Dien Bien Phu

The battle of Dien Bien Phu was an extremely significant battle in the world’s history because it could have possibly become a victory for communism before the U.S. became involved. The original battle was between the French, with strength of 10,800 soldiers, and the Chinese, with strength of 48,000 soldiers in combat, and 15,000 people under logistical support. France was led by commanders Christian de Castries, Pierre Langlais, and René Cogny. China was led by Commander Võ Nguyěn Giáp. The battle occurred between March and May of 1954 and “culminated in a comprehensive French defeat that effectively ended the war.” By the time this war ended, 2,293 French soldiers and 4,020 Chinese soldiers died. One would think that the war ended at this point and it was, however, that was until the United States of America got involved. Even though the French were forced to retreat, if the U.S. had allowed communism to win any form of victory, who knows what would have happened to the remaining developing nations. As yet another branch of the cold war, the battle of Dien Bien Phu became a war of three nations: China, France, and America; both France and America fighting against China.  “According to the Mutual Defense Assistance Act the United States provided the French with material aid during the battle…however, intentionally avoided public direct intervention.”  For a long duration of time, President Eisenhower was strictly against any further intervention, because operations appeared to be going smoothly and successfully. However, in reality this was not the case, and further intervention was crucial for victory. Soon after this was discovered, a proposal for direct intervention was unanimously voted on; they concluded that “intervention was a positive act of war.” This involvement is what allowed the war to come to a successful close with yet another American victory in respects to the Cold War.