The First Vietnam War

A provocative new history of southern Vietnam's transition from colonialism to independence against the backdrop of anticolonial and civil war.

Shawn F. McHale (Author)

9781108837446, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 26 August 2021

350 pages
23.5 x 16.5 x 2 cm, 0.61 kg

'… a unique examination of the First Indochina War … Recommended.' C. G. Frentzos, Choice

Shawn McHale explores why the communist-led resistance in Vietnam won the anticolonial war against France (1945–54), except in the south. He shows how broad swaths of Vietnamese people were uneasily united in 1945 under the Viet Minh Resistance banner, all opposing the French attempt to reclaim control of the country. By 1947, resistance unity had shattered and Khmer-Vietnamese ethnic violence had divided the Mekong delta. From this point on, the war in the south turned into an overt civil war wrapped up in a war against France. Based on extensive archival research in four countries and in three languages, this is the first substantive English-language book focused on southern Vietnam's transition from colonialism to independence.

Introduction: Sovereignty, Violence, and Institutional Collapse at the Edge of France's Empire
Part I. Fracture, 1945–1947: 1. A Plural Mekong Delta under Stress
2. The Southern General Uprising
3. Priming Upheavals in the Mekong Delta
4. The Double Fracture of The Mekong Delta
Part II. Disassemblage/Reassemblage, 1947–1953: 5. Empire, Racial Survival, and Race Hatred
6. Contesting State and Sovereignty
7. Forced Migrations and Suffering
8. French Pacification Meets the Vietnamese Resistance
9. Alternative Trajectories: Seeing Like Parastates, Militias, And Strongmen
Part III. Endgame, 1953–1956: 10. The Twilight of Empire and the Strange Birth of South Vietnam.

Subject Areas: Military history [HBW], 20th century history: c 1900 to c 2000 [HBLW], Asian history [HBJF]