Battle of Điện Biên Phủ begins

Việt Minh forces attacked the French fortified base at Nà Sản. The French “hedgehog” position used an airstrip and mutually supporting outposts; the battle became a costly test of whether such a...

The Nà Sản battle ended with the French garrison holding the base after heavy fighting. The result demonstrated the limits of a direct assault against a fortified position, but it did not resolve...

The decree set out wartime land measures, including rent reduction and redistribution in areas under DRV control. Land policy answered peasant demands and supported the resistance, while later...

French paratroopers seized Điện Biên Phủ and began building a fortified base intended to draw Viet Minh forces into a decisive battle. The location depended on air resupply and underestimated...

The DRV law established a legal framework for redistributing land from landlords to cultivators. The campaign changed village property relations and strengthened state power, but also involved...

The Geneva Conference opened while Vietnamese forces were besieging the French position at Điện Biên Phủ. The timing connected battlefield pressure to diplomacy: Vietnamese negotiators sought...

The defeat ended France’s ability to continue the war on its prior terms and strengthened Vietnamese claims to independence. It became a landmark in global anti-colonial struggles and influenced...

After the Korean question, delegates began the Indochina phase of the Geneva Conference. Vietnamese representatives pressed for an end to French colonial war; the eventual settlement was shaped by...

Near An Khê, Việt Minh forces ambushed French Mobile Group 100 on Route 19. The attack showed that France’s declining position extended beyond Điện Biên Phủ and that road control remained precarious...

The agreements set a ceasefire and a provisional military regrouping line near the 17th parallel, with nationwide elections envisaged for 1956. Vietnam was not intended to be permanently...