Dien Bien Phu – a battle to remember
Seventy years ago, Vietnam won the Dien Bien Phu battle, forcing the French government to sign the Geneva Agreement in July 1954 and marking the end of the French military presence in the whole Indochina.
The battle for Dien Bien Phu is still bittersweet for many who wear the victory as a badge of honour, but lament the steep death toll.
The 1954 battle killed thousands of soldiers on both sides within less than two months, from March 13 to May 7, as Vietnamese fighters hemmed in French forces – equipped with superior weapons – and bombarded them with heavy artillery. The globe-shaking was the fruit of the clear-sighted leadership by President Ho Chi Minh, military art engineered by General Vo Nguyen Giap, and especially the great national solidarity. During the Dien Bien Phu Campaign, tens of thousands of people engaged in transporting supplies to the front or building the road for moving the artillery serving the battle.
Seven decades have passed but the stature, meaning and lessons learnt from the great victory remain valid today, being a great source of encouragement for the entire nation in the current national construction and development.
Vietnam has shone bright as a country of peace, bliss and robust development. It has carved out significant achievements with its bamboo diplomacy, in which it stays steadfast and unyielding on basic principles but flexible in the ways and means to achieve strategic objectives.
The country has established diplomatic ties with 190 countries and territories across the five continents, and even strengthened bonds with its formers foes.
