Journoud, Pierre Dien Bien Phu. La fin d’un monde

Spring 1954: The spearhead of the French expeditionary force in the Far East meets the Vietnamese People's Army under the command of General Giap in the high valley of Dien Bien Phu. This fierce and unequal close combat against the backdrop of intense artillery duels was of unprecedented violence: between 13,000 and 25,000 Vietnamese soldiers were killed or wounded, while French losses totalled 65% of the troops deployed. At the end of a long and gruelling siege, the battle ended in defeat for the French army, with almost 9,000 soldiers suffering painful imprisonment in Viet Minh camps.

Against the backdrop of the Cold War, in which France was massively supported by the USA and Vietnam by Communist China, this huge conflict led to a diplomatic agreement in Geneva that sealed the demise of French Indochina and heralded the end of the colonial era. France's defeat accelerated the Algerian FLN's decision to take up armed struggle and at the same time led to the radicalisation of part of the French army, which was afflicted by the "Indochina syndrome" and determined never to suffer such a humiliation again.

Based on numerous testimonies from both sides, Pierre Journoud, with the collaboration of Dao Thanh Huyen, places this mythical battle, which changed the face of the 20th century, for the first time in a considerably expanded temporal and spatial framework.