The Vietnamese Revolution of 1945

Roosevelt, Ho Chi Minh and de Gaulle in a World at War

"Through masterful and impressive control of a wealth of detail combined with a complex and subtle but gracefully persuasive argument, the author presents an authoritative account of how Ho Chi-Minh and his followers achieved power at the end of WW II." --Choice "The chief value of this book, and why it is highly recommended, is its wealth of detail about what was the single most crucial moment for the Vietnamese in the entire 20th century." --Indochina Chronology "A very interesting book. . . . which deserves to be widely read." --Journal of Southeast Asian Studies "Those readers fortunate enough to be familiar with Stein Tfnnesson's previous work are well aware of his ability to combine meticulous scholarship with a penchant to question accepted wisdom. In this book, Tfnnesson maintains these high standards, shedding important new light on one of the less well-known periods of modern Vietnamese history: the years leading up to the August Revolution of 1945. . . .Tfnnesson's portrayal of Roosevelt's Indochina policy will be perhaps the most debated aspect of his book. . . .It is a striking scenario, one worthy of further debate." --American Historical Review "During the entire dreadful and ruinous saga of Vietnamese history since 1939, the single most important brief period was undoubtedly the . . . August, 1945 uprising in Hanoi leading to the short-lived Vietnamese Republic under the leadership of Ho Chi Minh. . . . What is needed is a contemporary, detailed account of this brief, but momentously important interlude. Norwegian scholar Stein Tonnesson has gone a long way toward filing this void in The Vietnamese Revolution of 1945: Ho Chi Minh and de Gaulle in a World at War. . . . The author's work is the most complete we have and consequently becomes a must read for every serious student of Vietnam. . . . Scholars in this field should welcome this work warmly." --Pacific Historical Review This first in-depth study of the antecedents and conduct of the Vietnamese Revolution hypothesizes that the fall of the French colonial regime and its substitution by a Vietnamese Democratic Republic were the results of two causal chains: Roosevelt's Indochina policy, which effectively created a power vacuum after the Japanese surrender, and the founding of the Vietnamese Communist Party in 1930 and its subsequent construction of a Front for the Independence of Vietnam. Placing the Vietnamese Revolution within the context of international developments, Tonnesson links the Revolution to World War II strategies and French and U.S. policies. This definitive work analyzes the crucial fifteen years which culminated in the establishment of Vietnam. Included in his analysis is a wealth of information from previously unexploited archival sources in France, the United States, Vietnam, Great Britain, and Sweden.