Battle of Dien Bien Phu

Battle of Dien Bien Phu 1954

Let's dig a little deeper into the specifics of the Battle of Dien Bien Phu.

Moments leading up to the Battle of Dien Bien Phu

Before the Battle of Dien Bien Phu, tensions had been building between the French and Vietnamese. After the French traders established themselves in the 17^th century, French Christian Missionaries also arrived. In 1858, the French military followed suit and arrived in Vietnam to protect the French people migrating there. The rapid increase of French personnel arriving in Vietnam impacted Vietnamese power. After the Sino-French War in 1884, the French gained control over Vietnam and later founded a colony, French Indochina, in 1887, combining Cambodia and Vietnam.

The First Indochina War

The Viet Minh started to revolt against the French military in 1946, which resulted in the 1946-1954 First Indochina War, also commonly referred to as the "Anti-French War". Vietnamese troops initially practiced Guerrilla tactics, but these military techniques decreased when the Soviet Union and China offered support in the form of weapons and finance. The Soviet Union and China offered their help to support an emerging communist country in a fight against Western colonialism. The First Indochina War acted as a physical expression of the developing Cold War relations after WWII. This support later proved vital in the success of Vietnamese troops in the Battle of Dien Bien Phu.

November 1953 was a turning point in the First Indochina War. The French military sent thousands of French paratroopers into the Valley of Dien Bien Phu, Northwest of Vietnam, among the mountains on the Laotian border. Their paratroopers successfully took possession of an airstrip, which enabled them to create and fortify an effective base. Through the production of fortified garrisons, the French military heavily guarded a military camp.

Despite the military camp impressively spanning the 40-mile border in the Dien Bien Phu valley, the French were stretched thinly with only 15,000 soldiers stationed there. The Viet Minh troops, under the command of Vo Nguyen Giap, totalled 50,000 in comparison and vastly outnumbered the French.

Vo Nguyen Giap

Vo Nguyen Giap was in command of the Vietnamese troops during the Battle of Dien Bien Phu. He was the military leader whose strategy and tactics, such as his perfected guerrilla technique, influenced the Viet Minh's victory over the French.

Fig. 1 Vo Nguyen Giap

An ardent Communist, Vo Nguyen Giap had extreme political views, which impacted the end of French Colonialism in Southeast Asia. The division of Vietnam gave Vo Nguyen Giap great power. He was appointed Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Defence, and the Commander in Chief of the armed forces of North Vietnam.

Battle of Dien Bien Phu Outcome

In short, the outcome of the Battle of Dien Bien Phu was a Vietnamese victory and the surrender of French troops. Let's dive deeper into the 57-day battle to understand the specifics that lead to this outcome.

What happened on 13 March 1954?

Let's look at how the French objectives and the Vietnamese tactics affected the Battle of Dien Bien Phu.

French Objectives

The French military had two main objectives at the root of their actions during the Battle of Dien Bien Phu.

1. The French troops aimed to situate a base in a location detrimental to the Vietnamese forces. The French-controlled Valley of Dien Bien Phu compromised Vietnamese supply lines into Laos and prevented the rebellion from expanding.
2. The French military also aimed to provoke the Viet Minh into an open, mass attack. The French underestimated the Vietnamese troops and believed they would succeed in such warfare against them.

The night of 13 March 1954

The Battle of Dien Bien Phu began when the Viet Minh artillery attacked the French perimeter by targeting a French garrison. Subsequently, the army attacked the whole of the French outpost along the Laos border. The battle continued through the night and into the next day when, on 14 March, Vo Nguyen Giap's artillery forces compromised and disabled the airstrip. This attack proved to be very effective later on.

Fig. 2 Frieze at the Battle of Dien Bien Phu Cemetery.

Over the next two months of the Battle of Dien Bien Phu, the French Artillery successfully targeted the Viet Minh troops as they could not prevent the attacks. In response to this, the Viet Minh forces adapted a trench warfare technique seen throughout WWI. The Viet Minh troops dug their trenches closer to the French enemy lines, targeting and isolating the armed French garrisons. This proved successful as, by 30 March, the Viet Minh had attacked and captured two more garrisons.

22 April brought the end of French airdrops and any support from allies. Vo Nguyen Giap's forces successfully captured around 90% of the airstrip on which the French military had previously settled. Through Vo Nguyen Giap's orders, the Vietnamese army continued ground attacks on 1 May with the aid of reinforcements sent from Laos. By 7 May, the remaining French soldiers surrendered, and the Battle of Dien Bien Phu ended with the red and yellow Viet Minh Flag flying from the once French headquarters.

Battle of Dien Bien Phu Casualties

Several factors influenced the casualties on the opposing sides of the Battle of Dien Bien Phu, including the French troop's informative mistakes and the Viet Minh's warfare preparations.

• The French troops underestimated Vo Nguyen Giap's impressive leadership skills over his forces. The French also wrongly assumed that the Vietnamese troops had no anti-aircraft weapons. This led to the collapse of their airstrip and the decrease in supply drops throughout the Battle.
• The Viet Minh's preparations for the Battle of Dien Bien Phu proved to give them an advantage. Vo Nguyen Giap did not order his troops to try and prevent the incursion. Instead, he spent the next four months wisely and trained his troops for the incoming battle. The Vietnamese forces protected their land by spreading themselves among the steep hills until the army collectively surrounded and fortified the Dien Bien Phu Valley by digging out artillery positions.

FIg. 3 Vietnamese Gravestones.

The table below provides figures for the Battle of Dien Bien Phu casuaties.

Fig. 4 French prisoners.

Battle of Dien Bien Phu Significance

The Battle of Dien Bien Phu holds great significance in French and Vietnamese history as it was a turning point for both countries. The French were forced to surrender and leave Vietnam during the Indochina War, ending French Colonial rule in Vietnam and ultimately causing the split of Vietnam into two countries.

The Capitalist/Communist divide due to the Cold War was the root of the rising tensions between the French and Vietnamese. According to US' Domino Theory, Vietnam's victory suggested that communism would quickly spread into nearby states. This pushed the United States to support a non-communist dictator in South Vietnam. The 1954 Peace Agreement called for a temporary partition dividing North and South Vietnam. It called for a unified national election in 1956, which never took place, causing two countries to emerge. Consequently, this set up a solid structure for the Capitalist/Communist divide:

1. Communist North Vietnam, supported by the USSR and China.
2. South Vietnam, supported by the US and some of its allies.

Following this geographical and political division of Vietnam, the US became heavily involved in the controversial Vietnam War (1955-1975).