The siege of Dien Bien Phu
Witness History
BBC
4.5 • 1.6K Ratings
🗓️ 7 May 2019
⏱️ 11 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
On May 7th 1954, French forces surrendered after a bloody 56-day siege of their base at Dien Bien Phu in the north of Vietnam. Their defeat by the communist independence movement, the Viet Minh, signalled the end of French colonial rule in Indochina. We hear from two veterans who fought on opposing sides in the Battle of Dien Bien Phu. (Photo: A French military Red Cross helicopter preparing to land, while French soldiers try to defend their positions in Dien Bien Phu against the Viet Minh, 1954 Credit: AFP/Getty Images)
Transcript
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| 1:16.4 | And today we go back to May 1954 in a moment that signaled the end of French colonial rule in Vietnam when the French army surrendered at the |
| 1:26.1 | siege of Jien-Bien-Fu. |
| 1:28.6 | French forces in Indochina have prepared a hit back at Vietmin troops. |
| 1:33.0 | Throughout the early 1950s French colonial forces in Vietnam, then called Indochina, |
| 1:39.0 | were battling the Viet Min. |
| 1:41.0 | A communist-led Vietnamese independence movement which fought to end French colonial rule. |
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