Dien Bien Phu
Encyclopedia
Điện Biên Phủ is a city in northwestern
Vietnam
. It is the capital of Dien Bien province, and is known for the events there during the First Indochina War
, the Battle of Dien Bien Phu
, during which the region was a breadbasket
for the Việt Minh
.
, Si La
, or others.
, a 20-km-long and 6-km-wide basin sometimes described as "heart-shaped". It is on the western edge of Dien Bien province, of which it is the capital, and is only a short distance from the border with Laos
. Until the creation of the province in 2004, it was part of Lai Chau province.
The Vietnamese government elevated Dien Bien Phu to town status in 1992, and to city status in 2003.
. Dien Bien Phu Airport
serves the city with air route to Hanoi.
s per year, but more so for a fierce battle that would result in a major realignment of world geopolitics. It was also an extensive source of rice for the Viet Minh
.
The region was fortified in November 1953 by the French Union force in the biggest airborne operation of the 1946-1954 First Indochina War
, Operation Castor
, to block Viet Minh
transport routes and to set the stage to draw out Việt Minh forces.
was fought between the Việt Minh (led by General Vo Nguyen Giap
), and the French Union
(led by General Henri Navarre
, successor to General Raoul Salan
). The siege of the French garrison lasted fifty-seven days, from 5:30PM on March 13 to 5:30PM on May 7, 1954. The southern outpost or fire base of the camp, Isabelle, did not follow the cease-fire order and fought until the next day at 01:00AM; a few hours before the long-scheduled Geneva Meeting's Indochina conference involving the United States
, the United Kingdom, the French Union and the Soviet Union
.
The battle was significant beyond the valleys of Dien Bien Phu. Giap's victory ended major French involvement in Indochina
and led to the accords which partitioned Vietnam into North
and South
. Eventually, these conditions inspired the United States to increase their involvement in Vietnam leading to the Second Indochina War
. The battle of Điện Biên Phủ is described by historians as "the first time that a non-European colonial independence movement had evolved through all the stages from guerrilla bands
to a conventionally organized and equipped army able to defeat a modern Western occupier in pitched battle
."
The Western fear of a Communist extension in Southeast Asia, named the Domino Theory
by Dwight D. Eisenhower
during the Dien Bien Phu siege and the departure of the French from Laos
, Cambodia
and Vietnam, was a factor leading to the direct American intervention in South Vietnam
.
Tay Bac
Tây Bắc is one of the regions of Vietnam, located in the mountainous northwestern part of the country. It consists of four provinces: Điện Biên, Lai Châu, Sơn La, and Hòa Bình. It has a population of about two and a half million....
Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
. It is the capital of Dien Bien province, and is known for the events there during the First Indochina War
First Indochina War
The First Indochina War was fought in French Indochina from December 19, 1946, until August 1, 1954, between the French Union's French Far East...
, the Battle of Dien Bien Phu
Battle of Dien Bien Phu
The Battle of Dien Bien Phu was the climactic confrontation of the First Indochina War between the French Union's French Far East Expeditionary Corps and Viet Minh communist revolutionaries. The battle occurred between March and May 1954 and culminated in a comprehensive French defeat that...
, during which the region was a breadbasket
Breadbasket
The breadbasket or the granary of a country is a region which, because of richness of soil and/or advantageous climate, produces an agricultural surplus which is often considered vital for the country as a whole. Rice bowl is a similar term used in Southeast Asia...
for the Việt Minh
Viet Minh
Việt Minh was a national independence coalition formed at Pac Bo on May 19, 1941. The Việt Minh initially formed to seek independence for Vietnam from the French Empire. When the Japanese occupation began, the Việt Minh opposed Japan with support from the United States and the Republic of China...
.
Population
Statistics on Dien Bien Phu's population vary depending on definitions — figures are generally between 70,000 and 125,000. The city is growing quickly, and is projected to have a population of 150,000 by 2020. The majority of the population is not ethnically Vietnamese - rather, Thai ethnic groups form the largest segment. Ethnic Vietnamese make up around a third of the population, with the remainder being HmongHmong people
The Hmong , are an Asian ethnic group from the mountainous regions of China, Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand. Hmong are also one of the sub-groups of the Miao ethnicity in southern China...
, Si La
Si La
The Si La are an ethnic group of about 1,800 people living in northern Laos and another 600 living in the Lai Chau province of northwestern Vietnam....
, or others.
Location within Vietnam
Điện Biên Phủ lies in Muong Thanh valleyMuong Thanh Valley
The Mường Thanh Valley is a valley located in the Điện Biên district of Northwestern Vietnam. The valley is approximately 12 miles long by 3 miles wide. A heart-shaped basin, the valley is surrounded by a region filled with jungles, rice paddies, and lakes. Located within the Muong Thanh Valley is...
, a 20-km-long and 6-km-wide basin sometimes described as "heart-shaped". It is on the western edge of Dien Bien province, of which it is the capital, and is only a short distance from the border with Laos
Laos
Laos Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ Sathalanalat Paxathipatai Paxaxon Lao, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic, is a landlocked country in Southeast Asia, bordered by Burma and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south and Thailand to the west...
. Until the creation of the province in 2004, it was part of Lai Chau province.
The Vietnamese government elevated Dien Bien Phu to town status in 1992, and to city status in 2003.
Transport
National route 12 connects Dien Bien to Lai ChâuLai Chau
Lai Châu is the capital town of Lai Chau province in the Northwest region of Vietnam....
. Dien Bien Phu Airport
Dien Bien Phu Airport
Dien Bien Phu Airport is located at Dien Bien Phu in Vietnam....
serves the city with air route to Hanoi.
Operation Castor (1953)
In the 1950s, the town was known not only for its famous opium traffic, generating 500,000,000 French FrancFranc
The franc is the name of several currency units, most notably the Swiss franc, still a major world currency today due to the prominence of Swiss financial institutions and the former currency of France, the French franc until the Euro was adopted in 1999...
s per year, but more so for a fierce battle that would result in a major realignment of world geopolitics. It was also an extensive source of rice for the Viet Minh
Viet Minh
Việt Minh was a national independence coalition formed at Pac Bo on May 19, 1941. The Việt Minh initially formed to seek independence for Vietnam from the French Empire. When the Japanese occupation began, the Việt Minh opposed Japan with support from the United States and the Republic of China...
.
The region was fortified in November 1953 by the French Union force in the biggest airborne operation of the 1946-1954 First Indochina War
First Indochina War
The First Indochina War was fought in French Indochina from December 19, 1946, until August 1, 1954, between the French Union's French Far East...
, Operation Castor
Operation Castor
Opération Castor was a French airborne operation in the First Indochina War. The operation established a fortified airhead in Dien Bien Province, in the north-west corner of Vietnam. Commanded by Brigadier General Jean Gilles, Castor was the largest airborne operation since World War II...
, to block Viet Minh
Viet Minh
Việt Minh was a national independence coalition formed at Pac Bo on May 19, 1941. The Việt Minh initially formed to seek independence for Vietnam from the French Empire. When the Japanese occupation began, the Việt Minh opposed Japan with support from the United States and the Republic of China...
transport routes and to set the stage to draw out Việt Minh forces.
Siege of Dien Bien Phu (1954)
The following year, the important Battle of Dien Bien PhuBattle of Dien Bien Phu
The Battle of Dien Bien Phu was the climactic confrontation of the First Indochina War between the French Union's French Far East Expeditionary Corps and Viet Minh communist revolutionaries. The battle occurred between March and May 1954 and culminated in a comprehensive French defeat that...
was fought between the Việt Minh (led by General Vo Nguyen Giap
Vo Nguyen Giap
Võ Nguyên Giáp is a retired Vietnamese officer in the Vietnam People’s Army and a politician. He was a principal commander in two wars: the First Indochina War and the Vietnam War...
), and the French Union
French Union
The French Union was a political entity created by the French Fourth Republic to replace the old French colonial system, the "French Empire" and to abolish its "indigenous" status.-History:...
(led by General Henri Navarre
Henri Navarre
Henri Eugène Navarre was a French Army general. He fought during World War I, World War II and was the seventh commander of French Far East Expeditionary Corps during the First Indochina War...
, successor to General Raoul Salan
Raoul Salan
Raoul Albin Louis Salan was a French Army general and the fourth French commanding general during the First Indochina War. Salan was one of four generals who organized the 1961 Algiers Putsch operation and then founded the Organisation de l'armée secrète....
). The siege of the French garrison lasted fifty-seven days, from 5:30PM on March 13 to 5:30PM on May 7, 1954. The southern outpost or fire base of the camp, Isabelle, did not follow the cease-fire order and fought until the next day at 01:00AM; a few hours before the long-scheduled Geneva Meeting's Indochina conference involving the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, the United Kingdom, the French Union and the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
.
The battle was significant beyond the valleys of Dien Bien Phu. Giap's victory ended major French involvement in Indochina
French Indochina
French Indochina was part of the French colonial empire in southeast Asia. A federation of the three Vietnamese regions, Tonkin , Annam , and Cochinchina , as well as Cambodia, was formed in 1887....
and led to the accords which partitioned Vietnam into North
North Vietnam
The Democratic Republic of Vietnam , was a communist state that ruled the northern half of Vietnam from 1954 until 1976 following the Geneva Conference and laid claim to all of Vietnam from 1945 to 1954 during the First Indochina War, during which they controlled pockets of territory throughout...
and South
South Vietnam
South Vietnam was a state which governed southern Vietnam until 1975. It received international recognition in 1950 as the "State of Vietnam" and later as the "Republic of Vietnam" . Its capital was Saigon...
. Eventually, these conditions inspired the United States to increase their involvement in Vietnam leading to the Second Indochina War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
. The battle of Điện Biên Phủ is described by historians as "the first time that a non-European colonial independence movement had evolved through all the stages from guerrilla bands
Guerrilla warfare
Guerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare and refers to conflicts in which a small group of combatants including, but not limited to, armed civilians use military tactics, such as ambushes, sabotage, raids, the element of surprise, and extraordinary mobility to harass a larger and...
to a conventionally organized and equipped army able to defeat a modern Western occupier in pitched battle
Pitched battle
A pitched battle is a battle where both sides choose to fight at a chosen location and time and where either side has the option to disengage either before the battle starts, or shortly after the first armed exchanges....
."
The Western fear of a Communist extension in Southeast Asia, named the Domino Theory
Domino theory
The domino theory was a reason for war during the 1950s to 1980s, promoted at times by the government of the United States, that speculated that if one state in a region came under the influence of communism, then the surrounding countries would follow in a domino effect...
by Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower was the 34th President of the United States, from 1953 until 1961. He was a five-star general in the United States Army...
during the Dien Bien Phu siege and the departure of the French from Laos
Laos
Laos Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ Sathalanalat Paxathipatai Paxaxon Lao, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic, is a landlocked country in Southeast Asia, bordered by Burma and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south and Thailand to the west...
, Cambodia
Cambodia
Cambodia , officially known as the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia...
and Vietnam, was a factor leading to the direct American intervention in South Vietnam
South Vietnam
South Vietnam was a state which governed southern Vietnam until 1975. It received international recognition in 1950 as the "State of Vietnam" and later as the "Republic of Vietnam" . Its capital was Saigon...
.