Life January 22, 1951 – General Jean de Lattre Enters
1949-50 were critical years in the evolution of the Cold War. In 1949 the Soviets detonated their first atomic bomb and Mao’s communist forces defeated Chiang Kai Shek and took control of China. Henry Luce, founder and editor-in-chief of Time and Life magazines, was born in China. The son of a missionary, Luce spent his childhood there, and was a great admirer of Chiang Kai Shek. He had featured Chiang on the cover of Time ten times and had named him person of the year in 1937.
Then in June 1950 communist North Korea crossed the 38th parallel and attacked South Korea. While the world’s attention was focused on Korea and the fear of an atomic war, Ho Chi Minh’s top general, Vo Nguyen Giap, launched a series of devastating attacks on French forts north of Hanoi along the Chinese border. The French were routed and forced to abandon the forts, leaving behind many tons of precious artillery, ammunition and guns. The French army was demoralized and plans were being made to evacuate French citizens and soldiers’ families. It looked as if the Vietminh were on the verge of winning the war.
Enter General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny. The famous French hero of Verdun and the Resistance against the Nazis temporarily stopped the bleeding. He immediately canceled all evacuations, reasoning that by keeping their families in danger the soldiers would have something to fight for. Ironically, it was his own son who was killed a few months later in battle by the Vietminh. De Lattre died of cancer the following year, never recovering from his son’s death. The French-Indochina War would continue on for three more bloody years.
Here is the Life Magazine edition from January 22, 1951 with an overly hopeful piece announcing his arrival….
Vietnam Snapshot: French Defeats Along RC 4 – Indochina, Fall 1950
Vietnam Snapshot: Battle of Mao Khe (March 23-28, 1951)
Parallel Narratives 