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Article: Le piastre et le fusil: Le cout de la guerre d'Indochine 1945-1954.(Book Review)
- Article from:
- Canadian Journal of History
- Article date:
- April 1, 2004
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2004 Canadian Journal of History. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Le piastre et le fusil: Le cout de la guerre d'Indochine 1945-1954, by Hugues Tertrais. Paris, Comite pour l'histoire economique et financiere de la France, 2002. x, 634 pp. $37.00 US (paper).
"Surely the most expensive army in the world, and one of the most lamentable," (p. 33) was how Francois Bloch-Laine described French forces in Indochina in 1945. The quality of French forces improved, and expenses mounted rapidly. Hugues Tertrais estimates the cost of the war for France exceeded 2.2 trillion francs (1953 value), as well as 52,700 dead in its Corps expedtionnaire, loss of its political influence in Southeast Asia, and significant damage to its international ...