Historical Dictionary of The Indochina War 1945 1954

464 TRẦN VǍN MAI

(Thanh Nien Tien Phong). He also joined the In- the Bureau for Proselytizing the Enemy (dich
dochinese Communist Party sometime during van). Between August 1953 and 1958, he headed
World War II. With the advent of the Democratic the Strategic Office of the General Staff. See also
Republic of Vietnam (DRV) in September 1945, INDOCTRINATION; PEOPLE’S ARMY OF
he served briefly in 1945 in the Resistance and VIETNAM; PSYCHOLOGICAL WARFARE;
Administrative Committee for Rach Gia province RECTIFICATION.
and became a deputy in the DRV’s constituent
assembly for Rach Gia Province. Following the TRẦN VĂN SOÁI (NǍM LỬA, TRẦN VĂN
signing of the Accords of 6 March 1946, the XÁI, LÊ VǍN SÁNG, 1894–?). Prominent Hoa
DRV dispatched him to Thailand to work in the Hao leader opposed to the forces of the Demo-
newly created delegation there. He attended the cratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV) during the
Asian Inter-Relations Conference in New Delhi in Indochina War. Born in Long Xuyen province
1947 before moving on to Rangoon to set up the in southern Vietnam, Tran Van Soai worked as a
DRV’s diplomatic delegation in February 1948. mechanic and bus driver for a number of southern
He was active in garnering support in South and companies during the interwar period. Illiterate
Southeast Asia for the DRV’s nationalist cause and poor, he grew up on the rougher sides of
and war against the French. He maintained excel- southern Vietnamese society. But he was also
lent relations with leading Burmese politicians streetwise and savvy, something that would take
and military leaders. He also met major regional him far in a time of war. In the late 1930s, he
and international leaders, including American began his own bus service and ran two main lines
Ambassador-at-large Philip Jessup during his in Vinh Long and Can Tho provinces.
visit to the region in January 1950. Tran Van Luan In 1940, after being wounded in a brawl, he
remained in his post in Burma throughout the converted to the Hoa Hao faith and served as the
Indochina War. personal bodyguard to Huynh Phu So during the
latter’s movements throughout the Mekong Delta.
TRẦN VǍN MAI. See TRẦN MAI. During World War II, Tran Van Soai joined the
Japanese police force, whose protection allowed
TRẦN VĂN QUANG (TRẦN THÚC KÍNH, him to act largely with impunity in Can Tho prov-
1917–). Born in Nghe An province in central Viet- ince. Together with Huynh Phu So, he was deeply
nam, Tran Van Quang became active in nationalist involved in the politicization and militarization
politics during the Popular Front period. He joined of the Hoa Hao faith. Following the defeat of the
the Indochinese Communist Party in 1936 and Japanese, he rejoined Huynh Phu So as his first
served as a member of the party’s Committee for lieutenant and became the head of the movement’s
Saigon-Cholon, organizing workers in the city. In military forces.
1939, the French arrested him, but he escaped in Like his mentor, Tran Van Soai was hostile to
October 1940 to make his way to Nghe An prov- the Viet Minh’s efforts to monopolize control
ince, where he served on the party’s Provincial over political and armed forces in the south. When
Committee. He was arrested again in April 1941 DRV agents assassinated Huynh Phu So in mid-
and incarcerated in Buon Me Thuot. Following the 1947, Tran Van Soai crossed over to the French
Japanese overthrow of the French in the coup de side on 15 May in an agreement reached with
force of 9 March 1945, Tran Van Quang returned French Colonel Cluzet, commander of the West-
again to Nghe An to help the Party take power ern Zone in Cochinchina. On 18 May 1947, Tran
there. He rejoined the Party Provincial Committee Van Soai signed a convention with the French
in Nghe An before transferring to military affairs establishing the terms of cooperation between the
and the start of a long military career in Inter- French and Hoa Hao forces. He assumed the title
Zone IV (Lien Khu IV). Between November 1946 of general and set up his headquarters in his old
and 1947, he was a political commissar there. stomping grounds in Can Tho.
Between 1948 and 1949, he was commander as In May 1950, Tran Van Soai attended an impor-
well as political commissar for the Zonal Section tant military conference in Dalat aimed at unify-
of Binh Tri Thien (Phan Khu Binh Tri Thien). ing various non-communist military forces into
He was the first political commissar for the 304th one national army under the Associated State of
Division between May 1950 and 1951. Between Vietnam. But the national integration of the armed
June 1951 and 1953, he was deputy then chief of forces remained difficult. As of July 1951, Tran

TRẦN VĂN TRÀ 465

Van Soai’s forces numbered 4,441 men. By Octo- and influential Vietnamese communist general in
ber, they totalled 7,463. In January 1953, Bao Dai southern Vietnam during the Indochina War. Born
promoted him to major general to induce him to in- into a peasant family in Quang Ngai province in
tegrate his troops into the national army. In March central Vietnam, Tran Van Tra studied in the École
1953, still desirous to maintain his forces under his industrielle in Hue and became active in nation-
control, Tran Van Soai informed Nguyen Van Tam alist politics during the Popular Front period. In
that such national integration was unacceptable. August 1938, he joined the Indochinese Com-
His then almost 10,000-strong Hoa Hao troops munist Party (ICP) in Hue. Between 1936 and
remained linked by convention to the French Army 1939, he was apparently a member of the Mouve-
until the end of the Indochina War in mid-1954 and ment de la jeunesse républicaine de la Capitale.
were never integrated into the Army of the Associ- In December 1939, the French arrested him in
ated State of Vietnam or that of the DRV. See also Saigon. They sentenced him to six months of
ANTOINE SAVANI; BINH XUYEN; CAO DAI; prison, incarcerated him in Hue, and then placed
COLLABORATION; CRIMINALITY; LE VAN him under house arrest until his escape in 1941.
VIEN; MARCEL BAZIN; PHAM CONG TAC; Tran Van Tra worked clandestinely for the party
ASSOCIATED STATES OF INDOCHINA. in Saigon under the name of Le Van Thang. He
was arrested again in June 1944 and did not regain
TRAN VAN THINH (1926–). One of the very first his release from the Saigon’s Kham Lon prison
agents of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam until mid-1945, when the Japanese overthrew the
(DRV) to infiltrate the French ranks as a deep- French. At this time, Tran Van Tra immediately
cover penetration. A graduate of the Faculty of returned to his political activities. In March 1946,
Fine Arts at the University of Hanoi, he joined he formed, trained, and led Detachment 14 (Chi
the Viet Minh in 1945 and put his artistic abilities Doi 14) in the war against the French in southern
in the service of the new nation-state. In late 1947, Vietnam.
because of his knowledge of French and some
English, Tran Van Thinh attracted the attention of In that same year, when three military zones
the head of military intelligence, Tran Hieu, who were created for the south, he assumed command
recruited him. A few years later, the latter assigned of war Zone VIII (Chien Khu VIII), which he ran
Tran Van Thinh the task of infiltrating the ranks of until late 1949. He also joined the Party’s Ter-
the emerging Associated State of Vietnam. Tran ritorial Committee of Nam Bo (Xu Uy Nam Bo)
Van Thinh successfully passed qualifying entry and worked closely with Le Duan throughout
exams for working for the Ministry of Defense in the entire conflict. In 1948, the ICP’s Territorial
the Associated State in late 1949. In early 1950, Committee for Nam Bo designated him to lead a
he transferred to Saigon where he worked in the special delegation to northern Vietnam to report
J-1 (Personnel) section of the new Vietnamese to Ho Chi Minh and the Central Committee on
National Army headquarters. In 1953, the Associ- the situation in the south. He duly executed the
ated State’s National Defence sent him to officer mission. Back in the south in late 1949 or early
training school at the Military Academy in Dalat. 1950, a decree of 22 May 1950 appointed him the
He ended up working as a liaison officer between government’s military delegate for war Zone VII
the Vietnamese Army’s J-1 Office and the Train- (Khu Chien VII) and another of 4 August 1950
ing Relations and Instruction Mission (TRIM), the made him deputy commander of the Armed forces
joint Franco–American training mission formed in the south. He maintained the military command
after the Geneva accords. During this time, he of Zone VII and was its top political commissar as
passed on secret information to his handlers in well. The ICP leadership had clearly decided to
the north on the Army of the Associated State impose one of their own in order to take greater
of Vietnam, its tactics and strategy, as well as its control over this strategically important zone
relationship with the French and the Americans. ruled by General Nguyen Binh since 1946. Tran
His wife was particularly instrumental in passing Van Tra served as deputy commander-in-chief
secret information from Saigon to Hanoi and on to of Zone VII until the death of Nguyen Binh in
the DRV thanks to her cover as a trader. September 1951. Since November 1949 he had
also been political commissar to the special region
TRẦN VĂN TRÀ (NGUYỄN CHẤN, LÊ VĂN of Saigon-Cholon. Between 1952 and 1954, he
THẮNG, 1919–1996). Increasingly powerful served as military commander of the Inter-Zone
for Eastern Nam Bo (Phan Lien Khu Mien Dong

466 TRẦN VĂN TRUNG

Nam Bo). He became a member of the Central return of the French to southern Vietnam. He
Office for the Southern Region (Trung Uong served as minister of Justice in the Provisional
Cuc Mien Nam, better known by its American Government of the Republic of Cochinchina
acronym, COSVN) when it replaced the Party’s spearheaded by Georges Thierry d’Argenlieu
Territorial Committee for Nam Bo in 1951. From and led by Dr. Nguyen Van Thinh. Following
this point, he worked closely with its director the suicide of the latter in late 1946, Tran Van Ty
and deputy director, Le Duan and Le Duc Tho, became vice president of the Council of Ministers
respectively. Tran Van Tra’s rise was linked to the (1946–1948) and minister of Interior under the
support of these two men and the Party’s move premiership of Le Van Hoach. As late as May
to increase its hold over southern forces which 1949, Tran Van Ty was still president of the Sai-
had until then escaped the ICP’s direct control. gon Court of Appeals (he was the first to hold the
Tran Van Tra was regrouped to northern Vietnam position). He was virulently opposed to Ho Chi
in 1954, but would return to play a leading role Minh and communism. He also felt, at least in
in military operations during the war against the the wake of World War II, that it was impossible
Americans. to disassociate Cochinchina from French interests
there.
TRẦN VĂN TRUNG (1926–). Born in Hue in
1926, Tran Van Trung completed his second- TRẦN VĂN XÁI. See TRẦN VĂN SOÁI.
ary studies at the Catholic Redemptorist school
between 1935 and 1946. He joined the French TRẦN VĨNH PHÚC (TRẦN VǍN TUYÊN,
Union forces in August 1947. In December 1948, 1913–1976). Active member of the Greater
he entered the First Class of the French-backed Vietnam Nationalist Party (Dai Viet Quoc
Vietnamese National Military Academy in Hue. Dan) opposed to the restoration of French rule to
He graduated in June 1949 and was commissioned Vietnam during the Indochina War. Born in Tuyen
as a second lieutenant in the emerging Vietnamese Quang province in northern Vietnam, he joined
National Army (August 1949). He took advanced the Greater Vietnam Nationalist Party in 1941.
officer training courses at Saint Cyr during the Following the overthrow of the French and the
second half of 1949. Upon his return to Vietnam, subsequent defeat of the Japanese in mid-1945, he
he joined the 2nd Reenforced Company in 1950. created, in Hanoi, the Party of Nationalist Youth of
In 1952, he studied at the Command and Strategy Vietnam (Viet Nam Quoc Gia Thanh Nien Dang).
Course at the Command and Staff College in Ha- During the shaky alliance among non-communist
noi. In 1953, he joined the Groupe Mobile 21 be- Vietnamese nationalist groups in 1945 and 1946,
fore moving on to the 1st Vietnamese Regiment in Tran Vinh Phuc served as personal secretary to
July 1954. See also ACADEMY, ASSOCIATED Nguyen Tuong Tam, then minister of Foreign
STATE OF VIETNAM; ARMY, ASSOCIATED Affairs in the Democratic Republic of Vietnam
STATE OF VIETNAM. (DRV) in spite of the latter’s membership in the
Vietnamese Nationalist Party (Viet Nam Quoc
TRẦN VǍN TUYÊN. See TRẦN VĨNH PHÚC. Dan Dang, VNQDD).
In June 1946, as civil war broke out between
TRẦN VǍN TỴ (1888–?). Non-communist the Vietnamese in the north and the French and
nationalist in favor of the increased autonomy the DRV moved against the non-communist
of Cochinchina during the early stages of the Vietnamese nationalists, Tran Vinh Phuc took
Indochina War. Born in Bac Lieu province, Tran refuge in China (the DRV had sentenced him to
Van Ty studied law successfully to become a death). There, he joined the Directing Committee
leading magistrate in Saigon between 1932 and of the National Union Front, created by Nguyen
1946. He volunteered in January 1916 and served Hai Than and Nguyen Tuong Tam to take on the
in France during World War I. He demobilized in Viet Minh in the fight for the nationalist mantle.
January 1920. A French citizen, he was one of the In July 1948, hopeful that the French were serious
few Vietnamese to enter the ranks of the French about building a truly nationalist, non-communist
Colonial Academy (École coloniale) during this government, Tran Vinh Phuc returned to Saigon
time. He was an outspoken and fervent supporter from Hong Kong to work in the provisional gov-
of Cochinchinese autonomy after the defeat of ernment of South Vietnam. He served as under-
the Japanese in August 1945 and the difficult secretary of state in the Ministry of Information

TREVOR-WILSON 467

between July 1949 and January 1950. In January army, became a lieutenant, and served as a liaison
1950, the government named him a delegate officer with the French for the British 2nd Division
to the Assembly of the French Union. In May until his evacuation from Dunkirk. Because of
1950, with the advent of the Associated State of his fluent French, Trevor-Wilson joined Special
Vietnam, he served as under-secretary of state to Operations Executive and moved into the Secret
the Presidency in the cabinet of Tran Van Huu Intelligence Service (SIS or MI6). He specialized
(and became state secretary to the Presidency in in North African affairs and trained under Kim
the second Tran Van Huu cabinet as well). He was Philby, his boss at the time. In mid-1942, Trevor-
a member of this government’s delegation to the Wilson went undercover to Tangiers as a Swiss
Pau Conference in 1950. businessman to determine how the British would
be received locally as the Allies prepared to land
Trapnell, Thomas J. H. (1902–2002). in North Africa. He returned to Britain after the
Graduated from the United States Military Acad- landing and joined Section V at St. Albans to train
emy in 1927 and served in the U.S. Army during as a Special Counter-Intelligence Unit officer. He
World War II in the Asian theatre. Taken prisoner landed with the American armada in Algiers on
in the Philippines, Thomas Trapnell survived a 8 November 1942, in charge of the four British
Japanese death camp to return to duty after World special counter-intelligence units sent into the
War II. He led the 187th Airborne Regimental French colony. For almost a year, he performed
Combat Team in Korea from 1951 to 1952. He liaison work with the French Deuxième Bureau
then served as chief of the Military Assistance before being sent to France for the liberation of
and Advisory Group for Indochina, created in Paris as part of the American Task force of forty
September 1950, to advise and assist French- people who stayed put at the Gare Montparnasse
led forces in the war against the Democratic (including Malcolm Muggeridge) until General
Republic of Vietnam. In November 1953, he Philippe Leclerc’s 2nd Armored Division (2ème Di-
accompanied General Henri Navarre to inspect vision blindée) entered Paris. Leclerc personally
French preparations for the camp at Dien Bien bestowed upon Trevor-Wilson the French Croix
Phu, and returned again on 14 January. Trapnell de guerre for his services rendered. Trevor-Wilson
was one of the few military strategists at the time then returned to Britain to work in Section V of
to understand the nature of the risks Navarre the SIS now located in Ryder Street in London.
was taking at Dien Bien Phu. For one, he wor-
ried that Navarre had dispersed his troops too far In mid-1945, with the rank of lieutenant colo-
throughout Indochina to make a successful stand nel, the SIS dispatched Trevor-Wilson to work for
at Dien Bien Phu. Second, he doubted that French General Douglas Gracey in charge of the British
air power could keep the remote camp supplied occupation of Indochina below the 16th paral-
sufficiently to hold off an enemy with a superior lel. Trevor-Wilson served as a staff officer on
battle corps. In January 1954, with this in mind, Gracey’s headquarter’s staff. Gracey sent him on
Trapnell gave the French Union forces defending a private mission to determine whether Leclerc’s
Dien Bien Phu a fifty-fifty chance of surviving the forces could reoccupy Phnom Penh. Trevor-
attack. He had his experience in Korea in mind. Wilson responded positively and Leclerc’s forces
Lastly, Trapnell felt that the French could not arrested Son Ngoc Thanh. In late 1945, Gracey
deliver a decisive military blow to the adversary sent Trevor-Wilson to Hanoi to serve as the
in Indochina given their increasing troop commit- director of the British Military Mission attached
ments to European defense. See also EUROPEAN to the headquarters of the Chinese occupying
DEFENSE COMMUNITY; NORTH ATLANTIC forces in northern Indochina led by General Lu
TREATY ORGANIZATION; AID, AMERICAN; Han. During his time in Hanoi, Trevor-Wilson
KOREAN WAR; WAVE TACTICS. helped liberate French officers, met often with
Ho Chi Minh and, thanks to the support of the
TREVOR-WILSON, ARTHUR GEOFFREY. latter, had Chandra Bose’s deputy, Major-General
Fluent in French and the son of a prominent A. C. Chatterjee, arrested and deported to British
Barclay’s Bank manager, Trevor-Wilson worked custody. Trevor-Wilson drove General Raoul
for seventeen years during the interwar period Salan to Haiphong as Chinese and French forces
in finance in France and North Africa. Upon the prepared to clash in early March. General Leclerc
outbreak of World War II, he joined the British thanked Trevor-Wilson and Peter Simpson-Jones
of the British Military Mission for the behind-the-

468 TRIỆU CÔNG MINH

scenes role they played in the realization of the worked in southwestern Vietnam before returning
Franco-Chinese accord and in heading off a ma- to Saigon to agitate as journalists in favor of
jor clash with local Chinese forces in Haiphong in Vietnamese independence. Both took part in the
early March. United Newspaper Movement in Saigon (Phong
Trao Bao Chi Thong Nhat), and were fervent
In mid-1946, having joined the Foreign Service, defenders of the freedom of the press and of the
Trevor-Wilson returned to France in the company nationalist cause led by Ho Chi Minh. Sometime
of Ho Chi Minh to cover the Fontainebleau Con- around 1950, Trieu Cong Minh moved to War
ference. In July 1946, he flew back to Hanoi to Zone D (Chien Khu D) and joined the editorial
open and lead the new British Consulate in Hanoi. staff of the DRV’s clandestine Radio Saigon-Cho-
During the battle of Hanoi in late 1946 and early lon (Dai Phat Thanh Saigon Cholon). He worked
1947, he tended to the Indian population caught there until 1953 when he joined the staff of the
in the cross-fire and helped negotiate a truce to paper Cuu Quoc Nam Bo. He left this post with
evacuate civilians. Trevor-Wilson remained in the end of the war and the partition of Vietnam by
Indochina until 1951, establishing an impressive the Geneva Accords in July 1954.
network of contacts with the French, Americans,
and various sides of the Vietnamese nationalist TRIỆU TRỪNG THẾ. See TRIỆU CÔNG MINH.
movement. He was a personal friend of Graham
Greene. Trevor-Wilson was also on good terms TRIỆU TỬ LONG. See TRIỆU CÔNG MINH.
with French political, military, and intelligence
figures in Indochina, most importantly General TRỊNH ĐÌNH HUÂN. See LÊ LIÊM.
Raoul Salan and Colonel Maurice Belleux at the
head of the Service de Documentation extérieure TRỊNH ĐÌNH THẢO (c. 1902–1986). Born in Ha
et de contre-espionnage. In 1949, Trevor-Wilson Dong province in northern Vietnam, Trinh Dinh
was one of two witnesses to the marriage of Paul Thao studied law in Marseilles and defended his
Aussaresse, a French military intelligence officer doctorate in 1929. He became active in Vietnam-
at the time. However, Trevor-Wilson’s relation- ese nationalist politics in the 1920s and was said
ship with General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny to be a Freemason. He returned to Vietnam in
and the Sureté fédérale in Indochina was much 1929 where he worked as a lawyer in the Superior
less cordial. So much so that de Lattre personally Court in Saigon. During the Popular Front period,
asked for Trevor-Wilson’s transfer out of Indo- he participated in the Indochinese Congress and
china. In 1952, Arthur Trevor-Wilson returned to political front. He also worked as a legal advisor
England. He later served as First Secretary in the to the head of the Cao Dai religious movement,
British Embassy in Laos between 1960 and 1968, Pham Cong Tac. Following the Japanese over-
when he retired. See also NOVELS. throw of the French in March 1945, he served
as minister of Justice in the Tran Trong Kim
TRIỆU CÔNG MINH (TRIỆU TRỪNG THẾ, government until the Allied defeat of the Japanese
TRIỆU TỬ LONG, BAO KÉO, TƯ GIO, in August. During this time, he approved the re-
TRỤM NỘC, CHỊ BA SƯNG RĂNG, CHỊ TƯ lease of scores of Vietnamese political prisoners
XÓM GÀ, TRƯƠNG CA PHONG, 1909–1975). in central Vietnam. He supported the nationalist
Vietnamese journalist during the Indochina War. cause of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam,
Born in Bac Lieu province in southern Vietnam, but remained on the sidelines and in the colonial
Trieu Cong Minh graduated from the pedagogical city. He called on the French to negotiate with
school in Saigon. After teaching for a few years, Ho Chi Minh or to accord real independence
he switched careers to work as a journalist during to Bao Dai. In 1949, he joined with the French
the interwar period. Together with his wife, Ai socialist party leader, Alain Savary, to make a
Lan, he freelanced in numerous southern papers secret trip to southern resistance zones. See also
including Luc Tinh Tan Van, Dong Phap Thoi ATTENTISME; INTELLECTUALS.
Bao, and Phu Nu Tan Van. Little is known of
the couple’s activities during World War II. Fol- TRỊNH MINH THẾ (THOÁI VǍN TRƯƠNG,
lowing the Japanese defeat and the advent of the 1920–1955). Born in Tay Ninh province in south-
Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV), they ern Vietnam, Trinh Minh The was a military leader
joined the resistance in the south. In late 1945, in the Cao Dai politico-religious movement during
following the French reoccupation of Saigon, they

TRINQUIER 469

the Indochina War. During World War II, he was to the commanding colonel of French Troops in
a member of the Japanese-backed anti-colonialist Shanghai (under Vichy). He remained in Shang-
movement, the Association for the Restoration of hai until the defeat of the Japanese in mid-1945.
Vietnam (Viet Nam Phuc Quoc Hoi). He worked
as a non-commissioned officer in the Japanese On his way back to France, he stopped over
police force during this time. He was a staunch in Saigon, where his long-time friend Raoul
supporter of Vietnamese independence, but was Salan, now a general, persuaded him to stay and
distrustful of and hostile to the aims of Vietnam- help with the French reoccupation of Indochina.
ese communists. He collaborated briefly with the During this time, Trinquier joined the Com-
forces of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam; mandos parachutistes d’Extrême-Orient led by
however, when relations broke down violently, he Pierre Ponchardier and commanded the “sub
crossed over to the French side in November 1946 Commando B4” in southern Vietnam. It was an
and became a major in the French army (though initiation for Trinquier to commando and action
he would entertain secret contacts with the Viet operations and a turning point in his thinking
Minh into 1948). Although the French named him and military career. He traveled to France in the
colonel in 1949, Trinh Minh The defected on 6–7 summer of 1946 to recruit and train volunteers for
June 1951 with 2,000 men and assumed the rank the creation of a battalion of colonial paratroop-
of “brigadier general”. He called for the creation ers – the 2ème Bataillon Colonial de Commandos
of the Union of Nationalist Forces of Vietnam, a parachutistes. Upon returning to Indochina in No-
third force of sorts, opposed both to French colo- vember 1947, he became the second-in-command
nialism and to Vietnamese communism. After the of this battalion as it went immediately into action
Indochina War, he came into contact with Edward against the forces of the Democratic Republic of
Lansdale, who helped finance his troops in sup- Vietnam (DRV) in areas near Saigon as well as in
port of Ngo Dinh Diem. Tran Minh The was shot Cambodia and Central Vietnam.
dead in 1955 by a sniper, while helping Ngo Dinh
Diem neutralize the Binh Xuyen as a politico- During this time, Trinquier became increas-
military force. The exact circumstances of his ingly interested in “revolutionary warfare”. He
death and those responsible for it remain unclear. read Mao Zedong’s political and military writ-
Although never stated as such, Trinh Minh The ings and took a keen interest in the communist
and his “third force” figure prominently in Gra- reliance on guerrilla warfare and control of the
ham Greene’s classic, The Quiet American. See masses for extending their military and political
also ANTOINE SAVANI; ATTENTISME; CIVIL reach. In 1948, he suggested to General Boyer de
WAR; HOA HAO; LE VAN VIEN; MARCEL la Tour that the French army turn these “revolu-
BAZIN; NGUYEN BINH; NOVELS. tionary” techniques against the Viet Minh. With
a green light, Trinquier began launching guerrilla
TRỊNH NGỌC ANH. See NGÔ THẤT SƠN. operations by night and using ambushes instead of
large-scale troop movements in order to break the
Trinquier, Roger (1908–1986). Born into a adversary’s control over the populations.
rural family in southern France, Trinquier became
one of France’s leading specialists in revolution­ In December 1949, after a brief stint back in
ary warfare during the Indochina War. In 1932, France, Trinquier returned to Indochina to join the
upon graduating from Saint-Cyr, he began his Groupement des commandos mixtes aéroportés
military career in the colonial infantry in Indochi- and lead the Service Action’s operational antenna
na as a second lieutenant assigned to a border post in northern Vietnam. In January 1952, he as-
in northern Tonkin. During this time, he came sumed command of the Regional Representation
to know and work with the then Captain Raoul [Office] for North Vietnam (Commandement de
Salan, his future commander during the latter part la représentation régionale du Nord Vietnam).
of the Indochina War. Between 1937 and 1938, In this capacity, he went beyond simple guerrilla
Trinquier returned to France and was assigned to activities to creating autonomous maquis zones to
the Maginot Line facing Nazi Germany. In 1938, harass the DRV from rear areas. From May 1953,
he assumed command of a company assigned to he headed the Service Action for all of Indochina.
guard the French Embassy in China before trans- He personally led combat missions far behind the
fering to Shanghai where he became the deputy enemy’s lines in northern Vietnam and relied on
Tai populations to create hostile guerrilla zones
and partisans to take the war to the DRV. At one
point, he was allegedly in charge of some 30,000

470 TROCARD international Trusteeship. The U.S. government
also allowed France to use Lend–Lease supplies,
partisans. He returned to France in January 1955 initially earmarked for operations against Ger-
as a lieutenant colonel. Trinquier would go even many and Japan, to outfit French troops used to
further in developing his counter-insurgency ideas retake southern Indochina. American ships even
and actions during the Algerian War. See also transported over ten thousand French troops to
ANTOINE SAVANI; PAYS MONTAGNARDS DU Saigon. In 1946, Truman increasingly rejected
SUD; TAI FEDERATION. Roosevelt’s belief that that the “grand alliance”
between the United States and the Soviet Union
trocard, jean augustin (?–1947). Began established in 1941 could serve as the foundation
his career in colonial intelligence before World for a new post–1945 international order. By March
War II. He first worked in this capacity in French 1947, he had adopted a much more hostile policy
Indochina in 1929 before serving in the Service de towards Moscow and decided to “contain” Soviet
renseignement intercolonial where he befriended expansionism. This also meant that Truman was
Raoul Salan. In 1940, Trocard was injured, taken much more concerned with supporting French
prisoner, and incarcerated by the Germans in reconstruction rather than pushing them hard on
Lübeck until 1945 when he rejoined the 9th Colo- postwar decolonization. Like Joseph Stalin, Tru-
nial Infantry Division (9ème Division d’infanterie man attached more importance to France and its
coloniale) at the head of its Deuxième Bureau. place in Europe than to supporting Vietnamese
In 1946, he arrived in Indochina and served under nationalists in Asia. And like Stalin, Truman re-
the command of General Jean Valluy. Trocard fused to respond to Ho Chi Minh’s letters appeal-
ran the Deuxième Bureau for the Commandement ing to American anti-colonialism and the need to
supérieur des troupes françaises en Extrême- thwart the restoration of European colonialism.
Orient. His intelligence services, the Service des Truman went ahead with the containment policy
études historiques, warned the French High Com- and the Marshall Plan (some of which was used
mand of Vietnamese preparations to attack on the by the French to finance the war in Indochina
evening of 19 December 1946. He perished in a War) and he recognized the French right to return
Viet Minh ambush in 1947. to Indochina. Although Truman was unwilling to
spend the necessary resources to bolster Chiang
TROOPS, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF Kai-shek against the Chinese communists, the
VIETNAM. See PEOPLE’S ARMY OF VIET- rapid shift of the Cold War to Asia in 1950 and
NAM. the rise of McCarthyism in the United States led
him to support more vigorously the French pres-
TROOPS, FRANCE. See EXPEDITIONARY ence in Indochina in order to hold the line against
CORPS. any further spread of communism into the region.
The British and the French actively urged Truman
TRỤM NỘC. See TRIỆU CÔNG MINH. to defend Southeast Asia against the communist
threat, while Republicans accused him of being
TRUMAN, HARRY S. (1884–1972). After too soft after having “lost China”. In January
serving in France during World War I, Truman 1950, despite efforts to pressure the French to
returned to his native Kansas City, became a decolonize fully in Indochina, the Truman ad-
judge in Jackson County, and rose rapidly in the ministration diplomatically recognized the three
local Democratic Party. In 1934, with the backing French-backed Associated States of Indochina,
of the powerful Pendergast political machine, he none of which was completely independent at the
became a United States senator and maintained start. In May 1950, Truman also initiated military
that position until 1944, when he ran as President and economic aid to the French to hold the line
Franklin Roosevelt’s vice presidential candidate. against communism in Indochina. The North
Truman became president of the United States Korean attack upon the south in June 1950 further
upon Roosevelt’s death in April 1945 and pre- reinforced Truman’s commitment to the French
sided over the final acts of World War II, first in order to stop communism from spreading into
in Europe then in Asia. While Truman was no Southeast Asia. In his declaration on the Korean
advocate of French colonialism, he allowed his War delivered on 27 June 1950, Truman explic-
administration to reverse his predecessor’s desire itly linked the American commitment in Korea to
to bar the French from restoring their rule to
Indochina by placing the former colony under an

TRƯỜNG CHINH 471

his decision to speed up military aid to the French Central Committee. He was arrested in late 1930,
and the Associated States of Indochina. sentenced to 12 years of prison, and shipped off
to the Son La colonial prison in late 1931. In late
TRUNG BỘ. See ANNAM. 1936, thanks to the liberal policies of the Popular
Front government, he regained his freedom and
TRUNG GIA CONFERENCE. During the Ge- resumed his communist activities in the Hanoi
neva Conference in mid-1954, from 4 July 1954 area. He wrote assiduously in Notre Voix and Le
a joint military commission consisting of French Travail. He joined the Party’s Territorial Commit-
and Vietnamese officers began meeting in the tee for Tonkin (Xu Uy Bac Ky) and represented
town of Trung Gia located 40 km north of Hanoi. the northern committee in the Indochinese Demo-
Discussions focused on the application of the cratic Front. In 1938, he co-authored a famed
possible accords and above all on the exchange treatise on the “Peasant Question” (Van de dan
of prisoners. Colonel Marcel Lennuyeux led the cay) with Vo Nguyen Giap.
French delegation while General Van Tien Dung
represented the People’s Army of Vietnam. In 1940, with World War II now underway,
The three Associated States of Indochina also Truong Chinh went underground in charge of
sent delegates to the conference, but they were the Tonkin committee. As one of the rare rank-
relegated to second rank by both the French and ing communists still free, he assumed de facto
Democratic Republic of Vietnam. leadership of the Party during a meeting held in
November 1940 (later called the “Central Com-
TRUNG KỲ. See ANNAM. mittee’s 7th plenum”). Over the next year, in his
function as head of the regional Party committee
TRUNG NAM. See NGUYỄN VǍN KINH. for Tonkin, Truong Chinh developed underground
Party networks in the Red River Delta and Hanoi
TRUONG CANG (1913–?). Other than the fact and linked up with the Viet Minh movement
that he was born in today’s southern Vietnam, (over which Ho Chi Minh presided) in May 1941
we know little about Truong Cang before 1945. on the Sino-Vietnamese border.
In 1946, he served as governor of Svayrieng. In
1947, he resigned from this post in order to lead During the Central Committee’s 8th plenum,
the Parti de la minorité khmère du Sud-Vietnam Truong Chinh was elected to the Executive Com-
until 1948. He left to study in France in 1950, mittee. However, it is unclear whether this plenum
where he obtained his licence or bachelor’s de- elected him officially the general secretary of the
gree in law at Aix-en-Provence. He obtained his ICP. It would be more accurate to describe him
doctorate in law in 1957 in Paris. Penn Nouth en- as the acting head of the Party until a proper con-
trusted him during his time in France to mobilize gress could officially elect a new general secretary
Khmer students in favor of Norodom Sihanouk. (this occurred officially in 1951). In any case, dur-
See also KHMER KROM. ing World War II, Truong Chinh served as editor
of the Party paper Co Giai Phong; consolidated
TRƯƠNG CAO PHONG. See TRIỆU CÔNG his position within the Tonkin Territorial Com-
MINH. mittee; and headed the ICP’s board for political
propaganda and ideological education. He also
TRƯỜNG CHINH (ĐẶNG XUÂN KHU, THÂN, worked on the cultural front as general secretary
QUYẾT, PHƯƠNG, QUA NINH, SÓNG HỒNG, of the Association for the Promotion of Quoc Ngu
1907–1988). The acting general secretary of the (Hoi Truyen Ba Quoc Ngu) and as the author of
Indochinese Communist Party (ICP) until 1951, the seminal 1943 outline for the development of
when the Vietnamese Worker’s Party officially a new Vietnamese culture (De Cuong Van Hoa),
made him head of the Party. Born in Nam Dinh both nationalist and internationalist.
province in upper central Vietnam, Truong Chinh
took up radical politics in the late 1920s. In 1927, In 1943, the French condemned Truong Chinh
he joined the Vietnamese Revolutionary Youth to death in absentia for his various activities.
Party and became a member of the ICP upon Working from “Secure Zones” (An Toan Khu)
its official creation in 1930. He worked in the outside of Hanoi, he presided over preparations
Propaganda Campaign Committee for the Party’s for taking power once the favorable moment
arrived. This meant closely monitoring French
and Japanese military and political developments
in Hanoi. It also meant secretly penetrating and

472 TRƯỜNG CHINH ACADEMY

mobilizing intellectuals, workers, and colonial of the Party and government administration. This
and European soldiers. Truong Chinh oversaw was all the more important given that the Party
the construction of a secret network of party cells was determined from 1950–1951 to consolidate
and activists ready to act when the time came. its hold on the southern resistance administration
To this end, he collaborated closely with Hoang and army and to expand the Party’s presence. The
Van Thu, Hoang Quoc Viet, Le Duc Tho, Tran Academy functioned until the implementation
Dang Ninh, and Tran Quoc Hoan among others. of the cease-fire in 1954 in line with the Geneva
The Party’s center of gravity effectively shifted Accords. Several hundred middle and high-level
during World War II from the south to the north communist cadres are said to have been trained in
and into the Red River Delta outside Hanoi. this political academy, including the Cambodian
Disguised, Truong Chinh met secretly in Hanoi revolutionary Son Ngoc Minh. See also ACAD-
with the French socialist leader, Louis Caput in EMY, ASSOCIATED STATE OF VIETNAM;
late 1944, as well as with the European leftists in COLONIAL ACADEMY.
the Foreign Legion, Erwin Börchers and Ernst
Frey, and Gaullists such as Seyberlich and Auriol TRƯƠNG GIATRIỀU. See TRẦN BẠCH ĐẰNG.
(General Mordant’s representative to this secret
meeting). TRƯƠNG LAI. See PHẠM ĐÀN.

Three days after the Japanese coup de force of 9 TRƯỜNG SƠN. See NGUYỄN CHÍ THANH.
March 1945, Truong Chinh issued a new directive
calling on all the people of Indochina to oppose the TRƯƠNG TỬ ANH (TRƯƠNG KHÁN,
Japanese, but not the French on the condition that PHƯƠNG, 1914–1946). Born in Phu Yen prov-
the latter did not oppose Vietnamese independence ince, Truong Tu Anh became active in nationalist
aspirations. Truong Chinh returned officially to politics in the late 1920s and 1930s. He studied at
Hanoi on 19 August 1945 to consolidate the Viet the Faculté de droit at the Indochinese University
Minh’s takeover of the city and to make prepara- in Hanoi. In 1938, he created the non-communist
tions for the creation of the Democratic Republic and fiercely anti-colonialist Greater Vietnam
of Vietnam. He collaborated closely with Ho Chi Nationalist Party (Dai Viet Quoc Dan Dang). In
Minh upon the latter’s return to Hanoi shortly 1942, the French incarcerated him in Hoa Binh.
thereafter. Until the dissolution of the Indochi- The French were not the only problem, however.
nese Communist Party in November 1945, Tru- Truong Tu Anh was also strongly opposed to the
ong Chinh continued to run the Party’s paper, Co Democratic Republic of Vietnam, which he
Giai Phong, and its successor Su That. Following considered to be dominated by the Indochinese
the outbreak of war on 19 December 1946, he re- Communist Party. Vietnamese communists
treated with the government and the Party to bases suspected him of being behind an attempt to
in the Viet Bac region and continued to serve as the provoke the French into attacking the Viet Minh
acting head of the Party. He was a fervent Maoist on 14 July 1946, during French national day
and vigorously applied Chinese land reform in celebrations. Truong Tu Anh disappeared during
Vietnam from 1953. He headed the ICP’s Special the outbreak of full-scale war in Vietnam on 19
Committee for Land Reform, together with Hoang December 1946 in unclear circumstances. See
Quoc Viet, Le Van Luong, and Ho Viet Thang. In also CIVIL WAR; POULO CONDOR.
1956, Truong Chinh lost his position as General
Secretary of the Party because of errors committed TRƯỜNG VǍN GIÀU (1913–1984). Born in Vinh
during the land reform. Loi province in southern Vietnam, Truong Van
Giau worked in the offices of the Shell Oil Com-
TRƯỜNG CHINH ACADEMY (Trường Trường pany in Saigon in 1930–1931 before joining the
Chinh). Political training academy for high level colonial army in 1933 to make ends meet. He re-
cadres in southern and lower central Vietnam and mained there until the end of World War II and the
Cambodia. Created in 1950, the Truong Chinh advent of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam
Academy operated in southwestern Vietnam un- (DRV) in 1945. During the 1930s, Truong Van
der the direction of the Indochinese Communist Giau drifted leftwards towards anti-colonialist po-
Party’s Territorial Committee for Nam Bo (Xu Uy litics and collaborated with southern communists
Nam Bo). Its main task at the time was to train cad- during World War II, in particular Tran Van Giau.
res who would run the main administrative levers

TUTENGÈS 473

In exchange for his collaboration, Truong Van far the other way. With the arrival of the Cold
Giau became head of the pro-DRV Republican War, he gravitated towards the Associated State
Guard in August–September 1945. Following the of Vietnam led by the ex-emperor Bao Dai. See
return of the French to Saigon on 23 September also CATHOLICS IN VIETNAM AND THE
1945, he helped create the southwestern military WAR; CATHOLICS, EXODUS FROM NORTH;
Zone IX (Khu IX). In December 1947, he became CHRISTIANS AND OPPOSITION TO THE
the head of this zone and held the position until INDOCHINA WAR; LE HUU TU; VATICAN.
September 1950, when he became the head of the
Tran Quoc Tuan Military Academy in Nam Bo TRƯỜNG VĨNH THANH. See TRẦN QUANG
as well as the director of the Selective Service and VỊNH.
Recruiting Offices (So Tuyen Quan va Truong
Tan Binh). Because of poor health, he was named TƯ ANH. See TRẦN BẠCH ĐẰNG.
the special delegate to the high commander for
the south in 1951 apparently following General TƯ GIO. See TRIỆU CÔNG MINH.
Nguyen Binh’s death. The Party also included
him in the making of the powerful Central Office TƯ VŨ. See VŨ HỒNG KHANH.
for the Southern Region (Trung Uong Cuc Mien
Nam, better known by its American acronym, TŪBĪ LĪFUNG (1919–1978). Ethnic Hmong born
COSVN) in that same year. In 1954, following the in Nong Het in Laos, he completed his secondary
division of Vietnam into two provisional halves studies in Vinh in central Vietnam and in Vienti-
during the Geneva Conference, he relocated to ane, where he began working as a colonial civil
the north and worked in the Ministry of Commu- servant. In 1939 or 1940, he was elected chief of
nications and Postal Service. Little is known of Nong Het district in Xieng Khouang province. In
what became of him thereafter. 1940, as the only Hmong on the Opium Purchasing
Board, he was involved in the decision to institute
TRƯỜNG VǍN HUỆ (1903–?). Born into a a new tax payable in opium for mainly Hmong
Catholic family in Thua Thien province in central farmers unable to pay in cash. During World War
Vietnam, Truong Van Hue studied at the Catholic II, the French worked with Tūbī to increase opium
school École Pellerin in Hue to become a certified production. Following the Japanese coup de force
primary school teacher in 1921. He taught school of 9 March 1945, overthrowing French rule in
until 1925, but switched professions to work in Indochina, Tūbī Līfung joined French guerrillas
the colonial Public Works bureau. In 1938, he in Laos against the Japanese. Tūbī continued to
joined the Railway Service in Dalat and circulated work with the French following the return of
throughout French Indochina until the overthrow the latter to all of Laos in mid-1946, becoming
of the French in March 1945. With the emergence deputy governor of Xieng Khouang and chief of
of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV) the Hmong population living there. He joined the
in September 1945, he resigned his position in French and the Royal Government of Laos led by
the Public Works department to dedicate him- Sīsāvangvong against the forces of the Demo-
self to Catholic organizational work. He led the cratic Republic of Vietnam during the Indochina
Vietnamese Catholic League (Lien Doan Cong War, especially during the latter’s invasion of
Giao) and its nationalist journal, To Quoc. He Laos in 1953 and 1954. See also MINORITY
maintained a fragile relationship with the DRV, ETHNIC GROUPS; PAYS MONTAGNARDS DU
which controlled Hue until early 1947. If there SUD; TAI FEDERATION.
was no questioning his nationalism and anti-co-
lonialism, the Vietnamese communist leadership TUTENGèS, Émile (1902–1989). Senior French
was wary of his possible anti-communism. Fol- officer who developed cordial relations with Ho
lowing the French occupation of Hue, he tried Chi Minh during the troubled period preceding the
to steer a middle course between the Vietnamese outbreak of war on 19 December 1946. Graduated
communists and the French colonialists, but not from the École nationale des langues orientales
without difficulties. He became a partisan of Ngo vivantes in Paris, Tutengès joined and made his
Dinh Diem and on 4 January 1950 he almost career in the colonial army, including two assi-
succumbed to an assassination attack organized gnments in French Indochina before the outbreak
by DRV forces convinced that he was leaning too of World War II. In 1940, he joined the French

474 TUTENGÈS Following the end of the Pacific War, Tutengès
served as deputy chief of Staff to the new high
resistance and became chief of staff to General commissioner to Indochina, Admiral Georges
Philippe Leclerc in French Africa, but asked to Thierry d’Argenlieu. The latter entrusted him
be relieved of his post following differences with with the investigation of the conditions in which
Leclerc. Tutengès became a battalion leader in the Accords of 6 March 1946 had been reached
the infantry. In September 1941, General Charles and to which Thierry d’Argenlieu was increas-
de Gaulle selected him to lead the Free French ingly hostile. Tutengès accompanied Ho Chi Minh
Military Mission to Singapore (Mission Militaire and Pham Van Dong during the Fontainebleau
Française Libre à Singapour) before being trans- Conference in mid-1946. He also accompanied
ferred to Chongqing where he continued in the Ho Chi Minh on his long return to Vietnam
same functions as lieutenant colonel between 1942 following the signing of the September 1946
and 1943. He played a pivotal role in reorganizing modus vivendi. Tutengès was present in Hanoi
Free French intelligence operations in China (Ser- when full-scale war broke out on 19 December
vice de renseignements-Extrême-Orient), working 1946 and took charge of the Chinese quarter of
secretly with François de Langlade. In July 1943, Hanoi for General Louis Morlière. In spite of the
Zinovi Pechkoff replaced Tutengès at the head rupture between the French and the Vietnamese
of the French Military Mission in Chongqing. In at this time, Tutengès was said to command the
1944, Tutengès became chief of the Deuxième trust of Ho Chi Minh and members of the latter’s
Bureau for French Forces in the Far East under entourage. He left the army in January 1948 and
General Roger Blaizot. A discreet and diplomatic served with the rank of colonel in the reserves. He
officer, Tutengès traveled to the United States in offered his services in June 1954 as a go-between
September 1944 to plead in favor of an American with Ho Chi Minh. His offer was rejected.
landing in Indochina to head off an imminent, in
his view, Japanese coup d’État.

U

U NU (1907–1995). Graduated from the University Phuy Xananikôn. He worked as a veterinarian
of Rangoon with a bachelor’s degree in 1929, U in Indochina in the 1930s. He moved to Thailand
Nu studied law in the early 1930s and became upon the outbreak of the Franco-Thai war in
increasingly involved in nationalist politics. 1940–1941, engaged in anti-French propaganda
In 1934, he became president of the Burmese as a speaker for Radio Bangkok, and became an
student union for Rangoon. He gained national officer in the Thai cavalry. He also joined an anti-
prominence when he and another young national- colonial Lao clandestine political group working
ist leader Aung San were expelled from university along the Thai side of the Mekong – the Move-
for their involvement in student strikes. In 1937, ment of Lao for the Lao, better known as Lao Pen
U Nu joined the We Burmans Association and Lao. Active in southern Laos when the Japanese
pushed the British on national independence. capitulated, Un Xananikôn joined the Lao Issara
With the outbreak of World War II, the British ar- government and opposed the return of French
rested him in 1940 on charges of sedition but the colonial rule. In April 1946, he became minister
Japanese released him upon taking the colony. In of Agriculture and Economy in the government
1943, U Nu briefly served as Foreign Affairs and before fleeing into Thailand upon the French
Information minister in the Japanese-backed Baw occupation of Laos in mid-1946. He broke,
Maw government but grew rapidly disillusioned however, with Prince Phetxarāt and other Lao
with the Japanese. Issara leaders in Thailand. He returned to Laos in
Upon the assassination of Aung San in 1947, 1949 and joined the Democratic Party. See also
U Nu agreed to lead the main nationalist party, THAKHEK, BATTLE OF.
the Anti-Fascist People’s Freedom League and
accepted the British offer to serve as premier desig- ỨNG HOÈ. See NGUYỄN VǍN TỐ.
nate of independent Burma. U Nu became the first
prime minister of independent Burma, a position UNG VǍN KHIÊM (BA KHIÊM, 1910–1991).
he held for ten years. Like India’s Jawaharlal Born in Long Xuyen province in southern Viet-
Nehru, U Nu hoped to navigate a neutral tack in nam, Ung Van Khiem completed his secondary
the Cold War. A devoted Buddhist, he also wanted studies at the Lycée Can Tho. He became involved
to make sure that Laos and Cambodia remained in radical politics in the 1920s when widespread
free of communist control and thus sought to roll student strikes rocked Vietnam. In 1927, he joined
back any communist pretensions entertained by the Vietnamese Revolutionary Youth League and
the Democratic Republic of Vietnam in western traveled secretly to Guangzhou (Canton) to study.
Indochina. U Nu met with Zhou Enlai during the In August 1929, back in Vietnam, he helped cre-
Geneva Conference, making these views known ate the Annamese Communist Party. In late 1930,
to the Chinese statesman. In short, Laos and Cam- he joined the Indochinese Communist Party
bodia would have to be neutralized and the Chinese (ICP) and served as the secretary of the Territo-
had to refrain from supporting internal communist rial Committee for Annam (Xu Uy An Nam)
movements in non-communist Asia, if Beijing following the capture of Ngo Gia Tu. In 1931, the
wanted to keep the Burmese from leaning to the French police arrested him and shipped him off to
other side. Zhou Enlai understood. Following the Poulo Condor where he stayed until the Popular
Geneva Conference, relations were formally Front freed him in 1936. He returned to radical
established between the two countries. See also politics in Saigon, taking part in the Indochinese
GENEVA ACCORDS; INDIA; INDONESIA; Congress. In 1939, during a renewed French crack
NEUTRALIZATION OF INDOCHINA. down, he ended up back in prison serving time
for two years. Upon his release, Ung Van Khiem
UN XANANIKÔN (1907–1978). Non-communist joined the Territorial Committee for Cochinchina
Lao nationalist leader and brother to Ngon and (Xu Uy Nam Ky) and was selected to participate

476 UNION FRANÇAISE

in the Tan Trao Conference in northern Vietnam with a veto from the Americans as well as the
with Ha Huy Giap. They did not make it in time. British, French, and most probably the Republic
With the birth of the Democratic Republic of of China. The Soviet Union’s veto torpedoed the
Vietnam, he became a deputy in the National Associated State of Vietnam’s attempt to join the
Assembly in March 1946. Little is known about UN in 1952 (as was the DRV’s application reject-
his activities in the late 1940s, though he seems to ed by the American-led bloc). Fourth, given that
have remained on the new Standing Committee of the historical phenomenon of decolonization was
the ICP’s Territorial Committee for Nam Bo. Dur- only just getting underway in the “South” in 1945,
ing the Second Party Congress held in early 1951, the number of sovereign “Southern” nation-states
he was elected to the Executive Committee of the present in the General Assembly of the UN and
Vietnamese Worker’s Party’s Central Commit- in favor of the DRV’s nationalist cause remained
tee. He also joined the Party’s new Central Office small during the period of the Indochina War.
for the Southern Region (Trung Uong Cuc Mien
Nam, better known by its American acronym as However, some in French ruling circles under-
COSVN). During the rest of the Indochina War, stood that things were changing. French President
he worked as the president of the Resistance and Vincent Auriol warned one of his generals in
Administrative Committee for Bac Lieu prov- 1949 that the days were numbered in the UN for
ince. He relocated to northern Vietnam after the hardline defenders of the colonial order. Decolo-
Geneva Accords of 1954 and became in 1955 nization was on the move in Asia, he pointed out:
vice minister in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs “And then there’s the United Nations, do you see
and director of the powerful Central Committee’s what’s happening in Indonesia”. However, it was
Foreign Affairs Bureau (Ban Doi Ngoai Trung only truly during the Algerian War that the in-
Uong Dang). creasing number of Southern states in the General
Assembly allowed for a discussion of Algeria in
UNION FRANÇAISE. See FRENCH UNION. the General Assembly in spite of French opposi-
tion. Nor did the Americans come under the same
UNITED NATIONS. In contrast to its intervention type of non-Western pressure on Indochina as
in the Dutch–Indonesian conflict, the United Na- they would during Algerian conflict in the UN.
tions never seriously took up the question of the
Indochina War between 1945 and 1954. There are Nonetheless, unlike the FLN in Algeria or the
several reasons for this. For one, the French held Indonesian Republicans fighting the Dutch, the
a permanent seat with veto rights on the Security communist core of the DRV also posed problems
Council and could thus effectively thwart any at- for non-communist Southern states. Despite direct
tempt to bring up the decolonization of Indochina requests from the DRV, especially from Pham
in that body. Second, neither the Americans nor Ngoc Thach in 1948, the Indian government led
the Soviets, both permanent members, wanted to by Jawaharlal Nehru refused to bring up the
trouble the French over Vietnam in the wake of Vietnamese issue in the General Assembly, in
World War II. What counted most was France’s striking contrast to Nehru’s support of Indonesian
position in Europe. When the United States re- Republicans at the UN at the same time. Indian,
ceived a request from the Democratic Republic Burmese, and Indonesian leaders were also dis-
of Vietnam (DRV) at the outset of the Indochina trustful of Vietnamese communist designs on Laos
conflict to bring the Franco-Vietnamese conflict and Cambodia. See also BURMA; INDONESIA;
before the UN, the Americans reached an under- NEUTRALIZATION OF INDOCHINA.
standing with the UN’s secretariat (“Trygve Lie’s
people”) preventing the circulation of the appeal UNITÉS MOBILES POUR LA DÉFENSE DES
to members of the Security Council. During the CHRÉTIENS (UMDC). With the support of
first half of the Indochina War, the Soviet Union General Pierre Boyer de la Tour, in August 1947
refused to act on DRV pleas to bring the Vietnam- Jean Leroy created this mobile militia among
ese cause before the UN. Third, during the second Vietnamese Catholics and other religious groups
half of the Indochina conflict, the globalization located in Ben Tre province. This followed upon
of the Cold War rivalry between the Soviets and a violent break between the southern forces of
the Americans ensured that any attempt to support the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV)
the cause of the communist-led DRV would meet and the Cao Dai and Hoa Hao earlier in the year.
Financed by the French army, this unconventional
militia soon numbered 3,000 individuals. Its main

UTHONG SUVANNAVONG 477

task was to protect local religious communities URBAN WARFARE. See SAIGON; HANOI.
hostile to the forces of the DRV. However, Jean
Leroy used his militia and the support of the UTHONG SUVANNAVONG (1907–?). Non-com­
French to build up something of a personal fief- munist, pro-French Lao politician during the Indo­
dom. This lasted until 1952, when he had to give china War. Graduated from the Lycée Chasseloup
up his militia in favor of the creation of the na- Laubat in Saigon in 1927, he joined the French
tional army of the Associated State of Vietnam. colonial civil service in Laos. In 1942, he served
Leroy and his militia fascinated the British novel- as minister of Finances in the Royal Government
ist Graham Greene who befriended the Eurasian of Luang Prabang. He opposed the Lao Issara
colonel and later prefaced Leroy’s memoirs, Fils government created in October 1945 and sup-
de la rizière. See also CATHOLICS, EXODUS ported the return of the French in 1946. In 1947,
FROM NORTH; CATHOLICS IN VIETNAM he became minister of Finances in the first Royal
AND THE WAR; CHRISTIANS AND OPPOSI- Lao government and served as minister of the
TION TO THE INDOCHINA WAR; CINEMA; Interior and Defence between 1947 and 1949.
EXECUTION; LE HUU TU; MÉTIS; NOVELS; In April 1949, he joined the King’s Council. In
TORTURE; VATICAN. 1950, he was named minister of External Affairs,
Education, and Information. In 1953, he served as
UNKNOWN SOLDIER. See MEMORIAL DAY, minister of Education and Information before be-
INDOCHINA WAR. coming minister of Education and Health in 1954.

V

valladon, jacques vincent (1920– in Indochina. This became official on 1 October
1992). French colonial administrator who was in 1946. As a commander, Valluy supported High
charge of Indochina worker questions in France Commissioner Georges Thierry d’Argenlieu in
between 1943 and 1945. He landed in Indochina his hostility to negotiating with the Democratic
in 1946 and worked in the Economic Affairs sec- Republic of Vietnam (DRV) and in trying to roll
tion of the French High Commissioner’s Office back the Vietnamese government’s sovereignty in
for Indochina until 1947 when he transferred line with de Gaulle’s instructions to retake and
to Cambodia to work as deputy advisor to the rebuild French Indochina within the form of the
Cambodian minister of the Economy until 1948. Indochinese Federation. In November and De-
Between 1948 and 1949, he worked in the Eco- cember 1946, Valluy served on an interim basis as
nomic section of the Ministry of Overseas France High Commissioner in Indochina during Thierry
in Paris. After a short stint in Cambodia as deputy d’Argenlieu’s absence in France. Valluy supported
advisor in Kompong Cham in 1949–1950, he and encouraged Colonel Pierre Debès’s heavy-
returned to France to work in the Political Affairs handed take-over of Haiphong in November of
section of the French ministry in charge of Rela- that year, presenting it as an entirely premeditated
tions with the Associated States of Indochina act taken by the DRV. In May 1948, Valluy re-
(1950–1955). turned to France and was promoted. In December
1950, he was named military advisor to the Min-
Valluy, Jean ETIENNE (1899–1970). istry of the Associated States of Indochina. See
French general on watch with Georges Thierry also PACIFICATION; 19 DECEMEBER 1946.
d’Argenlieu when full-scale war in Indochina
commenced on 19 December 1946. Valluy saw VALMARY, ALFRED VICTOR GABRIEL JO-
combat and was wounded during World War I. He SEPH (1901–1970). Born in French Pondicherry,
entered the École spéciale militaire at Saint-Cyr Valmary made his career in colonial Indochina.
in 1917. During the interwar period, he served in He landed in Cambodia in 1925, where he began
the French colonial army in Syria, Morocco, and work as deputy to the résident of Kandal pro-
China. The Germans took him prisoner during vince. Between 1926 and 1937, he held a variety
the Battle of France, but freed him a year later. of important administrative posts in Laos, such as
Valluy commanded troops in Vichy French Africa cabinet secretary to the French résident supérieur
until he joined Free French forces in Algiers in to Laos (1926, 1928–29, 1931–32) and provincial
1943 and served as the chief of staff to Jean head of Luang Prabang (1935–37). After serving
de Lattre de Tassigny during the liberation of as résident to Son La province in Tonkin in 1937,
France. In February 1945, he assumed command he joined the economics section of the governor
of the 9th Colonial Infantry Division (9ème Division general’s office in Hanoi in 1938. In December
d’infanterie coloniale) and took it to Indochina in 1939, he was mobilized as a lieutenant in the
March to reoccupy and “pacify” lower Vietnam reserves. In 1941, he left the army to return to
below the 16th parallel. In early March 1946, civilian life in Indochina. In March 1941, Jean
boats transported Valluy’s troops to upper Viet- Decoux named him commissioner to Luang
nam to replace the Chinese occupation force there. Prabang until he was transferred to Vietnam to
Valluy’s men were able to march peacefully into serve as résident to Quang Tri province. In 1944,
Hanoi afer an acute crisis had been resolved by Valmary returned to Laos as résident to Pakse
the Accords of 6 March 1946. On 1 April 1946, where he remained until the Japanese coup de
Valluy became commander of French Forces in force of 9 March 1945. He resumed his colonial
Northern Indochina and Laos. With the departure career in Laos following the French reoccupation
of General Philippe Leclerc in July 1946, Valluy of all of Laos in mid-1946, serving as regional
became acting commander of all French Forces advisor to Luang Prabang (1946–47) and as inte-

VANDENBERGHE 479

rim commissioner for Laos between March 1948 Communist Party in 1937. In 1939, the French
and December 1949. After World War II, Valmary police arrested him in Hanoi and sentenced him
played an important role in the revision of the Lao to two years of hard labor at Son La. He escaped
constitution, the Franco-Lao accords of 19 July during his transfer and began rebuilding Party
1949, the return of the Lao Issara from Thailand, cells in the Ha Dong area, using the cover of a
the dissolution of its government-in-exile, and the Buddhist monk. He was arrested in 1944 and sen-
preparation of the Franco-Lao treaty of 1950. tenced to death, but escaped again from detention
to build up armed units in the Ninh Binh area in
VǍN. See VÕ NGUYÊN GIÁP. northern Vietnam.

VǍN CAO (NGUYỄN VĂN CAO, 1923–1995). With the advent of the Democratic Republic
Author of the national anthem of the Democratic of Vietnam (DRV), he rapidly became one of
Republic of Vietnam (DRV), Bai Tien Quan Ca. the party’s most dynamic military leaders. He led
In late 1944, Van Cao worked as a musician in the famous 320th division into battle against the
Hanoi and entered into secret contact with the French in the Red River Delta from 1950. In 1952,
editors of the communist-run clandestine nation- he led daring attacks on the Catholic stronghold
alist paper, Doc Lap, located in the suburbs of of Phat Diem, as the French tried to take control
the northern capital. During this time, Van Cao of this largely autonomous yet strategically im-
began composing a patriotic song, which would portant region. This raid on Franco-Vietnamese
be played for the first time on the morning of 17 forces marked the beginning of Van Tien Dung’s
August 1945 in front of the opera house in Hanoi use of “the opening of the Lotus” tactic. His men
as the Viet Minh moved to take power. It was liked to call it the “parachute”. During this type of
adopted as the national anthem of the DRV upon raid (and others thereafter) his men slid between
the nation-state’s creation on 2 September 1945. French posts secretly in order to pierce deeply, at-
During the Indochina War, Van Cao wrote scores tack ferociously and hold the inside for 24 hours,
of other patriotic songs, including In Praise of then push back out against the protecting enemy
President Ho Chi Minh (Ca Nguoi Ho Chu Tich) forces on the periphery, but hitting them from the
and the Vietnamese Fighter (Chien Si Viet Nam). inside on their way out. He would use much the
same tactic during the attack on Saigon in 1975.
VẠN PHÚC, MEETING. Meeting of the Standing
Committee of the Indochina Communist Party’s He was elected to the Vietnamese Worker’s
(ICP) Central Committee held outside Hanoi in Party’s Central Committee in 1951 and, for un-
the village of Van Phuc in Ha Dong province dur- clear reasons, took over from Hoang Van Thai
ing the night of 18–19 December 1946. Ho Chi in 1953, on orders from the Politburo, as chief of
Minh personally presided over this meeting to the army’s General Staff. He held this position
discuss the tense situation verging on war. With during the battle of Dien Bien Phu. In 1954, dur-
the incidents in Lang Son and Haiphong in mind, ing negotiations to end the war, the General Staff
those assisting this meeting concluded that the named Van Tien Dung head of the People’s Army
French were now looking for a way to take over of Vietnam’s delegation to the military discus-
Hanoi and to oust the Democratic Republic of sions in Trung Gia concerning the application
Vietnam (DRV) from power. Participants at the of the cease-fire negotiated in Geneva. In 1955–
Van Phuc meeting concluded that the French were 1956, he served as the DRV’s representative to the
determined to expand the war and that the DRV International Commission for Supervision and
and the ICP could make no more concessions. See Control in Vietnam, created during the Geneva
also 19 DECEMBER 1946; 23 SEPTEMBER Conference.
1945; ACCORDS OF 6 MARCH 1946.
Vandenberghe, Roger (1927–1952). One
VǍN TIẾN DŨNG (LÊ HOÀI, 1917–2002). of the most highly decorated commandos in the
Born outside Hanoi, Van Tien Dung came from French army during the Indochina War. A huge
a peasant background and possessed only a sixth- man, Vandenberghe found his place in the world
grade education. He worked as a weaver until he running highly unconventional commando raids
became involved in radical politics during the into enemy territory during World War II and the
Popular Front period and joined the Indochinese Indochina War. Born dirt poor, Vandenberghe and
his brother had been raised by a series of differ-
ent families in a secluded part of the Pyrenees in

480 VANGUARD YOUTH LEAGUE

southwestern France. The boys had little education: operations, “something which was harmful to
Roger Vandenberghe could barely read or write, the populations in certain circumstances”. The
according to one of his close military colleagues in adversary agreed and the Democratic Republic
Indochina. The deportation of his Jewish mother to of Vietnam’s (DRV) special forces organized and
the Nazi gas chambers under Vichy left no doubt executed an elaborate operation infiltrating their
as to which side the orphans would fight for in commandos into Vandenberghe’s unit in order to
World War II. The Vandenberghe brothers joined eliminate him physically. On 6 January 1952, the
the French resistance, the Forces françaises de DRV’s agents gunned down Vandenberghe at the
l’intérieur, and never looked back. Both shone age of 24. The only member of Vandenberghe’s
serving in General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny’s unit to survive that violent day was Tran Dinh
First French Army in 1944, operating in special Vy. In 1989, Roger Vandenberghe’s remains were
commando units conducting perilous missions into returned from Indochina for reinterment under a
enemy territory. In February 1945, Roger obtained monument erected in his honor at the National
the Croix de guerre at the age of 18. Non-Commissioned Officers Academy in Pau,
France. See also DESERTION; EXECUTIONS;
The Vandenberghe brothers arrived in Indo- GROUPEMENT DE COMMANDOS MIXTES
china in 1947 in the 49th Infantry Regiment, soon AÉROPORTÉS; INDOCTRINATION; EXPERI-
integrated into the 3rd Battalion, 6th Colonial In- ENCE OF WAR; SERVICE ACTION; SPECIAL
fantry Regiment. Both chose to continue their dar- FORCES, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF
ing commando operations in Indochina. In June VIETNAM; TORTURE.
1948, Roger’s brother was killed doing just that.
With little if any family left, Roger now invested VANGUARD YOUTH LEAGUE (Thanh Niên
himself entirely in the war and in particular high Tiền Phong). The origins of the southern-based
risk commando forays. In Indochina, he formed Vanguard Youth League can be traced in part to
his own commando unit called the Black Tigers the mobilization campaigns initiated by French
(tigres noirs), recruited almost entirely from Governor General Jean Decoux during the Vichy
“reconverted” Viet Minh prisoners. His unit period in Indochina (1940–March 1945) and his
struck deep into enemy territory for days using Japanese competitors. Faced with the Japanese
unconventional methods, certainly brutal, bor- occupation of Indochina, Decoux eased controls
dering on the illegal, and ones which were often on patriotic expression and mobilized the Indo-
disapproved or disavowed by the upper echelons. chinese youth in a bid to hold on in Indochina
He rode his men hard and was pitiless with the against Japanese and Thai competitors vying for
enemy, including civilians. Desertion in his unit the French colony and its inhabitants. Ironically,
was high. Tension was such that in February 1949 this patriotic mobilization of the Vietnamese youth
he took a bullet in the back from “friendly” forces. worked against the French following the Japanese
He survived. And after convalescing in France, he coup de force of 9 March 1945 ousting them from
returned to Indochina in the 6th Infantry to resume power. In mid-1945, the Japanese looked the other
his commando operations in November 1949. way and certain Japanese supported Vietnamese
Vandenberghe had by now become a legend- activists as they began to channel the Vichy-
ary figure and for some in the French army an mobilized youth groups in national ways. Tens of
embarrassing one. However, when he personally thousands of southern youth joined what became
brought back, at extraordinary personal risk, the known as the Vanguard Youth League. One of its
body of General de Lattre’s son, Bernard, he won main leaders was Dr. Pham Ngoc Thach.
sympathy and support in very high places, even Thanks to his cordial relations with the Japa-
though the operation had cost the lives of 15 of nese leadership in Saigon, the latter was able to
his men. De Lattre personally lauded Vandenber- organize and continue mobilizing youth groups
ghe and, implicitly, his methods. Thanks to this following the March coup – and in much more
support, Vandenberghe was able to put together political and nationalist ways than ever before.
and lead another unit, Commando 24, two thirds The Emperor Bao Dai received a Vanguard Youth
of which consisted of former Viet Minh partisans delegation and named Pham Ngoc Thach as the
who had been indoctrinated. While Vandeber- royal government’s delegate for the youth in the
ghe’s military results were indeed appreciated, south. The latter was also working clandestinely
his men later revealed that they had had a hard with southern communists, notably Tran Van
time controlling his violent actions while on

VATICAN 481

Giau. Both understood that the youth would be a varet, pierre (1902–1991). Career colonial
powerful instrument for taking power in Saigon administrator in Tonkin during the interwar pe-
once the Japanese were defeated. Indeed, fol- riod and author of a thesis entitled Le concours
lowing the Japanese capitulation in August and apporté à la France par ses colonies et protec-
the outbreak of war in southern Vietnam on 23 torats au cours de la guerre de 1914. Although
September 1945, Pham Ngoc Thach put much of a Freemason, he emerged unscathed from the
the Vanguard Youth League in the service of the Vichy period in Indochina and served as imperial
new Vietnamese nation, the Democratic Republic delegate to Tonkin for Bao Dai following the coup
of Vietnam, and its emerging military and state- de force of 9 March 1945 before being interned
building forces in the south. See also CHILDREN; by the Japanese. Upon his liberation, he advised
ORPHANS; SCOUTING, INDOCHINA WAR. Jean Sainteny then General Jean Valluy on po-
litical affairs in northern Vietnam before returning
VANUXEM, PAUL FIDÈLE FÉLICIEN (1904– to France where he worked in the Cominindo, the
1979). Vanuxem entered the military in 1923 and Assembly of the French Union, and as secretariat
little during the interwar period indicated that he to the French Union’s Upper Council. He was ac-
would go far. World War II changed all that, how- tive in the Fédération des oeuvres de l’enfance en
ever, when he ended up in Algeria in late 1940 Indochine and wrote a book on Vietnam entitled
serving in Vichy’s colonial army and then found Au pays d’Annam: les dieux qui meurent.
himself a battalion commander in the Free French
army following the Allied liberation of North VATICAN. Long before the French Republic, the
Africa in late 1942. In 1944–1945, Vanuxem Vatican grasped the historical reality of Vietnam-
distinguished himself in high-risk intelligence and ese nationalism and the global dimensions and
combat operations running deep in enemy terri- implications of decolonization. With the Church
tory in Italy, France, and Germany. He had every in decline in much of Europe by the early 20th cen-
intention of doing the same in France’s colonial tury, the Vatican realized that much of its future
wars. In May 1947, he took command of the Ba- support would come from non-Western parts of
taillon de marche du 6ème régiment de tirailleurs the world, vast parts of which had been colonized
marocains en Indochine before commanding the by European colonial states. Of particular impor-
sector of Son Tay in northern Vietnam from De- tance was the need to “indigenize” still mainly
cember 1948. He was deeply involved in “paci- European-dominated clergies and hierarchies and
fication” operations in northern Vietnam during to disassociate the Vatican and its local hierarchies
this time. He became lieutenant colonel in early from European colonialism in the “South”, where
1949. He left for France in May only to return for nationalism was now making itself increasingly
a second tour of duty to Indochina as commander felt in the wake of World War I. Pope Benedict
of the military sector of Bien Hoa in June 1950 XV had already referred to the intermingling of
and commander of Groupe Mobile no. 3 in Janu- the Church’s interests and those of the colonial
ary 1951. In June 1952, he was an instructor in powers as a “most dangerous plague”. In 1919,
tactics for training Vietnamese battalion leaders. Benedict began to attack this problem with his ap-
He returned to Indochina a third time in July 1953 ostolic letter Maximum Illud, which was followed
to serve as operational deputy to the commanding up by Pius XI’s 1926 Encyclical Rerum Ecclesiae.
colonel of the 1ère Division de marche du Tonkin, To the shock of French colonial authorities
then as commander of the military sector of Ha in Vietnam, Rome had publicly and officially
Dong in August, and finally as commander of the rejected a tacit contract between Western colonial
Southern Zone of the northern delta in June 1954. states and local missionaries. By the early 1930s,
He left Saigon in June 1955 and soon transferred French colonial administrators were hostile to
to Algeria where he commanded troops until the Vatican’s “politique indigène”, seeing it as
1958. The long list of citations noted in his per- an anti-colonialist threat to French rule and one
sonnel file make it clear that Vanuxem was one which could call into question the legitimacy of
of France’s best centurions, as Jean Lartéguy colonial rule among the Vietnamese. While Viet-
put it at the time. See also GROUPEMENT DE namese Catholic nationalists heralded Rome’s
COMMANDOS MIXTES AÉROPORTÉS; MYTH recognition of their nationalist aspirations, French
OF WAR; SERVICE ACTION. colonial authorities tried to block the Vatican’s
naming of Vietnamese bishops, who could escape

482 VAUTOUR, OPERATION

colonial control. The French were even more that colonialism was finished and that the Roman
suprised, in the wake of World War II, when they Catholic Church now counted on the Far East to
learned that Rome had sent its best wishes to the serve as a “solid pillar” for developing the Chris-
new nation state Ho Chi Minh declared a reality tian faith. See also CATHOLICS IN VIETNAM
on 2 September 1945, the Democratic Republic AND THE WAR; CHRISTIANS AND FRENCH
of Vietnam (DRV). Rome understood again that OPPOSITION TO THE WAR; ESPRIT; LE HUU
this second World War had made decolonization TU; TÉMOIGNAGE CHRÉTIEN.
an even more pressing matter and that the Church
could not afford to be caught on the wrong side of VAUTOUR, OPERATION. On 8 January 1954,
this historical phenomenon. the chief of staff of the American Armed Forces,
Admiral Arthur Radford, spoke to President
Throughout the Indochina War, Vatican offi- Dwight D. Eisenhower of the possibility of using
cials frustrated French officials by their reluctance American planes to bomb the Democratic Repub-
to support French demands to bring the Vietnam- lic of Vietnam’s artillery positions located in the
ese Catholics and clergy into colonial line. The jungle cliffs overlooking the valley of Dien Bien
problem was that the nationalist movement was Phu. A little over two months later, with Vietnam-
led by a communist party, antipathetic to Pius ese artillery raining down on the besieged French
XII. In June 1948, as the Cold War heated up, the camp, Radford met with French General Paul
Vatican went on record saying that the Vietnamese Ely on 24 and 26 March, promising to take up the
communists were “little by little” showing their subject again with the American president. In the
real colors: they were not patriots but rather lead- meantime, the United States Air Force began secret
ers of an anti-religious party who would sooner preparations in the event that Eisenhower approved
or later implement “a systematic persecution” of such a plan. The French referred to this as opera-
Vietnamese Catholics. On 1 July 1949, as Chinese tion Vautour, seeing it increasingly as the only way
communists were moving into southern China, to save the French camp as the Vietnamese slowly
Pope Pius XII issued a papal decree prohibiting but surely tightened the noose around it. On 4
all collaboration with communists in all parts of April, the French government officially requested
the Catholic world, in the north and the south. American air intervention over Dien Bien Phu.
The French lost no time in Vietnam, dropping Operation Vautour would use 98 B-29s based in
thousands of copies of the decree over Catholic Okinawa and the Philippines to drop some 1,400
populations, especially in the autonomous Catho- tons of bombs on Vietnamese positions. However,
lic zones of Bui Chu and Phat Diem. when John Foster Dulles consulted congres-
sional leaders about the proposed operation, they
Even though Rome proscribed collaboration imposed conditions making its adoption difficult
with the communists, this did not necessarily in such a short period of time. Most importantly,
mean that the Vatican condoned the French. In- they insisted that such intervention could not be
deed, during the war, the Vatican remained com- done unilaterally – an Allied coalition consisting
mitted to nationalizing the Vietnamese church, of Southeast Asian, Commonwealth, and Western
naming six apostolic vicars, including in Hanoi states, especially the United Kingdom, had to be
and Haiphong. Although the Vatican followed the created in order to implement the operation. On
lead of Vietnamese Catholic leaders, such as Le 8 April, Washington informed Paris that it could
Huu Tu, in recognizing Bao Dai’s Associated not intervene unless such an enlarged coalition
State of Vietnam on anti-communist grounds, could be formed. It was tantamount to a refusal to
the Vatican kept its distance from the Vietnamese intervene. Moreover, some 60 percent of Ameri-
emperor and his Catholic wife, in light of the can public opinion was hostile to intervening in
French reluctance to grant Bao Dai’s Vietnam full the French war in Indochina. While Operation
independence. In December 1954, Pope Pius XII Vautour was shelved, the Americans under Eisen-
recognized the right of colonized peoples across hower came surprisingly close to going to war in
the world to political freedom. For the Vatican, Vietnam in 1954.
the future of the Church was in the postcolonial
world coming into being whether the colonial VENEREAL DISEASE. Venereal disease was a
powers wanted it or not. The American Catholic serious problem during the Indochina War for the
Church agreed. In May 1948, Cardinal Spellman Expeditionary Corps.As French historian Michel
arrived in Saigon at the head of a large delegation.
During this visit, Cardinal Fulton Sheen declared

VIAN 483

Bodin has shown, of the 288,036 cases treated, Vézinet, adolphe andré (1906–1996).
207,893 were first time infections – 117,943 cases Began his military career in the colonies during
of gonorrhea, 26,486 cases of syphilis, and 58,185 the interwar period, serving in West Africa and in
cases of crabs, among other infections. 107,343 Indochina (1931–1932). He joined Free French
Europeans, Africans, North Africans, and For- forces in 1940 and led colonial troops for Gen-
eign Legion troops were hospitalized for venereal eral Philippe Leclerc until 1943, when he was
diseases. Efforts to control sexually transmitted put in charge of the 1er Bataillon du régiment de
diseases via the Bordel mobile de campagne met marche du Tchad and helped Leclerc assemble
with some success, thanks to bi-weekly medical the 2nd Armored Division, which he joined and in
check-ups for the women working there. which he served during the French and German
campaigns. In early 1945, Vézinet was named
VÊPRES HANOÏENNES. This term, literally “Ha- colonel and obtained the position of chief of staff
noi vespers”, was used by French settlers and the of the French Expeditionary Corps for the Far
press in Indochina to refer to the Vietnamese kill- East. He remained in France, however, in 1945 to
ings of Europeans in Hanoi on 19 December 1946. serve briefly as director of colonial troops before
It was an obvious if fallacious allusion to the Sicilia resuming his post in mid-1946 as chief of staff to
vespers: the massacre of French occupying troops Lerclerc until the latter’s death in November 1947
in Sicily beginning at vespers on 30 March 1282. (though he accompanied his boss on a mission
In January 1950, Paul Mus wrote an essay in favor to Indochina in December 1946–January 1947).
of getting rid of the term “vêpres hanoïennes”, In October 1949, Vézinet returned to Indochina
arguing that it falsified the reality of what really to command the military sector of Southern An-
happened, dehumanized the Vietnamese, and in so nam and the Plateaux and was named brigadier
doing widened the gap between the French and the general in December. He returned to France in the
Vietnamese. See also HÉRAULT, MASSACRE; early 1950, serving as deputy general secretary to
MYTH OF WAR; LANGUAGE OF WAR. the National Defense during the endgame of the
Indochina War.
VETERAN HOSPITALS, DEMOCRATIC
REPUBLIC OF VIETNAM. During the Indo- viala, maxime charles jacques (1905–
china War, the Democratic Republic of Vietnam 1972). French colonial administrator active behind
(DRV) created a few modest camps to receive the scenes during the Indochina War. He began
wounded and disabled soldiers (trai thuong binh his Indochinese career in 1932–1933, when he
or trai an duong) in the provinces of Thanh Hoa was sent to the upland areas of Annam. Between
and Nghe An. Following the conflict, the govern- 1933 and 1946, he held a variety of administra-
ment increased the number of camps across its tive posts in Cochinchina (Soc Trang, My Tho,
territories, mainly in northern and central Vietnam Ca Mau, Ha Tien, and Rach Gia). Little is known,
where the war had left the most disabled in its however, about his activities under Vichy or fol-
path. In 1955, the government counted 4,500 in- lowing the Japanese coup de force of 9 March
valids and wounded in its existing veterans facili- 1945. His experience was in great need, however,
ties. With the regroupment of cadres and soldiers when the French went about restoring their Indo-
from the south to the north, this number rose to chinese colony after World War II. Between 1947
some 15,000 persons by the late 1950s. A typi- and 1949, Viala was director of political affairs
cal camp housed between 130 and 200 disabled for the commissioner of the French Republic
veterans, divided into two groups, the disabled for Cochinchina (the provisional government of
(thuong binh), and the sick (benh binh). The staff South Vietnam) and provincial head of Cap Saint
consisted of doctors and nurses on the one hand Jacques in 1949–1950.
and party cadres on the other. Besides caring
for the invalids, the DRV also used the camps Vian, Boris. (1920–1959). French composer and
as platforms for the ideological indoctrination singer opposed to the war in Indochina. In Febru-
of the veterans. See also CINEMA; CULTURE; ary 1954, as French soldiers prepared for a violent
EMULATION; EXPERIENCE OF WAR; MYTH showdown with their Vietnamese opponents dur-
OF WAR; NEW HEROES; NOVELS; DISEASE; ing the battle of Dien Bien Phu, Vian completed
TRAN DAN. the manuscript of his anti-war song, The Deserter
(Le déserteur). In the famous opening line Mon-

484 VIDAL

sieur le Président, Vian announces his decision Quoc” (Vietnamese nationalists), following a
to desert rather than to fight yet another war. He similar distinction used in Chinese by Chinese
ends on an equally provocative note by telling the communists and nationalists engaged in full-
French president to go ahead and authorize the blown civil war from 1927 in southern China. The
police to shoot him. Le déserteur was officially two terms were also used by Vietnamese nation-
released on 7 May 1954, the very day Dien Bien alists in heated exchanges while serving time in
Phu fell to the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. the French colonial prison of Poulo Condor. The
Vian insisted that it was not anti-militarist but term Viet Cong entered the Vietnamese lexicon in
rather “pro-civil”. The ballad nevertheless caused 1945–1946 when Vietnamese communist nation-
a scandal in official and nationalist-minded circles alists led by Ho Chi Minh engaged in a civil war
in France and was banned from French radio while against anti-communist nationalists (Viet Quoc)
the sale of the record was outlawed. Only with led by the likes of Vu Hong Khanh, Nguyen Hai
the end of the Algerian War in 1962 did Vian’s Than, and Truong Tu Anh. These nationalists
records return to music shelves in France, includ- carried this term with them as they resettled in the
ing Le déserteur. Although Vian had died in 1959, south after 1954.
this song in particular would go on to become a
global anti-war hit, being translated into dozens How and when exactly the Vietnamese term
of languages. As the Vietnam War hotted up in Viet Cong crossed over into English remains un-
the 1960s, the American folk singers Peter, Paul known (it never entered French before 1954). We
and Mary, produced a popular version of this song do know that it happened before American com-
(in English and French). Joan Baez also included bat advisors and ground troops arrived in southern
it in her anti-war repertoire. Vian’s portrayal of Vietnam. On 10 March 1956, for example, a
the socio-cultural devastation of war on people, Vietnamese advocate of the Republic of Vietnam
wives, and families stood in stark contrast to the wrote to the Washington Post to protest Professor
heroization of war, the army, and the Indochina Hans Morgenthau’s characterization of Ngo Dinh
War in the works of Pierre Schoendoerffer, Jean Diem as “ruthless”. In this letter to the editor,
Lartéguy, and the communist Democratic the author used the term “Viet Cong” in English:
Republic of Vietnam. See also CINEMA; CUL- “It would be a mistake to consider that the war
TURE; EXPERIENCE OF WAR; EXPERIENCE with the Viet Cong has ended”. In his address (in
OF WAR, DIEN BIEN PHU; LOVE AND WAR; Vietnamese) celebrating the fifth anniversary of
MYTH OF WAR; NOVEL; PUBLIC OPINION. the founding of the Republic, Ngo Dinh Diem
urged his listeners to “participate actively in the
Vidal, Pierre (1926–1950). Between 1948 struggle to exterminate the Viet Cong traitors …”.
and 1949, he worked as a colonial administra- According to Nicholas Cull, around 1956 Vietnam
tor in Saigon dealing with personnel questions. specialists within the United States Information
Between 1949 and 1950, he was named adminis- Service (USIS) in Saigon latched on to the term
trative delegate for Blao in the uplands of central Viet Cong in a bid to weaken the nationalist ap-
Vietnam and district chief of Cheo Reo. He died peal that the term Viet Minh continued to evoke
in an ambush in the area of Buon Mung in August in many a Vietnamese mind. USIS Saigon was
1950. directly involved in popularizing this term in Ngo
Dinh Diem’s speeches and in official American
VIỆT BẮC. See INTER-ZONE VIET BAC. statements. By 1958, the term Viet Cong had
taken hold among American officials in Vietnam
VIỆT CỘNG. The Americans did not create the and Washington. That said, while the Americans
term Viet Cong during the Vietnam War; the were clearly involved in popularizing the term,
Vietnamese did. One of the earliest appearances they did not create it. See also LANGUAGE OF
of this term probably appeared during the inter- WAR.
war period in southern China, where Vietnamese
communist and anti-communist nationalists had VIỆT GIAN. Vietnamese term increasingly used
escaped from French repression inside Indochina. by the propaganda organs of the Democratic
To distinguish themselves from each other, these Republic of Vietnam (DRV) and the Indochi-
Vietnamese referred to each other as the “Viet nese Communisty Party to stigmatize their
Cong” (Vietnamese communists) and the “Viet adversaries as “traitors”. This term entered the
Vietnamese lexicon with force from the early days

VIỆT NAM MỚI 485

of the Indochina War when the colonial war was Eighth Plenum of the ICP Central Committee that
doubled by a civil war among the Vietnamese. Of met at Pac Bo on 10–19 May 1941. He presided
the hundreds of Vietnamese political enemies cap- over the approval of a resolution that ignored the
tured and executed by the DRV’s security forces, Comintern’s line at the time as well as Joseph
most were classified as Viet Gian before being Stalin’s non-aggression pact with Hitler. With
killed. Until recently, official Vietnamese com- the war now underway in Europe and the French
munist accounts of the Indochina War refer to the knocked out by the Germans, the resolution called
members of the Vietnamese Nationalist Party for resistance to the Japanese, opposition to the
(Viet Nam Quoc Dan Dang, VNQDD) or the As- collaborating Vichy authorities in Indochina, and
sociated State of Vietnam as “traitors” and “pup- cooperation with the Chinese.
pets” (nguy or bu nhin). Like the use of the term
Viet Cong by anti-communists, Viet Gian served This meeting also created a broad-based na-
to dehumanize and stigmatize the other, excluded tionalist front, the Viet Nam Doc Lap Dong Minh
the said group or person from the community, and (Vietnam Independence League), more commonly
allowed the governing authorities, especially the known as the Viet Minh. Through the Viet Minh,
police forces, to act against this enemy, including the ICP abandoned its earlier emphasis on class
the use of torture, imprisonment, and physical struggle in favour of creating a broad nationalist
elimination. As a new political power, the DRV front to attract support for the “national liberation
defined, codified, and used this term and others to revolution” (Cach Mang Giai Phong Dan Toc)
categorize undesirable social components in areas from all parts of society. A directing committee,
under its control. The children of Viet Gian, for the Tong Bo Viet Minh, ran the front from on
example, were barred entry to certain educational high, establishing “national salvation” associa-
establishments and occupations. This even ap- tions in order to organize and mobilize peasants,
plied to the DRV’s definition of those constituting women, traders, etc. into the movement.
the realm of the dead, referring to the family of
a puppet soldier as gia dinh nguy binh. See also Following the overthrow of the French by
COLLABORATION; LANGUAGE OF WAR; the Japanese and then the Japanese by the Al-
VIET QUOC. lies, the Viet Minh was able to ride a wave of
popular discontent to power. With the advent of the
VIỆT MINH. The broad-based nationalist front Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV) in Au-
created by the Indochinese Communist Party gust–September 1945, the Viet Minh continued to
(ICP) in 1941 that dominated the struggle against exist as a political party. However, non-communist
the return of French colonial domination from parties such as the Vietnamese Nationalist Party
September 1945. In 1938, as World War II got (Viet Nam Quoc Dan Dang, or VNQDD) success-
underway in Asia, Ho Chi Minh left Moscow for fully cast it as a communist front organization,
Yan’an before making his way back to southern equating it with the ICP. In May 1946, as armed
China. During this time, he closely studied the clashes broke out between the forces of the DRV
united front strategy the Chinese Communist and the ICP on the one hand and the anti-communist
Party (CCP) was using against the invading Japa- nationalist parties on the other, the DRV created a
nese. In Chongqing, he renewed his contacts with new national front called the Association of United
Zhou Enlai, the CCP’s liaison to the Republic Vietnamese People (Hoi Lien Hiep Quoc Dan Viet
of China now operating in southern China. Ho Nam) or Lien Viet for short. Ho Chi Minh was
Chi Minh also renewed contacts with ICP cadres honorary president of this “super” national front,
such as Vo Nguyen Giap, Pham Van Dong, and which regrouped all patriotic individuals who had
Hoang Van Hoan. He then turned to building a not yet joined the Viet Minh front. The Viet Minh
clandestine base within Vietnam, selecting the continued to exist until it was formally replaced by
limestone caves of Pac Bo in Cao Bang province, the Lien Viet organization during the Second Party
next to Guangxi province in China. Congress in early 1951. The term, however, did not
With the collaboration of the acting secretary disappear and was used by both the French and the
general of the ICP, Truong Chinh, Ho Chi Minh Vietnamese throughout the rest of the war, even
shifted the party’s line to creating broad-based though it technically no longer existed during the
support with a view to taking power as World War second half of the Indochina War.
II spread across the globe. Ho did this during the
VIỆT NAM MỚI. Legal term created in late 1945
in order to incorporate European and Japanese

486 VIỆT QUỐC

crossovers and deserters into the Democratic encouraged his staff to do so. Both sides saw the
Republic of Vietnam as citizens. Hundreds of association as an important contribution to their
Japanese, German, Austrian, French and even “cultural diplomacy”. The association also hosted
Moroccans became “New Vietnamese” during the American business representatives interested in
Indochina War. In some cases, they were appar- the Vietnamese market. The French were hostile
ently required to renounce their former citizen- to this association and its implicit intrusion into a
ship. See also FOREIGN LEGION. colonial domain monopolized by them since the
mid-19th century. See also CULTURE.
VIỆT QUỐC. This Vietnamese term referred to
the two non-communist nationalist parties, the VIETNAMESE DEMOCRATIC PARTY (Đảng
Viet Nam Cach Menh Dong Minh Hoi and the Dân Chủ Việt Nam). Created clandestinely on
Viet Nam Quoc Dan Dang or the Vietnamese 30 June 1944 in Vichy–Japanese Indochina, the
Nationalist Party. One of the earliest appear- Democratic Party united leading non-communist
ances of the term appeared during the interwar Vietnamese intellectuals, mainly from northern
period in southern China, where Vietnamese Vietnam. The democrats joined the Viet Minh
communist and anti-communist nationalists had nationalist front in early 1945 and sent delegates
escaped from French repression inside Indochina. to attend the Tan Trao Conference. This party
To distinguish themselves from each other, these consisted of patriotic students, intellectuals, and
Vietnamese commonly referred to each other as civil servants. The provisional government of the
the “Viet Cong” (Vietnamese communists) and Democratic Republic of Vietnam counted three
the “Viet Quoc” (Vietnamese nationalists), fol- Democratic members among its ministers. The
lowing a similar distinction used in Chinese by party held its first National Congress in Hanoi
Chinese communists and nationalists engaged in in September 1946. At the time, the Democratic
full-blown civil war from 1927 in southern China. party enjoyed real independence from commu-
The two terms were also used by Vietnamese na- nist control and was theoretically positioned on
tionalists in heated exchanges while serving time the same level as the Indochinese Communist
in the French colonial prison of Poulo Condor. Party (ICP) within the Viet Minh front. While
The term Viet Quoc entered the Vietnamese lexi- the communists infiltrated the Democratic Party,
con in full force in 1945–1946 when Vietnamese it cannot be said that they controlled the party
anti-communist nationalists (Viet Quoc) led between 1944 and 1947. The general secretary of
by the likes of Vu Hong Khanh, Nguyen Hai the party was Hoang Minh Chinh, a communist
Than, Nguyen Tuong Tam, and Truong Tu and considered to be the ICP’s insert. Two of the
Anh engaged in a civil war against communist Democratic Party’s best known members included
nationalists (Viet Cong) led by Ho Chi Minh. the intellectuals Huy Can and Dang Thai Mai.
Communists used Viet Quoc in a derogatory fash-
ion in their speeches and papers, often confusing VIETNAMESE NATIONALIST PARTY (Việt
it intentionally with Viet Gian for “traitor”. See Nam Quốc Dân Đảng, VNQDĐ). Created in
also LANGUAGE OF WAR. 1927, the Vietnamese Nationalist Party (Viet Nam
Quoc Dan Dang) posed the first organized nation-
VIETNAM–AMERICAN FRIENDSHIP AS- alist challenge to colonial rule over Vietnam. At
SOCIATION. Formally inaugurated on 17 the outset, this party counted among its members
October 1945, the Vietnam–American Friend- a wide range of individuals – disgruntled youth,
ship Association was designed to promote better teachers, journalists as well as soldiers in the
mutual understanding and cooperation in cultural colonial army, merchants, and members of the
areas. The Association’s program included the bourgeoisie. Inspired and to a considerable extent
organization of language courses, a lecture series, modeled on the Chinese nationalist model, the
the creation of a monthly magazine, Viet My VNQDD sought to create a mass-based party
Tap Chi (Vietnamese–American Journal), and along Leninist lines.
the construction of a library. Three issues of the While the Vietnamese Nationalist Party started
Vietnamese–American Journal appeared between off as a reform-minded party, a combination of
October 1945 and February 1946. General Philip French repression and frustration with failed colo-
Gallagher of the Office of Strategic Services nial reformism saw the party adopt a more radical
personally attended the inaugural meeting and line. In 1930, led by a young school teacher, Nguy-

VIETNAMESE NATIONALIST PARTY 487

en Thai Hoc, nationalists organized and launched a youth groups, and recruited for their militias.
“general uprising” against the French in northern These opposition leaders decried what they
Vietnam designed to throw out the colonialists, considered to be the communist monopoly over
unify the country and create a Republic. Initially the new state. They called for the creation of a
caught off guard by the revolt, the French respond- truly nationalist coalition, with non-communists
ed quickly and crushed the uprising, located mainly holding key ministries. Their wish was granted
in northern Vietnamese colonial garrisons such as on several occasions thanks to Chinese pressure.
Yen Bay. Those who escaped made their way to Meanwhile, the opposition organized anti-Viet
southern China. Meanwhile, the French sent scores Minh demonstrations called on the population
of the arrested to colonial prisons, especially Poulo to boycott elections and urged workers and civil
Condor, while they executed the core leadership. servants to go on strike. It was all part of their
Before going to the guillotoine, Nguyen Thai Hoc bid to roll back communist efforts to define the
went down in history when he screamed out Long limits of political participation, citizenship, and
Live Vietnam (Viet Nam Van tue)! His fiancée power. Things got so bad that in mid-November
signed a double suicide note, one dedicated to her 1945 the ICP leadership decided to “dissolve” its
lover, the other addressed to the nation. National- party as a reflection of communist “selflessness”
ism was real. and “authentic” patriotism.

This French repression coincided with a second Until the Chinese pulled out, the VNQDD
one directed against the Indochinese Communist fought its battles for Vietnamese hearts and minds
Party, sending hundreds of communists to prison via newspapers, printing presses, and publishing
or fleeing into southern China on the heels of the houses. The VNQDD paper Viet Nam was par-
nationalists. Indeed, French repression had the ticularly effective in late 1945 and early 1946 in
unintended effect of forcing communists and na- portraying the Viet Minh and the DRV leaders as
tionalists into fierce competition for the national- internationalist communists bent on betraying the
ist high ground in the microcosms of the colonial country. Scathing debates became commonplace
prisons and southern Chinese cites, where fierce in government and opposition papers. Power-
debates and even low-intensity violence broke out fully charged words that had been proffered back
between the two sides. This violence manifested and forth privately between the two sides now
itself in a civil war in the wake of World War came into the open in Hanoi and in bold print:
II as the VNQDD and the ICP moved to create Viet gian, phan quoc, phan dong, Viet quoc, and
the nation state they had failed to achieve in the perhaps even Viet cong. Communist hate for the
early 1930s. The arrival of the Republican Chi- opposition was palpable. The chief of the DRV’s
nese occupying forces delayed the start of what security services recalled one memorable encoun-
would have surely become a full-blown civil war ter: “What paper do you have there?” “Viet Nam”
by October 1945. The communists at the head of a young nationalist replied. Mockingly, the chief
the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV) of police shot back: “There’s nothing Vietnamese
realized that they could not authorize the security in it; their paper is nothing but a traitorous one!”
forces to attack the nationalist leaders, including (Viet Nam gi bao cua chung may la bao Viet
the head of the VNQDD, Vu Hong Khanh, ar- Gian!)
riving with or backed by the Chinese from exile
in southern China. To do so would be to risk a This violent “war of the pens” set the mental
hostile Chinese take-over. Determined to deny stage for the civil violence of mid-1946. The shift
them any pretext for overthrowing the fledgling began when the Chinese finished pulling the bulk
government, the Viet Minh and the communists of their troops out of upper Vietnam by 17 June
allowed the opposition to organize propaganda 1946. Within a few weeks, the communists un-
drives, operate newspapers, publish political car- leashed the security services against the VNQDD
toons satirizing the communists and even Ho Chi and the Greater Vietnam party while Vo Nguyen
Minh, the “father” of the new nation. Giap used his emerging army against nationalist
troops located in the northern countryside, with
Thanks to the Chinese security umbrella, the the support of local French troops. By September
VNQDD joined forces with the Greater Viet- 1946, Vu Hong Khanh and most of his remaining
nam National Party of Truong Tu Anh and forces had returned to southern China. Meanwhile,
the Alliance Party of Nguyen Hai Than. These with the Chinese gone, the DRV Ministry of Inte-
parties organized membership drives, mobilized rior authorized the police to confiscate opposition

488 VIETNAMESE SOCIALIST PARTY

papers. In a final move to define in the clearest Minh presided over the dissolution of the Indo-
of terms the limits of opposition, the government chinese Communist Party. However, the Party
replaced the original Vietnamese Nationalist never ceased to exist. In 1949, as it became clear
Party with a “new” VNQDD, whose leaders and to that the Chinese Red Army was going to take all
organizations were now tied to the DRV. of China, Vietnamese communists began prepara-
tions to bring their Party back into the limelight
The security service’s raids against the VN- and to stress its internationalist credentials with
QDD presence in Hanoi, doubled by the army’s a view to renewing contact with communist bloc.
attacks against the nationalist forces in the coun- In early 1950, Mao Zedong’s People’s Republic
tryside, marked the outbreak of the first civil war of China, followed by Joseph Stalin’s Soviet
in Vietnam since the 18th century. It was also the Union, formally recognized the Democratic Re-
first in a long line of civil conflicts that would public of Vietnam.
dominate modern Vietnamese history for the rest
of the 20th century. Vu Hong Khanh would return Aware that ranking Chinese and Soviet leaders,
to northern Vietnam with a few of his men in early above all Stalin, had criticized the Vietnamese
1950 as Chinese communist troops consolidated decision to dissolve the party in 1945, Vietnamese
their hold over southern China and put an end to communists announced the creation of a Workers’
the Republic of China, the VNQDD’s most im- Party during the Party’s second national congress
portant backer. See also AID, CHINESE; BINH held in early 1951. The VWP affirmed its com-
XUYEN; CAO DAI; COLLABORATION; HOA munist identity and membership in the wider
HAO; HUYNH PHU SO; LE VAN VIEN; LAN- internationalist family led by Stalin. While the
GUAGE OF WAR; PHAM CONG TAC. leadership opted in favor of a separate Vietnamese
Party instead of an Indochinese one in light of the
VIETNAMESE SOCIALIST PARTY. The Viet- “advanced” state of the Vietnamese revolution
namese Socialist Party (Dang Xa Hoi Viet Nam) over the Lao and Cambodian ones, Vietnamese
got its start as a chapter of the Section française communists secretly maintained their revolution-
de l’Internationale ouvrière’s (SFIO) Indochinese ary commitment to the Indochinese model first
branch formed by Louis Caput in 1937 and open required by the Comintern in 1930. Vietnamese
to Vietnamese members. Hoang Minh Giam joined communists established Cadres Committees
it at this time. With the advent of the Democratic for building communist parties, resistance gov-
Republic of Vietnam (DRV) in September 1945, ernments and cadres’ committees in Laos and
Vietnamese socialists moved to decolonize their Cambodia.
relationship with the SFIO by forming a separate,
entirely national socialist party for Vietnam. The fact The VWP also implemented communist poli-
that many of the postwar leaders of the SFIO’s Indo- cies and methods in the territories it controlled in
china branch did not share Louis Caput’s support of Vietnam, notably rectification campaigns, emu-
the DRV’s nationalist aspirations only reinforced the lation drives, new hero adulation, and land re-
desire of Vietnamese socialists to go their own way. form. During the 1950s, the VWP actively purged
The Indochinese Communist Party supported the the Party, state, and army of its non-communist
creation of a separate socialist party, which could members and actively moved to recruit workers
not be manipulated by the French and would attract and peasants into its ranks. In 1951, during the
more Vietnamese supporters. On 27 July 1946, as ICP’s official second congress, Truong Chinh
the Fontainebleau Conference stalled in France, was formally and officially elected general secre-
the Vietnamese Socialist Party came to life. Its tary of the Party, a post he held until errors com-
founding document disassociated it from the SFIO’s mitted during the land reform cost him his post in
chapters in Hanoi and Saigon. 1956. See also COMMITTEE FOR THE EAST,
LAO ISSARA; EXTERNAL AFFAIRS COM-
VIETNAMESE WORKERS’ PARTY (VWP). MITTEE; LAO RESISTANCE GOVERNMENT;
The Vietnamese Workers’ Party (Dang Lao Dong CAMBODIAN RESISTANCE GOVERNMENT;
Viet Nam) was the direct heir of the Indochinese ADVISORY GROUP 100.
Communist Party (ICP) created in 1930. In
1945, in order to hold on to power and promote villedieu, henri lucien paul (1914–
its purely nationalist face to the Vietnamese and 1969). French colonial administrator who served
Allied powers troubled by communism, Ho Chi as deputy director of the Agence de l’Indochine
in France between 1946 and 1947. He then trans-

VĨNH THỤY 489

ferred to Laos where he worked as a provincial churia. Upon his return to the State Department
advisor in Savannakhet between 1947 and 1950. shortly thereafter, he became a strong advocate of
Between 1951 and 1953, he was the head of the helping the Republic of China against Japanese
province of Kontum, then Djiring. aggression. During World War II, he returned to
China in 1941 to serve as first secretary in the
vincens, jacques marcel joseph American Embassy in Chongqing. During this
(1919–1996). French colonial administrator who time, he began to write increasingly trenchant and
worked in Laos during World War II and was critical reports on the corruption and ineptitude
interned by the Japanese following the coup de of the Chinese nationalist leaders, not least of
force of 9 March 1945. Between 1946 and 1950, all Chiang Kai-shek. In 1944, Vincent returned
he served as chief of cabinet of the commissioner to Washington to direct the Division of Chinese
of the French Republic to Laos. Affairs in the State Department. He counseled
against intervention in the Chinese civil war on
Vincent, Jean andré léon marie behalf of the Chinese Republicans, though it is
(1907–1984). Vincent graduated from the Co- not clear whether Vincent had any real influence
lonial Academy (École coloniale) in 1928 and on President Harry Truman’s policymaking on
became a colonial administrator in Indochina. He China.
was first assigned to Cambodia where he began
working in 1932 as deputy to the résident of At the outbreak of the Indochina War, Vincent
Takeo then as interim résident there (1932–1938). worked with other “liberals” in the State Depart-
Between 1939 and 1940, he worked as deputy to ment, especially Abbot Low Moffat in charge of
the résident at Kompong Cham. Under Vichy, the Southeast Asian desk. Like Moffat, Vincent
he served as head of the local Office of Sport warned against the dangers of a French war to
and Youth (Service local du sport jeunesse) in restore colonial rule and urged the government
Cambodia (1941–1945) and was one of the prime to push the French, like the Dutch, to negotiate a
French movers of the Cambodian scouting move- peaceful end to the Indochina War. In late 1945,
ment. He instilled in his Cambodian pupils “a Vincent suggested that the United States initiate
sense of discipline” and “love of Cambodia and such negotiations between the French and the
gratitude to France” (amour du Cambodge et re- Democratic Republic of Vietnam, although he
connaissance envers la France). He was a strong quickly watered down his proposal. Nevertheless,
supporter of Marshal Philippe Pétain and Vichy’s he was prescient when he wrote on 23 December
Révolution nationale. Between 1 January 1942 1946, as the French and Vietnamese went to war,
and July 1942, Vincent was a member of the right- that the “French have tried to accomplish in Indo-
wing Local Union of the Légion (Union locale china what a strong and united Britain has found
de la Légion). Following World War II, he was it unwise to attempt in Burma. Given the present
cleared of wrong-doing under Vichy and stayed elements in the situation, guerrilla warfare may
on to serve as provincial advisor to the “Eastern continue indefinitely”. The Cold War would turn
Mekong” between 1945–1946 before returning to Vincent’s life into something of a nightmare. Sus-
Cambodia to work as office director for the Rési- pected of leftist indeed communist views during
dence supérieure. In 1951, he was named delegate the McCarthy years, he was forced to leave the
for the high commissioner of Indochina to the Bureau of Far Eastern Affairs.
King of Laos and ended his career in Indochina
as cabinet director for the high commissioner to vincent, paul robert (1921–). French co-
Laos between 1952 and 1953. lonial administrator in charge of relations with the
Sûreté fédérale within the commissioner’s Office
vincent, john carter (1900–1972). Born for Political Affairs between 1945 and 1946. In
in Seneca, Kansas, John Carter Vincent served in 1946, he also served as secretary to General
World War I before joining the Foreign Service. Raoul Salan during the Dalat Conference. He
As a career diplomat, he served in a variety of then worked as deputy to the head of the financial
posts, especially in Asia. He was vice consul in service in the commissioner’s office in Cambodia
Changsha, China, between 1926 and 1927 and for the French Republic and deputy advisor to the
consul in Mukden in 1932, when the conflict areas of Kandal and Kompong Speu.
between China and Japanese erupted in Man-
VĨNH THỤY. See BẢO ĐẠI.

490 VĨNH YÊN, BATTLE

VĨNH YÊN, BATTLE. Having inflicted a severe political parties. In 1952, Viriya participated in
defeat upon the forces of the French Union in the army operations against Son Ngoc Thanh and
uplands of Cao Bang, General Vo Nguyen Giap his forces in Siemreap province. In January 1953,
was convinced that he could repeat his feat in the Viriya became chief of the Municipal Police for
Red River Delta. It was said that the commanding Phnom Penh and in June chief of the Private Staff
general had even promised his troops that they of the king himself. He accompanied Norodom Si-
would be in Hanoi before the lunar New Year hanouk to Thailand in June 1953 and entered into
in February 1951. With the battle of Trung Hung contact with Thai Police Chief Phao Sryanond.
Dao, as the Vietnamese christened this operation, Prince Viriya soon himself became Sihanouk’s
the General Counter Offensive was underway and state secretary in the Ministry of the Interior in
the days of the pure guerrilla were fading. How- charge of all Police Services. He maintained these
ever, not unlike Nguyen Binh in the south, Vo posts in the April 1954 government reshuffles of
Nguyen Giap badly underestimated the enemy’s Chan Nak and Sihanouk.
strength in the deltas. Thanks to their intelligence
services, the French were well aware of the ad- VÕ AN NINH (1907–2009). One of Vietnam’s
versary’s intentions to attack at Vinh Yen. And best-known photographers of the 20th century. He
the new French high commander, General Jean covered both everyday and historic events of the
de Lattre de Tassigny, was also spoiling for a colonial and postcolonial period, including the
fight, especially in the Red River Delta. Between famine and August Revolution of 1945 as well as
12 and 17 January 1951, Vo Nguyen Giap began the two wars for Vietnam. His love of photogra-
the attack at Luc Nam and on the road to Vinh phy began at the age of 16. Legend has it that he
Yen, committing regiments of the 308th division to spent all his savings on a Zeiss Ikon Y 45.143 to
the battle. This was the first time the Vietnamese get started. His first photos were of a picnic of
had engaged in battle in the open field, applying students of the Lycée du Protectorat (École Buoi)
wave tactics they had learned from the Chinese. in Hanoi and rural scenes of the surrounding city.
Against such attacks, de Lattre let loose his artil- During a competition held by the Department of
lery and air power, ordering the use of napalm Fine Arts in Hanoi, he won first prize for a picture
against attacking troops. The French scored a of rafts on the water off Sam Son. In 1938, he
resounding victory over the Vietnamese at Vinh won the top prize in a photo exhibition in Paris
Yen. Somewhere between 1,200 and 1,600 Viet- for his photo Rowing the Boat Offshore. Under
namese were killed during the battle. The French the influence of the Popular Front period in the
victory increased the confidence of the Expedi- late 1930s, he shifted the subjects of his photos
tionary Corps after the loss at Cao Bang. De to more social matters. While working for the
Lattre, it was thought, would indeed turn things Forestry and Agriculture Department, his travels
around. For the Vietnamese, it was clear that throughout the countryside provided him with
victory would not be immediate, that the General more material on everyday life and society beyond
Counter Offensive could not be applied so easily, the cities. This shift came through powerfully in
nor the abandonment of the guerrilla war. General 1944–1945 when he published moving pictures
Vo Nguyen Giap also realized that wave tactics of the deadly famine in Tonkin. Many of these
in the deltas, against superior French airpower pictures appeared on the front page of the widely
and artillery, could be a recipe for disaster. See read Trung Bac Chu Nhat (The Sunday Northern
also DIEN BIEN PHU, BATTLE OF; NA SAN, Central). They are among the few available on
BATTLE OF; WAVE TACTICS. this historic event. He continued to record the
major events of the new Vietnamese nation-state
VIRIYA, PRINCE. Powerful behind-the-scenes as a photographer for Vi Nuoc. He scored a scoop
supporter of his cousin Norodom Sihanouk dur- with his pictures of President Ho Chi Minh on the
ing the Indochina War. Viriya attended the Lycée French battleship Dumot Durville returning from
Chasseloup Laubat in Saigon. In 1948, he was Cam Ranh Bay in October 1946. He also covered
the chief of cabinet for the Ministry of National the large student demonstrations in Saigon in
Defence. In 1952, as Sihanouk prepared to con- 1950 against increased American involvement
solidate his political power, Viriya was entrusted in the Indochina War, marked by the visit of the
by the king to create a secret palace police service U.S. Navy destroyers Stickell and Richard B.
to follow the activities of various Cambodian Anderson. Vo An Ninh is generally considered to

VŨ ĐÌNH HÙYNH 491

be the father of modern Vietnamese photography. the movement’s armed forces. On 12 December
See also ART; CINEMA; CULTURE; NOVELS; 1944, Vo Nguyen Giap presided over the creation
PHOTOGRAPHY. of the Armed Propaganda Brigade for the Libera-
tion of Vietnam (Doi Viet Nam Tuyen Truyen Giai
VÕ NGUYÊN GIÁP (VǍN, 1911–). Vietnam’s Phong Quan), the origin of the People’s Army of
best known general of the 20th century and the Vietnam of today. He attended the Conference in
victor of the battle of Dien Bien Phu over the Tan Trao in mid-August 1945, which created the
French Expeditionary Corps in 1954. Born in National Committee for the Liberation of Vietnam
the province of Quang Binh, he first studied at (Uy Ban Dan Toc Giai Phong Viet Nam). He ran
the Lycée Quoc Hoc in Hue, where he became its Military Committee and signed the order to
involved in nationalist politics. In 1929, he joined begin the general uprising.
the New Vietnamese Revolutionary Party (Tan
Viet Nam Cach Mang Dang). The French arrested From September 1945 to March 1946, with the
him in 1930 for trying to garner money for the advent of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam
victims of the communist-backed uprising in cen- (DRV), Vo Nguyen Giap served as minister of
tral Vietnam in 1930. Although sentenced to two the Interior. He served as the deputy leader of the
years of prison, he was released shortly thereafter Vietnamese delegation to the Dalat Conference
and moved to Hanoi to finish his secondary stud- of April 1946, led officially by the minister of
ies at the Lycée Albert Sarraut. According to one Foreign Affairs, Nguyen Tuong Tam. During Ho
of his former teachers, Marcel Ner, Vo Nguyen Chi Minh’s long absence in France in mid-1946,
Giap was extremely hard-working, studious, and Vo Nguyen Giap proceeded to eliminate the anti-
sensitive. He pursued higher studies in law at the communist and anti-colonial opposition parties,
Faculté de droit at the Indochinese University, with the support of the French.
from which he graduated in 1937. He was also
awarded a certificate in political economics. Dur- In November 1946, he became minister of
ing this time, Dang Thai Mai took him under his Defense. In that same year, he headed the ICP’s
wing, and provided him with a job teaching histo- newly created Military Committee (Quan Uy)
ry in a private high school in Hanoi, Thang Long. overseeing the entire armed forces. He held both
During the Popular Front period, Vo Nguyen Giap posts until 1977. In 1946 or 1947, he married
became involved in nationalist politics, writing again, this time to Dang Bich Ha, the daughter of
for left-wing newspapers in Hanoi such as Notre Dang Thai Mai. In 1948, Vo Nguyen Giap became
voix, and participated in the Indochinese Con- a four-star general and the supreme commander
gress. He co-wrote with Truong Chinh a treatise of all the DRV’s armed forces. During the Sec-
on the “Peasant Question”. He married Nguyen ond Party Congress held in early 1951, he was
Thi Quang Thai, the younger sister of a prominent re-elected to the Central Committee of the new
member of the Indochinese Communist Party Vietnamese Workers’ Party and its Politburo.
(ICP), Nguyen Thi Minh Khai. In 1954, he oversaw the historic battle of Dien
Vo Nguyen Giap left the Thang Long high Bien Phu, making him modern Vietnam’s greatest
school in May 1940, when he was warned that general. See also COURT MARTIAL; DISEASE;
an arrest warrant had been issued against him. EXPERIENCE OF WAR, DIEN BIEN PHU;
Thanks to the assistance of Hoang Van Thu, MYTH OF WAR.
another ranking ICP leader, Giap escaped to
southern China and made his way with Pham Van VŨ ĐÌNH HÙYNH (1904–1991). Personal secre-
Dong to Kunming where they met Ho Chi Minh. tary to Ho Chi Minh during the Indochina War. Vu
The latter recognized the potential of Vo Nguyen Dinh Huynh joined the Indochinese Communist
Giap and brought him formally into the ICP. With Party upon its creation in 1930 and worked as a
the fall of France and the Japanese move into In- clandestine liaison agent for the party in northern
dochina in 1940, the ICP sent Vo Nguyen Giap to Vietnam and Hanoi. In 1939, his activities at-
build up bases along the Sino-Vietnamese border. tracted the attention of the French Sûreté. He was
In May 1941, during the Party’s 8th Plenum, he arrested and sent off to Son La prison in northern
ran the Military Committee for the Viet Minh’s Vietnam, where he rubbed shoulders with ranking
General Directorate (Uy Ban Quan Su Tong Bo leaders in the party and future national govern-
Viet Minh), in charge of creating and training ment. Upon his liberation in 1941, Vu Dinh
Huynh resumed his clandestine activites for the
party moving in and around Hanoi, sheltering

492 VŨ ĐÌNH LONG Vu Hong Khanh bet on the Chinese nationalists,
their anti-communism, and their occupation of
and connecting Vietnamese revolutionaries in the northern Vietnam to help him take power against
months and days leading up to the creation of the Vietnamese communists. He returned to Hanoi on
Democratic Republic of Vietnam. During the 6 November 1945 with Chinese occupying forces.
Tan Trao Conference, which he helped organize, However, because the Chinese nationalist leader-
he met Ho Chi Minh and became his personal ship decided to keep the Democratic Republic of
secretary. He accompanied Ho Chi Minh to Paris Vietnam (DRV) intact rather than risk setting off
for the Fontainebleau Conference and remained a destabilizing Franco-Vietnamese war, Vu Hong
at his side in northern Vietnam during the rest of Khanh was forced to join a coalition government
the Indochina War. This did not prevent Vu Dinh as part of the DRV. In early 1946, he served as
Huynh from landing in prison in 1967 as part of vice president of the High Council of National
the “anti-revisionist campaign” stemming from Defense, led by Vo Nguyen Giap. He even signed
intense differences of strategy leading up to the the Accords of 6 March 1946 which allowed the
Tet Offensive of 1968. His son, Vu Thu Hien, French to replace Chinese troops above the 16th
published in the 1990s a detailed account of his parallel. Vu Hong Khanh was a member of the
father’s life and tragic fall, entitled Darkness in Vietnamese delegation to the Dalat Conference,
the Middle of the Day or Dem giua ban ngay. See but kept a low profile.
also HOANG MINH CHINH; NGUYEN HUU
DANG. However, his party’s double hostility to French
colonialism and Vietnamese communism led cer-
VŨ ĐÌNH LONG. See VŨ NGỌC NHẠ PIERRE. tain French officers in Indochina and Vo Nguyen
Giap to join forces to eliminate this hostile op-
VŨ ĐỨC. See HOÀNG ĐÌNH GIỌNG. position force. By the time Ho Chi Minh returned
from France in October 1946, the French and the
VŨ HẢI THU. See NGUYỄN HẢI THẦN. DRV were face à face as one French witness to
the events later put it. From bases in the national-
VŨ HỒNG KHANH (VŨ VǍN GIẢNG, GIAO ist stronghold of Vinh Yen, Vu Hong Khanh took
GIẢNG, TƯ VŨ, WU HUNG SINH, 1907– refuge for a second time in southern China in June
1993). One of the best-known leaders of the 1946. To make matters worse, his relations with
Vietnamese Nationalist Party (Viet Nam Quoc other members in the VNQDD were troubled.
Dan Dang, VNQDD). Born in Vinh Yen province In 1948, he was relieved of his duties as general
in northern Vietnam, Vu Hong Khanh entered the secretary of the VNQDD and then expelled from
École normale de Hanoi in 1921 and graduated in the Party altogether. In December 1949, he joined
1925 as a school teacher. He taught school in Kien Chinese nationalist troops seeking refuge in
An province between 1926 and 1929. It was also Indochina from the advancing Chinese People’s
during this period that he became involved in na- Liberation Army.
tionalist politics. In 1929, he joined the VNQDD
created by Nguyen Thai Hoc in 1927. With the When Vu Hong Khanh refused to surrender to
French crushing of the VNQDD revolt at Yen Bay the French army in early 1950, he found himself
in 1930, Vu Hong Khang fled to southern China once again under fire from both the DRV and
in June 1930 where he became one of the most the French (Air Force). He and his men finally
important leaders of the Party outside French surrendered on 6 January 1950 in Bac Giang.
Indochina. He quickly learned Chinese and gradu- However, in French eyes, Vu Hong Khanh’s anti-
ated from a Chinese nationalist military academy communism trumped his longstanding hostility
in Nanjing as a second lieutenant in the Chinese to French colonialism. In April 1950, he began to
Republican army. During the Sino-Japanese war, participate in Franco-Vietnamese attempts to cre-
he rose rapidly in the Chinese nationalist hierar- ate a national army for the Associated State of
chy. He obtained the rank of brigadier general in Vietnam. Politically, however, Vu Hong Khanh
1941 and Chiang Kai-shek made him the director and his resurrected VNQDD were a spent force in
of the Military Academy of Yunnan. However, he Vietnamese national politics. He would contact a
resigned from this post almost immediately to wide range of Vietnamese non-communist groups
dedicate himself entirely to the VNQDD’s return and individuals, including the Binh Xuyen, Cao
to Vietnam. Dai, and Bao Dai; but he never succeeded in
developing a political or a military base and his

VŨ QUÝ MÃO 493

aversion to the French limited his cooperation VŨ NGỌC NHẠ PIERRE (VŨ NGỌC NHÃ,
with them and their Vietnamese allies. By the end HOÀNG ĐỨC NHÃ, VŨ ĐÌNH LONG, HAI
of the Indochina War, Vu Hong Khanh and the LONG, 1928–2002). Intelligence officer for the
VNQDD had been overtaken by events. See also Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV) during
CIVIL WAR; HOANG VAN HOAN; NGUYEN the Indochina and Vietnam Wars. A Catholic, Vu
SON; POULO CONDOR; VUONG THUA Ngoc Nha was born in Thai Nguyen province in
VU.VŨ HỒNG THỦY. See NGUYỄN SƠN. northern Vietnam but moved at a young age to the
Catholic fiefdom of Phat Diem in lower Tonkin.
VŨ HỮU BÌNH. Former non-commissioned officer He completed his secondary education in Hanoi,
in the colonial Garde indigène, based in Vientiane where he got caught up in the nationalist fervor
in the 1930s. He was at ease in Lao and Thai. He of 1945. He joined the Viet Minh that year and
crossed into Thailand around 1940 and became fought in the battle of Hanoi following the out-
an officer in the Royal Thai Army. He met Phin break of full-scale war on 19 December 1946.
Chunhawan and Pibun Songgram at this time. He then transferred to his native Thai Nguyen
He also secretly joined the Indochinese Com- province where he was put in charge of mobiliz-
munist Party (ICP) along the Mekong. With ing Catholics for the DRV. He did this until 1951,
the end of the war, he helped the ICP develop its when he was sent to Hanoi to work underground.
bases among the overseas Vietnamese living in In 1953, thanks to an introduction from Do Muoi,
northeastern Thailand and in Laos. He played Tran Quoc Huong brought Vu Ngoc Nha into
a pivotal go-between role for the Democratic the DRV’s military intelligence and espionage
Republic of Vietnam’s agents seeking to contact operations, assigning him the task of training
Thai political, military, and commercial leaders. cadres to work among Catholics. When the Ge-
He transferred to work in the Cambodian Front neva Accords ended the war and created two de
with Nguyen Thanh Son in 1950. He would later facto states, Hoang Minh Dao, head of military
serve in the diplomatic corps, with assignments in intelligence, instructed Vu Ngoc Nha to join the
Southeast Asia. tens of thousands of Vietnamese Catholics fleeing
the north in order to go undercover in the south
VŨ LANG (ĐỖ ĐỨC LIÊM, 1921–1988). Born as a DRV operative. He was given a new name,
in the Hanoi region, Vu Lang was a carpenter Vu Dinh Long, and a new identity making him a
who became involved in nationalist politics dur- virulent anti-communist Catholic from Phat Diem.
ing the Popular Front period in Indochina. With His cover was so good that he even had the sup-
the advent of the Democratic Republic of Viet- port of Le Huu Tu. In December 1955, Vu Ngoc
nam in 1945, he joined the Nam Tien advance Nha left Haiphong as a refugee and went on to
units to fight the French in southern Vietnam. become one of the DRV’s legendary spies during
He got as far as southern central Vietnam, where the Vietnam War. See also PHAM NGOC THAO;
he took command of a platoon before becoming PHAM XUAN AN; TRAN QUOC HOAN.
deputy chief of military instruction for Zone VI
(Khu VI). In June 1946, he returned to the north VŨ NGUYÊN BÁC. See NGUYỄN SƠN.
where he served as a bodyguard to the govern-
ment palace and helped evacuate the government VŨ QUÝ MÃO (1904–?). Non-communist Viet-
from the city with the start of full-scale war on 19 namese member of the Greater Vietnam Nation-
December 1946. In February 1947, he joined the alist Party (Dai Viet Quoc Dan), born in Gia Dinh
Indochinese Communist Party and returned to province. He worked in the Indochinese colonial
his position in the army. Between 1947 and 1954, administration before serving in the mandarin
he rapidly rose in the army taking part in all the government in northern Vietnam in the late 1930s.
major battles in the north. By the time of the battle Little is known of his activities during World War
of Dien Bien Phu in 1954, he had risen from a II. Following the defeat of the Japanese and the
platoon commander to the head of the General advent of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam
Staff for the 316th division. (DRV), he briefly served as director of Adminis-
trative Affairs in the Ministry of the Interior in the
VŨ NGỌC NHÃ. See VŨ NGỌC NHẠ PIERRE. DRV. He left the government to join forces with
other Greater Vietnam Nationalist Party members
rallied around the person of Nguyen Huu Tri,

494 VŨ TÙNG Hanoi. He then studied law in the Faculté de droit
in Bordeaux, France. He served as the president
governor of North Vietnam in the Associated of the Association mutuelle des Indochinois de
State of Vietnam. Vu Quy Mao served as chief of Bordeaux et du Sud-Ouest. He resigned in 1926
cabinet to Nguyen Huu Tri. He refused a French following criticism of his reception speech for
offer to join a Vietnamese delegation to the As- the minister of the Colonies, which was judged
sembly of the French Union. to be too moderate. In 1927, he obtained his
undergraduate degree in law and, in 1929, his
VŨ TÙNG (1917–1968, NGUYỄN VǍN THỌ). doctorate in law. Between 1929 and 1931, he
Born in Bac Ninh province in northern Vietnam, worked as an intern in a Parisian law firm. He
in 1938 Vu Tung entered the private high school returned to Cochinchina in August 1931, joined
of Thang Long in Hanoi. It was also during this the bar in Saigon a year later, and worked in a law
time of the Popular Front that he became involved firm there. In May 1935, he became a naturalized
in nationalist politics. He took a job working in French citizen. He was a close colleague of the
an electrical plant in Thanh Hoa province and agi- constitutionalist, Bui Quang Chieu, and married
tated among workers there. When such activities his daughter, Dr. Henriette Bui. Between 1927
landed him in trouble, he left for Saigon where he and 1940, Vuong Quang Nhuong was a member
lived and worked during World War II and helped of the Council of the Order of Lawyers in the
nationalist groups eventually allied with the Viet Appeals Court of Saigon (Conseil de l’ordre des
Minh to take power in Saigon in August 1945. In avocats à la cour d’appel de Saigon).
late 1945, in opposition to the French reoccupation
of southern Vietnam, Vu Tung joined detachment After the Japanese coup de force of 9 March
no.11 (Chi Doi). In late 1946 or early 1947, he 1945, he became a public prosecutor in Saigon and
returned to Saigon as a member of the local branch worked with the Japanese consul and governor of
of the Section française de l’Internationale Cochinchina. He successfully navigated the defeat
ouvrière, in charge of the Vietnamese section of of the Japanese in August 1945, the brief period of
the party’s local paper, La Justice. He used his nationalist rule in the south until 23 September,
position in the paper to translate and publish ar- and the return of the French to Saigon thereafter.
ticles opposed to the French-created Provisional Having divorced in 1937, he married the daughter
Government of the Republic of Cochinchina. of the former emperor Thanh Thai, Mme. Cong Nu
In 1948, Vu Tung escorted French Professor Jean Luong Nhan. He was favorable to ending the war
Chesneaux to the maquis to meet with members and achieving Vietnamese national independence.
of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV). In April 1947, to the surprise of the French, he
The French arrested and incarcerated both men. joined a number of other prominent Vietnamese
The colonial police expelled Chesneaux from to sign the Manifeste des intellectuels vietnamiens
Indochina while Vu Tung was eventually released de la région de Saigon Cholon, calling upon the
and immediately made his way back to the maquis. French to negotiate directly with the government
There he underwent intensive training in the first of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV).
class of the cadres school in the south, the Truong The French even suspected him of having pro-
Chinh Academy (Truong Truong Chinh). He then vided brief asylum in Saigon to the head of the
joined the special zone of Cholon-Gia Dinh as a southern army, Nguyen Binh. In 1949, Vuong
member of the Propaganda and Political Indoctri- Quang Nhuong signed another petition calling
nation Committee (Ban Tuyen Huan). Following upon the French to negotiate with Ho Chi Minh.
the end of the war and the partition of Vietnam into This clearly did not prevent Nguyen Phan Long
two halves, he remained in Saigon, sympathetic to from naming him minister of National Education
the cause of the DRV. in January 1950 or from putting him in charge of
convincing nationalists living in the “rebel zones”
VŨ VǍN ĐÍCH. See TRẦN HIỆU. of the DRV to crossover to the Associated State
of Vietnam. Vuong Quang Nhuong stayed on as
VŨ VǍN GIẢN. See VŨ HỒNG KHANH. minister of National Education in the Tran Van
Huu government constituted in May 1950. He
VƯƠNG QUANG NHƯỜNG (1902–?). Born in was seriously wounded, however, in a “terrorist”
Go Cong province in southern Vietnam, Vuong attack in June 1950. It was in fact organized by
Quang Nhuong completed his studies in the Lycée the DRV’s security forces operating in Saigon.
Chasseloup Laubat in Saigon and the Lycée de

VƯƠNG THỪA VŨ 495

Vuong Quang Nhung became deputy minister to 1945, he put his military talents in the service of
the president of the council in the second Tran Van what became the Democratic Republic of Viet-
Huu government of February 1951. nam. He joined the army in August 1945. In 1946,
he was in charge of training and commanding the
VƯƠNG THỪA VŨ (NGUYỄN VǍN ĐỒI, troops protecting Hanoi. He did this as the head
1910–1980). Born in Hanoi to a science teacher, of Zone XI (Hanoi). He answered directly to Vo
he became involved in nationalist politics during Nguyen Giap during the stormy days leading up
the 1920s. He joined the Vietnamese National- to the outbreak of full-scale war on 19 December
ist Party (Viet Nam Quoc Dan Dang, VNQDD) 1946 and commanded the battle for Hanoi from
in the late 1920s and fled to China following the 19 December 1946 to 17 February 1947. Between
French crackdown on this party in early 1930. Vu- 1947 and 1948, he was deputy commander of
ong Thua Vu learned Chinese fast before entering Inter-Zone IV (Lien Khu IV) in upper central
a Chinese nationalist military academy in Yunnan, Vietnam before taking over as head of the Binh
from which he graduated as an officer sometime in Tri Thien zone. Between 1949 and 1954, he led
the late 1930s. He returned to Vietnam in the early the 308th Division and served simultaneously as
1940s and was arrested by the French in late 1941. its political commissar between 1949 and 1951.
It was during his time in prison in Thai Nguyen He was named major general in 1950. He led the
that he defected to the Indochinese Communist 308th into the battle of Dien Bien Phu.
Party in 1943. Following his liberation in March

W

WAN WAITHAYAKON (1891–1976). The Thai Germany in the early 1930s, where he collaborat-
Prince Waithayakon received his education at ed with the German Communist Party and worked
Oxford University in Britain and Sciences Po in among Chinese student groups in Germany. It was
France before entering the Thai Ministry of For- also during this time that he married in 1935 the
eign Affairs in 1917. In 1924, he became under- German, Anna von Kleist. He returned to China
secretary for Foreign Affairs and led negotiations in 1936 with his wife and until 1949 served as an
ending special Western privileges in Thailand. In alternate member of the Southern Bureau of the
the late 1920s, he served as Thai minister to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and second
United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Belgium deputy secretary and spokesman of the Commit-
and led the Thai delegation to the League of Na- tee of Foreign Affairs to the CCP’s delegation
tions. He returned to Thailand in 1930 and taught operating in Nanjing. He also served as the CCP’s
at Chulalongkorn University, but remained deeply deputy director general of the Group of Foreign
involved in Thai diplomacy, including the nego- Affairs. With the advent of the People’s Republic
tiations that saw the Thais join with the Japanese of China in 1949, he worked closely with Zhou
during World War II. At the end of the Pacific War, Enlai to create the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
he successfully negotiated Thailand’s international Between 1949 and 1955, he served as general
rehabilitation, marked by its admission to the Unit- director of the General Office of the Ministry of
ed Nations (UN), and its improved relations with Foreign Affairs.
the United States in particular. In 1947, he became
Thai ambassador to the United States and served During the Geneva Conference of 1954, he was
also as ambassador to the UN. He held these posi- general secretary of the Chinese delegation and
tions until 1952, when he became Thai minister of played an important behind-the-scenes role with
Foreign Affairs. During this time, he represented Zhou Enlai in reaching an agreement with the
Thai interests during the Geneva Conference of French on ending the Indochina War. His contacts
1954 on Indochina. He supported the separation with the former French military attaché to Nanjing,
of the Vietnamese question from that of Laos and Colonel Jacques Guillermez, served him well
Cambodia, rejecting the Democratic Republic when Guillermez appeared in Geneva as a member
of Vietnam’s (DRV) attempt to get the Lao and of the French delegation. The two men met often
Cambodian resistance governments admitted as and through their contacts arranged essential meet-
conference participants. With the support of the ings between the French and the Chinese delega-
Americans, he also pushed the idea of allowing the tions and others during the Geneva Conference.
UN to serve as future observers of the accords and Wang and Guillermez were, according to François
the elections rather than the International Com- Joyaux, instrumental in setting in motion Franco-
mission for Supervision and Control. On 29 Chinese collaboration at the outset of the Geneva
May the Thais officially submitted their proposal Conference. Wang Bingnan’s marriage to Anna
to the UN and it was put on the Security Council’s von Kleist also opened doors since she was related
agenda on 3 June. Beijing was strongly opposed to to the German Countess Asta von Kleist, who was
the Wan’s proposal, insisting that it was designed the wife of French Ambassador Jean Louis Paul-
to sabotage the Geneva Conference and open the Boncour. The latter had been chargé d’affaires
way for the United States to intervene. The Soviets in Chongqing between 1941 and 1943 and was
immediately vetoed the Thai proposal. now general secretary of the French delegation to
the Geneva Conference. Paul-Boncour and Wang
WANG BINGNAN (1908–1988). Chinese diplo- Bingnan also met secretly behind the scenes to
mat and member of the delegation led by Zhou push negotiations forward. Indeed, Wang Bingnan
Enlai to the Geneva Conference. After a short informed the French as early as 18 May 1954
stint in Japan in 1929, Wang Bingnan studied in that the Chinese were not in Geneva “to support
the Viet Minh” but rather to “re-establish peace”.

WAVE TACTICS 497

He even said that the “Chinese did not encourage NATIONALE DES COMBATTANTS DE DIEN
necessarily Viet Minh military action towards the BIEN PHU; ASSOCIATION NATIONALE DES
delta”. ANCIENS PRISONNIERS ET INTERNÉS D’IN-
DOCHINE.
WAR INVALIDS. In May 1947, following the
outbreak of full-scale war in Hanoi on 19 Decem- WAR ZONE D (Chiến Khu D). Famous secret
ber 1946, the Democratic Republic of Vietnam warzone used by Democratic Republic of Viet-
created a Bureau for War Invalids (Phong Thuong nam’s southern forces during the Indochina War.
Binh) located in northern Vietnam (Dai Tu). The It first came into being in early 1946 as southern
Ministry of Defense administered it and Van Tien forces took up guerrilla war against the French
Dung put Le Thanh An in charge of it. At the Expeditionary Corps. It was located in the dense
outset, this office tended to some 100 wounded jungles surrounding the villages of Tan Hoa, My
soldiers evacuated to Dai Tu following the battle Loc, Tan Tich, Thuong Lang, and Lac An. From
of Hanoi between December 1946 and February 1948, it was home to the southern administration
1947. As the war progressed and intensified, this and the Indochinese Communist Party’s direct-
office established branches across the country and ing organizations and protected armed forces
was soon overwhelmed with sick, wounded, and coming from the surrounding provinces of Bien
disabled soldiers. To honor the sacrifices of the Hoa, Thu Dau Mot as well as Zone VII and Inter-
wounded, in July 1947 the government created a Zone for Eastern Nam Bo. War Zone D became
national day to commemorate the war wounded. famous for the Vietnamese fighting the Americans
Ngay Thuong Binh is held on 27 July of each during the Vietnam War.
year and was later expanded to include the war
dead – Ngay Thuong Binh, Liet Si, the equivalent WAVE TACTICS. Besides supplying large amounts
of veteran’s day. This day was selected because of military aid and training from 1950, Chinese
of the lucky number 7. On 27 July 1947, to mark advisors also introduced wave tactics to the
the beginning of this national day of commemora- General Staff of the Democratic Republic of
tion, Ho Chi Minh thanked the soldiers for their Vietnam in a bid to overwhelm the French posi-
sacrifices for the nation. tions, as the Chinese army had done against the
Republic of China during the Chinese civil war
WAR MEMORIAL, ĐIỆN BIÊN PHỦ, and was trying to do against the Americans in the
FRANCE. The French war memorial at Dien Korean War. However, such human wave tactics
Bien Phu was created in 1994 upon the initiative were extremely risky when applied in Vietnam.
of a former member of the French Foreign Le- For one, the French Expeditionary Corps was a
gion, veteran of the Indochina War, and putschist professional army superior to Chiang Kai-shek’s
during the Algerian War, Rolf Rodel. The French armed forces, and both Generals Vo Nguyen
minister of Defence and Jacques Chirac supported Giap and Chen Geng conceded that the French
this initiative and financed its transformation into were no pushover. Though France’s Air Force
a war memorial in collaboration with the As- in Indochina had serious problems, it was more
sociation Nationale des Anciens Prisonniers et modern and effective than the Chinese republican
Internés d’Indochine (ANAPI). In 1997, during one had been. Not only did the French have more
Chirac’s participation in the Francophonie Sum- advanced artillery, they were also good at using
mit held in Hanoi, he visited the Dien Bien Phu it in complex and coordinated ways and at night.
war memorial in the company of Rodel. In 1999, Moreover, compared to China and its armies,
the memorial was officially consecrated by the the Vietnamese population was so much smaller
visit of the ANAPI. The Dien Bien Phu site is today that it could not support such costly wave tactics
an officially recognized French war monument. without risking the depletion of a relatively small
See also ASSOCIATION OF MOTHERS OF army (around 250,000 in the early 1950s, includ-
SOLDIERS; EXPERIENCE OF WAR; MYTH ing 115,000 regular troops). In short, the Viet-
OF WAR; ASSOCIATION NATIONALE DES namese were applying a Chinese military model
ANCIENS D’INDOCHINE ET DU SOUVENIR against a superior enemy equipped with modern
INDOCHINOIS; ASSOCIATION NATIONALE firepower, in different Vietnamese circumstances,
DES ANCIENS ET AMIS DE L’INDOCHINE ET in a much smaller country, and at an increasingly
DU SOUVENIR INDOCHINOIS; ASSOCIATION important international conjuncture that obliged

498 WEI GUOQING the first to take up the “question of women” (van
de phu nu) or their emancipation. The place of
them to score a big victory against the French women in Vietnamese society had been an impor-
at Dien Bien Phu. Wave tactics showed their tant subject of debate during the interwar period
limits in the Vietnamese battles in the Red River as a new generation of Vietnamese began to ques-
Delta in 1951 and even in the uplands. The bloody tion the oppressive nature of “traditional” society,
Vietnamese failure to take Vinh Yen was a pain- of its “out-moded customs”, and of Confucian-
ful case in point; Na San was an equally costly ism in particular. This was more pronounced in
defeat in 1953. And the tactics used in the battle the colonial cities of Hanoi and Saigon, where
of Dien Bien Phu had much more in common with Vietnamese intellectuals, journalists, and editors
the trench warfare used at Verdun than the wave contributed regularly to and ran papers and maga-
tactics the Chinese deployed in Korea. See also zines dedicated to women’s issues, most notably
AID, CHINESE COMMUNIST. Phu Nu Tan Van (Modern Women).

WEI GUOQING (1913–1989). Wei Guoqing was The leaders of the Indochinese Communist
a Chinese general in the Chinese People’s Libera- Party (ICP), created in 1930, also attached con-
tion Army. He was born in a family of the Zhuang siderable importance to the liberation of women
ethnic background in Guangxi province, border- from traditional Confucian and bourgeois oppres-
ing Vietnam. He took over in late 1950 as the head sion. Vietnamese nationalists also understood that
of the Chinese Military Advisor Delegation to speaking to women about their rights was essen-
Vietnam, replacing Chen Geng who had been tial to winning their support as one of the most
transferred to Korea. Wei’s poor health caused important untapped political forces in Vietnamese
him to return to China frequently, and during society to date. The French were shocked to learn
his absences either Luo Guibo or Wei’s deputy, that following the execution of Nguyen Thai Hoc,
General Mei Jiasheng, assumed direct command the leader of the failed Vietnamese Nationalist
of the Military Advisory Delegation. After return- Party revolt, his wife wrote a double suicide note
ing from Vietnam, Wei served as the governor of addressed to her husband and to the nation before
Guangxi province (1955–1975) and the director she killed herself. Another woman, Nguyen Thi
of the General Political Affairs Department of the Minh Khai, rose to the highest ranks of the ICP
People’s Liberation Army (1977–1982). before she was arrested and executed by the
French on the eve of World War II.
WIDOWS OF WAR. See ASSOCIATION OF
MOTHERS OF SOLDIERS. Communist nationalists certainly had women
in mind when they created the Viet Minh in 1941,
WINTREBERT, MICHEL (1912–1978). Born explicitly mentioning the need to win over their
and raised in Indochina, Wintrebert served as a co- support as part of building a broad-based nation-
lonial administrator mainly in Vietnam. In 1951, he alist front to fight for independence. Theoreti-
worked briefly as the chief of the civilian cabinet cally, both the ICP and the Viet Minh’s political
of General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny. In 1954, platforms ensured equal rights for women and
he became acting high commissioner to the State of assigned them a major revolutionary force. Upon
Vietnam. When the Geneva Accords put an end to coming to power, the Democratic Republic of
the war and gave rise to two competing Vietnamese Vietnam (DRV) instituted legal reforms designed
states above and below the 17th parallel, he became to liberate the postcolonial Vietnamese woman.
second counsellor to the Republic of Vietnam Decrees no. 14 and 51 of 1945 provided women
between 1955 and 1959. He was very supportive with the right to vote. Elections in January 1946
of Ngo Dinh Diem as the new national leader sent ten women to the National Assembly. The
for postcolonial Vietnam and was sympathetic to 1946 constitution, the first, proclaimed the equal-
American efforts to support him. Wintrebert and ity of the sexes. Article 37 of the 1947 labor law
Ngo Dinh Diem may have studied together during stipulated that equal work meant equal pay. In
their youth. His enthusiasm for Ngo Dinh Diem led 1950, as Vietnamese communists renewed their
some of his French detractors to refer to Wintrebert ties with the Sino-Soviet bloc, the DRV issued
as “Ngo Dinh Michel”. decrees affirming the equality of boys and girls
within the Vietnamese family, in a move designed
WOMEN, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF to roll back Confucianism and its male-centered
VIETN­ AM. Vietnamese communists were not hold on power. Young women also received the

WU HUNG SINH 499

right to choose their marriage partner. In Novem- out by the ICP in 1930, women’s rights were
ber 1950, the government provided women with only contained in the penultimate point. Like
the right to divorce. the French, the DRV refused women the right to
enlist in the national army. For the DRV, women
War itself contributed to changing the status were expected to “replace men in all tasks in the
of Vietnamese women, especially for those living rear” and tend to the family and to children. Re-
within the DRV’s territories. Given that women markably few women truly moved into the upper
constituted half of the population and that the war levels of leadership either in the DRV or the ICP
state was faced with a chronic shortage of man- during the Indochina conflict. In the DRV’s 1946
power, women were called upon to participate in a National Assembly, women held only ten seats
wide variety of political, social, economic, admin- out of a total of 403. As of mid-1948, Le Duc Tho
istrative, and even military occupations. During the reported that “women comrades” made up less
battle of Hanoi in January and February 1947, the than 8% of total party membership.
Capital Regiment of 1,200 individuals counted 200
women and 170 children. The evacuation of the The application of more communist-minded
cities in 1945–1947 towards the countryside was reforms and policies from 1953, including land
such that traditional family hierarchies broke down reform and a marriage law, severed the hold of
and the influence of urban ideas on “women’s male-dominated land holdership and liberated
questions” expanded into the countryside. peasant women from the male-centered Confu-
cian order. However, as recent research on Chi-
Meanwhile, the DRV’s needs for labor only nese communism suggests, the Party’s liberation
increased as the fighting carried on. Women of women was not always altruistic. By breaking
worked in village, provincial, and zonal bureau- traditional Confucian bonds of domination in the
cracies. Many were involved in services in charge countryside, the Party also sought to insinuate po-
of women’s, family, and cultural questions and litical cadres (mostly men) into villages in order to
used their positions to promote greater equality better control and mobilize women for the Party’s
between the sexes. The DRV also set in motion an sake and ends. See also EMULATION; LOVE
educational and literacy programme that schooled AND WAR; MINORITY ETHNIC GROUPS;
young girls as well as boys. In Viet Minh zones, ORPHANS.
Confucian-minded notables lost their central role
at the village level. Meetings no longer excluded WOMEN, FRENCH ARMED FORCES. While
women, given their role in mobilizing local girls the number of women serving in the French
and women for national salvation fronts and pro- armed forces (Army, Navy, and Air Force)
ductive power. Nguyen Thi Ngoc Toan not only during the Indochina War remained small, their
served as a clandestine militant for the Viet Minh size more than doubled between 1946 and 1954,
in Hue with the advent of the DRV in 1945, but increasing from 1,010 to 2,485 respectively.
she also studied at the DRV medical school and This suggests a small but important degree of
tended to grievously wounded men during the bat- feminization of the French armed forces during
tle of Dien Bien Phu. She also openly challenged the Indochina War. The creation of the Personnel
the powerful male cadres who had organized a Féminin de l’Armée de Terre in 1951 contributed
court marshal of innocent men, going so far as to to this process. See also BELLONE; BORDELS
call into question the legitimacy of the trial. MILITAIRES DE CAMPAGNE; PROSTITU-
TION; WOMEN, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC
Hundreds perhaps even thousands of women car- OF VIETNAM.
ried out dangerous undercover espionage, sabotage,
and assassination missions behind enemy lines and WOMEN, FRENCH. See PERSONNEL FÉMI-
in the occupied cities of Saigon and Hanoi. In Hung NIN DE L’ARMÉE DE TERRE (PFAT).
Yen, 6,700 women enrolled in the militia forces and
took part in 680 guerrilla operations. Many paid with WORKERS, VIETNAMESE IN FRANCE. See
their lives and were tortured severely. Nguyen Thi OVERSEAS VIETNAMESE IN FRANCE.
Chien, Mac Thi Buoi, and Bui Thi Cuc died in the
line of duty and were recast as new heros to emulate. WU HUNG SINH. See VŨ HỒNG KHANH.

However, in practice things were not quite as
egalitarian as communist nationalist historiogra-
phy and these statistics would have us believe.
Of the “ten essential tasks of the revolution” laid

X

xeridat, lucien (1912–1986). French colo- Indochina War. Although the communist authori-
nial administrator during the Indochina War. He ties disapproved of his homosexuality, Xuan Dieu
began his colonial career in Laos where he worked remained a pre-eminent cultural luminary in the
in a variety of administrative posts in Luang Pra- DRV until his death in 1985. His works are studied
bang and Vientiane between 1936 and 1939. Un- by high school students in Vietnam to this day and
der Vichy, he served as résident to Savannakhet his poetry from the pre–1945 period maintains
(1941–1942) and chief of cabinet to the résident all its forcefulness. See also LOVE AND WAR;
supérieur of Laos (1942–1944). He was interned LANGUAGE OF WAR.
by the Japanese following the coup de force of 9
March 1945. After the war, Xeridat was assigned XUÂN THỦY (NGUYỄN TRỌNG NHÂM,
to the section in charge of war damages in Saigon, 1912–1985). Born in the province of Ha Dong
where he worked between 1948 and 1955. near Hanoi, Xuan Thuy joined the Vietnamese
Revolutionary Youth League in 1926 and the
XIANG MAO. See KHAMMAO VILAI. Indochinese Communist Party sometime in the
1930s. In 1939, he was arrested by the French
XUÂN DIỆU (NGÔ XUÂN DIỆU, 1916–1985). and incarcerated in Son La prison in northern
Vietnamese poet born in Binh Dinh province in Vietnam, where he probably first met Le Duc
central Vietnam. Son of a schoolteacher, he ob- Tho. In late 1943 or early 1944, he was placed
tained his degree in agricultural engineering in under house arrest in Ha Dong. Following the
1943 but found his real calling in the arts when he Japanese overthrow of the French in March 1945,
joined Nguyen Tuong Tam’s Tu Luc Van Doan he became editor-in-chief of the Viet Minh’s
(Self Strengthening Movement) in Hanoi in the newspaper, Cuu Quoc (National Salvation). He
1930s. Xuan Dieu shone as one of the leaders also joined the General Directorate or the Tong
of the New Poetry movement. He wrote some Bo Viet Minh. In 1946, he was elected a deputy to
particularly original and powerful Vietnamese the National Assembly. He started his diplomatic
poetry, including the celebrated love poem, Em career in 1953, when he became general secretary
Di (Go now). Together with his male partner, the of the Committee for Peace in Vietnam and repre-
poet Huy Can, he put his poetry in the service sented the Democratic Republic of Vietnam at
of the nationalist cause of the Democratic Re- the World Council of Peace. He would become a
public of Vietnam (DRV) from 1945. He was close ally of Le Duc Tho and participated in high-
involved in cultural associations working for the level negotiations with the Americans during the
independence cause and the national resistance in Vietnam War and the talks leading up to the Paris
Hanoi in 1945–1946, and elsewhere during the Peace Accords of 1973.

Y

YÈM SAMBAUR (1913–1989). Devoted sup- did not help. In 1952, the Democrat government
porter of King Norodom Sihanouk. Born in linked him to the assassination of Ieu Koeus two
Battambang province, he studied at the Collège years earlier and incarcerated him, sparking a
Sisowath in Phnom Penh and the Lycée Albert crisis leading to Sihanouk’s dismissal of the Huy
Sarraut in Hanoi. Graduated in 1935, he entered Kanthoul government. Upon regaining his free-
the colonial administration as a judge, as deputy dom, Yèm Sambaur became a prominent leader
commissioner to the king in the Appellate Court in Sihanouk’s Sangkhum party. Sihanouk named
(Sala Outor), president of the Cambodian Court him Inspector of Finances in November 1952 and
of Kompong Chhnang and then Kompong Thom. he became minister of the National Economy
In 1946, he joined the Democrat Party and was in Chan Nak’s cabinet of November 1953. He
elected deputy for Kompong Chhang in 1947. served as minister of Finances in Norodom Siha-
He worked as chief of the National Cambodian nouk’s 6 April 1954 cabinet and in the 17 April
Police force in 1947–1948. Between February cabinet of Penn Nouth.
and August 1948, he was state secretary of the
Interior in the Chheam Vam cabinet. In Novem- YOUTH ASSAULT TEAMS (Thanh Niên Xung
ber of that year, he resigned from the Democrat Phong). These teams came into operation from
Party to ally himself with royal forces. From May 1950 as the Indochina War entered its most
February 1949, he served the king as president of intensive phase in eastern Indochina. The govern-
council (présidence du conseil) and minister of ment of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam
the Interior and of Information. He oversaw the used these teams to mobilize, recruit, and support
signing of the Franco-Cambodian Treaty creating the supplying of large-scale battles now being
the Associated State of Cambodia. In 1949, he launched against the French Expeditionary
entered into open conflict with the democrats in Corps and its Vietnamese allies in much of cen-
the National Assembly. To solve the gridlock, No- tral and northern Indochina. Youth helped open
rodom Sihanouk dissolved the National Assembly and repair supply routes, ensure communications
on 17 September and charged Yèm Sambaur to during battles, and hauled food and military
create a new government. Shortly thereafter, Yèm supplies to the front lines. They were first used
named his new cabinet. He held the presidency in real ways during the battle of Cao Bang and
of council and the ministries of the Interior and would be mobilized in even greater ways during
National Defence. He won over Dap Chhuon and the rest of the Indochina War and into the Vietnam
created the Renovation Party in 1950. He resig- War. Statistics on casualties suffered by this unit
ned in May 1950 but had little success in getting are unknown. See also MYTH OF WAR; EXPE-
his party off the ground. His problems with the RIENCE OF WAR; WOMEN, DEMOCRATIC
democrats continued, and Sihanouk’s support REPUBLIC OF VIETNAM.

Z

ZHANG FAKUI (CHANG FA-KWEI, 1896– He studied in Japan and then in France, where
1980). First met Ho Chi Minh in southern China he met the future leader of modern Vietnam, Ho
in the mid-1920s when the first united front saw Chi Minh, for the first time. Zhou Enlai returned
Chinese communists and nationalists work to- to southern China where he joined the Chinese
gether against the warlords then dominating most Communist Party in 1922 and ran the Whampoa
of China. Between 1939 and 1944, General Zhang Political Military Academy outside Guangzhou
Fakui commanded troops in the Fourth War Area (Canton). There, he renewed his friendship with
for the Republic of China led by Chiang Kai- Ho Chi Minh and supported the latter’s efforts
shek. This zone covered most of Guangdong and to build up a revolutionary movement outside of
Guanxi provinces in southern China. Between 1944 French Indochina. Following the outbreak of the
and 1945, he served as commander-in-chief of the Chinese civil war, Zhou made the long march to
2nd Front Army. See also FRANCO-CHINESE Yan’an and became one of Mao Zedong’s closest
ACCORD; CIVIL WAR; 16th PARALLEL. aides. With the creation of the People’s Republic
of China in 1949, Zhou served long terms as
ZHANG WENTIAN (1900–1976). Chinese di- prime minister (1949–1974) and minister of Fo-
plomat who was part of the Chinese delegation reign Affairs (1949–1958).
to the Geneva Conference of 1954. Born in
Shanghai, Zhang Wentian joined the Chinese As director of China’s foreign relations, Zhou
Communist Party (CCP) in 1925 and studied Enlai supported the Chinese decision to recognize
at the Sun Yat-Sen University in Moscow. Upon Ho Chi Minh’s Democratic Republic of Viet-
his return to China in 1930, he became minister nam in January 1950. In 1953, with the death
of the Propaganda Department and eventually a of Joseph Stalin and the signing of a cease-fire
standing member of the CCP’s politburo. Despite in Korea, Zhou Enlai joined the Soviets and the
his support by the Comintern, he survived the Re- French to try to find a peaceful solution to the
public of China’s attack on the Jiangxi Republic, other hot war in Asia, the Indochinese one. Zhou
made the Long March to Yan’an, and carefully Enlai played a particularly important role in the
survived Mao Zedong’s rise to power during this Geneva Conference of 1954, determined to find
time. Indeed, he served as something of a compro- a political solution to the war in order to keep the
mise general secretary of the CCP as Mao Zedong Americans from replacing the French. One of his
consolidated his power and assumed leadership of most important strategies was his move to neutral-
the party in 1945. Zhang Wentian’s links to the ize former French Indochina as well as the rest of
Soviet Union made him a natural choice for am- non-communist Asia against the Americans, even
bassador to Moscow, a post he held between 1951 if it meant accepting the division of Vietnam in
and 1955. He was also vice minister in the Mi- order to realize that goal. While Zhou Enlai did
nistry of Foreign Affairs. In 1954, as vice minister pressure the Vietnamese to rally to this strategy,
and ambassador to the Soviet Union, he served as new documents show that the Vietnamese, in par-
one of the ranking members in the Chinese dele- ticular Zhou Enlai’s longtime ally Ho Chi Minh,
gation led by Zhou Enlai to negotiate on Korea shared his fears of American military interven-
and Indochina at the Geneva Conference. He was tion. By refusing to export “communism” to Asia,
persecuted during the Cultural Revolution and as Zhou had promised to Jawaharlal Nehru dur-
died in 1976, denied proper health care by Mao. ing the Geneva Conference, Zhou was successful
See also GENEVA ACCORDS. in getting communist China accepted as a major
player in the Bandung Conference of 1955. See
ZHOU ENLAI (1898–1976). Son of a wealthy also NEUTRALIZATION OF INDOCHINA.
Chinese mandarin, Zhou Enlai rose to become
one of communist China’s greatest diplomats. ZONE (Khu or Khu Chiến). In early 1946, the
Democratic Republic of Vietnam divided the

ZONE IX 503

country into 14 administrative zones, each of ZONE VIII (Khu VIII). Created on 10 December
which was linked by radio or telegraph to the cen- 1945, this Zone covered roughly the middle
tral government located in Hanoi until December. stretch of Cochinchina/Nam Bo for the Demo-
The zonal heads would, in turn, rule over a Resis- cratic Republic of Vietnam during the first half
tance and Administrative Committee reaching of the Indochina War. It included, at the outset, the
down, in theory, to the provincial, district, and following provinces: Ben Tre, Go Cong, Tan An,
village levels of each zone. My Tho, Sa Dec, Vinh Long, and Tra Vinh. To the
east, this zone bordered Zone VII, to the north
ZONE VII (Khu VII). Created on 10 December and northwest lay Cambodia, to the southwest was
1945, this Zone covered roughly the upper swath Zone IX, and to the south and southeast was the
of Cochinchina/Nam Bo for the Democratic South China Sea. In 1946, Zone VIII was home to
Republic of Vietnam during the first half of five military detachments (Chi Doi). In 1949, this
the Indochina War. It included, at the outset, the zone counted one main-force mobile battalion and
following provinces: Thu Dau Mot, Bien Hoa, Ba two “combined regiments” (Lien Trung Doan).
Ria, Cho Lon, Tay Ninh, Gia Dinh, and the city Tran Van Tra was the first head of Zone VIII, de-
of Saigon. To the northeast, Zone VII bordered putized by the Political Commissar Nguyen Van
southern central Vietnam, to the northwest was Vinh. In March 1951, the government dissolved
Cambodia, to the southwest lay Zone VIII, and Zone VIII and incorporated it into the Inter-Zone
the sea was to the south. In January 1948, the pro- for Western Nam Bo (Phan Lien Khu Mien Tay).
vinces of Tay Ninh, Gia Dinh, Cho Lon, and the
city of Saigon were detached from Zone VII in or- ZONE IX (Khu IX). Created on 10 December
der to create the special zone of Saigon (Dac Khu 1945, this Zone covered roughly the southern-
Saigon) under the direction of To Ki, deputized most swath of Cochinchina/Nam Bo for the
by the Political Commissar Phan Trong Tue. Democratic Republic of Vietnam during the first
In May 1950, these territories were returned to half of the Indochina War. It included, at the out-
Zone VII except for Saigon and its outlying areas, set, the following provinces: Can Tho, Soc Trang,
which continued to constitute the special zone Long Xuyen, Chau Doc, Ha Tien, Bac Lieu, and
of Saigon run by Nguyen Van Thi and Nguyen Rach Gia. To the northeast, this zone bordered
Van Linh. Zone VII was led militarily by General Zone VII, to the northwest was Cambodia, to the
Nguyen Binh. In 1946, this zone had 18 military south, southeast and west was the ocean. Hoang
detachments (Chi Doi), including those of the Dinh Giong (Vu Duc) headed up Zone IX at
Binh Xuyen. In 1949, the zone marshalled four the outset, deputized by Phan Trong Tue, his
main-force regiments. In May 1951, the govern- political commissar. In 1946, this zone had five
ment dissolved Zone VII and incorporated it into military detachments (Chi Doi). In 1949, the zone
Inter-Zone for Eastern Nam Bo (Phan Lien Khu marshalled one main-force mobile battalion and
Mien Dong). two “combined regiments” (Lien Trung Doan).
In May 1951, Zones VIII and IX were dissolved
into the Inter-Zone for Western Nam Bo (Phan
Lien Khu Mien Tay).



Selected Bibliography

T his is a selected bibliography of the Indochina War. To have provided a com-
prehensive bibliography, including the Vietnamese sides, would have meant
increasing the size of this bibliography and thus of this dictionary by at least
half. I have refrained from doing so for several reasons. First, I preferred to favor
the development of a wide range of entries in this dictionary rather than building
up a comprehensive bibliography. Second, French scholar Alain Rusico has already
provided an in-depth, voluminous bibliography of the Indochina War, focused mainly
on French and French-language sources.1 Third, Edwin Moise’s excellent on-line
bibliography of the Vietnam Wars complements Ruscio’s work nicely, especially
for English-language sources.2 I highly recommend both of these sources to those
interested in learning more about the Indochina War. Fourth, a selected bibliography
can serve a highly valuable purpose, and one different from that of a comprehensive
bibliography, if the selection is made with care. And lastly, David Marr and myself
are currently creating an on-line bibliography of Vietnamese-language sources on the
Indochina War. The bibliography below aims to provide the reader with the principal
secondary and monograph sources on the war.

Reference Materials, Official Documents,
and General Histories

Bibliographies

Brown, F. C. Annotated Bibliography of Vietnam fiction. 500 Titles Dealing with the
Conflict in Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. San Francisco, California: Rice
Paddy Press, 1986.

Burns, Richard Dean, and Milton Leitenberg. The Wars in Vietnam, Cambodia and
Laos, 1945–1982. A Biographic Guide. Santa Barbara, California: War / Peace
Series, no. 18, A.B.C. Inf. Service, 1984.

Cotter, Michael G. Vietnam: A Guide to References Sources. Boston, Massachusetts:
G.K. Hall, 1977.

Hickey, John D., and Robert Crispono. Vietnam Bibliography. Lexington, Massachu-
setts: D.C. Heath, 1982.

Jumper, Roy. Bibliography on the Political and Administrative History of Vietnam
1802–1962. Saigon, Vietnam: Michigan State Univ., VN Advisory Group, 1962.

Keyes, Charles F. Southeast Asia Research Tools. Cambodia. Honolulu, Hawaii: Univ.
of Hawaii Press, Southeast Asia Paper, no. 16, 1979.

Keyes, Jane G. (ed.). “A Bibliography of North Vietnamese Publications in the Cor-
nell University Library.” Data Paper, no. 47. Ithaca, New York: Cornell Univ.
Press, Southeast Asia Program, 1962.

1. Alain Ruscio, La Guerre « Française » d’Indochine (1945–1954). Les Sources de la Connais-
sance: Bibliographie, Filmographie, Documents Divers. Paris: Les Indes Savantes, 2002.

2. Edwin Moise, ‘Bibliography of the Vietnam War’ at http://www.clemson.edu/caah/history/
facultypages/EdMoise/bibliography.html.

506 Historical Dictionary of the Indochina War

Lafont, Pierre-Bernard. Bibliographie du Laos. Tome 1 (1666–1961). Paris: École
française d’Extrême Orient, Diffusion A. Maisonneuve, 1964.

Marr, David G. Vietnam Biographical Database. Canberra, Australia: Research
School of Pacific and Asian Studies, 1994.

Marr, David G., and Kristine Alilunas-Rodgers. Vietnam. Oxford, England: Clio Press
Ltd, Word Bibliographies Series, vol. 147, 1992.

République du Vietnam. The Republic of Vietnam: A Biography. Washington, DC:
U.S. Department of State, External Research Staff, 1963.

Ruscio, Alain. La Première Guerre d’Indochine (1945–1954). Bibliographie. Paris:
Ed. L’Harmattan, 1987.

——— (ed.). La guerre ‘française’ d’Indochine (1945–1954). Les sources de la con-
naissance. Bibliographie, filmographie, documents divers. Paris: Les Indes
Savantes, 2002.

Sage, William, and Judith Henchy. Laos. A Bibliography. Singapore: Inst. of South-
east Asian St., 1986.

Singleton, Carl. Vietnam Studies. An Annotated Bibliography. Lanham, Maryland:
The Scarecrow Press, Inc.; Pasadena, California: Salem Press; 1997.

Historical Dictionaries, Encyclopedias, Historical Almanacs and Atlases

Académie des Sciences d’Outre-mer, Derniers chefs d’un Empire. Paris: Académie
des Sciences d’Outre-mer, 1972.

Annuaire de l’association des anciens élèves de l’E.N.F.O.M. Paris: no editor indi-
cated, editions of 1983 and 2003).

Annuaire diplomatique, France: Ministère des affaires étrangères.

Bộ Quốc Phòng. Từ Điển Kỹ Thuật Quân Sự. Hanoi: Nhà Xuất Bản Tổng Cục Chính
Trị, 1990.

———. Vien Lich Su Quan Su Viet Nam, 55 nam Quan Doi Nhan Dan Viet Nam
(Bien Nien Su Kien). Hanoi: Nhà Xuất Bản Quân Đội Nhân Dân, 1999.

———. Vien Lich Su Quan Su Viet Nam, Viet Nam The Ky XX : Nhung Su Kien Quan
Su . Hanoi: Nhà Xuất Bản Quân Đội Nhân Dân, 2001.

Bodin, Michel. Dictionnaire de la guerre d’Indochine. Paris: Commission Française
d’Histoire Militaire, Institut de Stratégie Comparée, Economica, 2004.

Clauzel, Jean (ed.). La France d’Outre-mer (1930–1960): Témoignages d’adminis­
trateurs et de magistrats, Paris: Karthala, 2003.

Corfeld, Justin, and Laura Summers. Historical Dictionary of Cambodia. Lanham,
Maryland: The Scarecrow Press, 2003.

Coston, Henry et al. Dictionnaire de la politique française. Paris: La Librarie Fran-
çaise, 2 vol., 1967 and 1972.

Current Biography. Bronx, New York: H. W. Wilson Co., 1940–1985.

Dalloz, Jacques. Dictionnaire de la guerre d’Indochine, 1945–1954. Paris: Armand
Colin, 2006.

Đào Xuân Chức. Nguồn Tư Liệu Ảnh về Cuộc Kháng Chiến Chống Thực Dân Pháp
(1945–1954). Hanoi: Nhà Xuất Bản Chính Trị Quốc Gia, 2002.

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY 507

Dictionnaire biographique français contemporain. Paris: Pharos, Centre International
de documentation, 1950.

Dictionnaire des parlementaires français, 1940–1958. Paris: Assemblée nationale, La
Documentation française, 3 vol., 1988, 1992 and 1994.

Đinh Xuân Lâm, Chương Thâu. Danh Nhân Lịch Sử Việt Nam, Tập Hai. Hanoi: Nhà
Xuất Bản Giáo Dục, 1988.

Duiker, William J., and Bruce Lockhart. Historical Dictionary of Vietnam. Lanham,
Maryland: The Scarecrow Press, 2006 (3rd edition).

Hội Đồng Quốc Gia Chỉ Đạo Biên Soạn Tử Điển Bách Khoa Việt Nam. Từ Điển Bách
Khoa Việt Nam, volumes 1–3. Hanoi: Nhà Xuất Bản Từ Điển Bách Khoa,
2003.

Hommes et Destins. Dictionnaire biographique d’Outre-mer. Tomes I à IX. Paris:
Académie des Sciences d’Outre-mer, 1975–1989.

Julliard, Jacques, Michel Winock et al. Dictionnaire des intellectuels français. Les
personnes. Les lieux. Les moments. Paris: Seuil, 1996.

Lê Trung Hoa (ed.). Từ Điển Địa Danh Thành Phố Sài Gòn-Hồ Chí Minh. Hồ Chí
Minh City: Nhà Xuất Bản Trẻ, 2003.

Liauzu, Claude. Dictionnaire de la colonisation française. Paris: Larousse, 2007.

Moussay, Gérard, and Brigitte Appavou. Répertoire des membres de la société des
missions étrangères, 1659–2004. Paris: Archives des Missions étrangères, 2004.

Nguyễn Huyền Anh. Việt Nam Danh Nhân Từ Điển. Saigon: Nhà Sách Khai Trí (3rd
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Nguyễn Quốc Dũng et al. 55 Năm Quân Đội Nhân Dân Việt Nam (Biên Niên Sự Kiện).
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Phùng Quang Thanh et al. Từ Điển Bách Khoa Quân Sự Việt Nam. Hanoi: Nhà Xuất
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Sirinelli, Jean François et al. Dictionnaire historique de la vie politique française au
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Souverains et notabilités d’Indochine. Hanoi: Gouvernement général, Imprimerie
d’Extrême-Orient, 1943.

Stuart-Fox, Martin, and Mary Kooyman. Historical Dictionary of Laos. Lanham,
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Thompson, Virginia, and Richard Adloff. Who’s Who in SE Asia (August 1945–Dec­
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Wayne, Northcutt (ed.). Historical Dictionary of the French IVth and Vth Republics,
1946–1991. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 1992.

Official Document Collections

Bodinier, Gilbert. La Guerre d’Indochine, 1945–1954. Textes et documents, Vol. 1, Le
retour de la France en Indochine, 1945–1946. Vincennes: Service historique
de l’armée de Terre, 1987.

———. La Guerre d’Indochine, 1945–1954. Textes et documents  français et Viet
Minh, Vol. 2, Règlement politique ou solution militaire? 1947. Vincennes:
Service Historique de l’armée de Terre, 1989.

Đảng Cộng Sản Việt Nam. Văn Kiện Đảng, Toàn Tập, Tập 7, 1940–1945. Hanoi: Nhà
Xuất Bản Chính Trị Quốc Gia, 2000.

———. Văn Kiện Đảng, Toàn Tập, Tập 8, 1945–1947. Hanoi: Nhà Xuất Bản Chính
Trị Quốc Gia, 2000.

———. Văn Kiện Đảng, Toàn Tập, Tập 9, 1948. Hanoi: Nhà Xuất Bản Chính Trị
Quốc Gia, 2001.

———. Văn Kiện Đảng, Toàn Tập, Tập 10, 1949. Hanoi: Nhà Xuất Bản Chính Trị
Quốc Gia, 2001.

———. Văn Kiện Đảng, Toàn Tập, Tập 11, 1950. Hanoi: Nhà Xuất Bản Chính Trị
Quốc Gia, 2001.

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY 509

———. Văn Kiện Đảng, Toàn Tập, Tập 12, 1951. Hanoi: Nhà Xuất Bản Chính Trị
Quốc Gia, 2001.

———. Văn Kiện Đảng, Toàn Tập, Tập 13, 1952. Hanoi: Nhà Xuất Bản Chính Trị
Quốc Gia, 2001.

———. Văn Kiện Đảng, Toàn Tập, Tập 14, 1953. Hanoi: Nhà Xuất Bản Chính Trị
Quốc Gia, 2001.

———. Văn Kiện Đảng, Toàn Tập, Tập 15, 1954. Hanoi: Nhà Xuất Bản Chính Trị
Quốc Gia, 2001.

Hồ Chí Minh. Oeuvres choisies (1922–1967). Paris: F. Maspero, Coll. Tricontinen-
tale, 1967.

———. Toàn Tập. 7 vols. Hanoi: Nhà Xuất Bản Mac Lê-Nin, Sự Thật.

Truong Chinh. Écrits. Hanoi: Éditions Langues Étrangères, 1977.

Ủy Ban Trung Ương Mặt Trận Tổ Quốc Việt Nam. Văn Kiện Đảng Về Mặt Trận Dân
Tộc Thống Nhất Việt Nam, Tập II (1945–1977). Hanoi: Nhà Xuất Bản Chính
Trị Quốc Gia, 2001.

Văn Kiện Quân Sự Của Đảng, Tập I (Từ 1930 Đến Tháng 8-1945). Hanoi: Nhà Xuất
Bản Quân Đội Nhân Dân, 1969.

Văn Kiện Quân Sự Của Đảng, Tập II (Từ Ngày 2-9-1945 Đến Ngày 10-10-1950).
Hanoi: Nhà Xuất Bản Quân Đội Nhân Dân, 1976.

Văn Kiện Quân Sự Của Đảng, Tập III (Từ Tháng 2-1951 Đến Tháng 9-1954). Hanoi:
Nhà Xuất Bản Quân Đội Nhân Dân, 1977.

Statistical Compilations

Clodfelter, Micheal. Warfare and Armed Conflicts: A Statistical Reference to Casualty
and Other Figures, 1618–1991. volume II: 1900–1991, Jefferson, North Caro-
lina: McFarland & Company, 1992.

———. Vietnam in Military Statistics. A History of the Indochina Wars, 1772–1991.
Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland and Company, 1995.

Viện Lịch Sử Quân Sự Việt Nam, Bộ Quốc Phòng. Thống Kê Các Chiến Dịch Trong
Kháng Chiến Chống Pháp, Kháng Chiếm Chống Mỹ, 1945–1975, Tập 1,2.
Hanoi: Nhà Xuất Bản Quân Đội Nhân Dân, 1993.

Archival Finding Guides

Devos, Jean-Claude, Jean Nicot, and Philippe Schilinger. Inventaire des Archives
de l’Indochine. Sous-série 10H (1867–1956). 2 vols. Château de Vincennes,
France: Service Historique de l’armée de Terre, 1990.

General Histories of the Indochina War

Allen, Joe. Vietnam: The (Last) War the U.S. Lost. Chicago, Illinois: Haymarket
Books, 2008.

Anderson, David L. The Columbia History of the Vietnam War. New York: Columbia
Univ. Press, 2010.

Arevian, Christian L. A Conservative View of the Vietnam Era. Booksurge, 2006.

510 Historical Dictionary of the Indochina War

Ban Chỉ Đạo Tổng Kết Chiến Tranh Trực Thuộc Bộ Chính Trị. Chiến Tranh Cách
Mạng Việt Nam, 1945–1975, Thắng Lợi và Bài Học. Hanoi: Nhà Xuất Bản
Chính Trị Quốc Gia, 2000.

Bodard, Lucien. La guerre d’Indochine: L’enlisement, l’humiliation, l’aventure. Paris:
Grasset, 1997.

Bradley, Mark Philip. Vietnam at War. New York: Oxford Univ. Press, 2009.

Brocheux, Pierre, and Daniel Hémery. Indochine: La colonisation ambiguë, 1858–
1954. Paris: Éditions la Découverte, 2001, 2nd updated printing.

———. Indochina: An Ambiguous Colonization, 1858–1954. Berkeley, California:
Univ. of California Press, 2009, 2nd updated printing.

Cesari, Laurent. L’Indochine en guerre 1945–1993. Paris: Belin-Sup Histoire, 1995.

Chaffard, Georges. Les deux guerres du Vietnam, de Valluy à Westmorland. Paris: La
Table Ronde, 1969.

Dalloz, Jacques. La guerre d’Indochine, 1945–1954. Paris: Seuil, 1987.

Devillers, Philippe. Histoire du Vietnam de 1940 à 1952. Paris: Seuil, 1952.

Devillers, Philippe, and Jean Lacouture. Vietnam, de la Guerre française à la Guerre
américaine. Paris: Seuil, Coll. Frontière ouverte, 1969.

Đoàn Khuê, Văn Tiến Dũng et al. Tổng Kết Cuộc Kháng Chiến Chống Thực Dân
Pháp, Thắng Lợi và Bài Học. Hanoi: Nhà Xuất Bản Chính Trị Quốc Gia, 1996.

Duiker, William J. Sacred War. Nationalism and Revolution in a Divided Vietnam.
New York: McGraw Hill, 1995.

Dunn, Peter M. The First Vietnam War. London: C. Hurst & Co., 1985.

Elliott, David W. P. The Vietnamese War: Revolution and Social Change in the Me-
kong Delta, 1930–1975. New York: East Gate Books, 2007 [2003].

Fall, Bernard B. Political development of Viet-Nam, VJ-Day to the Geneva Cease-
Fire. PhD thesis, Graduate School of Syracuse University, October 1954.

———. Le Viet-Minh, La République démocratique du Viet-Nam, 1945–1960. Paris:
Armand Colin, 1960.

———. Street without Joy: Indochina at War, 1946–1954. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania:
Stackpole, 1961.

———. Indochine 1946–1962, Chronique d’une guerre révolutionnaire. Paris: Laf-
font, 1962.

Fleury, G. La guerre en Indochine 1945–1954. Paris: Plon, 1994.

de Folin, Jacques. Indochine 1940–1955: La fin d’un rêve. Paris: Perrin, 1993.

Franchini, Philippe. Les guerres d’Indochine. La première histoire exhaustive des
guerres française et américaine. 2 vols. Paris: Pygmalion G. Watelet, 1988.

Goscha, Christopher E. Vietnam: Un Etat né de la guerre. Paris: Armand Colin, 2011.

Goscha, Christopher E., and Benoît de Tréglodé (eds). Naissance d’un État-Parti: Le
Viêt Nam depuis 1945. Paris: Les Indes Savantes, 2004.

Gras, Yves. Histoire de la guerre d’Indochine. Paris: Denoel, 1992.

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY 511

Hammer, Ellen J. The Struggle for Indochina. Stanford, California: Stanford Univ.
Press, 1954.

Hess, Gary R. Vietnam: Explaining America’s Lost War. Malden, Massachusetts:
Blackwell Publishing, 2009.

Hoàng Văn Thái, Trấn Văn Quang et al. Lịch Sử Cuộc Kháng Chiến Chống Thực Dân
Pháp, 1945–1954, Tập I. Hanoi: Nhà Xuất Bản Quân Đội Nhân Dân, 1994.

———. Lịch Sử Cuộc Kháng Chiến Chống Thực Dân Pháp, 1945–1954, Tập II.
Hanoi: Nhà Xuất Bản Quân Đội Nhân Dân, 1995.

Hunt, David. Vietnam’s Southern Revolution: From Peasant Insurrection to Total
War. Amherst, Massachusetts: Univ. of Massachusetts Press, 2008.

Lancaster, Donald. The Emancipation of French Indochina. London: Oxford Univ.
Press, 1961.

Langer, Paul F., and Joseph Jeremiah Zasloff. North Vietnam and the Pathet Lao.
Partners in the Struggle for Laos. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard Univ.
Press, 1970.

Lockhart, Greg. Nation in Arms: The Origins of the People’s Army of Vietnam. Wel-
lington, New Zealand: Allen & Unwin, 1989.

Lưu Văn Lợi, Nguyễn Hồng Thạch. Pháp Tái Chiếm Đông Dương và Chiến Tranh
Lạnh. Hanoi: Nhà Xuất Bản Công An Nhân Dân, 2002.

MacAlister, John T. Jr. Vietnam. The Origins of Revolution. New York: Princeton
Univ., The Center of International Studies, A.A. Knopf, Ed., 1969.

Meuleau, Marc. Des pionniers en Extrême-Orient: Histoire de la Banque de
l’Indochine (1875–1975). Paris: Fayard, 1990.

Mus, Paul. Vietnam, sociologie d’une guerre. Paris: Seuil, Coll. Esprit/Frontière
ouverte, 1952.

Pike, Douglas. Popular Army of Vietnam. Novato, California: Presidio Press, 1986.

Prados, John. Vietnam: The History of an Unwinnable War, 1945–1975. Lawrence,
Kansas: Univ. of Kansas Press, 2009.

Ruscio, Alain. La guerre française d’Indochine. Bruxelles: Éditions complexes, 1992.

Smith, Ralph B. Communist Indochina. London: Routledge, 2008.

Tanham, George K. Communist Revolutionary Warfare: The Viet Minh in Indochina.
New York: Praeger, 1961.

Tertrais, Hugues. La piastre et le fusil: Le coût de la guerre d’Indochine, 1945–1954.
Paris: Comité pour l’histoire économique et financière de la France, 2002.

Teulières, André. L’Indochine, guerres et paix. Paris: Lavauzelle, 1985.

Toinet, Raymond. Une guerre de 35 ans. Indochine – Vietnam 1940–1975. Paris:
Lavauzelle, 1998.

Tønnesson, Stein. Vietnam 1946: How the War Began. Berkeley & Los Angeles,
California: Univ. of California Press, 2010.

Tran Van Don. Les guerres du Vietnam. Un quart de siècle au Vietnam du Sud. Paris:
Vertiges Publications, 1985.

de Tréglodé, Benoît. Héros et Révolution au Viêt Nam. Paris: Ed. L’Harmattan, 2001.

512 Historical Dictionary of the Indochina War

Valette, Jacques. La guerre d’Indochine, 1945–1954. Paris: Armand Colin, 1994.

The French Fourth Republic and the
Democratic Republic of Vietnam at War

Biographies and Memoirs

Arrighi, Jean. Indochine, les combats oubliés. Paris: Ed. L’Harmattan, 1992.

Auriol, Vincent. Journal du Septennat. Vols. I à VII. Paris: Armand Colin, 1991.

Aussaresses, Paul. Pour la France. Services Spéciaux, 1942–1955. Paris: Ed. du Rocher,
2001.

Ban Nghiên Cứu Lịch Sử Đảng Trung Ương. Chủ Tịch Hồ Chí Minh, Tiểu Sử và Sự
Nghiệp. Hanoi: Nhà Xuất Bản Chính Trị Quốc Gia, 2005.

Bergot, Erwan. Deuxième classe à Dien Bien Phu. Paris: La Table Ronde, 1964.

Bigeard, Marcel. Pour une parcelle de gloire. Paris: Plon, 1975.

———. Lettres d’Indochine. Paris: Éditions 1, 1998.

Blagov, Sergei. Honest Mistakes: The Life and Death of Trình Minh Thế (1922–1955):
South Vietnam’s Alternative Leader. Huntington, New York: Nova Science
Publishers, Inc., 2001.

Bộ Quốc Phòng, Viện Lịch Sử Quân Sử Quân Sự Việt Nam. Đại Tướng Nguyễn Chí
Thanh, Nhà Chính Trị Quân Sự Lỗi Lạc. Hanoi: Nhà Xuất Bản Quân Đội Nhân
Dân, 1997.

Bộ Tư Lệnh Quân Đội Quân Khu 5. Nguyễn Chánh, Con Người và Sự Nghiệp. Hanoi:
Nhà Xuất Bản Quân Đội Nhân Dân, 1997.

Boudarel, Georges. Giap. Paris: Ed. Atlas, 1977.

———. Autobiographie. Paris: Jacques Bertoin, 1991.

Boulet, Luc. Chroniques indochinoises, 1945–1955. Steenvoorde, France: Ed. Hout-
land, 1997.

Bourely, Pierre. Des canons dans la rizière: combat pour un paradoxe. Draguignan,
France: Association des Amis du Musée du Canon et des Artilleurs, 1996.

Bourry, Jacques. Itinéraire d’un soldat. Marseille, France: Chez l’Auteur, P. Tacussel,
1989.

Brett, Gérard. Les supplétifs en Indochine, 1951–1953. Paris: Ed. L’Harmattan, Coll.
Mémoires asiatiques, 1996.

Brocheux, Pierre. Ho Chi Minh. Du révolutionnaire à l’icône. Paris: Payot et Rivages
(Biographies Payot), 2003.

Brohard, René. L’année du Tigre. Le Gaure Montlar/Gervannes, Nil Ed., 1994.

Bruge, Roger. Un sergent para. Paris: Ed. France-Empire, 1959.

Bùi Anh Tuấn et al. Đồng Chí Trần Quốc Hoàn với Công An Nhân Dân Việt Nam.
Hanoi: Nhà Xuất Bản Công An Nhân Dân, 2004.

Bui Xuan Quang et al. Ho Chi Minh, l’homme et son héritage. Paris: Duong Moi – La
voie nouvelle, 1990.

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY 513

Cesca, Pierre. Journal de marche, Indochine. Saint-Jean des Mauvrets, France: Chez
l’auteur, 1993.

Chang Fa K’uei. Memoirs of the Resistance War. Hong Kong: United Revue, 1962.

Chateau-Jobert. Feux et Lumières sur ma trace. Faits de guerre et de paix. Paris:
Presses de la Cité, 1978.

Chaudron, Roger. Les allées du Phnom. Paris: Ed. des Ecrivains, 1998.

Chaumont-Guitry, Guy de. Lettres d’Indochine. Du Rhin-et-Danube à la Plaine des
Joncs. Paris: Ed. Alsatia, 1951.

Cholet, Raoul. Planteurs en Indochine française. Paris: La Pensée Universelle, 1981.

Coudert, Jack. La dernière luciole. Les Dakotas parachutés à Dien Bien Phu. Reims,
France: Chez l’auteur, 2000.

Đặng Văn Thái. Hoạt Động Đối Ngoại Của Chủ Tịch Hồ Chí Minh Trong Kháng
Chiến Chống Thực Dân Pháp. Hanoi: Nhà Xuất Bản Chính Trị Quốc Gia,
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Đào Duy Anh. Hồi Ký Đào Duy Anh (Nhớ Nghĩ Chiều Hôm). Hồ Chí Minh City: Nhà
Xuất Bản Trẻ, 2000.

Duiker, William J. Ho Chi Minh: A Life. New York: Hyperion Books, 2001.

Ely, Paul. Mémoires, Vol. 1, L’Indochine dans la tourmente. Paris: Plon, 1964.

Estival, Bernard. L’enseigne dans le delta. Versailles, France: Ed. Editions Les Sept
Vents, 1989.

Faure, Edgar. Mémoires. Vol. 1. Paris: Plon, 1982.

Froment-Meurice, Henri. Vu du Quai. Mémoires, 1945–1983. Paris: Fayard, 1998.

Gaget, Robert. Commando parachutiste. Paris: Éditions Jacques Grancher, Coll.
Témoignages pour l’Histoire, 1992.

Genty, Robert. Ultimes secours pour Dien Bien Phu, 1953–1954. Paris: Ed.
L’Harmattan, Coll. Mémoires asiatiques, 1994.

Guillaume, Roger. La guerre était notre lot. Nice, France: Chez l’auteur, 1980.

Guillot, Maurice. La grande occasion. Paris: Nouvelles Éditions Debresse, 1959.

Guiraud, Georges-Henri. Aux frontières de l’enfer. Paris: La Nef de Paris, 1956.

Hémery, Daniel. Ho Chi Minh. De l’Indochine au Viet Nam. Paris: Gallimard, 1990.

Hoàng Quốc Việt. Chặng Đường Nóng Bỏng : Hồi Ký. Hanoi: Nhà Xuất Bản Lao
Động, 1985.

Hoang Van Chi. From Colonialism to Communism: A Case History of North Vietnam.
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Hoàng Văn Thái, Trần Độ. Trận Đánh Ba Mươi Năm, Ký Sự Lịch Sử, Tập I. Hanoi:
Nhà Xuất Bản Quân Đội Nhân Dân, 1983.

———. Trận Đánh Ba Mươi Năm, Ký Sự Lịch Sử, Tập II. Hanoi: Nhà Xuất Bản Quân
Đội Nhân Dân, 1985.

Hữu Mai. Trận Đánh Cuối Cùng. Hanoi: Nhà Xuất Bản Tác Phẩm Mới, 1977.

Juin, Alphonse. Mémoires, Tome II. Paris: Librairie Arthène Fayard, 1960.