US support for French war of reconquest

The following comments were submitted to the Progressive and Critical Sociologist Network list, in response to the blog posts on Vietnam.

Stephen Block
<blocks@vaniercollege.qc.ca>         
Reply-To: Progressive and Critical Sociologist Network <PSN-CS@lists.waynee.edu>
To: PSN-CS@lists.wayne.edu

Charles, Very interesting.

One aspect that I believe is often left out is that according to the Pentagon Papers, if I am correct, the US using the French as proxies goes back to the 1950's. The assumption usually is made that the US moved in only after the French were defeated and left but according to Daniel Ellsberg, again if I am correct, the US was involved all along and it was only made to appear as if they were not. That is what the Pentagon Papers revealed, which for him, was the significant revelation.

I'm not sure if your analysis covers that but it certainly seems very complete otherwise.

Thanks for the effort.


Chorbajian, Levon
<Levon_Chorbajian@uml.edu>        Wed, Jun 4, 2014 at 5:03 AM
Reply-To: Progressive and Critical Sociologist Network <PSN-CS@lists.wayne.edu>
To: PSN-CS@lists.wayne.edu

I clearly recall reading more than once that the U.S. was secretly paying 80% of the cost of the French Indo-China War from 1946-1954. Don't recall where though.

L. Chorbajian


George Snedeker
<george.snedeker@verizon.net>       Wed, Jun 4, 2014 at 8:29 AM
Reply-To: Progressive and Critical Sociologist Network <PSN-CS@lists.wayne.edu>
To: PSN-CS@lists.wayne.edu

I have also read this more than one place.

George

     Yes, the United States was providing aid to the French in the early 1950s.   In 1949, the French established a government led by former emperor Bao Dai, intending it as an alternative to the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, led by the Indochinese Communist Party and Ho Chi Minh, which had declared its independence from French colonial rule on September 2, 1945.  Both the Democratic Republic of Vietnam and the puppet government of Bao Dai claimed to be the legitimate government of Vietnam, asserting jurisdiction over the territory that had been under the control of the empire of Vietnam prior to French colonialism.  The Democratic Republic of Vietnam was recognized by the Soviet Union, the People’s Republic of China, and the socialist bloc nations of Eastern Europe, whereas the government of Bao Dai was recognized by France, the United States, and Great Britain.  In 1950, the United States began a program of military aid to the Boa Dai government, but it was channeled through the French.  Direct US aid to the Bao Dai government began in 1951, and it included military and civilian advisors.  By 1954, US aid to France covered 80% of the costs of the French War in Indochina. 

     This information is found in a book published in 2010 in Havana and written by Julio García Oliveras, the chief of the Cuban military mission in Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos from 1966 to 1969 (García Oliveras, Julio A. 2010.  Ho Chi Minh El Patriota: 60 años de lucha revolucionaria.  La Habana: Editorial de Ciencias Sociales).

     Charles McKelvey