The Battle of Dien Bien Phu was fought in 1954 by French troops of the Far East Expeditionary Force and Vietnamese nationalist troops of the Viet Minh commanded by General Giap. It was the decisive battle of the Indochina War and ended with the total victory of the Viet Minh and the surrender of the French forces surrounded in the Dien Bien Phu valley. The strategy of General Giap was decisive as he had positioned the bulk of his artillery in the hills overlooking the valley and could strike at will at the French base which could now only count on an airport.
The outcome of the battle influenced the progress of the negotiations between the two warring parties underway at the Geneva conference, leading to the end of the war and the signing of the peace agreements concluded on 21 July 1954, according to which France had to accept to withdraw its troops from the entire French Indochina, while Vietnam was temporarily divided into two parts along the 17th parallel into a pro-Soviet communist North and a pro-Western South which were supposed to reunite with the 1956 national elections.
The battle of Dien Bien Phu resulted in the loss of 8,000 fighters for the Viet Minh, while the French lost 4,000. The US supported the Southern government, led by Ngo Dình Diem, which opposed the agreements, assuming that Ho Chi Minh from the North would win the elections - even though the Southern government was created under the terms of that agreement.
Then began the competition for the whole of Vietnam, which would then lead to the Vietnam War: from 1 November 1955 (date of establishment of the pro-communist National Liberation Front) to 30 April 1975 with the fall of Saigon.
But how did a poor, predominantly agricultural nation defeat America or rather its army? Tiziano Terzani with his book Giai Phong (liberation) helped us understand the strength of these people. A few years after the end of the war I was able to visit Vietnam with a group of 15 curious travelers like me. Hanoi was an agricultural city with few light bulbs to illuminate deserted streets populated by bicycles during the day. The only important buildings were those of the French colonization.
At the time of the conflict the United States had a population of 200 million, while North Vietnam had 13 million. The cost in human lives was dramatic. American deaths were over 58,000 with more than 153,000 wounded. The Vietnamese casualties were probably more than two million. Why did Americans “ran in disorder” from Vietnam? Because the guerrilla fight had weakened them and then European, and especially American, civil society, universities and young people had pushed politicians to withdraw the army, to surrender.
In these unequal and useless wars it is the strongest who must retreat. In Saigon, which took the name Ho Chi Minh City, the legacy of the Americans was 300 thousand heroin addicts. History in truth is a witness to the times (Cicero, De Oratore). Ukraine and Russia have been at war for two years (GDP Ukraine 200 billion dollars - GDP Russia 1.779 billion dollars). A war without any sense or reason. With terrible consequences of deaths, injuries and destruction.
In these wars like that of Vietnam, it is the strongest who must put an end to the war if we want right and not wrong to prevail. Our societies must make a chorus of voices heard that push in this direction.
Antonio Barracca
