Destruction of French Rule in Vietnam - Battle of Điện Biên Phủ

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In early 1954, a decisive battle took place at Dien Bien Phu in northern Vietnam. It was the climax to a seven year long conflict between France and the communist Viet Minh for the future of south east asia. The fighting would last for months, and end in a catastrophic defeat that ended French rule in Indochina and pushed the United States one step closer to intervening in Vietnam.
0:00 - The Situation in 1954
5:14 - The Battle Begins
9:32 - Battle of the Five Hills
12:30 - Collapse
Credits:
Artwork by:
/ chrisbyflanker
Lead animation by CKD Productions
Written, Supporting Animation, Directed and Produced by:
/ addaway23
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Sources:
Max Hastings, Vietnam
John Springhall, "Kicking out the Vietminh: How Britain Allowed France to Reoccupy South Indochina", Journal of Contemporary History, Jan 2005 www.jstor.org/stable/30036312
George C. Herring, "The Truman Administration and the Restoration of French Sovereignty in Indochina", Diplomatic History, Spring 1977 www.jstor.org/stable/24909909
Ralph B. Smith, "The Japanese Period in Indochina and the Coup of 9 March 1945", Journal of Southeast Asian Studies, Sep. 1978
www.jstor.org/stable/i20062721
Stein Tønnesson, Vietnam 1946: How the War Began
Christopher Goscha, The Road to Dien Bien Phu
Bernard Fall, Street without Joy: the French debacle in Indochina,
Martin Windrow, The French Indochina War 1946-54
Lucien Bodard, The Quicksand War: Prelude to Vietnam

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17 май 2024

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Комментарии : 600

@scottjuhnke6825 Месяц назад

What you fail to mention is that the French artillery commander had guaranteed that the Vietnamese couldn't get artillery into the surrounding hills. In giving up the surrounding high ground, the French were going to lose. This is why he committed suicide.

@Mika-ph6ku Месяц назад

Didn't learn from ww2 I guess...

@felixsantosa3815 Месяц назад

@@Mika-ph6kuIf I had a nickel for every time French officers thought a specific terrain was impassable for heavy equipment...

@talkingtree8166 Месяц назад

So he lost the high ground?

@scottjuhnke6825 Месяц назад

@@talkingtree8166 No. They never occupied it. The French artillery commander was certain the Vietnamese couldn't get heavy artillery onto the hills, and that any artillery they could get there, his guns would easily eliminate them. Had the French fortified the surrounding hills, they still would have lost in Vietnam, just as the US did, but, Dien Bien Phu would not have been the catastrophic defeat it was.

@parkertitle1923 Месяц назад

@@felixsantosa3815I’d have two nickels, which isn’t a lot but it’s weird that it happened twice.

@victortisme Месяц назад

I appreciate that you made this one in spite of the previous ones' numbers. This series is one of your best (at least it's my very own favorite) and I could't wait for the next installment, so thank you so much!

@Fredrikschou Месяц назад

General Giap is one of the most overlooked great commanders in the 20th century. In my mind he ranks up their together with Chukov, Manstein and Marshall. In 1968 he came quite close to repeating the Dien Bien Phu battle with the americans at Khe Sanh, but the american airforce was just an order of magnitude more effective in close up ground support, so the NVA had to give up after a six month siege.

@About37Hobos Месяц назад

He organized the defeat of two western powers that on paper far outstripped his own forces. Frankly he might be the greatest commander of the 20th century.

@789know Месяц назад

tho he still somewhat achieved his goal in the end. US withdraw from Khe Sanh later after knowing the position is untenable there. Khe Sanh is also overall a better built bases and less isolated firebase in outer parameters that allow the Vietnamese to cut them off aside from way more effective US airforce

@djeto2525 Месяц назад

Agreed.

@torenico Месяц назад

Manstein? Lmao

@Fredrikschou Месяц назад

@@torenico poor ass

@sergeantdarthraptorthewise702 Месяц назад

I believe, though i might not remember correctly, that after the battle general De Castries said: "we were told to hold 10 days, we held 57 days. That's it."

@MyHentaiGirlNeko Месяц назад

We merely fail to win

@Rokaize Месяц назад

@@MyHentaiGirlNekoSounds like they lost

@MyHentaiGirlNeko Месяц назад

@@Rokaize Nah, merely fail to win - Oversimplified reference

@Rokaize Месяц назад

@@MyHentaiGirlNeko I guess I’m not understanding the reference. If you are making a reference. Are you implying that the French just didn’t win? And that the viet Minh didn’t earn their victory?

@MyHentaiGirlNeko Месяц назад

@@Rokaize Watch Oversimplified History video about the US Civil War part 2 When one of the guy lost the election to Abraham Lincoln, he said that he didn't lose, he merely fail to win

@lehoang3532 Месяц назад

Some minor (but still interesting) details about this battle: * The French arrogance is not without reasons. The supply/logistic support for Viet Minh is extremely troublesome, so much that a blitz was considered. However, after "his longest night", General Giap changed it into a siege and delayed the battle by ~2 months. The rest is history * The fight for Eliane 2 is the toughest fight in Dien Bien Phu. And it was held thanks to a hidden French supply route from the center to the west side of the hill * Commander of the Vietnamese 5th Para batallion, under French command, was said to lead his troops while singing the French national anthem... while fighting other Vietnamese. The man later became a general of South Viet Nam. * MLRS was deployed for the Vietnamese during the last days of the battle. Shame that it was not the Soviet Katyusha

@igorbuckel8060 Месяц назад

the artillerie, mortar and anti-aircraft of the vietnamese were us made. captured by the chinese during korean war.

@tartzmir7934 Месяц назад

furthermore previous french employment of hedgehog tactics have proven to be succesful in providing interconnected fields of fire by entrenched troops against superior foes, however this could easily be countered by methodical and overwhelming fire by the attacker, slowly chipping down the defenses bit by bit, strongpoint by strongpoints

@JustinAndrews74 Месяц назад

"Commander of the Vietnamese 5th Para batallion, under French command, was said to lead his troops while singing the French national anthem... while fighting other Vietnamese." Treason!!

@lehoang3532 Месяц назад

@@tartzmir7934 True on all account

@tartzmir7934 Месяц назад

@@JustinAndrews74 That's in hindsight, don't be so short sighted, people back then are uncertain who will win, these vietnamese root for the french, so they're loyal to them, how is that treason, not to mention the vietminh back then was seen as a radical rebel group more than anything else, not a legitimately recognised sovereign government of Vietnam since back then there are a lot of rebels groups like the vietminh doing the same thing in a bid to take control of the country under their own authority, and then there's the state of vietnam, a french vassal state recognised by the United States, no wonder these vietnamese would be so loyal because they're so sure they would win

@Jameskn1 Месяц назад

The French seemed to get very over confident and believed that entrenched troops couldn’t get beaten and paid the price for it

@Bandog23 Месяц назад

*leadership

@Bullet-Tooth-Tony- Месяц назад

It looks like the lessons of Bill Slims 1944 Burma campaign were applied here. With the French soldiers relying on air supplies flown in whilst expecting to hold their positions. It worked for Slim at Kohima and Imphal against the Japanese but for some reason it didn't work at Dien Bien Phu. 🤔

@Rekdar Месяц назад

Again xD they learned nothing Out ww2 😂

@MyHentaiGirlNeko Месяц назад

@@Bullet-Tooth-Tony-didn't work due to effective AA making drop impossible

@mcfragger2605 Месяц назад

they will relearn that lesson again if they enter Ukraine lol.

@johnbox271 Месяц назад

The US wasn't dragged in... it leaped, and onto the wrong side. "In 1945, members of the American "Deer Team," part of the OSS, worked with Vietnamese guerrilla fighters to throw Japanese troops out of Indochina. As the war ended, the people of Vietnam looked to the United States to support their dreams of independence." Photo - Members of the Deer Team and Viet Minh at training camp. Allison Thomas stands in the center and is flanked on his left by Vo Nguyen Giap and on his right by Ho Chi Minh. “Welcome to Our American Friends.”

@trentvlak Месяц назад

lots of communists had infiltrated the State Department and aided Mao, sabotaged Chiang Kai Shek, and aided other communists.

@superspies32 Месяц назад

The second copy of the letter Ho Chi Minh sent to Truman asking for establishment of allied be sent to Donald Trump during his trip to negotiate with Kim Jong Ul at Ha Noi (the OG still in White House). The problem at that time was France threatened to ally with USSR if Truman did that (and if Truman accept the letter, USSR may be collapsed 2 years later by carry the useless of French Army across Africa)

@simongeard4824 Месяц назад

A common theme from that time, yes. The fear of the spread of communism meant that communist-leaning groups were automatically regarded as enemies and pushed into the Soviet sphere of influence... foolish, since a more pragmatic US could have maintained greater influence over them by staying friendly. Hostility only cemented the Soviet position as the influential leaders of communism across the world...

@johnbox271 Месяц назад

@@simongeard4824 "It’s a Wonderful Life" (1946) came under scrutiny by the Federal Bureau of Investigation as a subversive film that supposedly displayed evidence of Communist Party infiltration of the film industry. Commies everywhere. Paranoia.

@richardgoed8101 Месяц назад

@@simongeard4824they did intend to make half of Vietnam their ally by making a puppet state in South Vietnam. I wouldn't say it is foolish of them to see everything communism related is bad because they already have the idea of controlling Indochina in mind so that they could overthrow communism in Asia, that's why they have always been supporting France in colonizing Indochina. The Vietnamese at that time saw anyone with similar goal and helped them would be potential ally since the US helped NVA kicking Imperial Japan out of the country. But it is very very dumb and weird of them to make a country resort to communism and then fight them because they established communism.

@larryalvares1369 Месяц назад

I’m surprised you didn’t talk about the French colonial artillery lieutenant who ordered his guns to be cranked at 0 degrees and fired directly into the Viet Minh

@saulocpp Месяц назад

There is too much to be mentioned in only 15 minutes. Many acts from both sides: the Vietminh/NVA, despite the "supply chains", fought days without eating anything, and 155mm artillery were often pushed by hand kilometers to high ground without vehicle aid; French Foreign Legion from Morocco were often called in to reinforce, refused to surrender and died fighting while french officers responsible for calling them in fled.

@adelaidesngan604 Месяц назад

@sa😂😂ulocpp You are a myth who hates the French 😂

@quoccuongtran724 15 дней назад

@@saulocpp the biggest artillery the Việt Minh side had in Điện Biên Phủ was the 105mm howitzer also they were still only named Việt Minh back then, the name NVA (North VN Army) was only coined in the later conflict with South VN & USA

@matthewwalkemar8726 Месяц назад

I was aware of ww2 German aircraft being used by France after the war but i didn’t realize they made their way to Vietnam. A surprise seeing the footage of the ju-52 ( or perhaps it French made reproduction but still)

@ingohendrik Месяц назад

Well German aircrafts were just very useful and despite this also effective and relativly new For example the Arado Ar 232, a plane designed by the Nazis was still trend-setting for NATO planes in 1956

@qanniqtuq Месяц назад

My father was a passenger in one of those Ju-52 that soft crashed in a rice paddy just before the Ventiane runway in 1954. It was "fun" he told me. One of the only stories he told me from his time in Indochina

@baltulielkungsgunarsmiezis9714 Месяц назад

French tanks where almost entirely of german origin.

@hedgehog3180 Месяц назад

@@baltulielkungsgunarsmiezis9714 No, France refurbished about 50 Panther tanks and put them into service after the war but they were mostly a stop gap meassure intended to counter the IS tanks until France could produce its own tanks and develop a proper counter. However they never actually saw active service as they were deemed too unreliable and heavy to operate anywhere outside of Metropolitan France. The French mostly used American lend-lease tanks, such as the M24 Chaffee, which you can often see in footage from both Vietnamese Wars. They also made use of Shermans and M10s but I don't think they were deployed to Indochina.

@AndrewTranBaseball Месяц назад

My grandpa fought in it for the Viet Minh. He is 92 and still very busy telling me stories about the battle😊

@gaspardlesort6781 Месяц назад

Cool! my great grandpa fought on the french side for the FFL. Because he was injured, the vietnamese released him. He eventually served in Algeria, and later on was a military attaché during the Vietnam War.

@FrenchIssue Месяц назад

Wrong side who kill injuried of the other side the south vietnam helped the injuried of both side

@JesusisLord_7 Месяц назад

@@FrenchIssue no lmao, south vietnam killed everyone who didnt support their illegitimate government, killed buddhists, murdered freedom fighters who fought the french colonizers, they also rigged the election, so you should stop spreading propaganda. We chose communism cuz u guys forced us to fight, we didnt want this stupid game between big guys, we only need independence but americans refused to do so. Even men from OSS said we were not communists like Mao and Stalin but freedom fighters

@khuongnguyenchau920 Месяц назад

The US was NOT dragged into Vietnam. They made a choice to be there

@torenico Месяц назад

Yeah, he makes it sound like the US went into Vietnam completely against it's will. They went in to continue the colonial project the french had started.

@tartzmir7934 Месяц назад

They came there to fight and help an Ideological ally against an sworm Ideological enemy, it's really simple, people back then dread about communism a lot, not to mention the US adherence to the Truman Doctrine, depend on how you look at it, the US was both dragged into Vietnam by congress' pressure as well as the president's obligation to respond towards aggression which let's not get there because Gulf of Tonkin incident is a complete hoax fabricated by the US that is still debated

@blaze6084 Месяц назад

@@torenico True

@baltulielkungsgunarsmiezis9714 Месяц назад

@@torenico They didnt care about colonies. They cared about stopping communism.

@cumpanions8105 Месяц назад

@@torenico Not really, they just wanted curb the communism from taking roots in the region.

@novemberdawn8145 Месяц назад

Love this series! Took a Vietnam War class last semester, I think it can't be understated how much of an insurgent genius Giap was.

@andrearel3703 Месяц назад

Commies are good at subversion. Look at the democrat party.

@extrabytes7191 10 дней назад

The 50s might be the least covered decade of modern military history, videos on the suez crisis or the korean war would be so cool. Loved this series!

@HistoryHaty Месяц назад

So Happy you are back to your Vietnam War series. Historigraph always make there videos easy to understand and exciting. You show the Importance of what weapons and tactics are used. Love the animation. How do you do it. Never forget history. One battle leads to another and thats why we say never forget. How a battle between France 🇫🇷 and Vietnam 🇻🇳 made the US start there own war in Vietnam. If we don’t value the study of history, we blindly look in to the future.

@quanganh3251 Месяц назад

Historigraph #70, also mark the 70 yrs of this battle

@bachtruongson9408 Месяц назад

Fun fact: Võ Nguyên Giáp was actually a history teacher, so he kinda changed history himself

@Paladin0005 Месяц назад

I really appreciate content like this that delves into lesser known conflicts.

@DV1287 Месяц назад

Hey Historigraph. Nice Video. Just one thing I wanted to point out that was missed: The strongpoint of Isabelle, to the South of the Main base of Dien Bien Phu, was essentially cut off from the beginning of the battle. yet the French defenders resiliently held on to Isabelle until the end of the battle.

@micahistory Месяц назад

Great video. Your content is always so good

@sprintcog Месяц назад

Great video, really well researched and executed!

@user-kn4fy9cy3d Месяц назад

i've been waiting for this for months

@projectforce3727 Месяц назад

Your maps are getting better

@m136dalie Месяц назад

Brilliant video, so glad i discovered this channel

@diallod357 Месяц назад

Great Improvements on the map 👍

@eliane2743 12 дней назад

Na-San, though a victory, left quite a lot of French officers ill at ease because they thought it had been a very close call. Right from the beginning various members of the French military leadership weren’t enthusiastic about the Dien-Bien-Phu plan, notably because the place was too far away from the airfields used by the planes providing CAS. When it was discovered the enemy had brought AAA, the mood further dropped down in Hanoi. The latter part echoes the situation and feelings described by John Masters about his war in Burma when he overhears the characteristic sound of antiaircraft guns manned by the Japanese assaulting his Blackpool stronghold and immediately understands the British troops are doomed.

@liambell708 Месяц назад

This was a great video, as are the others I have watched! Could you do a video about the Second Battle of Ypres? I think it would be interesting.

@NguyenJulia-ks4wr Месяц назад

Vietnam at that time was a country whose chance of winning against the French was 0% if compared to the strength of France. However, thanks to the determination and unity, that country managed to defeat France, and later on, even the United States.

@ptaing8 21 час назад

Without Chinese and Russia support, viet minh have zero chance of winning. Chinese created viet minh to kick the French and vietnamese didn't win by themselves.

@ptaing8 21 час назад

The People's Republic of China and the Soviet Union similarly provided vital support to the Viet Minh, including most of their artillery and ammunition. the planned Viet Minh attack was based on the Chinese "Fast Strike, Fast Victory" model.

@ptaing8 20 часов назад

Viet Minh, organization that led the struggle for Vietnamese independence from French rule. The Viet Minh was formed in China in May 1941. It is Chinese's creation and it's not true vietnamese. Viet Minh calls 越南獨立同盟

@abrahammorrison6374 Месяц назад

This battle is mentioned in We Didn't Start the Fire by Billy Joel.

@py8554 17 дней назад

On 8 May, the Viet Minh counted 11,721 prisoners, of whom 4,436 were wounded. The prisoners were divided into groups. Able-bodied soldiers were force-marched over 600 km (370 mi) to prison camps to the north and east, where they were intermingled with Viet Minh soldiers to discourage French bombing runs. Hundreds died of disease along the way. The wounded were given basic first aid until the Red Cross arrived, extracted 858 prisoners, and provided better aid to the remainder. Those wounded who were not evacuated by the Red Cross were sent into detention. Only around 200 French soldiers managed to escape, going through the Viet Minh line towards Luang Prabang in Laos on the famous "Pavie Trail". Of 10,863 prisoners (including Vietnamese fighting for the French), only 3,290 were repatriated four months later; however, the losses figure may include the 3,013 prisoners of Vietnamese origin whose fate is unknown. - Wikipedia

@vinguyenvan6924 3 дня назад

In Vietnam, there is still a Moroccan village where Africans lived after they surrendered at the battle of Dien Bien Phu. These people have returned home but the name of the village where they live remains the same. Many young people in French colonial countries were forced to serve as French soldiers. After France surrendered at Dien Bien Phu, they volunteered to join the Viet Minh army. You can search for a Greek whose Vietnamese name is Nguyen Van Lap, a French soldier who surrendered to the Viet Minh. Nguyen Van Lap (1927 - June 25, 2021), born Kostas Sarantidis (Greek: Κώστας Σαραντίδης), was a Greek-Vietnamese soldier. He is the only foreigner ever to be awarded the title of Hero of the People's Armed Forces of Vietnam. He is the "new Vietnamese" soldier, the only Greek who served in the Viet Minh forces during the Indochina war. After 1954, he was expelled from the Vietnam Labor Party because he did not accept remarriage with his ex-wife.[1] In 1965, he returned to Greece and lived there until his death. After returning home, he actively mobilized Greeks to support Vietnam. He visited Vietnam several times and made many contributions to the relationship between the two countries. On November 9, 2010, the President of Vietnam recognized him as a Vietnamese citizen. In May 2013, the President awarded him the title of Hero of the Vietnamese People's Armed Forces.

@pc86914 Месяц назад

Great video. Your next will be the channel’s 100th!

@SmokeJam Месяц назад

My favourite historian is back with another gem!

@Mindbonkya Месяц назад

I just started reading The Wretched of the Earth and this came up, thank you for explaining this.

@MrScientifictutor Месяц назад

They got dien bien fooled.

@thaibuidinh5577 Месяц назад

Cảm ơn bạn đã làm video về lịch sử quân đội của chúng tôi, vào dịp chúng tôi ky niệm 70 năm chiến thắng Điện Biên phủ

@samarkand1585 Месяц назад

One important point you forgot to mention, was the constant shelling the camp faced besides the strongpoint assaults

@luvrofbacon Месяц назад

Be sure to read Bernard Fall's book about this battle. It is a gem. One of my all time favorite military history titles, and I've read quite a few.

@slaughterchainsaw Месяц назад

Great video!

@taison5 Месяц назад

wake up babe new historigraph just dropped

@kdg54e-sport62 Месяц назад

I hope you will do more video about Indochina War and Vietnam war Always support you from Vietnam 🇻🇳❤️

@rotecly 23 дня назад

Please keep making videos about this war. The amrican-vietnam war is well known, but there is not much about the french one before it.

@NoManClatuer-pd8ck Месяц назад

Many of those Frenchmen weren't French at all. They were Legionnaires.

@jonathanduplantis1403 Месяц назад

Mostly German and Italian

@NoManClatuer-pd8ck Месяц назад

@@jonathanduplantis1403 I wonder why so many Germans & Italians joined the legion after WW2....hmmm

@jonathanduplantis1403 Месяц назад

@@NoManClatuer-pd8ck money baby

@jonathanduplantis1403 Месяц назад

@@NoManClatuer-pd8ck new names new identity

@NoManClatuer-pd8ck Месяц назад

@@jonathanduplantis1403 "We were just following orders!!!!"

@zealover Месяц назад

What a bloody battle

@BensonCaisip 2 дня назад

Giap: It's over, De Castries. I have the high ground. De Castries: You underestimate my Air Force. Giap: Don't try it.

@antoniocarrascosa6060 Месяц назад

Gran trabajo. Enhorabuena desde España

@haibuihoang Месяц назад

Vietminh: It's over France, I have the high ground! France: You underestimate my power, Vietminh: Don't try it France: Ueahhh....

Месяц назад

12:16 They really used Ju-52/3m as bombers? wow

@silist001 Месяц назад

Hello @Historygraph, which app do you use for all your animations? It’s very clean.

@WushuMR2 Месяц назад

A VERY well-made, detailed account of the battle! I've never seen a video which actually showed the tactical evolution of the battle before, so kudos to you!

@ethanpf449 Месяц назад

Great video well worth the wait, hope you do Ap Bac.

@coyote4237 Месяц назад

Thank you.

@bigsarge2085 Месяц назад

Always learn!

@redjacc7581 Месяц назад

a book called "the last valley" by martin windrow is an excellent read.

@larryalvares1369 10 дней назад

Watching this on the 70th anniversary of the battle

@bradykool6184 Месяц назад

can you do a video about HMS Dasher and her loss as an aircraft carrier in ww2?

@tedsheldon11 Месяц назад

So general's play war in the middle of no where with young men's lives for the sake of bartering a better award on the wall.

@quocnguyenngoc9272 12 дней назад

Nearly all the elite French battalions, paratroopers, Foreign Legion, present in Vietnam were annihilated at Điện Biên Phủ. However, this was not the last major battle of the French Indochina war. End of June 1954, France's Groupe Mobile 100 with the elite French Korea battalion was totally destroyed in the Central Highlands of Vietnam.

@Mika-ph6ku Месяц назад

*MOAR*

@jona.scholt4362 Месяц назад

As LBJ said about American forces at Khe Sanh, "I don't want no Din Bin Foo"

@looinrims Месяц назад

I wish we had a recording of a response: “Mr President, is that food?”

@MarquisVincentBissetdeGramont Месяц назад

"When in doubt, blame the French".

@ibstrd Месяц назад

420k subs, nice

@khactamdo7800 25 дней назад

Peace is so precious 😢

@timesathousand Месяц назад

6:40 "It was the first time in the entire war that a French battalion in prepared positions had been overrun by the communists." I agree with the other comments that the whole premise of the base and the terrible supply situation looks like French arrogance. But if your forces had never lost a hill--I can see why the French ended up overextending so badly.

@mehornyasfk Месяц назад

Who will win? A. A professionally trained, technologically superior army led by a battle-hardened general from a militarily distinguished aristocratic family. B. A bunch of rice famers led by a history teacher.

@divinewind6313 Месяц назад

AFAIK, there was a sizable former SS soldiers also among the Foreign Legion.

@phanson6698 Месяц назад

And fun fact that there are few are in Vietminh too :))))

@divinewind6313 Месяц назад

@@phanson6698 How they ended up with Vietminh

@phanson6698 Месяц назад

@@divinewind6313 Some Germans just did not want to serve the French, some saw that the war was unjust and wanted to help Vietminh win. There are a few high-ranking officials in Vietminh who are German, their job is to propagate propaganda, manage peaceful prison camps and lead foreigners to fight for Vietminh.

@thelandofnod123 Месяц назад

It’s always fascinated me that these European countries, pretty much as soon as they themselves were no longer occupied, continued their own occupation of other countries.

@hedgehog3180 Месяц назад

It's something a lot of contemporary commentators also noted.

@haraffael7821 27 дней назад

The French really have a history of "They wont attack there using this" and then getting attacked by this from there.

@Krasnoye158 Месяц назад

This video, like so many other videos, is too focused on the tactical approach of the battle and failed to see the strategical movements made before the battle. For example, there is a reason that Cogny couldn't supply more troops to the battle despite understanding how important it is. For those who are interested in the strategical aspect, general Giap initially had the cluster surrounded, ready to attack, but then pulled back. Answering this question would reveal interesting details.

@tartzmir7934 Месяц назад

Cogny hesitated to commit more elite legionnare paras to the battle because french forces in indochina is limited, since it's an undeclared war and more of an insurgency, all military forces in Indochina is predominantly from the Foreign Legion or the State of Vietnam, and these small contingents are being stretched thin against a massive guerilla army all over indochina. Basically Cogny got his hands tied, if he commit more troops, then he risk compromising the integrity of the Red river delta defense perimeter or the De Lattre Line, as to the second point you raised, Giap hesitated because his men were battered by the dogged resistance mounted by french legionnaires and vietnamese paras so Giap has to resort to siege tactics to just dislodge the French defense by literally blowing every single strongpoint kingdom come, until the french are too battered to even mount a adequate defense, I mean it works because french defense at dien bien phu was so stretched out not to mention they lack sufficient heavy weapons to provide sufficient support for the strongpoints to holdout the vietminh assaults or counter fire the Vietminh artillery

@imjustthere9343 Месяц назад

Who would had thought building a base in a valley surrounded by mountains would be a bad idea.

@codyandrex152 Месяц назад

This video was quick compare to the 1-hour version on BBC Battlefield series. 😂

@samarkand1585 Месяц назад

Yeah, but it skips several important points of the battle that shaped it sadly

@redjacc7581 Месяц назад

The 3 main reason for the loss at dien bien phu are 1/ the defensive perimeter was to large unlike at na san so it took far too long for reinforcements to travel to endangered sectors. 2/ french intelligence had failed to understand that the viet min had received 105mm artillery. 3/ french intelligence also failed to understand that far better and more numerous AA had been supplied.

@bamboo9666 Месяц назад

So.. No credit for the Vietnamese?

@smithjohn7855 6 дней назад

@@bamboo9666The US: They didn't win we just left :( France: They didn't win we just lost :(

@markgarrett3647 6 дней назад

@@smithjohn7855 This comment keeps getting deleted on our convo so I'll just paste this here: Doesn't mean that historical truths are to be buried up especially in this day and age where ignorant anti-Western and anti-Christian demagoguery among leftists the World over is in vogue.

@markgarrett3647 6 дней назад

@@smithjohn7855 Doesn't mean that historical truths are to be buried up especially in this day and age where ignorant anti-Western and anti-Christian demagoguery among leftists the World over is in vogue.

@PhamQuang-kn6fg 27 дней назад

I'm watching until 6:53, it seems that France overestimated the ability to damage the Viet Minh at the height of Beatrice (Him Lam), because in this battle the Viet Minh only lost 300 troops but 600- 700 French troops had lost, and damaged about 300 reinforcements early the next morning without significant damage. If the Viet Minh's damage is called "heavy", so the French army's damage at this location must be called "destroyed".

@bebo4807 Месяц назад

It’s FOO. NOT FAUX.

@AlexaRobin21 Месяц назад

The battle that broke the Indochinese French Empire, and soon, the African French Empire.

@johnbox271 Месяц назад

African French Empire simply altered to look more palatable, but it went on. Well, until recently when the Russians took advantage.

@richardstone5552 Месяц назад

Cool

@quincymitchell160 Месяц назад

It makes me wonder if there are any documented numbers of French Soldiers whom had escaped Dien Bien Phu? 🤔

@gerpsu1772 Месяц назад

Can you do video about finish and Russia's war. the cold war

@Whatisthisstupidfinghandle Месяц назад

The Finnish finished it

@hedgehog3180 Месяц назад

The Winter War? Or the Continuation War?

@gerpsu1772 Месяц назад

@@hedgehog3180 both, but winter war first

@Ganhaque89 Месяц назад

Toàn bộ Việt Minh tham gia trận đánh là 53000 người nếu tất cả thương vong là 25000 thì còn lại khoảng 28000, ko đủ để gọi hàng 16000 quân Pháp. Tổng số quân Pháp chết là 11000 người tính cả sau khi bị bắt do đói ăn và hành quân bộ hàng trăm km

@af-secret Месяц назад

1至少三分之一兵力用于防守南北两端。 2防线收缩以利于炮兵有时间准备和火力无顾虑输出。 3投降太早。 1 A third of the army should be disposed in north and south side at least. 2 Shrinking the defence line for artillery battalion blows with no worries and obtain sufficient reaction time. 3 Surrender too soon.

@jona.scholt4362 Месяц назад

@1:46 Wait, is that an old Ju-52 being used as a bomber? By the French?!? In Vietnam?!??!

@MrNicoJac Месяц назад

Did you think they'd let the Germans keep their planes after WW2? 😅

@Tekisasubakani Месяц назад

There were a decent number of ex-Wehrmacht and [supposedly] even SS soldiers in the Legion at Dien Bien Phu.

@PHDarren Месяц назад

They didn't defend the River?

@notjhill Месяц назад

Does the warthunder thing work for already existing accounts

@Whatisthisstupidfinghandle Месяц назад

@charliebarcelona1531 25 дней назад

Historigraph, you should make a video about the Battle of Tsushima , as it was considered to be the most important naval battle since Trafalgar.

@michaelmccabe3079 Месяц назад

Dien Bien Phu was in 1954. The United States didn't intervene until 1965. A lot happened in the 11 years between the two events. Mark Moyar's book "Triumph Forsaken" covers the period of 1954-1965 very well (spoiler: the 1963 assassination of Ngo Dinh Diem was the most direct cause of intervention; prior to this the USA was looking to intervene in Laos).

@Viet_Nam_Ball Месяц назад

The US intervened way before 1965, just with money and weapons.

@markgarrett3647 Месяц назад

I really thought you were going to cover Operation Lorraine and the heroic battle of Muong Khuoa that saved the politically relevant Laotian city of Luang Prabang and the monarch of Laos from the Vietminh and also the disastrous rout of the Franco-Laotian garrison in Sam Noua. What a disappointment.

@geordiedog1749 Месяц назад

Great video. One wee point. The French are called French and the Vietnamese are called communist. Sounds odd.

@jdotoz Месяц назад

There were Vietnamese on both sides.

@poshboy4749 Месяц назад

He Seems to use communist and Vietnamese interchangeably to me.

@gabe7745 Месяц назад

Vietnamese are The Communists, but the French aren't The Colonialists?

@hedgehog3180 Месяц назад

@@jdotoz There were also French people on both sides and the Foreign Legion isn't even made up of French people.

@Cybonator Месяц назад

That Foreign Legion battalion was also comprised of Waffen SS-veterans

@NerfButWithoutHasbro Месяц назад

is it bad that i thought france was just decolonizing and left indochina without a war because they didn't wanna risk it 😭😭

@saturnv2419 Месяц назад

Imagine Truman had called De Gaulle's buff of not joining NATO.

@PhamQuang-kn6fg Месяц назад

Who estimated that the Viet Minh army lost up to 25,000 troops (50% of the army)?. Do you think there is any army that can lose 50% of its troops and still be able to fight?

@julianshepherd2038 Месяц назад

"Dragged" 😂

@davidlewis5312 Месяц назад

Foolhardy jumped in more like it

@jacobcave1587 Месяц назад

Oh burn

@Bandog23 Месяц назад

yes correct. dragged

@About37Hobos Месяц назад

@@Bandog23 we weren’t dragged at all we leapt headfirst into it

@geoffburrill9850 Месяц назад

What did the French think was going to happen? They were completely surrounded and almost cut off, did they really think they could win?

@khuongnguyenchau920 29 дней назад

they overlooked a lot of things, but they had their reasons to believe so.

@nemosgaze Месяц назад

You don't mention at the end what happened to Laos and Cambodia, just that the French exited. It would've been interesting to mention at least what kind of governments they got. Big question mark there.

@LTT_Thuong_Dang Месяц назад

0:25 The US "interfered" in Viet Nam, they totaly not "intervened".

@annpeerkat2020 Месяц назад

Title is bollocks.... US jumped where no one wanted them to go. But interesting content.

@HatredOfMephisto Месяц назад

lol wheres the air force?

@vinhphamchi5642 29 дней назад

Người Pháp biết có những khó khăn ko thể vượt qua về vũ khí hạng nặng và cung ứng hậu cần cho quân tấn công, điều này đúng trên lý thuyết nhưng thực tế người Việt đã vượt qua được và giành chiến thắng.

@chrischarman8707 Месяц назад

Wow your Vietnamese pronunciation is pants

@Charlie35Bui Месяц назад

Viva Vietnam

@mizunotogaming8853 Месяц назад

As a Vietnamese, thank you for including this historical moment in Vietnamese history!

@johnd2058 Месяц назад

How the hell did this "drag" the USA anywhere?

@1604Sylvain Месяц назад

Expand of communism

@poshboy4749 Месяц назад

Comment when you have finished the video buddy.

@1604Sylvain Месяц назад

@@poshboy4749 I did, and was well aware of what happened there before this video. In case you didn't know, as their are specialist in that matter, USA helps the communist vietnamese to fight back at japanese during world war 2. Ironic right ? Just as they help talibans against USSR, creating Ben Laden. But in the end, it all comes to that : US vietnam war was an attempt to contain the communism expand.

@johnd2058 Месяц назад

Replay when you learn the complex history of the 10 years between DBP and the Tonkin Gulf Resolution, @@poshboy4749 .

@johnd2058 Месяц назад

@@1604Sylvain So did the Russian Civil War. And?