First Indochina War and the fall of Dien Bien Phu

Date

1946 to 1954

Category

Military & conflict

Region

Southeast Asia (Vietnam)

Era

Contemporary

Significance

The First Indochina War pitted the communist-led Viet Minh under Ho Chi Minh against French colonial forces seeking to restore control over Indochina after World War II. Full-scale fighting broke out in December 1946.

From 1950 the conflict became internationalised: the People's Republic of China and the Soviet Union backed the Viet Minh, while the United States funded much of France's war effort. The war culminated in the Battle of Dien Bien Phu, where Viet Minh forces besieged and overran the French garrison, which fell on 7 May 1954. The defeat shattered French resolve and led to the 1954 Geneva Accords (signed 20 to 21 July 1954), which ended French rule, partitioned Vietnam at the 17th parallel, and provided for elections that were never held. The outcome ended European colonial dominance in the region and created the divided Vietnam whose unification would draw the United States into a far larger war.

Empires active in 1946 to 1954

• Soviet Union
  1922 CE to 1991 CE
• Empire of Japan
  1868 CE to 1947 CE
• French Colonial Empire (Second)
  1830 CE to 1962 CE
• British Empire
  1583 CE to 1997 CE
• Spanish Empire
  1492 CE to 1976 CE
• Portuguese Empire
  1415 CE to 1999 CE

Related military & conflict events

• Fall of Saigon and reunification of Vietnam
  30 April 1975 (reunified 1976)
• Dien Bien Phu and the Geneva Accords
  1954
• Gulf of Tonkin incident and American escalation in Vietnam
  August 1964 to March 1965
• Tet Offensive
  30 January 1968
• Creation of Israel and the 1948 Arab-Israeli War
  14 May 1948 (war May 1948 to July 1949)
• Korean War
  25 June 1950 to 27 July 1953

Also relevant

• Resumption of the Chinese Civil War
  1946 to 1949

Essential reading

• Cárdenas Nationalises Mexico's Oil
  1938
• Castle Bravo Test and the Nuclearisation of the Pacific
  1 March 1954
• Containerisation begins: SS Ideal X first container voyage
  26 April 1956
• The Dust Bowl
  1930 to 1940 (peak 1934 to 1936)

Further reading

A History of Southeast Asia: Critical Crossroads

The wider story

A History of Southeast Asia: Critical Crossroads

Anthony Reid

Authoritative yet readable history of the whole region, mainland and maritime.

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