Dien Bien Fu

Dien Bien Phu

This was a battle after World War II between France and the Vietnamese. The battle was about gaining control over northern Vietnam. The Vietnamese army fought with gorilla tactics witch made it hard for the French to counter. I am not sure why, but the French decided to pick the Dien Bien Phu village to fight.

The French revised a full proof plane that they were sure that would conquer the Dien Bien Phu. They believed that if anything were to go wrong in the battle that their artillery would be able to pick up the slack. The Viet Minh (Vietnamese) didn't allow this to happen. They were over taken at the first, losing their airstrip, but made it up the mountains that the French thought to as being impossible to achieve. The commander of the French army ended up killing himself because of the distraught that was put on him. The casualties and deaths of this war were high, around 2,200 French fighters killed and around 8,000 Vietnamese fighters killed. This small Asian country defeated the large French colonial power. It was a shock to many around the world.

In result of this war, Vietnam was divided into two parts, the communist North and the non-communist South. Washington was deepening his commitment to Vietnam after the war but the Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev didn't want any part with the American nation. He said that if the U.S. wanted to fight then to bring it on. He was so confident after they had defeated the French that they could defend their land against anyone. This battle surprised me because I thought that the French had a great plan to conquer the Dien Bien Phu. Although the Vietnamese people were outnumbered, they hung in and defended their land. I know the times were hard for the people that fought for both sides. Especially if they were captured and took into the opposing sides camps. It bothers me just to think how it was