DIEN BIEN PHU

DIEN BIEN PHU, LAI CHAU PROVINCE, NORTHWEST INDOCHINA 13 MARCH TO 7 MAY, 1954

After enduring the devastation of World War II and the occupation of France by Nazi Germany, the post-war French government looked to regain at least a measure of its lost prestige. One way to accomplish the task was to reassert control of its colonial empire, which stretched across the globe but had become largely destabilised in the aftermath of the conflict.

Inevitably, the colonial initiative would require the deployment of French armed forces, and the colony of Indochina in Southeast Asia soon emerged as a hot spot. Early confidence gave way to frustration, disappointment and disaster. Eventually, the French dream of resurgent preeminence in Indochina was shattered at Dien Bien Phu, an otherwise nondescript valley in the northeast of the country, where the European army was humiliated and forced to surrender after a two-month siege masterfully conducted by communist Viet Minh forces.

On 27 October 1946, the constitution of the Fourth Republic authorised the French Union, successor to the nation’s former empire. Subsequently, the French reestablished their colonial government in Indochina, which had been occupied by the Japanese in 1941. However, the defeat of Imperial Japan had rekindled a burgeoning nationalism among the peoples of Southeast Asia. In fact, while Indochina was still in Japanese hands, Ho Chi Minh, a young communist revolutionary and ardent nationalist, had emerged as architect and leader of the Viet Minh, a coalition intent on establishing an independent nation.

Free from France

Amid the August Revolution of 1945, Ho announced independence from France and the creation of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. Inspired by their charismatic leader and their fusion of communist and nationalist fervour, the Viet Minh launched a guerrilla war against the French.

Utilising hit-and-run tactics, keeping the French off-balance and refusing to commit substantial forces to a decisive battle, the guerrillas managed to stymie the efforts of a succession of French field commanders to end