title: The twilight of French colonialism: compatibility vs. consensus
Creators: name: Végh, Barnabás
Publisher: name: :none
Year: 2020

description: Die vorliegende Masterarbeit gibt einen Überblick über die Bedingungen und Auswirkungen des Indochina-Konflikts auf die französische Außen- und Innenpolitik. Besonderes Augen- merk wir auf die Frage nach den Auswirkungen der indochinesischen Kolonialpolitik auf andere Aspekte der französischen Außenpolitik gelegt. Zur Beantwortung wurde eine bilin- guale Studie auf Grundlage der Verknüpfungstheorie nach Hanrieder durchgeführt. Das Hauptargument dieser Arbeit ist, dass der Indochina-Konflikt die wirtschaftliche und politi- sche Erholung Frankreichs auf nachhaltige Weise beendet hat. Außerdem wird gezeigt, dass der Indochina-Konflikt zu innerstaatlicher Instabilität führte, und die europäischen Wieder- aufbauanstrengungen behinderte. Letztendlich führte der Indochina-Konflikt zum Verlust der französischen Verhandlungsmacht gegenüber den USA. Zusammenfassend zeigen die Er- gebnisse, dass der Konflikt die Entwicklung der französischen Politik stärker beeinflusst hat, als allgemein anerkannt wird.
description: The main aim of this thesis is to shed light on the influence of France’s colonial debacle in Indochina on the formulation of French domestic politics and on the developments of France’s European policy. The common line of thinking is that domestic political develop- ments have directed French foreign policy in the postwar period. Alternatively, this paper sets out to explore whether the Indochina debacle had a much bigger role in French postwar re- construction and restructuring than is generally given credit for, shifting the focus of French policymakers and intellectuals away from the idea of a global empire towards a focus on France’s role in post-war Europe. The thesis comprises an introduction, four analytical chapters and a conclusion. The introduc- tory part provides a historical overview of Indochina, while the first chapter provides an analysis of the impact of the Japanese coup of March 1945, assesses the precarious situation France found herself in after the conclusion of World War II and gives an account of the po- litical developments leading up to the outbreak of the Indochina War. Chapter II deals with the domestic political landscape in France after the liberation, introducing the challenges de Gaulle’s provisional government had to face both in Europe and in Indochina, while the sec- ond part of the chapter analyses the effect of the Indochina conflict on the constitutional de- bate and on the development of French policy regarding Germany’s future. Chapter III anal- yses the circumstances of the outbreak of the war, pointing out its domestic implications. Chapter IV briefly examines the causal relationship between US aid and coal while also providing a short analysis of the nuclear question at the siege of Dien Bien Phu. The main finding of this thesis is that the Indochina conflict had a defining influence over French policymaking in the post-war period. France’s entanglement in the lengthy and costly Indochina war hindered its economic development while hurting both France’s domestic po- litical stability and its negotiating powers on the subject of European reconstruction. It is ar- gued in this thesis that since French policymakers regarded the re-establishment of grandeur and imperial prestige as the most important foreign policy objective, France’s European in- terests received less consideration. Furthermore, given that the Indochina conflict put consid- erable economic pressure on France that it could not bear alone, its exposure to US aid fur- ther diminished its bargaining power with regards to the future of Germany and the role of France in the new international system.