Dien Bien Phu

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In Hell in a Very Small Place: The Siege of Dien Bien Phu, by Bernard B. Fall, the main thesis is about the Battle of Dien Bien Phu. The Battle of Dien Bien Phu was a major, relentless encounter of the First Indochina War. The battle was between French troops and the Viet Minh over mountain camps near Laos. Dr. Fall gives not only his own personal account, but accounts from Vietnamese, French legionnaires and North African soldiers who helped served during the battle to give an unexplored side of the war. Bernard B. Fall gave a in depth account of what each day consisted of and accounted “the French could induce the enemy to face up to them in a set – piece battle, by offering the Viet-Minh a target sufficiently tempting to pounce …show more content…

Both Hearden and Fall’s book stated the Geneva Conference was a conference in Geneva, Switzerland brought together by world powers like the United States, Soviet Union, Franc, China, and Great Britain to fix the continuing problems in Asia like the Indochina War. The Geneva Conference marked the United States more direct involvement in Vietnam. Hearden stated “On April 4, the French government officially requested that the United States implement Operation Vulture to life the siege of Dien Bien Phu…urged that maximum diplomatic pressure should be placed on France to prevent its withdrawal from the war…the best way to strengthen the anticommunist regime in Saigon was to assist in creating an efficient South Vietnamese military force...” . Fall discussed “failure by the United States to support the French and the local governments now might result in an abandonment of the war by the French…Congressional support for “Vulture” …United States Intervention must be part of a coalition to include …Southeast Asia, the Philippines and the British…” . Hearden stated that even though the United States was called upon to launch Operation Vulture, all world powers were called to help the French. Diplomatic pressure was needed to get world powers to help the French and build up the South Vietnamese army to help fight the Viet Minh. Fall accounted this event to make it seem like it up was to the United States to help the French. Congress needed to approve Operation Vulture to work with the Philippines, British and Southeast Asia to keep the Viet Minh from taking over all of