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For the 1992 film, see Dien Bien Phu (film). For the 1954 battle, see Battle of Dien Bien Phu.
Dien Bien Phu (
Điện Biên Phủ ;
Hán Tự: ) is a town in
northwestern Vietnam. It is the capital of
Dien Bien province, and is known for the events there during the
First Indochina War, the
Battle of Dien Bien Phu, during which the region was a
breadbasket for the
Viet Minh.
Population
Statistics on Dien Bien Phu's population vary depending on definitions — figures are generally between 70,000 and 125,000. The town is growing quickly, and is projected to have a population of 150,000 by 2020. The majority of the population isn't ethnically Vietnamese - rather,
Thai ethnic groups form the largest segment. Ethnic Vietnamese make up around a third of the population, with the remainder being
Hmong,
Si La, or others.
Geography
Điện Biên Phủ lies in
Muong Thanh valley, a 20-km-long and 6-km-wide basin sometimes described as "heart-shaped". It is on the western edge of Dien Bien province, of which it's the capital, and is only a short distance from the border with
Laos. Until the creation of the province in 2004, it was part of
Lai Chau province.
The Vietnamese government elevated Dien Bien Phu to town status in 1992, and to city status in 2003.
Past military conflict
Operation Castor (1953)
In the 1950s, the town was known not only for its famous opium traffic, generating 500,000,000 French
Francs per year, but more so for a fierce battle that would result in a major realignment of world geopolitics. It was also an extensive source of rice for the
Viet Minh.
The region was fortified in November 1953 by the French Union force in the biggest airborne operation of the 1946-1954
First Indochina War,
Operation Castor, to block
Viet Minh transport routes and to set the stage to draw out Việt Minh forces.
Siege of Dien Bien Phu (1954)
The following year, the important
Battle of Dien Bien Phu was fought between the Việt Minh (led by
Vo Nguyen Giap), and the United States-backed
French Union (led by General
Navarre, successor to General
Raoul Salan). The siege of the French garrison lasted fifty-seven days, from 5:30PM on
March 13 to 5:30PM on
May 7,
1954. The southern outpost or firebase of the camp, Isabelle, didn't follow the
cease-fire order and fought until the next day at 01:00AM; a few hours before the long-scheduled Geneva Meeting's Indochina conference involving the
United States, the United Kingdom, the French Union and the
Soviet Union.
The battle was significant beyond the valleys of Dien Bien Phu. Vo Nguyen Giap's victory ended major French involvement in
Indochina and led to the accords which partitioned Vietnam into
North and
South. Eventually, these conditions inspired American involvement in the
Vietnam War. The battle of Điện Biên Phủ is described by historians as "the first time that a non-European colonial independence movement had evolved through all the stages from
guerrilla bands to a conventionally organized and equipped army able to defeat a modern Western occupier in
pitched battle."
The Western fear of a
Communist extension in Southeast Asia, named the
Domino Theory by
Dwight D. Eisenhower during the Dien Bien Phu siege and the departure of the French from
Laos,
Cambodia and Vietnam, was a factor leading to the direct American intervention in
South Vietnam.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Dien Bien Phu'.
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