Book Reviews : The Emancipation of French Indo-China. Donald Lancaster. Oxford University Press for the Royal Institute of International Affairs. 45s
| DOI | 10.1177/004711786100200307 |
| Date | 01 April 1961 |
| Published date | 01 April 1961 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
184
BOOK REVIEWS
The
Emancipation
of
French
Indo-China.
Donald
Lancaster.
Oxford
University
Press
for
the
Royal
Institute
of
International
Affairs.
45s.
The
author
is
well
qualified
to
write
on
this
subject,
his
long
personal
acquaintance
with
the
country
is
supplemented
by
historical
research
and
wide
reading
of
the
international
press.
His
book
is
a
tour
de
force
of
sustained
insight
and
perspective.
In
spite
of
an
almost
overwhelming
wealth
of
detail
in
dealing
with
a
confused
and
confusing
political
scene
his
style
remains
remarkably,
and
delightfully,
lucid
and
easy
to
follow.
Indo-China
has
always
been
a
cultural
watershed,
inhabited
by
peoples
adopting
successively
Hindu
or
Chinese
customs
and
beliefs.
The
opening
chapters
survey
the
eary
history
of
the
States
which
form
the
Indo-Chinese
peninsula,
Vietnam,
Laos
and
Cambodia;
the
initial
contacts
first
with
the
Portuguese
and
later
with
the
Dutch
and
French
Jesuits
and
the
final
establishment
of
a
French
protectorate
in
1862.
The
bulk
of
the
book
is
devoted
to
the
French
struggle
with
Vietnam.
There
has
been
little
general
interest
abroad
but
the
war
in
Indo-China
with
its
colourful
personalities,
dramatic
episodes
and
involved
intrigue
was
of
the
greatest
significance
for
those
European
nations
who
had
a
stake
in
Asia.
It
offers
a
classic
example
of
the
pitfalls
which
beset
the
path
of
a
European
power
engaged
in
the
delicate
operation
of
freeing
its
overseas
possessions.
In
this
case
the
outcome
has
been
unsatisfactory,
for
the
most
significant
change
has
been
the
setting-up
of
a
Chinese
satellite
State
in
North
Indo-China-a
result
which
has
jeopardized
the
newly-won
inde-
pendence
of
the
other
States
in
the
peninsula.
The
chaos
prevailing
in
Laos
today,
and
indeed
in
Vietnam,
is
a
striking
proof
of
this.
Moreover
the
failure,
after
the
expulsion
of
the
Japanese,
to
retain
Indo-China
within
the
French
Union
dealt
a
mortal
blow
to
the
IV
Republic
by
alienating
the
ofhcer
corps
who
were
&dquo; furnished
neither
with
the
means
to
achieve
victory
nor
adequate
reasons
to
continue
the
struggle
&dquo; and
who
were
quite
rightly
incensed
at
the
inability
of
the
politicians
who
were
at
the
head
of
the
national
government
to
provide
the
Expeditionary
Corps
with
the
moral
and
material
support
essential
to
ensure
a
favourable
outcome.
The
corruption
which
was
tolerated
by
successive
French
and
Vietnamese
governments
during
the
insecurely
based
Bao
Dai
regime
is
shown
up
with
merciless
detachment;
the
attractions
of
Saigon
included,
amongst
other
things,
the
largest
brothel
and
gambling
establishment
in
the
Far
East.
Mr.
Lancaster
obviously
loves
the
country
and
the
inhabitants &dquo;
men
with
delicate
almost
flower-like
hands
and
subtle
minds
and ...
women.
elegant
and
perennially
young:
a
fluid
people
expert
at
nuances
who
were
often
bewildered
and
even
outraged
by
the
European
capacity
for
incisive
thought
and
brutal
action &dquo;.
He
deplores
the
waste
of
a
war
which
was
only
redeemed
by
&dquo;
the
high
morale
and
the
spirit
of
self-sacrifice
dis-
played
by
the
contending
forces &dquo;,
and
is
more
than
a
little
dismayed
by
the
complex
and
shifting
political
and
military
situation
left
in
its
wake.
A
Fly
Switch
from
the
Sultan.
Darrell
Bates.
Hart
Davies.
18s.
Transfer
of
Power.
Sir
Charles
Jeffries.
Pall
Mall.
17s.
6d.
In
the
first
of
these
books
the
author
has
written
delightfully
of
Africa
from
the
standpoint
of
one
who
knows
African
life
and
humour,
values
and
likes
what
he
knows
and
has
sought
himself
to
contribute
to
it.
His
is
a
warm-hearted
and
liberal
approach,
not
likely
to
appeal
to
extremistc
of
whatever
colour
or
political
grouping.
Mr.
Bates
offers
us
stories
of
Tanganyika,
parts
of
which
he
administered
and
of
Ethiopia,
where
he
soldiered.
Since
its
surrender
by
Germany
at
the
end
of
the
1914
war
Tanganyika
has
been
extremely
fortunate.
Between
the
wars
its
material
resources
were
few
but
its
administrators
were
con-
genial
and
its
settlers
appear
to
have
been
quite
remarkably
free
from
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