Map dien bien phu battlefield vietnam download

Map dien bien phu battlefield vietnam download full#

The French were quickly cut off from support or escape, and before long came to realize how disastrous their position was. The fighting broke out on March 13, 1954. The result was a military disaster for the French. Amassing a much larger force than the French had available, the Vietnamese set up their positions above the valley, with powerful, well-concealed artillery pieces provided by the Chinese and Russians. The Vietnamese commander, Vo Nguyen Giap, meticulously planned his assault. The French, in an effort to stop the flow of support and arms coming to their enemies through Laos, established a poorly located stronghold in a valley near the town of Dien Bien Phu on the Laotian border.

Things came to a head in 1954 as each side sought a definitive victory. Despite all French military, political and economic efforts, they were unable to quash the rebellion. Led bu Ho Chi Minh, a low-level guerilla campaign wa launched against the French.

Map dien bien phu battlefield vietnam download full#

However, during the war, local Vietnamese forces which had fought against the Japanese decided to pursue full independence from foreign powers and turned against the French. Except for a few years of Japanese occupation during World War II, France maintained the colony for nearly seven decades. Control of the highly strategic coastal area between India and China became incredibly important to French economic and military interests in the region.

In the late 19th century, France seized the region known as Indochina (including modern-day Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos) after failing to secure any other sizeable colonies in Asia. Military historians consider Dien Bien Phu to be the first time in history that a guerrilla fight successfully escalated into a conventional war in which a non-European force defeated a modern European army. One of the largest post-colonial battles anywhere in the world, it ranks with the Battle of Vertieres in Haiti in terms of a disastrous loss of a former colony for France. The Battle of Dien Bien Phu was the penultimate engagement of the Indochina War in which Vietnam, and ultimately Laos and Cambodia, gained their independence from the Frence.