The Battle of Dien Bien Phu marked the end of French control over Vietnam. For 55 days in 1954, over 10,000 French soldiers fought against 50,000 Viet Minh soldiers in a valley surrounded by mountains and jungle. Despite superior numbers and artillery supplied by porters, the Viet Minh defeated the French forces, demonstrating that an unconventional local force could overcome a conventional colonial power. This victory led to French withdrawal from Vietnam and growing US involvement to stop the spread of communism in Southeast Asia.

1. VIETNAM
WAR
THE BATTLE
OF DIEN
BIEN PHU
6

2. AMERICANS HELPING FRENCH
After the Japanese surrendered
to the USA, the French
attempted to recolonise
Vietnam.
The Vietnamese had gained
support from China due to the
Communist Revolution in 1950.
In response to this the
Americans had given the
French $150 million in military
aid by the end of 1950.

3. STRUGGLE TO CONTROL VIETNAM
By the time the French were defeated the Americans had
spent $2.5 billion supporting the French and were paying
for up to 80% of all costs.
The Americans were now heavily involved in Vietnam.
The Battle of Dien Bien Phu signaled the end of a French
presence in Vietnam.
The U.S.A were about to take on the struggle to control
Vietnam.

4. THE END OF FRENCH OCCUPATION
Dien Bien Phu was the battle that finally ended the
French occupation of Vietnam.
After Dien Bien Phu the Americans decided that they would
need to up their involvement in Vietnam if they were to
stop the spread of Communism.
For 55 days over 10,000 French soldiers tried to hold an
armed camp in the middle of a valley against 50,000 Viet
Minh soldiers.

6. 10,000 FRENCH SOLDIERS
For 55 days over 10,000 French soldiers tried to hold an
armed camp in the middle of a valley against 50,000 Viet
Minh soldiers.

7. FRENCH STRATEGY
General Henri Navarre, the French commander-in-chief in
Indochina, had a simple strategy.
He wanted to trap and destroy the best Viet Minh troops
by offering them the bait of an armed camp.
The Viet Minh had no aircraft, no tanks and no transport fit
for mountain warfare.
Navarre thought they would have enough weaponry to hold
off 20,000 troops.
Dien Bien Phu was a village in a valley surrounded by
mountains and thick jungle.
The only way the French could move in supplies was by air.

8. General Henri Navarre
Considered responsible for the
loss, Navarre was replaced 3
June 1954 by General Paul Ély.
He remained in the Army,
retiring in 1956.
During his prestigious career
he received 1500 citations and
many decorations and medals:
Commander of the Légion
d’honneur, Croix de guerre
(War Star) 1914–1918, Croix de
guerre 1939–1945, Médaille de
la Résistance with rosette,
Distinguished Service Cross
(United States).

9. VIETNAMESE STRATEGY
General Giap (General in charge of the Viet Minh) moved
his supplies by enlisting thousands of porters who carried
cannon on their backs and on bicycles.
By January 1954 between 40-50,000 Viet Minh combat
troops were looking down on the French military base.
What Navarre did not know was the Viet Minh had also
brought with them vastly superior artillery firepower.

10. General Giap
Võ Nguyên Giáp is considered one of the greatest military strategists of
the 20th century. Giáp had no direct military training and was a history
teacher at a French-speaking academy.
On 4 October 2013, the Communist Party of Vietnam and government
official announced that Võ Nguyên Giáp had died, aged 102. He was given
a state funeral on 12–13 October, and his body lay in state at the national
morgue in Hanoi until his burial in his home province of Quảng Bình.

11. THE LAST BATTLE
A conference was being held in Geneva in April to discuss a
possible ceasefire.
Both sides wanted to gain an advantage at the negotiation
table by gaining a victory at Dien Bien Phu.
The superior Viet Minh artillery pounded the camp and it
was clear that defeat was obvious by the end of the first
day.
The Viet Minh built tunnels into the camp.
The French expected them to launch human wave attacks
which would easily be mowed down by machine gun fire.

12. AMERICANS
American Vice-President Nixon
wanted to launch an airstrike but
President Eisenhower wanted to
settle the matter in Geneva.
After 55 days of fighting, almost half
of the French forces were either dead
or seriously injured. They were living
in obscene WWI conditions.
• 7,900 Viet Minh soldiers were
killed and 15,000 were wounded.
• 2,000 French soldiers were killed,
5,600 were wounded and 6,500 troops
were taken prisoner.

13. THE CEASEFIRE
A ceasefire was ordered on May 7 1954. The gold star was
raised at the French base and the war was over.
The French gained nothing and over a 7.5 year period had
suffered 243,000 casualties, including 95,000 dead.
For Ho Chi Minh and General Giap the battle was a triumph.
They had beaten a colonial power but had lost
approximately 1 million people during their battle with
the French.
They felt they were close to achieving their goal of
Vietnamese independence.

15. SOURCE A
A Viet Minh soldier speaking about the supply train.
“We had to cross mountains and jungles, marching at
night and sleeping by day to avoid enemy bombing. We
sometimes slept in foxholes, or just by the trails. We
each carried a rifle, ammunition and hand grenades, and
our packs contained a blanket, a mosquito net and a
change of clothes. We each had a week’s supply of rice
which we refilled at depots along the way. We are
greens and bamboo shoots that we picked in the jungle,
and occasionally villages would give us a bit of meat.”

16. SOURCE B
Diagram of the Battle of Dien Bien Phu.

17. SOURCE C
A Horne, ‘Dienbienphu’, History of the Twentieth
Century, Purnell, 1968.
“Dien Bien Phu might well be rated as one of the most
significant events since 1945. It demonstrated the
superiority of an underdeveloped irregular force over a
conventional army. Possibly in years ahead Dien Bien
Phu may come to be regarded as the moment marking
the end of any prospect of Western ascendency in the
Far East.”