Vietnam and the Unravelling of Empire: General Gracey in Asia 1942–1951 PDF
Preview Vietnam and the Unravelling of Empire: General Gracey in Asia 1942–1951
Vietnam and the Unravelling of Empire AlsobyT.O.Smith BRITAINANDTHEORIGINSOFTHEVIETNAMWAR:UKPolicyinIndo-China 1943–50 CHURCHILL,AMERICAANDVIETNAM,1941–45 Vietnam and the Unravelling of Empire General Gracey in Asia 1942–1951 T.O. Smith AssociateProfessorofHistory,HuntingtonUniversity,USA ©T.O.Smith2014 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2014 978-1-137-44869-9 Allrightsreserved.Noreproduction,copyortransmissionofthis publicationmaybemadewithoutwrittenpermission. Noportionofthispublicationmaybereproduced,copiedortransmitted savewithwrittenpermissionorinaccordancewiththeprovisionsofthe Copyright,DesignsandPatentsAct1988,orunderthetermsofanylicence permittinglimitedcopyingissuedbytheCopyrightLicensingAgency, SaffronHouse,6–10KirbyStreet,LondonEC1N8TS. Anypersonwhodoesanyunauthorizedactinrelationtothispublication maybeliabletocriminalprosecutionandcivilclaimsfordamages. Theauthorhasassertedhisrighttobeidentifiedastheauthorofthiswork inaccordancewiththeCopyright,DesignsandPatentsAct1988. Firstpublished2014by PALGRAVEMACMILLAN PalgraveMacmillanintheUKisanimprintofMacmillanPublishersLimited, registeredinEngland,companynumber785998,ofHoundmills,Basingstoke, HampshireRG216XS. PalgraveMacmillanintheUSisadivisionofStMartin’sPressLLC, 175FifthAvenue,NewYork,NY10010. PalgraveMacmillanistheglobalacademicimprintoftheabovecompanies andhascompaniesandrepresentativesthroughouttheworld. Palgrave®andMacmillan®areregisteredtrademarksintheUnitedStates, theUnitedKingdom,Europeandothercountries. ISBN 978-1-349-49656-3 ISBN 978-1-137-44871-2 (eBook) DOI 10.1057/9781137448712 Thisbookisprintedonpapersuitableforrecyclingandmadefromfully managedandsustainedforestsources.Logging,pulpingandmanufacturing processesareexpectedtoconformtotheenvironmentalregulationsofthe countryoforigin. AcataloguerecordforthisbookisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary. AcatalogrecordforthisbookisavailablefromtheLibraryofCongress. For Tom, Helen, Ellie and my students Blessed are those who find wisdom, those who gain under- standing,forsheismoreprofitablethansilverandyieldsbetter returns than gold. She is more precious than rubies; nothing youdesirecancomparewithher.Longlifeisinherrighthand; in her left hand are riches and honour. Her ways are pleasant ways,andallherpathsarepeace. Proverbs3:13–17 Contents ListofTables viii Acknowledgements ix ListofAbbreviations xii Introduction 1 1 ThePrelude:Burma1942–1945 10 ThewarintheFarEast 11 ThetriumphofGracey’s20thIndianDivision 12 2 ThePowerVacuum:Vietnam1945 32 VietnamduringtheSecondWorldWar 34 Gracey’sinterventioninVietnam 42 3 TheSideshow:Cambodia1945 57 CambodiaduringtheSecondWorldWar 58 Gracey’sinterventioninCambodia 62 4 TheEnforcement:Indo-China1945–1946 78 Protectingthepeace:Militaryaid 79 Protectingthepeace:Humanitarianaid 93 5 TheAftermath:BengalandKashmir1946–1951 103 GraceyandthecrisesinBengalandKashmir 107 Conclusion 131 SelectChronology 138 SelectPersonalia 141 Notes 146 Bibliography 169 Index 181 vii Tables 4.1 BritishminimumFrenchIndo-Chinaprogramme September1945 95 viii Acknowledgements As with my previous books, I have incurred a number of debts, which isapleasuretoacknowledgeandcredit.Although,onceagain,itshould be noted that the usual disclaimer applies that none of the following bearanyresponsibilityforthisbook’sshortcomingsorconclusions. My principal debt of gratitude is to Professor Martin Thomas (Chair of Colonial History at the University of Exeter). It was Martin who, in hisroleasexternalexaminerformyPhDthesis,firstdiscussedandthen later encouraged that a book project considering General Sir Douglas Gracey and peace enforcement was missing from the decolonisation historiography. Unfortunately, two other books and numerous articles tookprecedenceovera‘Gracey’project.Therefore,ithastakenmemore thanadecadetoreturntothissubjectandtodevelopmyinitialnebu- lous ideas into a more workable tome. In the meantime, articles about peacekeepingandriceproductionhavehopefullyreassuredMartinthat I had not forgotten about the several future publication projects that werediscussedduringthevivavoce. Similarly, I am greatly indebted to my dear friend Dr Larry Butler (ReaderinImperialHistoryattheUniversityofEastAnglia).Asalways, Larry has been most generous with his time, offered much needed encouragementandpainstakinglyreadandcommenteduponlargepor- tionsofthedrafttypescript.Ifallhistoriansreplicatedsuchpatienceand kindnessthentheprofessionwouldbeafarbetterone. I owe a note of thanks to previous scholars in the fields of impe- rial and diplomatic history for their research into South and Southeast Asian decolonisation. Indeed, the size of the bibliography testifies to the rich vein of academia that I have had the privilege to build upon. IamparticularlygratefultoProfessorJohnCharmley(UniversityofEast Anglia),ProfessorBenedictKiernan(YaleUniversity),ProfessorThomas Otte(UniversityofEastAnglia),DrDavidRoberts(LoughboroughUni- versity), Ms Jennifer Reeves (University of East Anglia) and Mr Chris Sutton (Lingnan University), who have all taken a personal interest in my work. They have frequently offered much needed encourage- ment, helpful observations and sage advice during the long evolution ofthisbook. ix
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