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‘Ledger of death and liability’: French COIN operations in Indochina from Decoux to Ely

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  • Jacob Thomas-Llewellyn

Abstract

The French counterinsurgency effort in Indochina is a story characterized by entrenched parochial thinking, brutality, greed and civil-military incoherence – the result of a coalescing of outdated pre-war imperial ideas, driven, in part, by overcompensation for an agonising national defeat in 1940. Between 1946 and 1954, a succession of French military commanders attempted to salvage a desperate situation in South-East Asia by orchestrating decisive set-piece battlefield engagements against Viet Minh forces under their leader Ho Chi Minh. Unfortunately, propelled by confused political leadership, the French Far East Expeditionary Corps (CEFEO) found itself constrained to pursuing a campaign of colonial reconquest, with scant regard for the complexities of a multidisciplined cross-government counterinsurgency campaign. Drawn ever deeper into an attritional war amongst the people, France’s divergent civil and military strategies only succeeded in antagonising an increasingly disenfranchised population – resigning the Fourth Republic to fighting a war they could never win.

Suggested Citation

  • Jacob Thomas-Llewellyn, 2025. "‘Ledger of death and liability’: French COIN operations in Indochina from Decoux to Ely," Small Wars and Insurgencies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 36(8), pages 1462-1488, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:fswixx:v:36:y:2025:i:8:p:1462-1488
    DOI: 10.1080/09592318.2025.2536081
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