Historical background

During the second half of the 19th century, the struggle among the major European powers to open up markets and enrich their respective economies led them to establish footholds in the furthest corners of the globe.  This is how France became involved in the Far-East in 1859, among other things, waging a war with China  which ended in 1885,  and ending by imposing its authority in the territories comprising the Indo-chinese peninsula. In 1887 she created French Indo-china which included Annam, Tonkin, Cochin-china, Cambodia and, later, Laos.

However, pacification was never totally successful and opposition to colonial supervision was manifested by chronic unrest and even riots provoked by nationalist and, later, revolutionary movements. Changing attitudes of the native populations after World War I encouraged this opposition. One example is the revolt of the Annamite military units in the garrison at Yen Bay in 1930.

With the end of the 1920’s, Japan launched a policy of expansion in Asia and in 1939 her soldiers were at the gates of Indo-china.  In 1940, taking advantage of France’s weakness  and preparing for its entrance into the conflict, Japan demanded that her troops be allowed to be stationed in French Indo-china.  An agreement signed  on August 30, 1940 did not prevent a Japanese demonstration of force at Lang Son on September 22. Thailand, in turn, made claims on the frontier provinces of Cambodia and Laos and began hostilities (in December 1940 and January 1941) which resulted in a French naval victory at Ko-Chang.  Finally, Japanese pressure forced the French authorities to come to an agreement with Thailand.

The Viet Minh, a communist movement founded by Ho Chi Minh in 1940, established the first guerilla and armed propaganda bases in the regions of North Tonkin.  Indo-china was left to its own resources and in this isolated state the French Governor-general, Admiral Decoux, followed a wait and see policy which was opposed by resistance groups. The liberation of mainland France, which began in June 1944, changed the situation and Japan, on the defensive on all fronts, could no longer tolerate the presence of French political and military authority in Indo-china.  Besides, chasing the Europeans out of that part of Asia had been a long term objective.  Japan made a surprise attack o the military garrisons and the French civilian colony on March 9, 1945,destroying all traces of French sovereignty and proclaimed independence for Viet Nam (Annam, Tonkin and Cochin-china), Laos  and Cambodia.

After the defeat of Japan,  revolutionary movements came out of hiding, deposed their native rulers and set up de facto governments under the watchful eye of the Americans.  On September 2, 1945, in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh proclaimed the Democratic Republic of Viet Nam.

Now this was the new and unexpected state of affairs that the first elements of the French expeditionary corps, commanded by General Leclerc, discovered when they arrived at the end of September prepared to fight against the Japanese.  In spite of acts  of violence and localized fighting, negotiations began with the government in place. These negotiations ended with an accord signed in Hanoi on March 6, 1946, recognizing the independence of Viet Nam within the French Union and allowing a French military presence for a period of five years. In Cambodia and Laos  the native rulers were re-established and autonomy was  granted to the two states.

However, a climate of distrust and mutual misunderstanding, aggravated by multiple incidents and poisoned by the actions of radical on both sides soon caused the collapse of the negotiations concerning the new franco-indochinese relationship.  On December 19, 1946, the Viet Minh started a general insurrection. General Giap, the government and its leader Ho Chi Minh, fled to the shelter of their revolutionary bases in  upper Tonkin.

For almost eight years the Viet Minh waged total war guided by a long term strategy and guerrilla tactics in a population which was supportive  whether it wanted to be or not. This type of combat in a superficial war with no front aims to wear out the enemy, make him disperse his forces and sap his morale in order to finally annihilate him in a decisive battle where all  friendly forces can be engaged.

In France, the weight of a military effort 15,000 kms. away, government instability, the indifference, not to say hostility sometimes, of public opinion  towards a distant seemingly endless conflict which involved only career soldiers, did not favor the development of a policy and strategy adapted to the situation, nor, consequently, did it favor the deployment of the means necessary to wage a war.  This conflict took place in the context of a general decolonization for which the old empires were hardly prepared and also against a background of the Cold War, East against West, Soviet and American spheres of influence.

Up until 1950, the French forces were attempting to extend their control over the entire territory and to isolate the enemy bases from China which had become communist in 1949 and served as a haven for the Viet Minh.  The results of operations such as Operation Lea in Oct-Nov 1947 which attempted to destroy the Viet Minh leadership, met with only mitigated success.  Under the authority of Bao Dai, a non marxist nationalist regime governed Viet Nam which had been independent and unified since March 1949 (Auriol-Bao Dai Accord). Similarly, Laos and Cambodia, where the situation was simpler and more peaceful, gained their respective independence on July 19 and November 8.  All three of these countries enjoyed the status of an Associated State within the French Union.

In autumn of 1950 the Viet Minh main battle forces, which had been built up, attacked all along the Chinese frontier (battle of Colonial Route 4), with the disastrous evacuation of Cao Bang which in turn caused Lang Son and Lao Ke to be abandoned and reached the periphery of the Tonkin delta.

There, between January and September, three offensives failed  at Vinh-Yen, Dong-Trieu and on the Red River (Nghia-Lo) in the face of a determined General de Lattre de Tassigny and his troops.   These costly defensive victories allowed France to obtain military aid from the U.S. for the Vietnamese army which was playing an ever increasing rôle in the fighting. On the other hand, the Chinese increased its aid to its ally.  The minority populations furnished anti-Viet Minh guerrillas fighting on the side of the French.

n the Spring of 1952 General Salan replaced General de Lattre who had died on January 11.  That year the Viet Minh launched a series of spectacular offensives all across Tonkin and Laos.  They attacked air-land bases at Na San, the Plain of Jars and Seno but were forced to withdraw.

In March, 1953 General Giap directed an offensive toward upper Laos. General Navarre, who had replaced General Salan, decided to bar access to Laos to the Viet Minh.  It is within this  context that Dien Bien Phu was occupied on November 20, 1953.

As 1954 began the international context had changed.  The Korean War had finally ended.  This allowed the Chines to increase their assistance to the Viet Minh.  On March 13, General Giap launched his attack on Dien Bien Phu which had been encircled since January. After bitter fighting, the base fell on May 7, 1954 just as  the International Conference at Geneva on the future of Korea and Indo-china was opening.

If one examines the overall situation  in Indo-china, the importance of the fall of Dien Bien Phu becomes more psychological than strategic but the repercussions of this battle were enormous.

The negotiations in Geneva ended in a climate of disarray with the Accords of July 21, 1954  Viet Nam was temporarily divided into two zones, zones which became two states in 1955.  The French military presence in the Far East came to an end.  On September 14, 1956 the last French soldier embarked at Saigon.  The war in Indo-china caused more than 47,000 military deaths on the French side.

Today these soldiers are remembered in their home towns on the monuments to the war dead.  However, the memorial at Frejus has become the main memorial site.  It is echoed overseas by the monument at Dien Bien Phu