Asselin - Hanois Road to the Vietnam War, 1954-1965

A

BOOK

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Hanois Road to the

Vietnam War, 19541965

FROM INDOCHINA TO VIETNAM: REVOLUTION AND WAR IN A GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE

Edited by Fredrik Logevall and Christopher E. Goscha

1. Assuming the Burden: Europe and the American Commitment to War in Vietnam, by Mark Atwood Lawrence

2. Indochina: An Ambiguous Colonization, 18581954 , by Pierre Brocheux and Daniel Hmery

3. Vietnam 1946: How the War Began, by Stein Tnnesson

4. Imperial Heights: Dalat and the Making and Undoing of French Indochina, by Eric T. Jennings

5. Catholic Vietnam: A Church from Empire to Nation, by Charles Keith

6. Vietnam: State, War, and Revolution , 19451946 , by David G, Marr

7. Hanois Road to the Vietnam War , 19541965 , by Pierre Asselin

Hanois Road to the

Vietnam War, 19541965

Pierre Asselin

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS

BerkeleyLos AngelesLondon

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University of California Press

Berkeley and Los Angeles, California

University of California Press, Ltd.

London, England

2013 by The Regents of the University of California

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Asselin, Pierre, author.

Hanois road to the Vietnam War, 19541965 / Pierre Asselin.

p.cm.(From Indochina to Vietnam : revolution and war in a global perspective ; 7)

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-0-520-27612-3 (cloth : alk. paper)

ISBN 978-0-520-95655-1 (ebook)

1. Vietnam (Democratic Republic)History.2. Vietnam (Democratic Republic)Foreign relations.3. Vietnam War, 19611975Causes.I. Title.

DS560.68.A872013

959.70431dc232013015154

Manufactured in the United States of America

21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

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For my father

CONTENTS

MAPS

FOREWORD BY THE SERIES EDITORS

The literature on the Second Indochina War is large and growing larger. Until recently, however, the literature suffered from a U.S.-centric focus and a tendency to look solely at decision-making in Washington. To paraphrase historian Gaddis Smiths classic description of Cold War historiography, it was the history of one hand clapping. Too few studies placed U.S. policymaking into its wider international context; fewer still gave a voice to the other side, the Vietnamese who fought so long and hard to defeat first the French and then the South Vietnamese government and its American allies.

But the picture is changing, as scholars with the requisite linguistic skills begin to work in depth in Vietnamese archival and other materials, as well as in voluminous French- and English-language sources. Pierre Asselin knows these materials as well as anyone, having mined them for several pathbreaking studies over the past decade. Now Asselin gives us Hanois Road to the Vietnam War , 19541965 , the first detailed scholarly assessment of the subject ever published in English. It is a penetrating, lucid, and compelling study of the period between the end of the First Indochina War and the large-scale escalation of the Second.

Other authors writing in English have examined North Vietnamese decision-making in this vital period. Few, however, have done so in the kind of detailand using the wide array of primary sourcesthat Asselin does here. This book shows how Hanoi leaders viewed the evolving situation in the late 1950s and early 1960s, not merely in South Vietnam but also in the Cold War power centers of Washington, Moscow, and Beijing. In Asselins telling, the North Vietnamese were never puppets of the Soviet Union and China; for the most part, they were able to make autonomous decisions during the period in question. More than that, North Vietnamese planners at times exercised more leverage over their allies than the allies exercised over them. Gradually, and despite sharp internal differences of opinion, policymakers in Hanoi shifted from a cautious strategy focused on non-violent political struggle to what Asselin sees as a risky, even reckless approach centered on resumption of military action. They never wanted war with the United States, he maintains, but they were determined to have what war would bring them: the reunification of the country under their control.

In telling this story the author adds much to the understanding of one of the most important conflicts of the twentieth century. It is with pleasure that we include his study in our series.

Christopher Goscha, Universit du Qubec Montral

Fredrik Logevall, Cornell University

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I wish to thank the manuscripts reviewers for their thoughtful comments. The anonymous reviewer provided useful suggestions for improvement. The other reviewer, Lien-Hang Nguyen, offered equally constructive advice. Hang is arguably the most capable among the latest generation of Vietnam War scholars. She has always been generous with her time, expertise, and source material. It is a blessing to have her as an academic nemesis, and a joy to be her friend.

Fredrik Logevall and Christopher Goscha, the editors of the From Indochina toVietnam series at the University of California Press, also offered valuable guidance. Fred urged me to address the international context more diligently and shared the proofs of his latest manuscript (now published as Embers of War ) to help me refine core arguments. Chris, for his part, scrupulously examined the manuscript. His consummate knowledge of Vietnamese history improved its quality in ways I cannot describe. Pierre Journoud, Pierre 1, presented me with opportunities to share my research with colleagues and solicit feedback. I thank him for that, as well as for his hospitality in Paris and his friendship.

I am fortunate to be part of a coterie of scholars who not only have contributed in meaningful ways to our understanding of the Cold War and Vietnams place in it but also became dear friends over the years. In addition to those already mentioned, I wish to acknowledge Ben Kerkvliet, Jim Hershberg, Pierre Grosser, John Prados, Larry Berman, Marc Gilbert, Lorenz Lthi, Ed Miller, Jessica Chapman, Pete Zinoman, Balazs Szalontai, Jason Picard, Jay Veith, Mark Moyar, Marilyn Young, and Harish Metha. They are a big part of the reason I enjoy what I do; they have also made professional conferences interesting on so many levels.