As World War II ended the French government turned its attention to the Southeast Asian country of Vietnam where it planned to regain colonies lost to the Japanese during the war. The French assumed that retaking their former possessions would be a relatively easy endeavor, despite resistance from insurgents seeking to expel the colonial power. Expecting little more than a clean up operation that would end quickly, the French instead found themselves mired in an ongoing conflict eight years later.
America's Support of France
Their adversary, the Vietminh, had proven to be a disciplined, professional fighting force, ably led by their commander, Vo Nguyen Giap. The United States had been supplying monetary aid to the French in their struggle against the Vietminh, providing 40% of the war’s half a billion dollar cost by 1953.
While accepting America’s money the French government chose to ignore advice from Washington on how to execute the war, something that rankled President Eisenhower and those within his administration. With assurances from French leaders that one final military push was all that was needed to vanquish the Vietminh, the United States appropriated an additional $785 million in 1954.
The Siege of Dien Bien Phu
France was looking for a decisive victory against the Vietminh, a battle where they could destroy their enemy once and for all. Unfortunately they allowed themselves to be lured into Dien Bien Phu, a remote valley in northwest Vietnam surrounded by dense jungle with no supply roads in or out. 12,000 French fighters were parachuted into the valley in preparation for the siege.
Back in Washington President Eisenhower viewed the situation through the eyes of an experienced military commander and was appalled at what he saw. At Dien Bien Phu the French were in a strategically dangerous position which provided no way for their forces to be reinforced or to retreat. The potential for a military disaster was obvious to the former Supreme Allied Commander.
When the battle began on March 13, 1954, Eisenhower’s analysis of the situation proved correct as the French quickly found themselves outflanked and in desperate striates. French President Joseph Laniel was soon on the phone to Washington asking Eisenhower to intervene on France’s behalf using American air power to bomb the enemy. Laniel implored Eisenhower, saying that if they did not get air support they would likely lose the battle and have to settle with the communist Vietminh regardless of the terms imposed on them.
Eisenhower’s Political Dilemma
Eisenhower found himself in a precarious political position. On the one hand anti-communist sentiment ran strong throughout the US government with both political parties sworn to fight the ideology’s spread at all costs. With the Cold War raging, it was a time in history where there was a sincere belief that communism was on the march and if Vietnam fell other countries in Southeast Asia would go as well, falling like dominoes one after the other. Eventually it was believed that India and the Middle East could go Communist with Europe potentially falling also.
On the other hand the Korean War had ended just eight months earlier and Ike had no desire to get America engaged in yet another far-flung war in Asia that held no vital national security interests for the US. In addition Eisenhower did not want to look like he was using America’s military might to prop up French colonialism while also thinking that aerial bombardment would ultimately do little to help France's situation.
Eisenhower’s eventual decision proved fateful for France and had far reaching implications for America's future in Vietnam.
Sources:
Billings-Yun, Melanie, Ike and Vietnam, History Today Magazine, Vol. 38, Nov. ‘88
Billings-Yun, Melanie, Decision Against War: Eisenhower and Dien Bien Phu, 1954, Columbia University Press 1988
Morgan, Ted, Valley of Death: The Tragedy at Dien Bien Phu That Led America into the Vietnam War, Random House, February 2010
Lawrence Koppy - Lawrence Koppy is an Oregon native living in the high desert of Central Oregon. He has been a small business owner for many years ...
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