Theories of Warfare : French Operations in Indo-China

Abstract: Human nature would usually organize and sort events to help bring order and clarity to your life. This also applies to analysis and studies of war, therefore the aim of this thesis is to determine to what extent the French use maneuver warfare or attritional warfare during operations in Indo-China (today known as Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos). The author’s intent is also to contribute to existing research on the subject of analyzing military operations through maneuver warfare and attritional warfare. The research has been conducted with qualitative literature studies of the war in French Indo-China (1946-1954). The thesis begins with a concept analysis of maneuver warfare and attritional warfare, which renders into an analytical tool. Through the lens of the analytical tool an analysis of four operations during the Indo-China war is conducted. The conclusions of each operation are presented using three levels of warfare (strategic, operational and tactical). The analysis shows that both theories of warfare are present during each operation but on different levels and sometimes both are present at the same level. Therefore the author found that it is not possible to classify French operations in Indo-China as operations based solely upon maneuver warfare or attritional warfare.