Modern Era · Southeast Asia · War
1954
Dien Bien Phu falls to the Viet Minh
May 7, 1954
After fifty-five days of siege in a remote valley in northwest Vietnam, the French garrison finally surrendered to General Giap's Viet Minh. It was the first time an Asian guerrilla army had beaten a European colonial power in open battle. France was finished in Indochina. Two decades of American war would follow.
In context
Also in 1954 (5 other events on record)
- Brown v. Board decision · North America · Politics
- Algerian War of Independence begins · Africa · War
- CIA overthrows Arbenz in Guatemala · North America · Politics
- First nuclear submarine launched · North America · Technology
- Bannister runs four-minute mile · Europe · Culture
Before and after in Southeast Asia
Before and after in War
Era
Modern Era (1901–2000), one of 590 events from that era on Saeculum.