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French Union paratroopers dropping from a "Flying Boxcar".

The Battle of Dien Bien Phu (Vietnamese: Chiến dịch Điện Biên Phủ) was the climactic confrontation of the First Indochina War between the French Union's French Far East Expeditionary Corps and Viet Minh communist revolutionaries. The battle occurred between March and May 1954 and culminated in a comprehensive French defeat. Shortly after the battle, the war ended with the 1954 Geneva Accords, under which France agreed to withdraw from its former Indochinese colonies. The accords partitioned Vietnam in two; fighting later broke out between opposing Vietnamese factions in 1959, resulting in the Vietnam (Second Indochina) War. Military historian Martin Windrow wrote that Điện Biên Phủ was "the first time that a non-European colonial independence movement had evolved through all the stages from guerrilla bands to a conventionally organized and equipped army able to defeat a modern Western occupier in pitched battle."

Did you know...

The following items all appeared in the Wikipedia:Main page's Did You Know section during the month of July 2010 (see older items):

31 July 2010

• ... that as a result of his success during the Cambodian Campaign, Army of the Republic of Vietnam General Do Cao Tri was dubbed the "Patton of the Parrot's Beak"?
• ... that General Mai Huu Xuan presided over the capture of South Vietnamese President Ngo Dinh Diem after a successful coup, which Do Mau helped organise?

28 July 2010

• ... that the former Secretary of State Alexander M. Haig was one of two US battalion commanders in the Battle of Ap Gu during the Vietnam War?

24 July 2010

• ... that during the Vietnam War's Battles of Prek Klok I and II, 13 times more Viet Cong were killed than American troops?

22 July 2010

• ... that Operation Lam Son II during the Vietnam War was an attempt to combine security sweeps with winning hearts and minds by organizing village fairs?
• ... that U.S. Ambassador to South Vietnam Graham Martin held George W. Webber implicitly responsible for a mortar attack that killed 32 South Vietnamese children?
• ... that after the French ironclad Atalante was condemned in Saigon in 1887, she fell into such a state of disrepair that "she foundered one night and gradually sank into the mud"?

19 July 2010

• ... that during the Vietnam War the Swedish FNL movement used to attack U.S. diplomats with eggs, tomatoes and, occasionally, surströmming?

13 July 2010

• ... that woodworkers from the Vietnamese village of Kim Bồng (sample art pictured) created not only detail work for Huế's Imperial City, but also an entire warship for the Spanish navy?

2 July 2010

• ... that, out of the 2,600 km (1,600 mi) of track in use in Vietnam's national railway network, 85% of passenger volume and 60% of cargo volume is transported along the 1,726 km (1,072 mi) North–South Railway line?

Vietnam News

• July 14: UN tribunal dismisses Chinese claims to South China Sea
• August 13: India urges peaceful settlement of disputes at South China Sea
• December 7: Wikinews interviews academic Steve Redhead about Australian women's soccer
• November 14: Endangered 'Asian unicorn' sighted

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