Dien Bien Phu in words and names
The when, where and who of the Battle of Dien Bien Phu
- Indochina war: the armed conflict between 1946 and 1954 opposed the French colonial power and Viet Minh communist independence fighters.
The fight was sparked by the declaration of independence by leader Ho Chi Minh in 1945 in Hanoi and his call for resistance against “colonialism “a year later.
The war started out as guerrilla movement from 1946 to 1949 and then became an all-out war against the French occupier from 1949 to 1954, with backing from the new Chinese communist rulers in Beijing.
- The Geneva Accords: ratified on July 21, 1954, after Dien Bien Phu garrison in northwestern Vietnam was overrun by the Viet Minh following 56 days of fierce fighting. They marked the end of almost a century of French domination in Indochina.
Vietnam was partitioned, with the dividing line at the 17th parallel.
Vietnam was to become an independent nation, and elections were to be held in July 1956 under international supervision to choose a national government. South Vietnam was pro-American and was recognised by the legitimate government, while the Democratic Republic of Vietnam in the north was communist, led by Ho Chi Minh.
When the deadline expired in 1956, South Vietnamese president Ngo Dinh Diem refused to call elections for fear of a victory of Ho Chi Minh. A year later, the communists took up arms against Diem’s regime. The Vietnam war started.
- Vietnam war: see Edutheque dossier « The Vietnam war ».
- Viet Minh: The Vietnamese political and military communist independence movement, founded in 1941 by the Vietnam Communist Party.
- Ho Chi Minh (1890-1969): Vietnamese statesman, father of independence and of modern-day Vietnam, a figure of anticolonialism and of international communism. He was dubbed Uncle Ho. The city of Saigon was in 1975 renamed Ho Chi Minh City. It became the object of a veritable personality cult in Vietnam.
- Christian de Castries (1902-1991, full name: Christian de la Croix de Castries): hero of the French Liberation from the Nazis during World War II, took over the command of the Dien Bien Phu garrison in December 1953. He held out for 56 days with 15,000 soldiers of the special expeditionary force against attacking troops of General Vo Nguyen Giap, who vastly outnumbered them. He fought to the last. Promoted to general during the battle, he was taken prisoner when the garrison fell.
- Marcel Bigeard (1916-2010): commander of the 6th battalion of the parachute unit, he was dropped twice into Dien Bien Phu where he resisted up to the fall of the trench camp. Promoted to general during the battle, he was taken prisoner.
- Geneviève de Galard : see « A woman in the hell of Dien Bien Phu ».