Rock of Contention

What went wrong in Free French relations with Americans during World War Two? Two peoples, presumably sharing a common cause in a war to defeat the axis powers, often found themselves locked in bitter disputes that exposed fundamental differences in outlook and intentions, creating a profound misunderstanding or mesentente that was a major source of Franco-American conflict during the war and has persisted since then. The site for this dispute was the South Pacific colony of New Caledonia. By documenting carefully French policy toward the American presence in New Caledonia during the war, the author demonstrates the existence of a deep-seated suspicion, fear, even paranoia about the Americans that colored almost every phase of Free French policy. Revising traditional views, the author lays bare the roots of the antagonism, which stem from perceptions and biases.

What went wrong in Free French relations with Americans during World War Two? Two peoples, presumably sharing a common cause in a war to defeat the axis powers, often found themselves locked in bitter disputes that exposed fundamental differences in outlook and intentions, creating a profound misunderstanding or mésentente that was a major source of Franco-American conflict during the war and has persisted since then. The site for this dispute was the South Pacific colony of New Caledonia. By documenting carefully French policy toward the American presence in New Caledonia during the war, the author demonstrates the existence of a deep-seated suspicion, fear, even paranoia about the Americans that colored almost every phase of Free French policy. Revising traditional views, the author lays bare the roots of the antagonism, which stem from perceptions and biases.

Acknowledgements
List of Maps and Figures

Introduction: The Franco-American Mésentente

Chapter 1. The Free French and the Americans before Pearl Harbor

• France under Siege
• De Gaulle, the Formation of the Free French, and Colonial Resistance
• Disaster at Dakar
• The Empire Defense Council and the Allies in the Tropics
• Free-French Representation in the United States

Chapter 2. The New Caledonian Rally to the Free French

• Disunity in Local Allegiances and Foreign Interests
• The Political Showdown Begins
• The New Caledonian Coup
• Pro-Vichy Partisans

Chapter 3. New Caledonia in Limbo: Preparing for War in the Pacific

• Local and Foreign Anxieties over New Caledonia’s Defense
• De Gaulle’s Desire for Centralized Control and the Brunot Mission
• The d’Argenlieu Mission

Chapter 4. Going to Pieces: The 1942 Riot

• The Americans Arrive: January–March ‘42
• New Caledonia in Political and Military Crisis: April ‘42
• Things Go Awry: May ‘42
• Calm is Restored but, Mésentente Sets In: May–July ‘42

Chapter 5. The Rooster and the Eagle: Governor Montchamp, Admiral Halsey, and the American Occupation

• Admiral Halsey’s Arrival
• Guadalcanal, the Solomons Campaign, and the Expansion of U.S. Military Presence: August ‘42–August ‘43
• The Governor’s Graveyard: Montchamp, d’Argenlieu, and Vergès

6. Governor Laigret and the American Economic and Cultural Challenge

• Local Politics and the Arrival of Governor Laigret
• Grievances and Complaints against the Americans
• Laigret’s Anti-Americanist Campaign and Increasing Mésentente
• American Ambitions for New Caledonia?

Chapter 7. Roosevelt and de Gaulle: Conflicting Visions of a Postwar World Order

• Anticolonialism and Yankee Imperialism
• Anti-Americanism and the French Empire
• American Security and the Fate of the French Colonies in the Pacific Liberation, 1944

Chapter 8. From Combat Base to Rest and Rehabilitation Area: The American Departure

• Governor Tallec
• Autonomist Sentiment and Social and Labor Unrest
• American Materialism, Entertainment and the Issue of Withdrawal
• Anti-Communism versus Anticolonialism

Conclusion: V-J Day and Postwar Assessments, Accounts and Balances

Bibliography
Index