ABSTRACT
A preliminary convention, signed by the responsible parties to the dispute on March 6, 1946, permitted the peaceable entry of French troops into Tonkin, the stronghold of the Vietnam revolt, while Vietnam was recognized as a free state within the French Union. A so-called modus vivendi, the rather noncommittal achievement of subsequent negotiations in Paris, was signed on September 14, 1946. The terms of this agreement, including a cease-fire provision, were to take effect on October 31, but localized hostilities continued until December 19 when a clash between French and Vietnamese troops at Hanoi touched off a full-scale war throughout all of Vietnam. The Vietnamese press found it strange that Nguyen Van Thinh, whom the French had recognized as leader of Cochinchinese nationalism, should be a Free citizen. The Vietnamese press found it strange that Nguyen Van Thinh, whom the French had recognized as leader of Cochinchinese nationalism, should be a Free citizen.
