Immediate (short-term) cause: Dien Bien Phu Flashcards
S Karnow on Navarre’s fundamental error
“Summing up Navarre’s fundamental error, a French War College study concluded that he and his staff had wrongly disregarded intelligence that did not fit their prejudices, and instead subsituted their preconceived idea of the Viet Minh for the facts […] He misread Giap’s ability to move a huge force rapidly […] He rejected the notion that the Viet Minh could devastate his men with artillery deployed on the hills aboce Dien Bien Phu […] He failed to anticipate that Giap’s howitzers, poised with easy range of his airstrip could cut off flights in and out of the valley […] He chose a terrain presumed suitable for tanks only to discover that its cover of thick bush entangled armoured vehicles.” - S Karnow, Vietnam, A History, Penguin, 1984
“Summing up Navarre’s fundamental error, a French War College study concluded that he and his staff had wrongly disregarded intelligence that did not fit their prejudices, and instead subsituted their preconceived idea of the Viet Minh for the facts […] He misread Giap’s ability to move a huge force rapidly […] He rejected the notion that the Viet Minh could devastate his men with artillery deployed on the hills aboce Dien Bien Phu […] He failed to anticipate that Giap’s howitzers, poised with easy range of his airstrip could cut off flights in and out of the valley […] He chose a terrain presumed suitable for tanks only to discover that its cover of thick bush entangled armoured vehicles.” - S Karnow, Vietnam, A History, Penguin, 1984
S Karnow on Navarre’s fundamental error
What did France hope for in Dien Bien Phu
- Hoped for a decisive defeat of the Viet Minh
- Negotiate from a position of strength at the Paris Peace Conference to be held in Geneva
- Hoped for a decisive defeat of the Viet Minh
- Negotiate from a position of strength at the Paris Peace Conference to be held in Geneva
What did France hope for in Dien Bien Phu
What did Viet Minh hope for in Dien Bien Phu
- Hoped for an advantage at the negotiating table
- End of French dominance within Vietnam
- Bolster their efforts for gaining independence at the Peace conference in Geneva
- Hoped for an advantage at the negotiating table
- End of French dominance within Vietnam
- Bolster their efforts for gaining independence at the Peace conference in Geneva
What did Viet Minh hope for in Dien Bien Phu
Viet Minh Tactics
- ‘Steady attack, steady advance’ General Giap
- French strength lay in its defensive formations, but this left them exposed and vulnerable
- Took control of all roads to Dien Bien Phu, meaning France could only rely on the use of their air-field
- Held the high ground
- Use of Guerrilla warfare
- Camouflage; remaning hidden by jungle and mountains
- ‘Steady attack, steady advance’ General Giap
- French strength lay in its defensive formations, but this left them exposed and vulnerable
- Took control of all roads to Dien Bien Phu, meaning France could only rely on the use of their air-field
- Held the high ground
- Use of Guerrilla warfare
- Camouflage; remaning hidden by jungle and mountains
Viet Minh Tactics
57 Days of Hell
- Underground trenches from the mountains down to the plains to within 400m of the French positions
- Viet Minh slowly suffocate French resources and army
- 13 March 1954 outpost of Beatrice, had been taken. Two days later Gabrielle and Anne-Marie followed.
- 27th March Viet Minh artillery had closed the airfield and the French central command post
- Underground trenches from the mountains down to the plains to within 400m of the French positions
- Viet Minh slowly suffocate French resources and army
- 13 March 1954 outpost of Beatrice, had been taken. Two days later Gabrielle and Anne-Marie followed.
- 27th March Viet Minh artillery had closed the airfield and the French central command post
57 Days of Hell
Topic Sentence:
The US funding of the first Indochina war of the US military involvement in Vietnam
Link:
US Involvement began with financial support for the French in the First Indocina war but cluminated in American ‘boots on ground’ in Vietnam by 1965
Max Hastings
On the significance of US aid to the French in the first Indochina war notes,
“Without military aid, Paris’s colonial policy would have collapsed overnight”
US funding for First Indochina War
In response to the Chinese Communists taking over in 1949, US contributed $23 million in 1949 to support France fighting against the Viet Minh.
By 1954 they were funding 80% of the French War. While congress refused to send military support for French at Dien Bien Phu, President Eisenhower covertly sent unmarked US planes to drop supplies for the French.
In response to the Chinese Communists taking over in 1949, US contributed $23 million in 1949 to support France fighting against the Viet Minh.
By 1954 they were funding 80% of the French War. While congress refused to send military support for French at Dien Bien Phu, President Eisenhower covertly sent unmarked US planes to drop supplies for the French.
US funding for First Indochina War
