The Battle of Dien Bien Phu
Monday, June 15, 2020
The Vietnam War is still fresh in the memories of many older Americans. But few remember that this was the 20th century's second engagement between factions in that country and a western power.
Before that, the French engaged in The First Indochina War. The war with American is more properly called "The Second Indochina War." Indochina was originally a French colony that included three regions of Vietnam--Tonkin in the north, Annam in the center, and Cochinchina in the south--as well as Cambodia, Laos, and (until 1943) a very small piece of China called Guangzhouwan.
The French had held their Indochinese territory, in whole or in part, since 1887, but that came to an end after the Battle of Dien Bien Phu in 1954.
Fighting against the French were Vietnamese communist revolutionaries known as the Viet Minh, under their leader, Ho Chi Minh. This group later morphed into the Viet Cong.
The French had placed soldiers in the northwestern hills, intending to use them to cut off Viet Minh supply lines from Laos, and to draw them into a battle in order to cripple their power.
They planned to resupply their ground troops by air, believing that the Viet Minh had no anti-aircraft guns. They were wrong. A Viet Minh general, Vo Nguyen Giap, surrounded the French and besieged their outpost. Despite the difficult terrain, he brought in heavy artillery, and brought it via tunnels dug through the mountains. He placed the guns where they could fire on the French camp.
Beginning in March of 1954, the Viet Minh launched a devastating assault. Over time, the French perimeter contracted more and more. At last, in May, the French garrison was overrun, and most of the soldiers surrendered (a few escaped into Laos).
The defeat had serious repercussions for the government in France, causing many resignations. The new Prime Minister called for a withdrawal from Indochina. The war ended shortly afterward, and a treaty was signed called the Geneva Accords. This agreement also divided the country in two at the 17th parallel, a situation that lasted until the Americans, too, were defeated by the Vietnamese communists, and the country was reunified in 1975.