First Indochina War: Dien Bien Phu
Warfare
History Hit
4.5 • 943 Ratings
🗓️ 21 October 2022
⏱️ 46 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
The siege of Dien Bien Phu took place in 1954 and was a definitive victory for Vietnam. Although the battle brought an end to French colonial rule, the separation of the country’s north and south created a volatile political environment between capitalism and communism, eventually leading to American involvement.
But how did the long time leader of Vietnam - Ho Chi Minh, take his guerilla army and turn it into a modern fighting force that was capable of overthrowing an empire?
In this episode, James is joined by author and Professor Christopher Goscha from the University of Quebec to help us understand just how the French lost their way in Vietnam.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | The Battle of Dienben-Fou, that brutal siege that took place between March and May |
| 0:10.1 | 1954 was a decisive victory for Vietnam, one that bought an end to French colonial |
| 0:17.1 | rule. |
| 0:18.1 | In its wake came the separation of the country between North and South, creating a volatile political context between capitalism |
| 0:25.9 | and communism in which the Americans would become embroiled. |
| 0:30.4 | But how did Ho Chi Min, the longtime leader of Vietnam, take his ragtag guerrilla army and turn it into a modern fighting force capable of toppling an empire? |
| 0:40.0 | Well, I'm your host James Rogers. This is the Warfare Podcast and as we do twice a week every week |
| 0:45.6 | we have the world expert to answer these important questions. In this episode I'm |
| 0:51.6 | joined by the excellent Christopher Gosha. |
| 0:54.3 | Christopher is a professor in the history department at the University of Quebec in Montreal |
| 0:59.4 | and he's the author of a new book, The Road to DiemBen-Fou, a history of the first Vietnam War. |
| 1:05.7 | As such, Christopher has the knowledge that we need to understand just how the French lost their |
| 1:10.6 | way in Vietnam. Enjoy. |
| 1:16.0 | Hi Christopher, welcome to the Warfare Podcast. |
| 1:18.0 | How you doing today? |
| 1:19.0 | I'm doing fine. |
| 1:20.0 | Thank you, James. |
| 1:21.0 | Thank you for having me. |
| 1:22.0 | No, not a problem at all thank you so |
| 1:23.7 | much for taking the time it must be the start of term now a busy start for you a |
| 1:28.3 | busy start indeed were three weeks in going out of heavy already. |
| 1:32.6 | Well, we appreciate it and we welcome the opportunity to be yet another one of your excellent |
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