Vietnam 1946: How the War Began

389 Pages·2009·3.611 MB·English

by  Stein Tonnesson, Philippe Devillers

Tonnesson, Vietnam 8/11/09 5:05 PM Page a
A
B O O K
ThePhilipE.Lilienthalimprint
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atUniversityofCaliforniaPressfrom1954to1979
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epublishergratefullyacknowledgesthegenerous
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Tonnesson, Vietnam 8/11/09 5:05 PM Page i
Vietnam 1946
Tonnesson, Vietnam 8/11/09 5:05 PM Page ii
FROM INDOCHINA TO VIETNAM:
REVOLUTION AND WAR IN A GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE
EditedbyFredrikLogevallandChristopherE.Goscha
1.AssumingtheBurden:EuropeandtheAmericanCommitmenttoWarinVietnam,
byMarkAtwoodLawrence
2.Indochina:AnAmbiguousColonization,1858–1954,byPierreBrocheuxandDanielHémery
3.Vietnam1946:HowtheWarBegan,bySteinTønnesson
Tonnesson, Vietnam 8/11/09 5:05 PM Page iii
Vietnam 1946
How the War Began
Stein Tønnesson
WithaforewordbyPhilippeDevillers
UNIVERSITy OF CALIFORNIA PRESS
Berkeley LosAngeles London
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PortionsofthisbookwerepublishedinearlierformsinSteinTønnesson,
eOutbreakoftheWarinIndochina,1946,PRIOReportno.3(Interna-
tionalPeaceResearchInstitute,Oslo,1984);1946:Déclenchementdela
guerred’Indochine.Lesvêprestonkinoisesdu19décembre(Paris:L’Harmat-
tan,1987);“AFrenchDecisionforWar:FrenchandVietnameseDecision-
MakingbeforetheOutbreakoftheWarinIndochina,December1946,”
VietnamForum,no.12(Summer–Fall1988):112–35;and“Lapaix
imposéeparlaChine:L’accordfranco-vietnamiendu6mars1946,”Cahiers
del’Institutd’histoiredutempsprésent,no.34(1996):35–56,andarerepro-
ducedherebypermissionoftheInternationalPeaceResearchInstitute,
Oslo(PRIO),L’Harmattan,theInstitutdel’histoiredutempsprésent,
andVietnamForum,CouncilonSoutheastAsiaStudies,yaleUniversity.
UniversityofCaliforniaPress,oneofthemostdistinguisheduniversity
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UniversityofCaliforniaPress
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UniversityofCaliforniaPress,Ltd.
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©2010byeRegentsoftheUniversityofCalifornia
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Tønnesson,Stein.
Vietnam1946:howthewarbegan/SteinTønnesson.
p. cm.—(FromIndochinatoVietnam:revolutionandwar
inaglobalperspective;3)
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
isbn978-0-520-25602-6(cloth:alk.paper)
1. IndochineseWar,1946–1954. 2. IndochineseWar,1946–1954—
Causes. 3. Vietnam—History—1946–1975. 4. France—Relations—
Vietnam. 5. Vietnam—Relations—France. 6. China—Relations—
Vietnam. 7. Vietnam—Relations—China. I. Title.
ds553.1.t67 2010
959.704'11—dc22 2009011530
ManufacturedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica
18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10
11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
isbookisprintedonNaturesBook,whichcontains30%postconsumer
wasteandmeetstheminimumrequirementsofANSI/NISOz39.48–1992
(R1997)(PermanenceofPaper).
Tonnesson, Vietnam 8/11/09 5:05 PM Page v
ForPhilippeDevillers,whowastherein1946,
publishedhisHistoireduViêt-Namin1952,cametoOslotospeak
upagainsttheAmericanVietnamWarin1968,hasinspiredand
reviewedmywritingssincehesentmetothearchivesin1981,
publishedParis-Saigon-Hanoiin1988,andstillwonders
whatreallyhappenedthatDecember19.
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Tonnesson, Vietnam 8/11/09 5:05 PM Page vii
Contents
Listofillustrations ix
Forewordbytheserieseditors xi
ForewordbyPhilippeDevillers xiii
Acknowledgments xvii
Listofabbreviations xxi
Introduction 1
1. AClashofRepublics 11
2. eChineseTrap 39
3. ModusVivendi 65
4. Massacre 106
5. eFrenchTrap 146
6. WhoTurnedOuttheLights? 201
7. IfOnly... 234
Notes 261
Glossary 321
Bibliography 327
Index 339