The Battle of Dien Bien Phu was a Decisive clash that took place in the first Indochina War which was a precursor to the Vietnam War. The battle was fought for a small mountain outpost on the border of Vietnam near Laos. Fighting went on for fifty seven days; it took place in late 1953 at the end of the eight year war. The Indochina War was a conflict between the French and Vietnamese. France held control of Vietnam from about 1883 to 1945 when Nationalist leader Ho Chi Minh declared independence from French control. This resulted in a revolution where Ho Chi Minh launched Guerrilla warfare against the opposing French military. Minh’s military force, the Viet Minh ultimately won their independence with a victory in the Battle of Dien Bien Phu.
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The purpose of the French was to cut the supply lines of the Viet Minh and to maintain a base to use for attacks and raids against enemy forces. To counter this effort the Viet Minh cut all the Supply roads and only transported supplies through the air. To kick off the battle the Viet Minh surprised the French by surrounding the base with 40,000 men. They placed heavy artillery in caves of the mountains overlooking the French base. They launched assaults on the camp which eliminated any use of the French airfield. The Viet Minh overran the base in early May which prompted the French government to look to end the fighting so they signed the Geneva Accords. This document granted Vietnam independence from France but created a dividing line at the 17th parallel with the North being occupied by the Communism supporting Viet Minh and the south being the U.S. supported Democratic South Vietnam. A key general in this battle was the Viet Minh general Vo Nguyen Giap. He is very familiar with Ho Chi Minh as they attended the same high school together. Vo is the one to organize the mass amounts of troops and artillery to ultimately give the Viet Minh the victory over the French forces in Dien Bien Phu. After the war he became deputy prime minister, commander in chief, and minister of defense of North Vietnam’s armed forces. He subsequently led Vietnam to win the Vietnam War over South Vietnam …show more content…
French intended to draw out the Vietnamese and destroy them with superior firepower. The French set up camp in Dien Bien Phu in order establish a supply route through the air as the base contained an old landing strip used by the Japanese during World War Two. The French were not expecting the Viet Minh to have anti aircraft artillery stowed away in the mountains so they did not prepare for such a strategy. Little did they know that this would almost completely cripple their efforts of obtaining supplies during the combat that was soon to ensue. The Viet Minh’s positioning of anti aircraft artillery made it impossible for the French to launch any kind of a counter attack, especially since the artillery was also accompanied by over forty thousand Viet Minh soldiers ambushing the French base. As the Viet Minh artillery bombarded the camp tenacious fighting also broke out on the ground. The ground combat resembled that of trench warfare much like what was used in World War one. After several days, French artillery commander Charles Piroth, unable to successfully counter enemy besieging committed
The purpose of the French was to cut the supply lines of the Viet Minh and to maintain a base to use for attacks and raids against enemy forces. To counter this effort the Viet Minh cut all the Supply roads and only transported supplies through the air. To kick off the battle the Viet Minh surprised the French by surrounding the base with 40,000 men. They placed heavy artillery in caves of the mountains overlooking the French base. They launched assaults on the camp which eliminated any use of the French airfield. The Viet Minh overran the base in early May which prompted the French government to look to end the fighting so they signed the Geneva Accords. This document granted Vietnam independence from France but created a dividing line at the 17th parallel with the North being occupied by the Communism supporting Viet Minh and the south being the U.S. supported Democratic South Vietnam. A key general in this battle was the Viet Minh general Vo Nguyen Giap. He is very familiar with Ho Chi Minh as they attended the same high school together. Vo is the one to organize the mass amounts of troops and artillery to ultimately give the Viet Minh the victory over the French forces in Dien Bien Phu. After the war he became deputy prime minister, commander in chief, and minister of defense of North Vietnam’s armed forces. He subsequently led Vietnam to win the Vietnam War over South Vietnam …show more content…
French intended to draw out the Vietnamese and destroy them with superior firepower. The French set up camp in Dien Bien Phu in order establish a supply route through the air as the base contained an old landing strip used by the Japanese during World War Two. The French were not expecting the Viet Minh to have anti aircraft artillery stowed away in the mountains so they did not prepare for such a strategy. Little did they know that this would almost completely cripple their efforts of obtaining supplies during the combat that was soon to ensue. The Viet Minh’s positioning of anti aircraft artillery made it impossible for the French to launch any kind of a counter attack, especially since the artillery was also accompanied by over forty thousand Viet Minh soldiers ambushing the French base. As the Viet Minh artillery bombarded the camp tenacious fighting also broke out on the ground. The ground combat resembled that of trench warfare much like what was used in World War one. After several days, French artillery commander Charles Piroth, unable to successfully counter enemy besieging committed