
Thanks also to my parents, Gillian and Roderick Deane, and Anne and
Tony Rimmer, and to my brothers and sister. Final acknowledgment must
go to my wife Ophelia, who moved to the United States, endured the priva-
tions of the graduate student lifestyle, helped with research, and supported
me. This book is dedicated to her.
James Waite