Abstract

This article is set against the broader background of editorial comment and eye-witness reportage in the French printed media on France’s wars of decolonisation in Indochina and Algeria between 1946 and 1962. It focuses on one particular aspect of this period, namely the allegations of misconduct by the French army during this conflict, which is also known as the first Vietnam War (1946 – 1954) as part of the Vietnamese liberation struggle against French colonial mastery. At the heart of this analysis lies the way in which the conflict was represented in three key journals in France at the time. The journals, Les Temps modernes, Témoignage Chrétien and Esprit, all still publishing, were vociferous in their criticism of the general conduct of the war, whilst Les Temps modernes and Témoignage Chrétien laid particular emphasis on the use of repressive measures by members of the French Expeditionary Forces against the indigenous population of Vietnam, before 1950.

Key Words: Colonial Conflict, Vietnam, French Army, Les Temps modernes, Témoignage Chrétien, Esprit

Author’s Bio

*Robert Charles Hudson, Ph.D. is a Professor in European History and Cultural Politics at the University of Derby, United Kingdom. He was formerly Head of European Studies and has been a European Union Jean Monnet Scholar since 1995. He is also a Visiting Professor at the University American College Skopje in North Macedonia. His research and publications are rooted in the histories and cultural politics of conflicts and post-conflict aftermaths; with a focus on inter-ethnic conflict, the politics of identity formation and the representation of ethnic minorities in Europe.

^JCMR Journal of Communication and Media Research, Vol. 11, No. 2, October 2019, pp. 94- 105