Why France Lost The Battle of Dien Bien Phu 1954 (4K Documentary)
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After the French success in the Battle of Na San, the battle of Dien Bien Phu is supposed to defeat the Viet Minh once and for all. But instead the weeks long siege becomes a symbol of the French defeat in Vietnam.
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» SOURCES
Lawrence Atwood, Mark & Logevall, Fredrik (eds.), The First Vietnam War: Colonial Conflict and Cold War Crisis, (Cambridge, MA : Harvard University Press, 2007)
Chen Jian, “China and the First Indo-China War, 1950-54", The China Quarterly, No. 133 (March 1993)
Duiker, William J, “Ho Chi Min and the Strategy of People’s War” in Lawrence, Mark Atwood & Logevall, Fredrik (eds.), The First Vietnam War: Colonial Conflict and Cold War Crisis, (Cambridge, MA : Harvard University Press, 2007)
Fall, Bernard, Hell in a Very Small Place: The Siege of Dien Bien Phu, (New York, N.Y : Da Capo Press, 1985)
Fauroux, Pierre, “Night Jump into Dien Bien Phu: An Eyewitness Account from a French Paratrooper Captured by the Viet Minh”, HistoryNet, (www.historynet.com/night-jump...)
Irving, Ronald E. M. The First Indochina War: French and American Policy 1945-54, (London : Croom Helm, 1975)
Lawrence Atwood, Mark & Logevall, Fredrik (eds.), The First Vietnam War: Colonial Conflict and Cold War Crisis, (Cambridge, MA : Harvard University Press, 2007)
L’Herpiniere, Michel & Perkins, Mandaley, Hanoi, Adieu: A Bittersweet Memoir of a Frenchman in Indochina, (Enfield, N.S.W : Haper Perennial, 2006)
Prados, John, “Assessing Dien Bien Phu” in Lawrence, Mark Atwood & Logevall, Fredrik (eds.), The First Vietnam War: Colonial Conflict and Cold War Crisis, (Cambridge, MA : Harvard University Press, 2007)
Thee, Marek, “The Indochina Wars: Great Power Involvement - Escalation and Disengagement”, Journal of Peace Research, Vol. 13, No. 2 (1976)
Tønnesson, Stein, “The Longest Wars: Indochina 1945-75", Journal of Peace Research, Vol. 22, No. 1 (1985)
Tucker-Jones, Anthony, Dien Bien Phu: The First Indochina War, 1946-1954, (Barnsley : Pen and Sword Military, 2017)
Trương Như Tảng, Chanoff, David and Doan Van Toai, A Viet Cong Memoir: An Inside Account of the Vietnam War and its Aftermath, (New York, NY : Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Publishers, 1985)
»CREDITS
Presented by: Jesse Alexander
Written by: Mark Newton
Director: Toni Steller & Florian Wittig
Director of Photography: Toni Steller
Sound: Toni Steller
Editing: Philipp Appelt
Motion Design: Philipp Appelt
Mixing, Mastering & Sound Design: above-zero.com
Research by: Mark Newton
Fact checking: Jesse Alexander
Channel Design: Simon Buckmaster
Contains licensed material by getty images and AP
Maps: MapTiler/OpenStreetMap Contributors & GEOlayers3
Music Library: Epidemic Sound
All rights reserved - Real Time History GmbH 2023
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Please use more Vietnamese sources too. It seems like you only used western sources, which creates a skewered perspective.
@@koharumi1Viet Nam sources usually are fake or exaggerated
Minor issue, LBJ was Senate Minority Leader at the time, not House.
Now we have Joe Biden trying to destroy U.SA
oh I thought that's a diet cereal
Having read several books about the battle, the one thing that always amazes me is the sheer logistics for the vietnamese at the battle, and the insane work put in by the porters.
I recall a story that the Viet Minh were hauling an artillery piece up a steep hill when they lost their grip and the gun started to slide back down. One Viet Minh, rather than have to watch his comrades haul it all the way back up the hill, threw himself under the wheel of the gun to stop it from falling. He was killed, but the gun made it to the top of the hill that day. Dedication.
@@Conn30Mtenor
As the old folk saying goes "It ain't the size of the dog in the fight...it's the size of the fight in the dog".
@@Conn30MtenorI remember reading that 30 years ago, do you remember the name of that book?
@@Conn30Mtenor The guy's name is To Vinh Dien, and he's hailed as a national hero today. Pretty damn heroic what he did I'd say.
they also used elephants to help out, as did their ancestors when fighting the Chinese
Do you know why the Viet Minh had artillery at Dien Bien Phu? Because the Vietnamese army brought all the artillery here, completely with bare hands. No helicopters, no trucks, no tanks. All with bare hands.
The Vietnamese army created roads through the mountains specifically for pulling artillery into Dien Bien Phu. They pulled the 2.4-ton cannons with bare hands and ropes up 40-degree slopes. Each cannon required 50, even 100 people to pull it.
A total of at least 24 105mm M2A1 howitzers entered the battlefield in this way along with many 37mm M1939 (61-K) guns.
"If we look more widely, there is no army in this world that pulls a 2.4-ton cannon up a mountain. Only the Vietnamese army did it."
Phạm Đức Cư - Veteran of the 367th anti-aircraft artillery regiment.
Truly on of the greatest fighting forces in the 20th century. Respect to the viet minh forever
As if that's not impressive enough, let's remember back then their average height was just around 160cm, and food wasn't abundant so they probably didn't get to eat enough. And yet, they'd managed to accomplish all that and WON!!!
Bọn Bắc Việt là đánh tay sai cho Trung Quốc để chống lại Pháp
What's even more impressive is how recently the Vietnamese army was created at this time. 10 years before they were at most a few thousand lightly armed guerillas, but they were able to build a very skilled and motivated force that by 1954 was capable to take on the very best French units. While they did have a lot of outside help in training and equipment, without motivation and skill, all those resources could just be wasted (see the Afghan army the US spent billions of dollars and 20 years to build, collapsing to small bands of Taliban...).
That's because they had a lot of help from Communist China and the advisory group that was headed by the brilliant Communist Generals Chen Geng and Fu Zuoyi.
There's a mistake in your line.
The Vietnamese army was formed "10 years before", yes, but if you consider the month, it would be closer to 9 and a half year. Furthermore, the "regular" or "main lineage" of the army begins with fewer than 50 people.
Yes, fewer than 50. Including 2 women and having fewer than a dozen rifles.
Source: I'm a Vietnamese.
It probably helped that the Viet Minh had some Japanese instructors for Quang Ngai Military Academy, and later had Chinese advisors (CMAG) to develop them as an army. Kind of reminds me of von Steuben in the American Revolution.
Also in the 1920s, Ho Chi Minh sent revolutionaries to study at the Chinese Whampoa Military Academy, training future officers such as Major General Nguyen Son.
It's more like the Afghan Army "collapsing into small bands of Taliban".
"the best french units" is such pretending statement.
French never trained their soldiers to fight in jungles.
Only modern Foreign Legion does it because it have to operate in such environments.
But the rest of French forces just operate in Africa, mostly in sub-sahara regions and a bit for European battlefields.
If you put a french soldier on top of a mountain he will die starving and by hypotermia in just few hours.
My grandfather fought in Dien Bien Phu. They sent him China to learn how to drive a truck, and later on he drove soldiers and supplies to the battlefield. He got bombed twice, survived with a piece of shrapnel inside his leg
thank your grandfather for the sacrifice
@@khanhnguyenquang2808 He had no choice.
@@mich722 Like everyone else but then again this was because the French didn’t give us any better choice for us.
@@thanhhoangnguyen4754 If the North Viets weren't communist they could have avoided all this and gained recognition from the world, who would have been on their side and sympathetic to them. Their biggest mistake was choosing communism.
@@mich722 If the North was not communist
The North could not organize a powerful army to defeat the french
If You did not have a powerful army
you really have nothing to Bargain with the French
"The biggest fear of a true Vietnamese people is the fear of losing country"..remember it
chứ không phải sợ mất Đảng à
@@mrobam112 chỉ những người đu càng mới ko hiểu được nỗi sợ mất nước thôi.
@@mrobam112 đảng cộng sản, cộng hòa hay dân chủ :) miễn Bắc Nam về một nhà, đất nước được thái bình là được.
@@mrobam112 It doesn't matter to the people (I repeat, the PEOPLE) which government and political alignment leads them, as long as they lead them to the liberation of their country.
@@mrobam112 lúc đó không có quân việt minh thì tụi mày có được độc lập không hay làm nô lệ cho pháp ,nên nhớ lúc đó quân việt minh là dân
I really can't describe my love to vietnam, long live brothers 🇩🇿❤️🇻🇳
🇻🇳✌️
Cảm ơn bạn. Đất nước Ageria cũng rất kiên cường khi dành được độc lập năm 1962 và đội bóng Ageria cũng đã tạo nên kỳ tích ở WC 1982.
Sau chiến dịch Điện Biên Phủ vào đầu tháng 5/1954 thì đến đầu tháng 11/1954 những con người yêu nước Ageria đã họp lại với 6 vị lãnh tụ và quyết định đi theo con đường khởi nghĩa vũ trang để dành độc lập, như cách mà người dân Việt Nam đã dành lại độc lập với chiến thắng Điện Biên Phủ lịch sử.
Năm 1946 trên đường qua Pháp thì chủ tịch Hồ Chí Minh từng ghé qua Algeria và nói rằng: Algeria không nên khởi nghĩa vũ trang thời điểm đó, bởi Algeria chỉ cách Pháp 2 tiếng bay, việc chi viện của quân Pháp rất nhanh chóng có thể dập tắt các cuộc khởi nghĩa ở Algeria. Hãy chờ Việt Nam đánh thắng Pháp rồi người dân Algeria hãy đứng lên dành độc lập. Và như một lời tiên tri của chủ tịch Hồ Chí Minh, dân tộc Việt Nam đã làm nên chiến thắng Điện Biên Phủ chấn động thế giới năm 1954, làm lung lay tận gốc rễ chủ nghĩa thực dân đế quốc. Từ đó hơn 40 quốc gia châu Phi đứng lên dành lại độc lập và đặc biệt năm 1960 có 17 quốc gia dành lại độc lập. Đến năm 1962 thì Algeria dành lại được độc lập, các bạn đã chiến đấu vũ trang và dành lại độc lập hoàn toàn cho dân tộc Algeria. Những người Algeria rất kiên cường, anh dũng đã dạy cho Pháp thêm một bài học.
Đó là những gì tôi được biết về những người anh em Algeria xa xôi.
Cảm ơn vì đã yêu mến đất nước Việt Nam của chúng tôi.
Respect Algeria 🇻🇳🤝🇩🇿 ♥️
@@syletrong5168 respect brother 🇩🇿❤️🇻🇳
"Don't worry guys, our air force can totally resupply a surrounded garrison". Sounds like someone hasn't been paying attention in class...
Demyansk... Imphal...
Go look up Na San.
Stalingrad flashback lol
the viets cut that base up piece work, air support against monsoon in the highlands to boot, no viz. The world knew this was it, remain in indo or get expelled. It is suggested that giap was pressured to sacrifice his men,and Pour them off by the thousands, to appease china, Ho and giap were nationalist china did not lik that. the french had thousands killed more than the US.
Where's Hermann Goring when you need him!!
It's like that fridge commercial back in the day "How do you put an elephant in the fridge? You open the fridge and you stick it in". The Viet Minh was like "How do you put a bunch of artillery pieces on top of hills without trucks? You pull them by hands".
Lee and Grant when fighting against Santa Anna during the Mex-Am War.
Nobody cares about the lackluster the Americsn war, and again nobody asks
@@DuongLeAccountingAutomate except that they used the same tactic.
@@DuongLeAccountingAutomate what ? Did they need your permission or your mom ?
100th like🎉🎉🎉
I always admire the sheer resilience of the Vietnamese to fight for their independence time and time again against larger, powerful foes in its history.
"People would rather be misruled by their own than well ruled by others." - Byron Farwell
@@michaelmcgovern8110 Sums up every country well
It would make a lot more sense having them as allies than enemies...
@@charlesharper2357
Read history: not so easy.
@@michaelmcgovern8110Vietnam was not well ruled under France.
My grandfather was a soldier at Dien Bien Phu on the Viet Minh side. He was a very skilled mapper so he was part of a scouting mission tasked to watch French movements from only 200 meters away.
Glory to your grandfather
@cjclark1208 it does sound shallow, especially when you consider the US was asked to intervene by S. Vietnam. Nor is it what you would call a democracy then or now.
@@cjclark1208 Well, South Vietnam existed because of what happened after, and many were a part of the Viet Minh before they grew disallusioned with the Communist leadership. What came after Dien Bien Phu was a lot of shooting of landlords and execution of religious figures in North Vietnam, this is why a million fled south.,
@@jamesringo7070 Vietnam is free, it is also not a democratic state. Barack Obama visited many human rights activists in Vietnam on his trip, most of them are now jailed or exiled.
@@pudanielson1What can you justified for landlord's brutality for centuries, which exist during the Vietnamese dynasty, long before France finds Indochina. And South VN was never free at all (Diem's family control much of the government system, those opposed was purged out, with Communists & suspected Communisted beheaded in French revolution Terror style), and ask for help? Yeah right, US had long since try to turn VN into another Korea as soon as Geneva was signed, so with or without South's request, they would come anyway. BTW, human rights activists just called lies against us, they just wanted stupid chaos like at Middle East, where everyday is a war day. Oh and about religion? How about i talk about Diem's anti-Buddhism policies ok? Favor many Roman Catholic, Christian & Protestan. Shooting protested Buddhist monks at Hue in summer 63. Yeah, how is that freedom? Stop justify U.S. actions on us ok? We only wanted independence, not communism ok? Thanks a lot, Truman, for pushing our leader Ho Chi Minh into a corner where the only escape trapdoor named "Communism" is available, seal our fate in history forever.
The French, Chinese, Americans lost. The Vietnamese are fantastic warriors. It is what it is.
plus the Mongol Empire of Genghis Khan
Vietnam's history is a history of wars for thousands of years
The U.S. didn’t lose. They didn’t win either and by the time they decided to leave it took the Vietnamese 3 years to take the south.
@@BH02377
Vietnamese achieved it's objective at the end.
U.S did not achieved it's objective at the end.
What part of lose do you not understand?
@@kennylast2565 Americans killed so many of them they never felt like they lost, but it did feel like they won in the end.
BRILLIANT commentary ! As a 6 years old French child in 1954 I have heard the name < Dien Bien Phu > so many times . First time I reallly understand what was going on at the geopolitical level
Điều đó có nghĩa là bạn đang hướng tới sinh nhật lần thứ 76 của bạn
In 1966, Moshe Dayan visited Vietnam as a journalist. He gained, and shared, a lot of insights about the American military adventure being undertaken there. One of his comments was that any soldiers that could move heavy pieces of artillery up and down mountains, without any mechanical help, would be "a formidable enemy."
I heard Moshe Dayan once also told the US that "Let the Vietnamese live under communism, then they will be anti-communists". But I can't find the source for this quote, do you have any lead? Thanks in advance.
@@caratmap3333still no sign of anti communism... Weird huh?
0:17 The French wanted a final decisive battle in Dien Bien Phu, they got exactly that. The battle was final and decisive, just not in the French's favor.
The Vietnamese were greatly underestimated- by both France and the United States. We both lost as a result.
The battle wasn't a strategic defeat actually. France could have continued the war for years. Remember, France didn't send any reservist in Indochina, only a part of its professionnal army. "Luckily", it was still a complete tactical and political defeat, and France finally found someone courageous enough to stop the colonialist bs here (4th republic was pretty instable).
@@manilajohn0182Le gouvernement Français peut-être mais pas les hommes dans la verte
Because French military efforts were being bankrolled by the us.@@bunkerkorpf1440
The propaganda that this was communism is bollocks. The Viets wanted their country back.
My grandfather brother was taken by force from Algeria to Vietnam, he survived this battle and when returned to Algeria, the revolution has already started there, so he immediately joined it and was killed by napalm in 1958
F
Respect to your grandfather's brother! A hero of Algeria!
Rest is peace. He's definitely a hero.
deserved
As Viet, respect to him for fighting for Algerian independence.
In the lyrics of the song “ Singing Marching Songs Forever” there‘s a line:
Even though my life likes roses.
Our enemies force us to hold our guns.
Quyết tử cho Tổ Quốc quyết sinh.❤❤
Vietnamese people fight to protect what is theirs, for them the Fatherland is more important than death... And the French and Americans fight to regain things that are not theirs, it is unjust. .. The fighting motivation of the Vietnamese people is limitless, so it is inevitable that they will win, sooner or later!...
I am Vietnamese!... 🇻🇳🇻🇳🇻🇳
Anyway, you lost France to become Chinese. Nice deal. I don't know who is the worst, but surely there are no winners for the price paid by both sides in this battle, especially when the war seems over shortly before the attacks. This amount of deaths was not necessary.
@@LLF- Become Chinese? What you said made me laugh, you guys have been confused by the media, let's learn about Vietnam's history again... It's true that the price to pay for this war is too high, but if Saying who is right and who is wrong is ridiculous. Isn't it right for France to send troops to invade Vietnam?
@@LLF-become Chinese? You sure haven’t read enough
@@LLF- "Become Chinese"? "This amount of deaths is not necessery"? Are you sure? Are you French? Look at the fourteen Africa contries! The French came and brought exploitation but no glory to An Nam!
Not only France and USA. Don't forget Japan, China and Mongolia.
My grandfather fought in Dien Bien Phu for Viet Minh, he still has a bullet in his back till he died in 2016, he told me stories about battles manh times and always inspired me
woah , ông của anh bạn cũng phải lớn tuổi phết
When the Australian Army trained me as an officer (early 1980s) we studied several battles that were examples of what to not do. This battle was one of them.
Like the Australian army is capable of anything...
@@pacmanmcgavin7034 You need to read some history. Apparently, you know nothing of value.
I'm ex-Australian and British army...
I've lived more military history than you'll ever know.
Anything else?
@@namelesscurmudgeon9794
Yes me too, Dien Ben Paul was a textbook example of failure of defence. Losing the key ground not the main ground.
@@namelesscurmudgeon9794 then explain Gallipoli, you brilliant soldier of a man, you
The magical of this battle is how Vietnam force can transport the artillery and heavy equipment to that place in an unimaginable amount of time. As you can see on the map, Điện Biên Phủ is a valley is surrounded and full covered by very high mountain. The French destroy all the road connect to the place and air supply is the only way left to support the place. In the French's plan, they prepared for the attack by infantry, they will continues developing the base while defending it. They believed that they could build a really powerful stronghold by the time Vietnam force can rebuild the road that they destroyed before they jump in. But they were shocked by artillery attack at beginning of battle. Vietnam force did not repair any damaged road they created a new way to transport all equipment under the trees, through the forest and up to the top of mountains by man power only. The French air support did not observed any activity to rebuild the damaged road so The French believed Vietnam force can not come to attack them soon and by heavy gun power.
Are you Vietnamese? Did you have any family who fought with or against the French? Those were some of the best light infantry soldiers in the world at the time that they defeated.
@@blabberer8950 Yes, I am Vietnamese and my grand father was the Vietnam's infantry in this battle in 1954.
@@TungPham-vp6py That is a brave man. Did he survive both the French and Americans?
@@blabberer8950 Yes, he survived Dien Bien Phu battle but got injury. Then he had been transferred to supporting department during the period time of conflict with American.
@@TungPham-vp6py My dad was with the 101st and fought in the A'Shau Valley among other places. Has mad respect for the NVA Warriors.
Navarre wrote a letter to General Võ Nguyên Giáp challenging him to attack Dien Bien Phu since he is so confident that this fortress is impossible to conquer.
As we all know, General Giáp accepted the challenge, and the rest is history.
Never heard about this.
Any source or link, please ?
@@didierdenice7456 the letter is written in Vietnamese. And my mistake. It was De Castries who wrote the invitation, not Navarre.
@@MinhVo-ig7no even if it is in Vietnamese, any link?
@@brunol-p_g8800Pháp đã rải truyền đơn bằng máy bay khắp các tỉnh phía bắc của Việt Nam và có hình ảnh trong link.
@@didierdenice7456Pamphlets via aircrafts.
🇻🇳I am Vietnamese Our people are learning history at school since childhood. American war. France. China 1979 We don't care who our opponents are. Only when the enemy comes to your house to fight you. Americans and French people can go to Mars, but when we go to Vietnam, we are not sure we can return I am the child of a wounded veteran and a gold star military nurse

I am an American of 63yrs and to this day I am amazed at Gen. Giap dragging 100 cannons up mountains at Dien Bien Phu. The French forces did not even BOTHER to send patrols out. You never do that in such a situation. The French died as Invaders, and sadly most of my American countrymen did too, but they were forced to serve (draft) or lied to by U.S. politicians like LBJ.
Tôi người việt nam. 🇻🇳Nếu Người mỹ bị xâm lược thì cũng như chúng tôi sinh ra nhiều anh hùng. Bít địch biết ta trăm trận trăm thắng. Chiến tranh thắng vì lòng dân tộc. Giá đình họ. Việt Nam không thích chiến tranh. Chúng tôi yêu hoà bình. Tù binh phí công mỹ. Ở trong tù được trợ cấp ăn hơn cả bộ đội việt Nam. Vì chúng tôi muốn đàm phán không muốn chiến tranh. Hãy ngừng bắn.
@@RSF-DiscoveryTime.❤❤❤ fr VietNam. 🇻🇳🇻🇳.Now. We are Friends. Not war, enlesss Peace
@@RSF-DiscoveryTime Tướng Giáp kéo pháo vào những thời điểm mà quân Pháp ít cho máy bay đi tuần tra và kéo pháo vào cả ban đêm. Quần Pháp vẫn cho máy bay tuần tra thường xuyên và chụp hàng nghìn bức ảnh từ máy bay để do thám, và mật thám Pháp cũng biết chúng tôi đang kéo pháo. Một điều nữa là khi vừa kéo pháo vào trận địa thì tướng Giáp chuyển cách đánh nên chúng tôi lại phải kéo pháo ra ngoài. Người Mỹ cung cấp 80% chiến phí cho Pháp tại Điện Biên Phủ, xây dựng pháo đài kiên cố nhất từ trước đến nay. Điện Biên Phủ là cứ điểm cực kỳ kiên cố nên quân Pháp rất tự tin, và họ còn có thêm lực lượng không quân hỗ trợ. Tướng Pirot người giỏi nhất về pháo binh của Pháp còn tự tin khẳng định " Việt Minh sẽ không bắn nổi 3 phát đạn pháo" và kết quả thì ai cũng biết rồi.
Muốn thắng người mạnh hơn mình gấp trăm lần thì mình phải làm được những việc mà người khác không làm được. Đó là dân tộc VN và đại tướng Võ Nguyên Giáp của chúng tôi.❤❤
Perhaps the best documentary about the battle of Dien Bien Phu. Excellent work!
The French and US gravely underestimated the iron resolve of the Vietnamese leadership and it's people.
The Americans never bothered to invade the North, they were never looking for a quick victory or any victory the military industrial complex wanted is continuous at the cost of 56 thousand American lives and over a million Vietnamese. Sad
So many youtubers covering France vs Vietnam lately, definitely an anniversary afoot
Can you please mention a few?
There are no anniversary dates with France recently
Growing up us American kids aren't taught to connect the dots when it comes to history.
We of course learned the story of the Vietnam war through Forrest Gump and such,
but we didn't learn about the road that led us there.
a well-research Documentary except A few things need to be corrected.
- He only use Western history sources while ignoring Vietnamese sources. This creates some misinformation on the tactical level from the Vietnamese perspective. This includes how story are told. The French appeared more humane than their Communist Viet Minh counterpart.
- About cassuaties of both sides: He again used all western source with exactly number of French cassuatíe vs a estimate number: "Viet Minh Casuaties may be high as 30.000". So after nearly 70 years of that battle. It's still so hard to find out the cassuaties number of Viet Minh? They reported 4.020 dead, 792 missing, 9.118 wounded.
- Je quoted a Chinese general about unlimited artillery shells from China. But he ignore the fact that Viet Minh only had 10 000 shells and later capture more than 10 000 while fighting in Dien Bien Phu from the French. They fired around 17000 shells in the battle, while the French fired more than 110 000. It's 6 to 1 advantage for French artillery. The Viet Minh lack of shells that if a division want to fire more than 5 shells, they must be approved by Giap himself. With a Chinese general quote you mentioned, it's very easy for the audiences think that the Viet Minh had unlimited supply while French were at shortage.
@@toangomo only one thing to consider: every single estimate that came from Viet Minh and Viet Cong as well as their opponents were between the exaggerration and outright lie, which is proven by the claims of both sides during Vietnam War, so ultra-skeptical neutral estimates are often used. To know the truth - you'll have to dig up entire cluster of mountains and count. Before that we take skeptical guess.
It is fantastic that, after decades of fighting against the Japanese, French and American imperialists, the Vietnamese finally managed to liberate their country.
Don’t forget they fought Chinese and Cambodians too
Note the horrific number of casualties on the communist Vietnamese side. Despite that they refused to give up fighting for an independent nation. Ho Chi Minh once told the USA, "you will never defeat us, because to do so you'd have to kill every single one of us". His words came true, for despite inflicting a 10 to 1 kill ratio the USA was unable to kill enough Vietnamese to make them give up. THAT is determination.
@@DK-gy7ll Vietnamese people consider sacrifice for the country to be glorious
Actually they didn't. Only the northern part. It would take until 1975 before they expelled the Americans.
@@DK-gy7llActually the kill ratio wasn't 10:1 but 2:1-3:1. People always ignore ARVN casualties which were 400,000 death and 1 million wounded. So ~450,000 death on the US/ARVN side vs 1 million dead on the VC/NVA side.
There was a joint French/Vietnamese film production on the battle called "Diet Bien Phu." The film was released in the early-1990s with dialogue in both French and Vietnamese. IIRC the film was fairly well received. The film was eventually released on either DVD or Blu-Ray, but not in the US AFAIK. I managed to catch the film in a theater while in Hong Kong, where it was subtitled in both Chinese and English. (This was back when HK was still a British territory.). It's worth seeing if you can track it down.
That film 90% accurate based on who fighting at both sides at this tien bien phu battles,worth to watching this film....not like us film,just them win at every battles...
@@saifulsidek2724Schoendoerffer, the film director, was a veteran of the battle, and at the time a cameraman for the french army.
@@marcbuisson2463 oh yeah? No wonder that film so accurate,he is recording what really happen that day i guess...
there is a live torrent for it on yts
You guys do great work!
I was crossing my fingers for this video after the last one left on something of a cliffhanger... awesome job as always RTH!
and next one is already next week
It must be said, that the French didn’t just let the Viet Minh take over the hills around DBP. The concept of having an aeromobile base was to be an anchor for attack patrols in the area, however in time, skirmishes and gunfights got worse, reducing the ability of the garrison to leave their perimeter. Even at that point, the French thought of leaving DBP, but American pressure demanded them to gain a victory like Na San.
🤣
ALSO DIDN'T HELP THET THEIR BASE WAS SITUATED IN A LOW LYING AREA SURROUNDED BY A RING OF VIET MIHN ARTILLERY.
You'd think the French commanders at Dien Bien Phu would have mentioned that in the after war interviews. They did not.
Yeah.. it wasn't actually us fighting, it was the US.
In fact, Pablo Escobar also said that. And also the Pope, when asked about child molestation.. it was all the US
No no, this is not the old “blame the US for all our woes”. Indochina had become by that stage a political issue. Ike didn’t want anything to do with an ugly colonial war, but hardliners in both Congress and Senate wanted to fight the commies, and pushed the idea of continue fighting. I understand that for sake of time, the political and diplomatic issue related to Indochina was cut, but before DBP there was a lot of back and forth between Paris and Washington concerning how war should be waged. For example, just the building of the aeromobile base in DBP was a propaganda coup, by having VIP’s from France and the US visiting the base.
Thank you man truly, I appreciate all you do.
Another great vid RTH. And great outtro, as always.
The North Vietnam mountains are quite something. Not very tall, but very steep, lots of mud and sharp rocks, thick jungle, incredible humidity and harsh heat for 8 months. It's plenty of small valleys and serpentine paths, the dream terrain for ambushes. If you can't hold the frontier to stop influx of supplies, you can't hold it. Holding the frontier would be a huge resource sink. It was unwinnable.
The channel here mainly talks about a somewhat harsh perspective on the French commanders in Indochina. For example, they pointed out a series of unfavorable conditions at Dien Bien Phu and argued that the French had calculated but disregarded the Viet Minh so they lost. In fact, if you visit the Dien Bien Phu battlefield today, you will understand that the calculations of the French generals are completely well-founded for the following reasons:
1-The Viet Minh had never had experience in attacking at the corps level with large-scale and modern base clusters like Dien Bien Phu. The victories in Na San and Vinh Yen with bases one-tenth the size of Dien Bien Phu are evidence that strongly supports the hypothesis of French strategists. In fact, in the final stages of the war, the US supported 70% of France's war costs and even Americans who visited the Dien Bien Phu base had to admire its solidity and modernity and all the Everyone there thought that the Viet Minh could not take over this base and would be drowned in a sea of blood
2-In the Asian battlefield, Western armies have had experience fighting the Japanese and Chinese armies in conventional battles, in which fighting the Chinese army is the latest experience. The characteristics of the Chinese army is to use large numbers of troops and attack human waves and therefore, from the perspective of the French at that time, if the Viet Minh also played human wave tactics like what China did, it would mean Viet Minh chose to commit suicide. That was also the trap that the French had set up just to wait for the Viet Minh army, whose armies were much poorer in equipment than them, to attack them in a cluster of perfectly defended bases. As the channel said, the French military described Viet Minh artillery pouring like rain into their bunkers, but that was not the case. During the whole campaign, the French used more than 18,000 artillery shells while the Viet Minh only used 3,000 shells. But what Pirot said that he would silence the Viet Minh artillery after 3 rounds of fire showed their disastrous mistake. The reason is because the Viet Minh had better vision than the French, and at the same time used camouflage tactics so that the French army did not know where the Viet Minh's artillery was to respond while the Viet Minh could easily have the coordinates. The French artillery, bunkers, and fortifications were fixed, so every time the Viet Minh fired rounds, the French army suffered huge losses, making the French soldiers feel like the Viet Minh only had a lot of artillery shells. In fact, a Viet Minh artillery battery can fire no more than 3 rounds of bullets and when you want to fire more, you must get permission from superiors because the number of reserve bullets is limited because at this time, the allies' aid is mainly from China is also facing difficulties and they are not yet self-sufficient in ammunition production, especially large-caliber artillery. As for the Soviet Union, the Stalinist period was the period when he did not support the Vietnamese people's war for independence and Ho Chi Minh was almost isolated from international communism because of his nationalism.
3-The battlefield at Dien Bien Phu is far from Hanoi and can only be supported by air. That's completely true, but compared to Viet Minh, the place where their main base is located is Viet Bac, a mountainous area bordering China, 70km north of Hanoi and equally far from Dien Bien Phu. Therefore, for France, it was impossible for the Viet Minh to march and carry artillery over a distance of more than 500km to Dien Bien Phu. Looking on the map, the Viet Minh controlled the red area, the French controlled the blue area, but in reality the battlefield was much more complicated. Viet Minh guerrillas and spies also infiltrated cities controlled by the French to attack bases, weakening the French and vice versa. French commandos and reconnaissance groups used both French and Vietnamese soldiers. local people operating in areas controlled by the Viet Minh. Therefore, as mentioned above, sending artillery hundreds of kilometers to the main battlefield without being exposed is not a simple task.
4-in case the Viet Minh could bring artillery towed by specialized vehicles near Dien Bien Phu, if the French did not detect it, then with the calculations at that time, it would be impossible for the Viet Minh army to bring the artillery. 105mm cannon entered the battlefield. Remember, France chose Dien Bien Phu as a basin surrounded by mountains 800-1000m high. There weren't any major roads where cars could bring artillery in and that was the reason the French were so confident. And in reality, the Viet Minh people showed their well-founded recklessness when they used forest vines to weave into ropes and used human strength to pull large cannons over high mountain slopes, a actions beyond the imagination of any French military or American advisors at that time. As for logistics such as food and medicine, the Viet Minh also used French bicycles, improving them so that every 2 people had one bicycle, pushing the bicycle to carry up to 250kg of food from Thanh Hoa to the battlefield in one go. The trail is 500-600km long. It was precisely because the logistical capacity exceeded what the French commanders had calculated that it completely derailed their combat plans and that was the reason why many people called General Giap the Red Napoleon for pulling artillery. Crossing the mountain to Dien Bien Phu was very similar to Napoleon leading the French army to cross the alpes on the Grand-Saint-Bernar pass.
5-Finally, the main reason is that General Giap of the Viet Minh changed his way of fighting. He decided not to listen to Chinese advisors, who proposed human wave tactics, using large numbers of troops to overwhelm enemy firepower and try to take over Dien Bien Phu in a short time. Instead, he chose the strategy of "firm attack, steady attack". It's basically a bit by bit invasion, in which the method of digging trenches is thoroughly utilized to minimize casualties for the soldiers and thanks to this method of fighting, the French military has succeeded in attracting the main force. of the Viet Minh but failed to bring all of General Giap's troops to heaven.
In short, the French commanders were not bad at all. They have a clear basis and quite accurate analytical reasoning with experiences drawn from World War II, although I don't think they are the greatest generals of the century in which they lived. What they lost was simply that their enemy was too excellent, an enemy that the Americans themselves could not defeat.
Fact: Viet Minh learned tartics from France by practical lessons 😂. It calls "independent company, concentrated battalion" method.
You should be Japan, who high lever nation and want to find in history for future alliance.😂
Take care, be like Chinese, their little bros not simple 😆
@@buituan7969 hmm. i don't know what you mean but i want actually talked about Vietnam's history, ok and i don't worry about Chinese or something else
Agree, this video isn't poorly researched, just very biased.
exactly! The Mongol army, the French army, the American army, and the Chinese army all failed at the hands of Vietnam because they did not understand anything about the Vietnamese people!
This was superb. I read Stanley Karnow's book on Vietnam, but STILL learned things from this video. Bravo!
Great video, as always.
Keep up the great work
We pulled the artillery up the hill with human strength. The French could not imagine that they could be overwhelmed by artillery
They could imagine being overwhelmed by artillery. What they did not expect was you moving artillery over dense mountains and jungles.
Great to see comments from Vietnamese here. The best thing about these histories is that we are now friends and not enemies. France and America learned tough lessons in SE Asia. The old commies under the bed thing was bullshit. Profits from endless war was the priority.
@@eelchiong6709họ đã quá chủ quan
Excellent narration. A luxury of exact details in proper sequence. Outstanding delivery of information. Thank you.
One small correction @ 15.51 VO NGUYEN GAP; the principal not the "principle" trait of that phase. Principal as in main.
Incredible, I always learn something.
This was a great documentary and covered The Battle of Dien Bien Phu in greater detail than most other longer documentaries and was well illustrated and narrated.
I served in the Legion, my brothers died here, I still am in awe of their sacrifice
My deepest gratitude for everything that you do.
Nice work. Very well done.
Viet Minh artillery was placed on the far side of the mountains, firing over the peaks into the valley. Spotters at the top adjusted that fire. No surprise French counter batteries were ineffective.
Actually many were on the face , they dug in and only the tube stuck out, zeroed in designated targets , near Elaine they dug thru and had tunnels with automatic weapons and recoiless rifles , the French called those hills old baldy and phony mountain
Nhưng bạn có biết cách nào mà người Việt Nam chúng tôi đưa được những khẩu pháo nặng hàng trục tấn lên các đỉnh núi cao vậy không? Trong khi kéo pháo lên đồi thì máy bay Pháp luôn lượn lờ tìm kiếm và thả bom, những cơn mưa làm cho dốc đồi thêm trơn trượt nhưng ý trí không mệt mỏi và sự sáng tạo đã đem đên thành công như vậy.😊
In a nutshell...because a french general never imagined the Vietnamese could carry heavy artillery in the mountains..once the airstrip was in range it was over for the frenchs..
How ' s about Gen Tran Canh and Gen La Quy Ba role in Dien Bien Phu battle
Our culture originates from wet rice. To be effective, we work together, thereby creating solidarity, love and help for each other. Currently, foreign friends coming to Vietnam to travel are facing difficulties, we still maintain the tradition of helping each other. Depending on the crops and products, we are born with customs and traditions. From customs and traditions we form behaviors to preserve agricultural achievements and land, then form villages and communes. linking the villages together. others create a society of solidarity. Therefore, it is impossible to defeat Vietnam by force, unless the Vietnamese people become extinct. That is the past. From now until the future, we will maintain our independence by promoting the spirit of world solidarity. world, taking common prosperity as the foundation
And Vietnam continued to lose millions more and is still poor and not free.
@@mich722 thân mến.
Nếu bạn sống ở Việt Nam vào những năm 75-89 mà đòi tự do cá nhân lúc ấy, tôi cam đoan hiện nay không còn người Việt Nam rồi mà thay vào đó là Polpot.
Chúng tôi đi theo đường lối tự do cá nhân phù hợp lợi ích tập thể, nếu bạn nghĩ như thế là mất tự do là quyền của bạn
@@vietnamese80 speak English or don't speak, I'm not translating that.
@@mich722🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Vietglish at its finest
Great work as usual thank you
You're welcome. I'm glad you enjoyed it.
Extraordinario documental. Enhorabuena
Outstanding. It was very accurate and I particularly liked the direct quotes. Very, very well done.
Another great documentary!
Thanks for saving the ad for the end of the video. I watched it out of appreciation.
The bravery of the guys that jumped into a lost battle is spectacular. If you read detailed stories, it's nuts.
The British had already defeated the Vietnamese in 1945
for the loss of 40 troops.
@@user-xq6se9uc1g that was their fight im Malaya. Lol.
I don't think they had a choice
It's called following orders or face a Court Martial
In 1969 I was flown (helicopter) West of An Khe toward Pleiku on Route 19. A bit over 1/2 way, I was directed to look down at an area known as Mang Yang Pass on the North side of the highway. I don't know why, but it hit me very emotionally. On the ground were 1,200 (+/-) white cylinders on the ground. In 1954, the Viet Minh (NVA) ambushed French soldiers there and massacred every man. The French sued for a cease-fire in order to bury their dead, which was granted. They brought in farm tractors with 36" augers on the back. For every French soldier, a hole was drilled in the dirt around 4' deep, and each body was lowered into the hole (facing France) which was then filled with lime. I'll wager that even today, that area still looks like a bee honeycomb.
@@Pyjamarama11 At this point in the battle, there were mostly volunteers: bread for the ducks!
What really pissed off the Vietnamese was the French letting the Japanese soldiers stick around to keep them in control, just after the war was over. That was because the French were busy getting their country back in shape and didn't have the resources to keep Vietnam under control.
That was a serious slap in the face.
But many japanese soldier also joined the veit cong and become their advisor right?
More so the raping and pillaging French soldiers committed when they regained control. Japanese troops (POW's) were there because of the British but this was mainly to retake control. They started to switch after the British left for their affairs in Asia. France really fucked up in Vietnam.
And many japan soilder chose to stay and fight together with vietminh , irony
thanks for the video
Wonderful to have found out this series! You people do an excellent work! I still consider the PBS series "Vietnam: A Television Series" to be the best but I'll surely learn a lot watchin this series.
my grandfather always remind me and tell me about Dien Bien Phu battle that he has contributed to make me love our country and being a next generation to protect our country!
French catastrophic mistakes: 1. underestimate your enemy; 2. Put you defensive position in a valley surrounded by hills covered in jungle; 3. assume the enemy has no artillery.
The sheer incompetence in believing this was a winning strategy.
The mistake of all Vietnam's enemies is to look down on Vietnam
Don't forget no. 4. Ignoring no matter what the densely populated and rice-rich province of Thanh Hoa.
Don't forget no. 5. The armchair generals of the internet.
In fact, the occupation of Dien Bien Phu was perfectly logical.
The position was strong, well chosen and inescapable.
It defended Laos very well.
It was also quite understandable that the French could not anticipate that the Vietminh could have such power projected 500kms from its bases for 5 long months as they were never confronted with it.
All the French had faced up to that point were massive waves of infantry assault weakly supported by artillery.
Enough to make them fear giant ambushes in isolated areas but not enough to worry them in pitched battles against the elite of their army.
Although in a desperate position from the very first days of the battle, the French troops held out for almost two months, inflicting heavy losses on the attackers.
So, the entrenched camp of Dien Bien was not as weak as all that.
The Vietminh victory was a feat that surprised everyone.
czcams.com/video/ndMxtmhACgs/video.html
The exact same mistakes the USA did in Vietnam and in Afghanistan, the sheer incompetence of the USA in believing this was a winning strategy, not even mentioning the astronomical ressources they poured into it.
While the French situation is understandable given the political situation of the 4th republic at the time, the post war rebuilding of the country and lack of means, the troops in minority and total lack of interest and understanding in military affairs of the senate presidents (the actual head of state in the 4th republic, who changed every few months, while the president of the republic didn’t have power but only a protocol statute), the US situations on the other hand are unforgivable.
Actually, it was the strategy to draw the ennemy into a decisive battle.
And it worked exactly as intended... except the outcome of the decisive battle.
Excellent and Outstanding!!!
Superb, highly professional and objective documentary.
The brilliance of Vo Nguyen Giap
An actual documentary on English, about a French defeat, without French-bashing or derogatory and snarky comments, with actual testimonials from the period, and covering both sides of the conflict, not forgetting the major help (or lack thereof) on an international scale ? That's very refreshing to me honestly.
Thank you for the work you put into your videos, and the quality of the footage you used to illustrate it.
Thank you very much I was surprised there a few things I had not known.
FINALLY IT'S HERE
Well researched video. Especially the part when China made Vietnam to accept the conception of dividing the country. This and the same thing happened at the end of Vietnam war (didn't works this time) is a source of resentment of Vietnamese to this day.
@Crying-Croc USA trying to keep Europe United? Interesting, I’d like to know where you got that idea. To start Europe is a continent, not a country, the USA have some leverage on some eastern countries but that’s all, every country has its own path and none is marked by the USA. But some states do have to comply to US leverage more than others. Finally if the USA wanted to « keep Europe United » (to start Europe is not United), then it wouldn’t be such an ally to Turkey and back it in such ways, nor would the USA treat European countries the way they do.
We might have some common interests, be « allies », but we’re far from being friends with or liking the USA.
@@brunol-p_g8800 When the American Empire began It really want to help European
But now america is declining
It need to sacrifice its allies in order to keep its Empire
That is why we have the Ukraine War
As an American Vietnam vet I understand the determination of the Vietnamese people. The things I learnd were they just want to catch their fish, grow their rice (many other things also) and be thier independent people.
Agree. For them, national sovereignty was the priority. After the 1990s, they may be wary of China but they will not allow themselves to be used as a battering ram against China by the neo-cons.
The neo-cons and some grandkids of Saigon exiles just do not get it. They are still talking about some US-Vietnam alliance against China,
@@fortpark-wd9sxit's quite funny and a bit ironic that the future of the vietnamese-american relationship will be decided by how the communist vietnamese government feels threatened by China. We can probably even say that it will be the chinese policies who will make a vietnamese-american alliance a reality or a dream.
Not sure if the control of the south China Sea is worth it for China in these conditions, but hey. We're not chinese policy-makers.
@@fortpark-wd9sxbạn nói thế thì lũ vong nô Sài Gòn buồn lắm
@@fortpark-wd9sxHow do you know so well? . In early 2023, the neo-weak group incited terrorist groups to kill many civilians in the Central Highlands of VN
@@fortpark-wd9sx Whether there will be a US-Vietnam alliance against China is Vietnam's decision to make, not yours. The fact that most Vietnamese feel friendlier towards the Americans today than towards the Chinese should tell you something.
The Americans were at war with Vietnam once for a decade, the Chinese have tried to invade and subjugate Vietnam repeatedly, and once did it for a thousand years before getting kicked out. Bit of a difference there.
But you sound suspicious anyway, probably a Chinese propagandist trying to spin things.
Great footage
OMG what a great video !!!
I find it amazing that Vietnam had to fight 3 wars of independence, against France-USA-China! If ever a people have earned their place at the UN.
Japan too.
Chúng tôi chỉ muốn làm 1 nông dân trồng cây và nuôi cá
My great grandpa was positioned in an AA division in the battle. Years before he was a chef in a French restaurant in Hai Phong but was kicked for making bad steaks 😂. Furious, he joined the Viet Minh and worked in an intelligence unit in Hai Phong and was tortured by pouring fermented shrimp paste into his nose. Throughout the Vietnam War he not only fought the French and Americans but also became a renowed chef of many divisions. He became a general after the war but still keeps great passion for culinary and passing it to my grandma and my mom. Of course, he also made a lot of steak dishes for my grandma and mom as a revenge for being kicked out 😂.
My great grandpa, a native of Hai Phong also served the Viet Minh in their early day. But he wasn't lucky like your, he never came back, we don't even know his face. Because back then taking a photo was expensive, and because as an anti-colonial gov revolutionary, he not supposed to leaving any trait behind .
@@vutruong7761 respect
I'm a yank who served in Indochina and I have respect for both your Great Grandpas. That war never should have happened-like many wars.
Love these stories. The French were invaders and imperialists who exploited the people and the resources. Cruel and vicious they were hated by the people just like the Dutch in Indonesia and the British in India and Burma. Great to see honest history and the descendants of freedom fighters telling us stories.
Great topic
Excellent video in this excellent channel
Hosts ‘ French pronounciation is impressive
He knows French and is Canadian.
As a Vietnamese, i must confirm that we didnt win just by strategies but also the will of a whole nation.
Thank you.
Georges Delerue's Concerto de l'Adieu for the 1992 movie "Dien Bien Phu" is well worth a listen
"Grotesque century of despair" was a great line
The French military seriously underestimated the amount of artillery, AA guns and logistical support that Communist China was willing to give to the Viet Minh.
One point that the video missed is the original Viet Minh strategy was to immediately storm the French position as soon as the 3 divisions arrived.
Giáp realized that this was foolish and changed the strategy to a long slow siege once the artillery could be fully emplaced.
If they had proceeded forward with their original plan, it likely would have been a decisive French victory with huge Viet Minh casualties. This would have cause the Geneva agreement to come out very different.
that plan was suggested by Chinese, They tried to ruin Vietnamese force as much as possible because they always think weak Vietnam is better Vietnam.
@@longduong1590 If China was trying to weaken Viet Minh, then why did they give so much arms and training to them in the first place?
Plus the attack on Diem Bien Phu was China’s idea in the first place.
No, I think it was just a bad (or at least very risky) military strategy.
@@FromPovertyToProgress China supported Vietnam because they needed Vietnam to win. What China actually want was that Vietnam won the war but suffered heavy casualty and became more dependent on China in the future, like how America put military bases in Japan and South Korea.
@@longduong1590 What China wanted was a Communist Vietnam (and Laos and Cambodia).
@@longduong1590 True, Vietnam should stay being a French colony🤣
The Aftermath discussion is spot on and many people including Vietnamese overlooked this point. Despite the decisive victory, VietMinh leaders felt betrayed (and right fully so) by their comrades (both Soviet and China) at the 1954 Geneva Convention. This lead to the distrust of any foreign entity, including allies by Le Duan (later North Vietnamese leader) in the second Indochina War. He would never let these big brothers drive the course of the war and the destiny of his country again. And this is still the shining lesson: the South Vietnamese, the Afghanistan all learnt it the hard way when the staunchest ally abandoned them. And the other lesson: if you are weak, no ally can save you - but that's for another day.
I respect the effort you put into pronouncing our Vietnamese names
Intersting that the Support in Vietnam was tied to German rearmament. I never read about that connection. Nice video
you should also look up the involvement of German soldiers in the French foreign legion during this battle Some wild photos out there.
@@realtimehistorywhy the brothels?
@@realtimehistory4:58?
@@ajithsidhu7183 They didn't have Netflix & chill at the time...
@@ajithsidhu7183to blow off some steam Bhai
Unke paas unki biwiyan nai thi na 😅😅 isiliye
In one book that i read, there was photo of M19 (40mm SPAA with chaffee chassis) possibly there.
Never heard that
They did have 4 quad .50s, mounted on us m3 half tracks
thank you for making this video from Vietnam
Amazing Chanel love from Canada
Im just proud it was my people but hurt to the core when I saw there suffering. I think it was heart that gave then the advantage. I know I would die to get back at anyone who hurt my family.
It is astounding how Vietnamese troops managed to hold out against two major global superpowers - France and America.
By 53 France was most definitely not a global power.
They fought for there country, they were nationalist, supported by china, and sadly france was no longer a superpower
Swap France out for China. They got their vietnamese knuckle sandwich later in 1979...
And imperial Japan and communist China
We have rules to war we have to follow or prison and or death could be a consequence. They have absolutely no rules other than follow what their leader says.
Your French and German pronunciations are excellent.
Excelente documento.
The French people did not support an overseas war whose main objective was to protect wealthy French landowners in Indochina.
A great summary of Dien Bien Phu. The French war in Indochina fascinates me, and I've bought just about every English language book I can find. An interesting fact - you mention the Chinese equipped Giap with American artillery captured in Korea. The French garrison was using the same type of gun, so as the perimeter shrank, much of the air-dropped resupply fell into Viet Minh hands; the new French-supplied shells were going straight to the Viet Minh's own US-made artillery. Great video - can you do some more French Indochina ones, about, say the disastrous withdrawal along RC4, or the slaughter of Mobile Group 100 ?
Oui cette bataille de la RC4 fut un désastre.
Un concentré d'irresponsabilité et d'incompétence.
Ça me rappelle une époque...🤔😉
Why focus on the French defeats? I would like to see a video about Giap’s disastrous attempt to take the Red River Delta in January 1951. The Viets had at least 12,000 casualties and they achieved nothing. Also, a video about the Battle of the Day River in May-June 1951 might be interesting. It could discuss how the French defeated the Viets, inflicting at least 2,500 casualties on them for the loss of less than 500. And let’s not forget the battle of Na San in late 1952, when Giap once again showed that he was an unimaginative commander willing to throw his mens lives away in human wave assaults. The Viets had at least 4,000 casualties at Na San, and again they achieved nothing.
@@malpreece5008 Bien sur,il y eut quelques batailles victorieuses grâce au Maréchal Delattre qui en dépit des difficultés énormes redonna confiance au corps expéditionnaire.
Toutefois ce que l'on retient c'est surtout la dernière bataille perdue ,tant sur le plan militaire que politique.
Que GIAP fut peu économe de ses hommes est une réalité ; que tant d'hommes ait pu le suivre en dépit des pertes énormes laisse perplexe.
Tant et si bien que même l'oncle HO s'en etait ému et avait envisagé de le destituer.
Puis DIEN BIEN PHU l'inscrivit dans l'histoire à tout jamais.
And for the record focusing on French defeats is part of French Bashing made by Americans( US),who are talking about"French pussies": in the 2d WW first month one hundred thousands casualties ( remember DUNKERQUE who allowed British army to pass the Channel).
They should think about that.
@@jean-pierrebarbisan1502 Indeed. Giap should have been dismissed, as he squandered the lives of his men.
The French fought well throughout the war, but as with Algeria the French military were ultimately compromised by their politicians.
@@malpreece5008 Yes ,yes you tell the truth.
Even in the second WW, French have been betrayed by politicians but not only.
You should read " une étrange défaite " by Marc BLOCH( a gringe defeat ).
Muy buen documental. Enhorabuena...quizás mejorables los gráficos ,para mayor detalle de los movimientos de las tropas
gracias!
Nice video dude, as a vietnamese, thanks you.
Personally, I think Vietnam's history is probably the most intriguing in the world because it's unique and unusual. The Mongols according to historians are still regarded as the mightiest, deadliest and most feared military force of all time even though they existed more than 8 centuries ago. The Mongol army of roughly 200,000 troops was able to wipe out all the powerful Chinese dynasties and finally successfully conquered the entire China with a population of over 180 million people in the 13th century! With its unbeatable army, the mighty Mongol Empire peaked its power under the command of the legendary Mongol general and statesman Kublai Khan controlling roughly 28 million sq. km of territory from the Pacific Ocean to central Europe, which is 3 times as large as the land area of the present day China and almost double that of Great Russia. However, even the mighty Mongol Empire had been unable to conquer the teeny tiny Southeast Asian country known as Dai Viet! It's said looks can be deceiving. In the bloody Bach Dang River battle in 1288, the Vietnamese army led by the Vietnamese Prince Hung Dao triumphantly defeated the unbeatable Mongol army, twice its size and completely sank the entire fleet of Mongol giant warships. The Bach Dang River battle has been the outstanding and incomparable naval battle ultimately destroying the last Mongol invasion of Dai Viet. The fact that the Vietnamese prince had fully understood the natural scientific phenomenon of the rising and falling tides of the Bach Dang river and placed the wooden stakes along the river bed to impale and destroy the Yuan China's naval fleet, has been a mystery challenging and intriguing modern historians' understanding. How could the Vietnamese ancestors known as the one and only people in human history more than 1,000 years ago, come up with such an ingenious and unique strategy to totally crush their powerful invaders including the mightiest and deadliest Mongol army? In fact, the unbeatable Mongol army being bitterly defeated 3 times by the Vietnamese people in the 13th century, eventually ended Genghis Khan's dream of conquering the entire world and forever changed the course of the world history. Again in the 20th century, emulating his ancestor's battle on the Bach Dang River against the invading armies of the Mongol Empire and the Han Chinese dynasties over 600 years ago, the legendary Vietnamese General Vo Nguyen Giap's Dien Bien Phu Battle on land against the French in 1954, in fact brought an end to a 120 year domination of the French colonialism in Indochina, which eternally changed the course of human history leading to one of the bloodiest wars of the 20th century-the Vietnam War. In the Vietnam War known to the Vietnamese people as the Great Patriotic War to unify North and South Vietnam, the Ho Chi Minh Trail system is considered "one of the great achievements of 20th century military technology", according to the US National Security Agency. Military experts added, The legendary Ho Chi Minh Trail running from North to South Vietnam, has been considered a strategic feat, and a unique phenomenon in contemporary world military history. The trail with the length of more than 20,000km (over 12,500 miles) cutting through forests and mountains, is a magnificent construction project in human military history. The Ho Chi Minh Trail is the symbol of the indomitable will of the Vietnamese people to determine to overcome all the brutality of war and all the deadly obstacles of harsh nature on the vast mountains and in the dense forests despite the fact that more than 20,000 Vietnamese soldiers had lost their lives, 6,000 are still missing in action, and more than 30,000 were seriously wounded to keep the vital trail open under the overwhelming pressure of more than 4 million tons of the carpet bombing by the B-52 aircraft. The Ho Chi Minh Trail represents the Vietnamese people's desire for independence, freedom and the national unification. Things change and the world changes, but their iron will to unify their war-torn country as one nation, is forever engraved in stone. In the past, even after a 1,000-year domination, all the powerful Chinese Han dynasties had utterly bitterly failed to assimilate the Vietnamese into the Han Chinese. And big and populous China with over 4.000 years, is still unable to conquer Vietnam. Vietnam is still Vietnam standing tall today. In his book Ending the Vietnam War in Vietnam, Henry Kissinger (RIP) - former US secretary of state and national security adviser wrote: "Since Vietnam, the concept of power has radically changed." "Vietnam represented a unique situation, geographically, ethnically, politically, militarily and diplomatically," he wrote in the memorandum, which was declassified in 1998.
It is often forgotten that America lost Korean & Vietnamese wars. This is why you don't see documentaries about these wars/battles promoted much in the USA.
USA has never won a war bud
Technically no won or lost the Korean War has it is still on going. It just in a cease fire currently.
I wouldn't say the US lost the Korean war though
Great video on such an underrated topic. I hope you make one on first indo china war or also called operation masterdom when British indian forces faced Vietnamese
Chúng tôi không giao tranh với Anh Ấn. Chúng tôi bắt được họ cũng thả về vì họ không phải kẻ thù xâm
Lược họ chỉ làm việc giải giới quân Nhật
I must google that. The British rearmed the Japanese POWs and used them against the resistance. My father was British Army and fought against the Indo resistance in Surabaya. A huge battle with tanks and planes to crush the Indos. The Dutch wanted the colony back.A vicious four year war followed. It was little known. When the Aussies were sent in to Borneo to mop up Dutch oil engineers from Shell were on the invasion boats keen to get oil and profits going again. Hundreds of Aussies died there for Dutch oil interests. This should be more well known. Great book on the battle for Surabaya. Revolution in the City of Heroes.
the Dien Bien Phu battle supposed to be a big trap to destroy Giap's army, the result turned out was in opposite because the U.S. betrayed French, did not support Air power as promises!
FYI I'm American.
And Navarre just wasn't the smartest tool in the shed even more than Carpentier, De Lattre and Salan were.
Never mind. Yus Yanks got to demo your Air power a little later. :)
Monty Python and The Holy Grail, Scene 8: Why No One Likes The French
[King Arthur music]
[clop clop clop]
ARTHUR: Halt!
[horn]
Hallo!
[pause]
Hallo!
FRENCH GUARD: Allo! Who is eet?
ARTHUR: It is King Arthur, and these are my Knights of the Round Table. Whose castle is this?
FRENCH GUARD: This is the castle of my master, Guy de Loimbard.
ARTHUR: Go and tell your master that we have been charged by God with a sacred quest. If he will give us food and shelter for the night, he can join us in our quest for the Holy Grail.
FRENCH GUARD: Well, I'll ask him, but I don't think he'll be very keen. Uh, he's already got one, you see.
ARTHUR: What?
GALAHAD: He says they've already got one!
ARTHUR: Are you sure he's got one?
FRENCH GUARD: Oh, yes. It's very nice-a. (I told him we already got one.)
FRENCH GUARDS: [chuckling]
ARTHUR: Well, u-- um, can we come up and have a look?
FRENCH GUARD: Of course not! You are English types-a!
ARTHUR: Well, what are you, then?
FRENCH GUARD: I'm French! Why do think I have this outrageous accent, you silly king-a?!
GALAHAD: What are you doing in England?
FRENCH GUARD: Mind your own business!
ARTHUR: If you will not show us the Grail, we shall take your castle by force!
FRENCH GUARD: You don't frighten us, English pig-dogs! Go and boil your bottom, sons of a silly person. I blow my nose at you, so-called Arthur King, you and all your silly English k-nnnnniggets. Thpppppt! Thppt! Thppt!
GALAHAD: What a strange person.
ARTHUR: Now look here, my good man--
FRENCH GUARD: I don't wanna talk to you no more, you empty headed animal food trough wiper! I fart in your general direction! Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries!
GALAHAD: Is there someone else up there we could talk to?
FRENCH GUARD: No. Now, go away, or I shall taunt you a second time-a!
[sniff]
ARTHUR: Now, this is your last chance. I've been more than reasonable.
FRENCH GUARD: (Fetchez la vache.)
OTHER FRENCH GUARD: Quoi?
FRENCH GUARD: (Fetchez la vache!)
[mooo]
ARTHUR: If you do not agree to my commands, then I shall--
[twong]
[mooooooo]
Jesus Christ!
KNIGHTS: Christ!
[thud]
Ah! Ohh!...
ARTHUR: Right! Charge!
KNIGHTS: Charge!
[mayhem]
FRENCH GUARD: Hey, this one is for your mother! There you go.
[mayhem]
FRENCH GUARD: And this one's for your dad!
ARTHUR: Run away!
KNIGHTS: Run away!
FRENCH GUARD: Thppppt!
FRENCH GUARDS: [taunting]
LANCELOT: Fiends! I'll tear them apart!
ARTHUR: No, no. No, no.
BEDEVERE: Sir! I have a plan, sir.
Later...
[wind]
[saw saw saw saw saw saw saw saw saw saw saw saw saw saw saw saw]
[clunk]
[bang]
[rewr!]
[squeak squeak squeak squeak squeak squeak squeak squeak squeak squeak]
[rrrr rrrr rrrr]
[drilllll]
[sawwwww]
[clunk]
[crash]
[clang]
[squeak squeak squeak squeak squeak...]
[creak]
FRENCH GUARDS: [whispering]
C'est un lapin, lapin de bois. Quoi? Un cadeau. What? A present. Oh, un cadeau. Oui, oui. Allons-y. What? Let's go. Oh. On y va. Bon magne. Over here...
[squeak squeak squeak squeak squeak...]
[clllank]
ARTHUR: What happens now?
BEDEVERE: Well, now, uh, Lancelot, Galahad, and I, uh, wait until nightfall, and then leap out of the rabbit, taking the French, uh, by surprise. Not only by surprise, but totally unarmed!
ARTHUR: Who leaps out?
BEDEVERE: U-- u-- uh, Lancelot, Galahad, and I, uh, leap out of the rabbit, uh, and uh...
ARTHUR: Ohh.
BEDEVERE: Oh. Um, l-- look, i-- i-- if we built this large wooden badger--
[clank]
[twong]
ARTHUR: Run away!
KNIGHTS: Run away! Run away! Run away! Run away! Run away! Run away! Run away!
[CRASH]
FRENCH GUARDS: Oh, haw haw haw haw! Haw! Haw haw heh...
Citation:
www.montypython.50webs.com/scripts/Holy_Grail/Scene8.htm
Underestimating the enemy has always guaranteed failure. As Napoleon said, "Never interrupt the enemy when they are making a mistake."
Great video as always RTH. One tiny quibble, strong point at DBP was called 'Él*ia*ne' not 'Él*ai*ne'.