After the surrender of Japan

Japanese troops lay down their arms to British troops in a ceremony in Saigon after the surrender of Japan.

An armistice was signed between Japan and the United States on August 20, 1945. The Provisional Government of the French Republic wanted to restore its colonial rule in French Indochina as the final step of the Liberation of France.

On August 22, 1945, OSS agents Archimedes Patti and Carleton B. Swift Jr. arrived in Hanoi on a mercy mission to liberate Allied POWs, and were accompanied by French government official Jean Sainteny.^[66] The Imperial Japanese Army, being the only force capable of maintaining law and order, remained in power while keeping French colonial troops and Sainteny detained.^[67]

Japanese forces allowed the Việt Minh and other nationalist groups to take over public buildings and weapons without resistance, which began during the August Revolution. On August 25, Hồ Chí Minh was able to persuade Emperor Bảo Đại to abdicate. Bảo Đại was appointed "supreme advisor" to the new Việt Minh-led government in Hanoi.

Commander of the C.L.I. (Corps Léger d'Intervention) arriving in Indochina.

On September 2, aboard USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay, CEFEO Expeditionary Corps leader General Leclerc signed the armistice with Japan on behalf of France.^[68] The same day, Hồ Chí Minh declared Vietnam's independence from France. Deliberately borrowing from the Declaration of Independence of the United States of America, Hồ Chí Minh proclaimed:

We hold the truth that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, among them life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.^[69]

On 26 September 1945 Ho Chi Minh wrote a letter calling for struggle against the French mentioning they were returning after they sold out the Vietnamese to the Japanese twice in four years.^{[70][71][72][73]}

Although the Japanese Army would end up surrendering or destroying most of their war equipment, soldiers and units gave or sold their weapons to the Việt Minh with some commanders reportedly turning over captured French equipment.^[74][75] In order to further help the nationalists, the Japanese kept Vichy French officials and military officers imprisoned for a month after the surrender. OSS officers met repeatedly with Hồ Chí Minh and other Việt Minh officers during this period.^[76] The Việt Minh recruited more than 600 Japanese soldiers and gave them roles to train or command Vietnamese soldiers.^[77][78]

After the August Revolution, Truong Chinh published an article in which he claimed that after the Japanese surrendered on 15 August 1945 the Viet Minh started attacking and slaughtering Japanese and disarming them in a nationwide rebellion on 19 August, saying that the Viet Minh led a brutal, deadly campaign against the Japanese from 9 March to 19 August 1945. According to Truong, the Viet Minh had begun fighting in 1944, when the French were attacked on Dinh Ca in October and in Cao Bang and Bac Can in November. French and Japanese forces fought each other during the Japanese coup, so in Tonkin the Viet Minh began disarming French soldiers and attacking the Japanese, taking control of 6 provinces. He also said that Meo (Hmong) and Muong tribesmen also attacked the Japanese.^[79][80] Although some of these claims are contested by historian David G. Marr.^[81]

On September 13, 1945, a Franco-British task force landed in Java, main island of the Dutch East Indies (for which independence was being sought by Sukarno), and Saigon, capital of Cochinchina (southern part of French Indochina), both being occupied by the Japanese and ruled by Field Marshal Hisaichi Terauchi, Commander-in-Chief of Japan's Southern Expeditionary Army Group based in Saigon.^[82] Allied troops in Saigon were an airborne detachment, two British companies of the Indian 20th Infantry Division and the French 5th Colonial Infantry Regiment, with British General Sir Douglas Gracey as supreme commander. The latter proclaimed martial law on September 21. The following night the Franco-British troops took control of Saigon.^[83]

Telegram from Hồ Chí Minh to U.S. President Harry S. Truman requesting support for independence (Hanoi, February 28, 1946)

Almost immediately afterward, as agreed to at the Potsdam Conference (and under Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers' "General Order no. One"^[84][85]), 200,000 troops of the Chinese 1st Army occupied Indochina as far south as the 16th parallel. They had been sent by Chiang Kai-shek under General Lu Han to accept the surrender of Japanese forces occupying that area, then to supervise the disarming and repatriation of the Japanese Army. In the North, the Chinese permitted the DRV government to remain in charge of keeping the peace and the supply of rice to the occupiers.^[86] Initially, the Chinese kept the French Colonial soldiers interned, with the acquiescence of the Americans.^[67] The Chinese used the VNQDĐ, the Vietnamese branch of the Chinese Kuomintang, to increase their influence in Indochina and put pressure on their opponents.^[87]

On October 9, 1945, General Leclerc arrived in Saigon, accompanied by French Colonel Massu's March Group (Groupement de marche). Leclerc's primary objectives were to restore public order in south Vietnam and to militarize Tonkin (north Vietnam). Secondary objectives were to wait for French backup in view to take back Chinese-occupied Hanoi, then to negotiate with the Việt Minh officials.^[83]

Chiang Kai-shek threatened the French with war in response to manoeuvering by the French and Hồ Chí Minh against each other, forcing them to come to a peace agreement. In February 1946, he also forced the French to surrender and renounce all of their concessions and ports in China, such as Shanghai, in exchange for withdrawing from northern Indochina and allowing French troops to reoccupy the region starting in March 1946.^{[88][89][90][91]} Following the Ho–Sainteny agreement, VNQDĐ forces became vulnerable due to the withdrawal of Chinese forces and were attacked by Việt Minh and French troops. The Việt Minh massacred thousands of VNQDĐ members and other nationalists in a large-scale purge.^[92][93]

Chiang Kai-shek deliberately withheld his crack and well trained soldiers from occupying Vietnam, probably because he was going to use them to fight the Communists inside China, and instead sent undisciplined warlord troops from Yunnan under Lu Han to occupy Vietnam north of the 16th parallel and accept the Japanese surrender.^[94][95] In total, 200,000 of General Lu Han's Chinese soldiers occupied north Vietnam starting August 1945. 90,000 arrived by October, the 62nd army came on 26 September to Nam Dinh and Haiphong, later arriving at Lang Son and Cao Bang and the Red River region and Lai Cai were occupied by a column from Yunnan. Vietnamese VNQDD fighters accompanied the Chinese soldiers. Lu Han occupied the French governor general's palace after ejecting the French staff under Sainteny.^[96] While the Chinese soldiers occupied northern Indochina, the British under the South-East Asia Command of Lord Mountbatten occupied the south.^[97][98]

Ho Chi Minh's Viet Minh tried to organize welcome parades for the Chinese soldiers in Hanoi and Haiphong in order to appease the Chinese army, and try to reassure the Vietnamese that the warlord troops of Lu Han were only there temporarily and that China supported Vietnam's independence. Viet Minh newspapers said that the same ancestors (huyết thống) and culture were shared by Vietnamese and Chinese and that the Chinese were attacked by western imperialists, had changed in the 1911 revolution and heroically fought Japan and so it was "not the same as feudal China".^[99]

Ho Chi Minh was compelled to give in to demands made by the Chinese occupation forces: Lu Han extracted a deal out of him, by which he ordered his DRV administration to set quotas for rice to give to the Chinese soldiers.^[96] Rice sent to Cochinchina by the French in October 1945 was divided by Ho Chi Minh, the northern Vietnamese only received one third while the Chinese soldiers were given the remaining two thirds. For 15 days elections were postponed by Ho Chi Minh in response to a demand by Chinese general Chen Xiuhe on 18 December 1945 so that the Chinese could get the Dong Minh Hoi and VNQDD to prepare.^[100]

Despite the food quotas arranged, the occupiers seized several rice stockpiles, and other private and public goods. Along with this, the Chinese soldiers staged disturbances which resulted in the death of several Vietnamese, and were also accused of raping, beatings, occupying private dwellings and burning down others. The Chinese crimes went mostly unpunished, with the occupiers issuing apologies or partial compensations. On the other hand, Vietnamese crimes against the Chinese were dutifully investigated, Ho Chi Minh even surrendered Vietnamese who attacked Chinese soldiers to be executed as punishment. And forbade his soldiers from attacking Chinese soldiers.^[101]

He also called on people to contribute gold taels, jewelry and coins in September 1945, in what was called "Gold Week", mostly to purchase weapons for the Viet Minh but also to finance the Chinese occupation, Ho Chi Minh gave golden smoking paraphernalia and a golden opium pipe to the Chinese general Lu Han after this.^[102][103]

General Lu Han

Ho Chi Minh appeased and granted numerous concessions to the Chinese soldiers to avoid the possibility of them clashing with the Viet Minh, with him ordering Vietnamese not to carry out anything against Chinese soldiers and pledging his life on his promise, hoping the Chinese would disarm the Japanese soldiers and finish their mission as fast as possible.^[104]

While Chiang Kai-shek, Xiao Wen (Hsiao Wen) and the Kuomintang central government of China were uninterested in occupying Vietnam beyond the allotted time period and involving itself in the war between the Viet Minh and the French, the Yunnan warlord Lu Han held the opposite view and wanted to occupy Vietnam to prevent the French from returning and establish a Chinese trusteeship of Vietnam under the principles of the Atlantic Charter with the aim of eventually preparing Vietnam for independence.^[105]

Ho Chi Minh sent a cable on 17 October 1945 to American President Harry S. Truman calling on him, Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek, Premier Joseph Stalin and Prime Minister Clement Attlee to go to the United Nations against France and demand that they not be allowed to return to occupy Vietnam, accusing France of having sold out and cheated the Allies by surrendering Indochina to Japan and that France had no right to return.^[106] Ho Chi Minh dumped the blame on Dong Minh Hoi and VNDQQ for signing the agreement with France which allowed its soldiers to return to Vietnam.^[107][108]

Chinese communist guerilla leader Chu Chia-pi came into northern Vietnam multiple times in 1945 and 1948 and helped the Viet Minh fight against the French from Yunnan. Other Chinese Communists also did the same.^[109]

Intra-Vietnamese factions

In addition to British support, the French also received assistance from various southern groups that modern historians consider unambiguously Vietnamese.

After the August Revolution, the armed militias from the religious Hòa Hảo sect backed by the Japanese were in direct conflict with the Viet Minh who sought to take full control of the country. This ultimately led to the assassination of their leader in April 1947.^[110]

The Bình Xuyên organized crime group also sought power in the country and although initially fought alongside the Việt Minh, they would later support Bảo Đại.^{[111][112][113]}

Militias from the Cao Đài sect, which had initially joined the Viet Minh in their struggle against the return of the French, made a truce with France when their leader was captured in 6 June 1946. The Viet Minh later attacked the Cao Đài after open conflict had erupted with France, which led them to join the French side.^{[114][115][116]}

Vietnamese society also polarized along ethnic lines: the Nung minority assisted the French, while the Tay assisted the Việt Minh.^[117]

War breaks out (1946)

Hồ Chí Minh and Marius Moutet shaking hands after signing modus vivendi 1946 after Fontainebleau Agreements

In March 1946, a preliminary accord signed between the French and Ho Chi Minh which acknowledged the DRV as a free state within an Indochinese Federation in a "French Union" and allowed a limited number of French troops within its borders to replace the Chinese forces which started gradually returning to China. In further negotiations, the French would seek to ratify Vietnam´s position within the Union and the Vietnamese main priorities were preserving their independence and the reunification with the Republic of Cochinchina, which had been created by High Commissioner Georges d'Argenlieu in June.^[118] In September, once main negotiations had broken down in Paris over these two key issues, Ho Chi Minh and Marius Moutet, the French Minister of the Colonies, signed a temporary modus vivendi which reaffirmed the March Accord, although no specifications were made on the issue of a Nam Bộ (Cochinchina) reuniffication referendum and negotiations for a definitive treaty were set to begin no later than January 1947.^[119]

In the north, an uneasy peace had been maintained during the negotiations, in November however, fighting broke out in Haiphong between the Việt Minh government and the French over a conflict of interest in import duty at the port.^[120] On November 23, 1946, the French fleet bombarded the Vietnamese sections of the city killing 6,000 Vietnamese civilians in one afternoon.^{[121][122][123]} The Việt Minh quickly agreed to a cease-fire and left the cities. This is known as the Haiphong incident.

There was never any intention among the Vietnamese to give up, as General Võ Nguyên Giáp soon brought up 30,000 men to attack the city. Although the French were outnumbered, their superior weaponry and naval support made any Việt Minh attack unsuccessful. In 19 December, hostilities between the Việt Minh and the French broke out in Hanoi, and Hồ Chí Minh, along with his government, was forced to evacuate the capital in favor of remote forested and mountainous areas. Guerrilla warfare ensued, with the French controlling most of the country except far-flung areas. By January the following year, most provincial capitals had fallen to the French, while Hue fell in February after a six-week siege.^[124]

French offensives, creation of the State of Vietnam (1947–1949)

In 1947, Hồ Chí Minh and General Võ Nguyên Giáp retreated with his command into the Việt Bắc, the mountainous jungles of northern Vietnam. By March, France had taken control of the main population centers in the country. The French chose not to pursue the Việt Minh before the beginning of the seasonal rains in May, and military operations were postponed until their conclusion.^[125]

Come October, the French launched Operation Léa with the objective of swiftly putting an end to the resistance movement by taking out the Vietnamese main battle units and the Việt Minh leadership at their base in Bắc Kạn. Léa was followed by Operation Ceinture in November, with similar aims. As a result of the French offensive, the Việt Minh would end up losing valuable resources and suffering heavy losses, 7,200–9,500 KIA. Nevertheless, both operations failed to capture Hồ Chí Minh and his key lieutenants as intended, and the main Vietnamese battle units managed to survive.^[126][127]

In 1948, France started looking for means of opposing the Việt Minh politically, with an alternative government led by former emperor Bảo Đại to lead an "autonomous" government within the French Union of nations. This new state ruled over northern and central Vietnam, excluding the colony of Cochinchina, and had limited autonomy. This initial accord with the French was decried by non-Communist nationalists and Bảo Đại withdrew from the agreement. It would not be until March 1949 that the French would concede on the issue of unification and a final agreement would be reached.^[128][129]

Two years prior, the French had refused Ho's proposal of a similar status within the French Union, albeit with some restrictions on French power and the latter's eventual withdrawal from Vietnam.^[130] However, they were willing to deal with Bảo Đại as he represented a non-radical option who could rally behind him the non-Communist nationalist movement.^[131]

In January 1950, France officially recognized the nominal "independence" of the unified State of Vietnam, led by Bảo Đại, as an associated state within the French Union. However, France still controlled all foreign policy, every defense issue and would have a French Union army stationed in the country with complete freedom of movement.^[132] Within the framework of the French Union, France also granted independence to the other nations in Indochina, the Kingdoms of Laos and Cambodia.

In January 1949, the Vietnamese National Army was created to go along the formation of the new Vietnamese associated state. This was meant to bolster French numbers as their army found itself outnumbered by the People's Army of Vietnam at this point in the war. To this end, the CEFEO provided some of its officers to lead these new divisions.^[133]

Việt Minh reorganization (1949–1950)

A map of dissident activities in Indochina in 1950

Throughout 1948 and 1949, the Việt Minh engaged in ambushes and sabotage of French convoys and infrastructure. Meanwhile, the French government was still looking for a political solution and major military operations stalled for a lack of manpower.^[134][135]

With the triumph of the communists in China's civil war in October 1949, the Vietnamese communists gained a major political ally on their northern border, who supported them with advisers, weapons and supplies along with camps where new recruits were trained. Between 1950 and 1951, Giap re-organized his local forces into five full conventional infantry divisions, the 304th, 308th, 312th, 316th and the 320th.^[136]

During 1950, the DRV would seek to secure its control over the Chinese border. In February, Giáp launched "Operation Lê Hong Phong I", taking control of the border town of Lào Cai, in the high valley of the Red River.^[137]

By April, most of the northeastern border was under Viet-Minh control, save for a string of posts along the eastern tonkinese frontier, Cao Bằng, Đông Khê, Thất Khê and Lạng Sơn, from North to South, connected by the Colonial Route 4 (RC 4). Here is where the Viet Minh would focus next during "Operation Lê Hong Phong II". This new offensive began on September 16 when forces commanded by General Hoàng Văn Thái attacked Đông Khê, which fell two days later.^[138] In response, the French decided to evacuate Cao Bằng, which had become isolated. Soldiers and civilians were to march south and join a group marching north from Thất Khê tasked with recapturing the lost position. However, despite having been ordered to destroy all equipment, the commander of the Cao Bằng force decided to bring along its artillery when they left on October 3, causing delays and making them vulnerable to ambushes. The two forces met four days later on October 7 in Đông Khê but were ultimately defeated.^[139] Finally, on October 17, the French command decided to abandon Lạng Sơn before it could come under attack, leaving behind considerable amounts of military supplies. The Viet-Minh now controlled most of the northern half of Tonkin.^[140] This operation would cost the French around 6,000 soldiers.^[141]

In January 1950, Ho's government gained recognition from China and the Soviet Union. Shortly after, the government of Bảo Đại gained recognition by the United States and the United Kingdom. Along with Mao Zedong's victory in China, this gesture by the main Communist powers, played a part in shifting the US view of the war, which began to be seen as part of the global struggle against Communism.^[142] Starting in May, the United States began to provide military aid to France in the form of weaponry and military observers.^[143]

In June, the Korean War broke out between communist North Korea (DPRK) supported by China and the Soviet Union, and South Korea (ROK) supported by the United States and its allies in the UN. The Cold War was turning 'hot' in East Asia, and the American government feared communist domination of the entire region would have deep implications for American interests. The US became strongly opposed to the government of Hồ Chí Minh, in part, because it was supported and supplied by China.

Renewed French success (January–June 1951)

General Trình Minh Thế

A new French commander in chief and high commissioner, General Jean Marie de Lattre de Tassigny, was appointed in December 1950.^[144] With him began the construction of a defensive line of fortifications from Hanoi to the Gulf of Tonkin, around the Red River Delta, to protect Tonkin against a possible Chinese invasion and prevent Việt Minh infiltration. It became known as the De Lattre Line.^[145]

In late 1950 Giáp decided to go on a "general counteroffensive", seeking the final defeat of the French.^[146] On January 13, 1951, he moved the 308th and 312th Divisions, with more than 20,000 men, to attack Vĩnh Yên, 30 miles (48 km) northwest of Hanoi, which was manned by 6,000 French troops. Considered the first set-piece battle of the war, the Vietnamese saw initial success, although as the battle progressed, French aerial supremacy proved decisive as reinforcements flew in from the rest of Indochina and all available aircraft capable of dropping bombs was utilized to carry out what would be the largest aerial bombardement of the war. By noon of January 17, Giáp's troops withdrew in defeat. The Vietnamese had suffered 5,000–6,000 deaths and 500 combatants were captured.^{[147][148][149]}

Giáp tried again to break the French defensive line, this time 20 miles (32 km) north-east of Haiphong in an attempt to cut the French access to the port city. On March 23, the Việt Minh's 316th Division, composed of 11,000 men, with the partly rebuilt 308th and 312th Divisions in reserve, launched an attack on Mạo Khê. With instances of hand-to-hand combat, the French, supported by paratroopers and naval artillery, repelled the attack and the Vietnamese were beaten by the morning of March 28.^[150][151] About 1,500 – 3,000 Việt Minh soldiers were killed.^{[152][150][153]}

Giáp launched yet another attack, the Battle of the Day River, on May 29 with the 304th Division at Phủ Lý, the 308th Division at Ninh Bình, and the main attack delivered by the 320th Division at Phát Diệm south of Hanoi. The attacks fared no better and the three divisions lost heavily. Taking advantage of this, de Lattre mounted his counteroffensive against the demoralized Việt Minh, driving them back into the forests and eliminating the enemy pockets in the Red River Delta by June 18, costing the Việt Minh over 10,000 killed.^[154]

Every effort by Võ Nguyên Giáp to break the De Lattre Line failed, and every attack he made was answered by a French counter-attack that destroyed his forces. Việt Minh casualties rose alarmingly during this period, leading some to question the leadership of the Communist government, even within the party. However, any benefit this may have reaped for France was negated by the increasing domestic opposition to the war in France.

Stalemate (July 1951–1953)

On July 31, French General Charles Chanson was assassinated during a propaganda suicide attack at Sa Đéc in South Vietnam that was blamed on the Việt Minh although it was argued in some quarters that Cao Đài nationalist Trình Minh Thế could have been involved in its planning.^[155][156]

French foreign airborne 1st BEP firing with an FM 24/29 light machine gun during an ambush (1952)

Following the Viet Minh's defeats on the Hanoi perimeter, De Lattre decided to seize the city of Hòa Bình, 20 miles (32 km) west of the De Lattre Line, in an attempt to hinder the flow of supplies between Tonkin, which received direct Chinese support, and central and southern Vietnam. It also aimed to maintain the allegiance of the Muong troops. The city was captured by a parachute drop on November 14.^[157][158]

The ensuing battle became increasingly costly to the French and after De Lattre fell ill from cancer and returned to Paris for treatment where he would die shortly thereafter in January 1952, his replacement as the overall commander of French forces in Indochina, General Raoul Salan, decided to pull back from the Hòa Bình salient.^[159][160] The French lost nearly 5,000 men and the Viet Minh "at least that number" according to historian Phillip P. Davidson, while Spencer C. Tucker claims 894 French killed and missing and 9,000 Viet Minh casualties.^[159][161] This campaign showed that the war was far from over.

Throughout the war theater, the Việt Minh cut French supply lines and wore down the resolve of the French forces. There were continued raids, skirmishes and guerrilla attacks, but through most of the rest of the year each side withdrew to prepare for larger operations. In the Battle of Nà Sản, starting on October 2, French commanders began using "hedgehog" tactics, consisting in setting up well-defended outposts to get the Việt Minh out of the forests and force them to fight conventional battles instead of using guerrilla tactics.

On October 17, 1952, Giáp launched attacks against the French garrisons along Nghĩa Lộ, northwest of Hanoi, and overran much of the Black River valley, except for the airfield of Nà Sản where a strong French garrison entrenched. Giáp by now had control over most of Tonkin beyond the De Lattre Line. Raoul Salan, seeing the situation as critical, launched Operation Lorraine along the Clear River to force Giáp to relieve pressure on the Nghĩa Lộ outposts.

On October 29, 1952, in the largest operation in Indochina to date, 30,000 French Union soldiers moved out from the De Lattre Line to attack the Việt Minh supply dumps at Phú Yên. Salan took Phú Thọ on November 5, and Phu Doan on November 9 by a parachute drop, and finally Phú Yên on November 13. Giáp at first did not react to the French offensive. He planned to wait until their supply lines were overextended and then cut them off from the Red River Delta.

Salan correctly guessed what the Việt Minh were up to and cancelled the operation on November 14, beginning to withdraw back to the De Lattre Line. The only major fighting during the operation came during the withdrawal, when the Việt Minh ambushed the French column at Chan Muong on November 17. The road was cleared after a bayonet charge by the Indochinese March Battalion, and the withdrawal could continue. The French lost around 1,200 men during the whole operation, most of them during the Chan Muong ambush. The operation was partially successful, proving that the French could strike out at targets outside the De Lattre Line. However, it failed to divert the Việt Minh offensive or seriously damage its logistical network.

A Bearcat naval fighter aircraft of the Aéronavale drops napalm on Việt Minh Division 320th's artillery during Operation Mouette (November 1953)

On April 9, 1953, Giáp, after having failed repeatedly in direct attacks on French positions in Vietnam, changed strategy and began to pressure the French by invading Laos, surrounding and defeating several French outposts such as Muong Khoua. In May, General Henri Navarre replaced Salan as supreme commander of French forces in Indochina. He reported to the French government "... that there was no possibility of winning the war in Indo-China", saying that the best the French could hope for was a stalemate.

Navarre, in response to the Việt Minh attacking Laos, concluded that "hedgehog" centers of defense were the best plan. Looking at a map of the area, Navarre chose the small town of Điện Biên Phủ, located about 10 miles (16 km) north of the Lao border and 175 miles (282 km) west of Hanoi, as a target to block the Việt Minh from invading Laos. Điện Biên Phủ had a number of advantages: it was on a Việt Minh supply route into Laos on the Nam Yum River, it had an old airstrip for supply, and it was situated in the Tai mountains where the Tai troops, allied with the French, operated.

Operation Castor was launched on November 20, 1953, with 1,800 men of the French 1st and 2nd Airborne Battalions dropping into the valley of Điện Biên Phủ and sweeping aside the local Việt Minh garrison. The paratroopers gained control of a heart-shaped valley 12 miles (19 km) long and 8 miles (13 km) wide surrounded by heavily wooded mountains. Encountering little opposition, the French and Tai units operating from Lai Châu to the north patrolled the mountains.

The operation was a tactical success for the French. However, Giáp, seeing the weakness of the French position, started moving most of his forces from the De Lattre Line to Điện Biên Phủ. By mid-December, most of the French and Tai patrols in the mountains around the town were wiped out by Việt Minh ambushes. The fight for control of this position would be the longest and hardest battle for the French Far East Expeditionary Corps and would be remembered by the veterans as "57 Days of Hell".

French defeat at Dien Bien Phu, end of the war (1954)

Map of the war in 1954: Orange = Areas under Việt Minh control. Purple = Areas under French control. White-dotted hatch = Areas of Việt Minh guerrilla encampment and fighting.

By 1954, despite official propaganda presenting the war as a "crusade against communism",^[162][163] the war in Indochina was still growing unpopular with the French public. The political stagnation in the Fourth Republic meant that France was unable to extract itself from the conflict.

The Battle of Dien Bien Phu took place in 1954 between Việt Minh forces under Võ Nguyên Giáp, supported by China and the Soviet Union, and the French Union's French Far East Expeditionary Corps, supported by US financing^[164] and Indochinese allies. The battle was fought near the village of Điện Biên Phủ in northern Vietnam and became the last major battle between the French and the Vietnamese in the First Indochina War.

The battle began on March 13 when a preemptive Việt Minh attack surprised the French with heavy artillery. The artillery damaged both the main and secondary airfields that the French were using to fly in supplies. With French supply lines interrupted, the French position became untenable, particularly when the advent of the monsoon season made dropping supplies and reinforcements by parachute difficult. With defeat imminent, the French sought to hold on until the opening of the Geneva peace meeting on April 26. The last French offensive took place on May 4, but it was ineffective. The Việt Minh then began to hammer the outpost with newly supplied Soviet Katyusha rockets.^[165]

The final fall took two days, May 6 and 7, during which the French fought on but were eventually overrun by a huge frontal assault. General Cogny, based in Hanoi, ordered General de Castries, who was commanding the outpost, to cease fire at 5:30 pm and to destroy all matériel (weapons, transmissions, etc.) to deny their use to the enemy. A formal order was given to not use the white flag so that the action would be considered a ceasefire instead of a surrender. Much of the fighting ended on May 7; however, the ceasefire was not respected on Isabelle, the isolated southern position, where the battle lasted until May 8, 1:00 am.^[166]

At least 2,200 members of the 20,000-strong French forces died, and another 1,729 were reported missing after the battle, and 11,721 were captured. The Viet Minh suffered approximately 25,000 casualties over the course of the battle, with as many as 10,000 Viet Minh personnel having been killed in the battle. Such a high amount of losses has led some historians to classify the Viet Minh's triumph as a pyrrhic victory and has been attributed as a factor motivating the Viet Minh's leadership to enter peace negotiations with France shortly thereafter.^[167] The prisoners taken at Điện Biên Phủ were the greatest number the Việt Minh had ever captured: one-third of the total captured during the entire war.

One month after Điện Biên Phủ, the composite Groupe Mobile 100 (GM100) of the French Union forces evacuated the An Khê outpost and was ambushed by a larger Việt Minh force at the Battle of Mang Yang Pass from June 24 to July 17. The Việt Minh victory at Điện Biên Phủ heavily influenced the outcome of the 1954 Geneva accords that took place on July 21. In August Operation Passage to Freedom began, consisting of the evacuation of Catholic and other Vietnamese civilians from communist North Vietnamese persecution.

French

During the war, there were many instances of war rapes against Vietnamese civilians by French soldiers. This occurred in Saigon, alongside robberies and killings, following the return of the French in August 1945.^[183] Vietnamese women were also raped by French soldiers in northern Vietnam in 1948, following the defeat of the Viet Minh, including in Bảo Hà, Bảo Yên District, Lào Cai province and Phu Lu This led to 400 French-trained Vietnamese defecting to the Viet Minh June 1948.^[184] French killings of Vietnamese civilians were reported, many of them were caused by the tendency of Viet Minh troops to hide among civilian settlements.^[185] One of the largest massacres by French troops was the Mỹ Trạch massacre of November 29, 1947, in which French soldiers killed over 200 women and children. Regarding this massacre and other atrocities during the conflict, Christopher Goscha wrote in The Penguin History of Modern Vietnam:

Rape became a disturbing weapon used by the Expeditionary Corps, as did summary executions. Young Vietnamese women who could not escape approaching enemy patrols smeared themselves with any stinking thing they could find, including human excrement. Decapitated heads were raised on sticks, bodies were gruesomely disemboweled, and body parts were taken as 'souvenirs'; Vietnamese soldiers of all political color also committed such acts. The non-communist nationalist singer, Phạm Duy, wrote a bone-chilling ballad about the mothers of Gio Linh village in central Vietnam, each of whom had lost a son to a French Army massacre in 1948. Troops decapitated their bodies and displayed their heads along a public road to strike fear into those tempted to accept the Democratic Republic of Vietnam's sovereignty. Massacres did not start with the Americans in My Lai, or the Vietnamese communists in Hue in 1968. And yet, the French Union's massacre of over two hundred Vietnamese women and children in My Tratch in 1948 remains virtually unknown in France to this day.^[32]

The French Army also utilized torture against Việt Minh prisoners.^[186] Benjamin Valentino estimates that the French were responsible for 60,000 to 250,000 civilian deaths.^[187]

Viet Minh

According to Arthur J. Dommen, the Việt Minh assassinated 100,000–150,000 civilians during the war out of a total civilian death toll of 400,000.^[188]

Viet Minh militants employed terrorist attacks throughout the conflict as a systematic practice, often targeting European and Eurasian civilians.^[185] In 1947 wounded soldiers and French civilians who had returned to France from Vietnam reported that Vietnamese "suicide squads" had tortured and massacred French civilians. The Canberra Times reported that "The men were soaked with petrol and set afire. The women were killed after they were raped, and children were hacked to pieces." The witnesses also asserted that they had seen Japanese soldiers among the Viet Minh.^[189] One of the worst attacks on Europeans was on 21 July 1952, when Viet Minh militants, using grenades, Sten guns, and machetes, massacred twenty unarmed people at a military hospital in Cap St. Jacques–eight officers on sick leave, six children, four Vietnamese servants, and two women.^[190][191]

Many French Union and Vietnamese National Army prisoners died in the Việt Minh POW camps as a result of torture. In the Boudarel Affair, French Communist militant Georges Boudarel was discovered to have used brainwashing and torture against French Union POWs in Việt Minh reeducation camps.^[192] The French national association of POWs brought Boudarel to court for a war crime charge.

Japanese volunteers

Many former Imperial Japanese Army soldiers fought alongside the Việt Minh—perhaps as many as 5,000 volunteered their services throughout the war. These Japanese had stayed behind in Indochina after World War II concluded in 1945. The occupying British authorities then repatriated most of the rest of the 50,000 Japanese troops back to Japan.^[205] For those that stayed behind, supporting the Việt Minh became a more attractive idea than returning to a defeated and occupied homeland. In addition the Việt Minh had very little experience in warfare or government so the advice of the Japanese was welcome. Some of the Japanese were ex-Kenpeitai who were wanted for questioning by Allied authorities. Giap arranged for them all to receive Vietnamese citizenship and false identification papers.^[205] Some Japanese were captured by the Việt Minh during the last months of World War II and were recruited into their ranks.

Most of the Japanese officers who stayed served as military instructors for the Việt Minh forces, most notably at the Quảng Ngãi Army Academy.^[206] They imparted necessary conventional military knowledge – such as how to conduct assaults, night attacks, company/battalion level exercises, commanding, tactics, navigation, communications and movements. A few, however, actively led Vietnamese forces into combat.^[206] The French also identified eleven Japanese nurses and two doctors working for the Việt Minh in northern Vietnam in 1951. The Yasukuni Shrine commemorates a number of Japanese involved in the First Indochina War.^[207]

Notable Japanese officers serving in Việt Minh included:

• Colonel Mukaiyama – reportedly a staff officer in the 38th Army, who became a technical advisor to the Vietnamese. Credited as the leader of Japanese forces in Vietnam; killed in combat in 1946.
• Colonel Masanobu Tsuji – Operations Staff Officer.^[208]
• Major Ishii Takuo – a staff officer in the 55th Division who had commanded a squadron of its cavalry regiment. Supposedly the youngest major in the Imperial Army at the time, he led a number of volunteers to the Vietnamese cause, becoming a colonel and military advisor to General Nguyễn Sơn. He headed the Quảng Ngãi Military Academy for a while before founding the Tuy Hòa Military Academy, and was killed by a land mine in 1950.
• Major Kanetoshi Toshihide – served with Major Igari in the 2nd Division and followed him to join the Việt Minh; he became Chief of Staff for General Nguyễn Giác Ngộ.
• Major Igawa Sei – a staff officer in the 34th Independent Mixed Brigade; he joined the Viet Minh forces, and was killed in action against the French in 1946. He allegedly conceived the idea of establishing the Quảng Ngãi Military Academy.
• Lieutenant Igari Kazumasa – the commander of an infantry company in the 2nd Division's 29th Infantry Regiment; he became an instructor at the Quảng Ngãi Military Academy.
• Lieutenant Kamo Tokuji – a platoon leader under Lieutenant Igari; he also became an instructor at the Quảng Ngãi Military Academy.
• 2nd Lieutenant Tanimoto Kikuo an intelligence officer who was originally supposed to remain behind in Indonesia, but linked up with the 34th Brigade to try to get home, only to end up as an instructor at the Quảng Ngãi Military Academy until 1954.
• 2nd Lieutenant Nakahara Mitsunobu – an intelligence officer of the 34th Independent Mixed Brigade; became a decorated soldier in the Việt Minh forces, and later an instructor at the Quảng Ngãi Military Academy.^{[209][210][211]}

China

China supplied the Việt Minh with hundreds of Soviet-built GAZ-51 trucks during the 1950s.

The victory of the Chinese communists in December 1949 proved decisive in the course of the war as during the early 1950s guerrilla troops used the southern areas of China as a sanctuary where new troops could be trained and fitted beyond the reach of the French.^[29] The Việt Minh successfully carried out several hit-and-run ambushes against French Union military convoys along the Route Coloniale 4 (RC 4) roadway, which ran along the Chinese border, and was a major supply passage in Tonkin (northern Vietnam) for a series of frontier forts.^[212] One of the most famous attacks of this nature was the Battle of Cao Bằng of 1947–1949.

China supplied and provided the Việt Minh guerrilla forces with almost every kind of crucial and important supplies and material required, such as food (including thousands of tonnes of rice), money, medics and medical aid and supplies, arms and weapons (ranging from artillery guns (24 of which were used at the Battle of Dien Bien Phu) to rifles and machine-guns), ammunition and explosives and other types of military equipment, including a large part of war-material captured from the then-recently defeated National Revolutionary Army (NRA) of Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalist Chinese government following the end of the Chinese Civil War in 1949. Evidence of the People's Republic of China's secret aid and supplies were found hidden in caves during the French military's Operation Hirondelle in July 1953.^[213][214] 2,000 military advisors from the PRC and the Soviet Union trained the Việt Minh guerrilla force with the aim of turning it into a full-fledged armed force to fight off their French colonial masters and gain national independence.^[172] On top of this, the PRC sent two People's Liberation Army (PLA) artillery battalions to fight at the siege of Dien Bien Phu on May 6, 1954, with one battalion operating the Soviet Katyusha multiple-rocket launcher systems (MRLS) against French forces besieged at Dien Bien Phu's valley.^[215]

From 1950 to 1954 the Chinese government shipped goods, materials, and medicine worth $49 billion (in 2022 dollars) to Vietnam. From 1950 to 1956 the Chinese government shipped 155,000 small arms, 58 million rounds of ammunition, 4,630 artillery pieces, 1,080,000 artillery shells, 840,000 hand grenades, 1,400,000 uniforms, 1,200 vehicles, 14,000 tons of food, and 26,000 tons of fuel to Vietnam. Mao Zedong considered it necessary to buttress the Viet Minh to secure his country's southern flank against potential interference by westerners, while the bulk of the PRC's regular military forces participated in the Korean War from 1950 to 1953. After the end of the Korean War and the resolution of the First Taiwan Strait Crisis, China stepped up involvement in the Indochina Wars, viewing the presence of potentially hostile forces in Indochina as the main threat.^[216][217]

Soviet Union

The Soviet Union was the other major ally of the Việt Minh, alongside the PRC. Moscow supplied GAZ-built trucks, truck engines and motor-parts, fuel, tyres, many different kinds of arms and weapons (including thousands of Škoda-manufactured light machine-guns of Czech origin), all kinds of ammunition (ranging from rifle to machine-gun ammunition), various types of anti-aircraft guns (such as the 37mm air-defense gun) and even cigarettes and tobacco products. During Operation Hirondelle, French Union paratroopers captured and destroyed many tonnes of Soviet-supplied material destined for Việt Minh use in the area of Ky Lua.^[213][218] According to General Giap, the chief military leader of all Việt Minh forces, the Việt Minh used about 400 Soviet-produced GAZ-51 trucks at the Battle of Dien Bien Phu. Because the trucks were concealed and hidden with the use of highly effective camouflage (comprised predominantly of thick vegetation), French Union reconnaissance aircraft were not able to notice them and take note of the effective Việt Minh supply-train. On May 6, 1954, during the siege against French forces at the valley of Dien Bien Phu, Soviet-supplied Katyusha MLRS were successfully fielded against French Union military outposts, destroying enemy troop formations and bases and lowering their morale levels. Together with the PRC, the Soviet Union sent up to 2,000 military advisors to provide training to the Việt Minh guerrilla troops and to turn it into a conventional army.^[172]

United States

Mutual Defense Assistance Act (1950–1954)

Anti-communist Vietnamese refugees moving from a French LSM landing ship to the USS Montague during Operation Passage to Freedom in 1954

At the beginning of the war, the U.S. was neutral in the conflict because of its opposition to European colonialism, because the Việt Minh had recently been U.S. allies, and because, in the context of the Cold War, most of its attention was focused on Europe where Winston Churchill argued an "Iron Curtain" had fallen.

The 1949 victory of Mao Zedong's Chinese Communist Party in the Chinese Civil War, the recognition of the DRV by the USSR and the newly formed People's Republic of China in January 1950, which prompted the US and Britain to recognize the State of Vietnam in response, and the signing of the Sino-Soviet Treaty of Friendship shortly after in February, shifted the US stance on the matter, and the war came to be viewed as another front in the anticommunist struggle.^[219]

Indochina, and Southeast Asia more broadly, was declared vital by the U.S. government, and the containment of communism at the southern Chinese border, and, later, Korea, became one of the priorities of American foreign policy as it was believed that the fall of Indochina to communist hands would lead to the loss of other nations in the region.^[220] At this time, communism was seen as a uniform bloc, dominated by the Soviet Union. It was feared in Washington that if Ho were to win the war, he would establish a state politically aligned with Moscow, with the Soviets ultimately controlling Vietnamese affairs.^[221] This prospect spurred the U.S. to support France in their war effort, primarily through the Mutual Defense Assistance Act. In May 1950, after Chinese communist forces occupied Hainan island, U.S. President Harry S. Truman began covertly authorizing direct financial assistance to the French, and on June 27, 1950, after the outbreak of the Korean War, announced publicly that the U.S. was doing so.^[222]

On June 30, 1950, the first U.S. supplies for Indochina were delivered.^[223] In September, Truman sent the Military Assistance Advisory Group (MAAG) to Indochina to assist the French.^[224] Later, in 1954, U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower explained the escalation risk, introducing what he referred to as the "domino principle", which eventually became the concept of domino theory.^[225]

After the Moch–Marshall meeting of September 23, 1950, in Washington, United States, started to support the French Union effort politically, logistically and financially. Officially, US involvement did not include use of armed force.

As the situation at Dien Bien Phu deteriorated in 1954, France requested more support from the United States, including equipment and direct intervention. For instance, on April 4 French Prime Minister Joseph Laniel and Foreign Minister Georges Bidault conveyed to U.S. Ambassador C. Douglas Dillon that "immediate armed intervention of US carrier aircraft at DienBien Phu is now necessary to save the situation". The United States discussed with allies multiple options, including the use of nuclear weapons. A key concern in the planning was the response of China. While the planning continued, the United States moved an aircraft-carrier task-force, which included the carriers Boxer and Essex, into the South China Sea between the Philippines and Indochina. However, the leadership of the United States eventually decided that there was not sufficient international or domestic support for the United States to become directly involved in the conflict.^[226]

US Navy assistance (1951–1954)

Bois Belleau (aka USS Belleau Wood) transferred to France in 1953

USS Windham Bay delivered Grumman F8F Bearcat fighter aircraft to Saigon on January 26, 1951.^[227]

On March 2, 1951, the United States Navy transferred USS Agenor (LST 490) to the French Navy in Indochina in accordance with the MAAG-led MAP. Renamed RFS Vulcain (A-656), she was used in Operation Hirondelle in 1953. USS Sitkoh Bay carrier delivered Grumman F8F Bearcat aircraft to Saigon on March 26, 1951. During September 1953, USS Belleau Wood (renamed Bois Belleau) was lent to France and sent to French Indochina to replace the Arromanches. She was used to support delta defenders in the Hạ Long Bay operation in May 1954. In August she joined the Franco-American evacuation operation called "Passage to Freedom".

The same month, the United States delivered additional aircraft, again using USS Windham Bay.^[228] On April 18, 1954, during the siege of Dien Bien Phu, USS Saipan delivered 25 Korean War AU-1 Corsair aircraft for use by the French Aeronavale in supporting the besieged garrison.

US Air Force assistance (1952–1954)

A 1952 F4U-7 Corsair of the 14.F flotilla which fought at Dien Bien Phu

A total of 94 F4U-7s were built for the Aéronavale in 1952, with the last of the batch, the final Corsair built, rolled out in December 1952. The F4U-7s were actually purchased by the U.S. Navy and passed on to the Aéronavale through the U.S. Military Assistance Program (MAP). They were supplemented by 25 ex-U.S.MC AU-1s (previously used in the Korean War) and moved from Yokosuka, Japan, to Tourane Air Base (Da Nang), Vietnam, in April 1952. US Air Force assistance followed in November 1953 when the French commander in Indochina, General Henri Navarre, asked General Chester E. McCarty, commander of the Combat Cargo Division, for 12 Fairchild C-119s for Operation Castor at Dien Bien Phu. The USAF also provided C-124 Globemasters to transport French paratroop reinforcements to Indochina.

Under the codename Project Swivel Chair,^[229] on March 3, 1954, 12 C-119s of the 483rd Troop Carrier Wing ("Packet Rats") based at Ashiya, Japan, were painted with France's insignia and loaned to France with 24 CIA pilots for short-term use. Maintenance was carried out by the US Air Force and airlift operations were commanded by McCarty.^[230]

Central Intelligence Agency covert operations (1953-1954)

At the request of the French, the US government tasked the CIA to carry out covert airlift operations to support the French troops in Laos. To that end, during Operation SQUAW, from 5 May to 16 July 1953, the CIA used 12 pilots, officially employed by the (CIA owned) Civil Air Transport airline, to fly equipment on 6 C-119s supplied by the USAF, bearing French colours.^[231]

French-marked USAF C-119 flown by CIA pilots over Dien Bien Phu in 1954

Twenty four Civil Air Transport pilots supplied the French Union garrison during the siege of Dien Bien Phu – airlifting paratroopers, ammunition, artillery pieces, tons of barbed wire, medics and other military materiel. With the reducing Drop zone areas, night operations and anti-aircraft artillery assaults, many of the "packets" fell into Việt Minh hands. The CIA pilots completed 682 airdrops under anti-aircraft fire between March 13 and May 6, 1954. Two CAT pilots, Wallace Bufford and James B. McGovern Jr. were killed in action when their Fairchild C-119 Flying Boxcar was shot down on May 6, 1954.^[230] On February 25, 2005, the French ambassador to the United States, Jean-David Levitte, awarded the seven remaining CIA pilots the Légion d'honneur.^[230][232]

Other assistance

• New Zealand

During 1952 and 1954 New Zealand provided from its obsolete and surplus (but serviceable) military stocks a selection of military equipment for the French forces in Indochina, including:^[234]

• 43,000 rifles
• 1,350 machine guns
• 670,000 rounds of small arms ammunition
• 10,000 rounds of 40mm armour-piercing shot
• 500 revolvers
• 50 Bofors anti-aircraft guns and ammunition
• wireless sets
• field telephones
• charging sets
• various uniform items