Original subtitles

(dramatic orchestral music)

- [Male Narrator] Our history is no more than a series

of incredible events.

Every one of us can influence its course.

(dramatic orchestral music)

The most infinite decimal of our decisions

can influence the future of humanity.

To know the past, is to foresee the future.

North Vietnam, 1972.

(yelling in foreign language)

At a village exit, this jungle combat unit

has just fallen into an ambush

(gun shots firing)

The clash is violent, but fortunately

for these Russian commandos,

two helicopter gunships of the Soviet Air Force

were patrolling the surroundings.

(explosions)

At the end of World War II,

France has granted independence

to all its Asian colonies.

Southern Vietnam has become a pro-Western republic.

To reunite the country, the South Vietnamese have launched

a vast offensive against the northern communists

with the approval of the United States.

Overwhelmed, the North has called on its powerful allies,

China and the Soviet Union.

Russia is bogged down in the killing fields of Vietnam.

But none of that ever happened.

In 1945, France is going to deny independence

to it's Asian colonies and to disrupt

the political balance of the region.

December 19th, 1946, in response to an insurrection,

the French colonial forces shell the city of Hanoi.

May 7th, 1954, after a dreadful 56-day long siege,

the trench camp of Dien Bien Phu

falls into the hands of the Viet Minh troops.

July 21st, 1954, the Geneva Accords

put an end to the first Indochina War,

and to the French colonial presence in Asia.

These three inextricably linked events

are key moments in the first Indochina War,

which leads to the independence,

and then the unification of Vietnam.

(ship's horn)

October 5th, 1945, Saigon Port, French Indochina.

(slow light jazz)

Sent thousands of miles away from Paris,

which he liberated from the Nazis a few months ago,

General Leclerc arrives in this far-off

Southeast Asian colony.

This World War II hero,

General de Gaulle's right hand man,

was given the task of restoring

French colonial sovereignty.

For France, losing Indochina isn't an option.

Created at the end of the 19th century,

this colony gathers under French administration

Cochinchina, Cambodia, Annam, Tonkin, and Laos.

Indochina is an exploitation colony

that allows access to the Chinese market.

French colonists employ a massive and cheap workforce.

Most rice, tea, opium, and above all, rubber productions

are sent to mainland France.

In order to control the country,

it is covered with bridges, roads, railroads,

as well as hospitals and schools.

The colonial administration relies

on many Vietnamese executives, perfectly fluent in French.

Some even study in Paris, before going back to their country

to hold civil servant positions.

Through contact with Western intellectuals,

these students return home with their heads full of

Marxist ideals, democratic values

and dreams of independence.

One of them soon adopts the name He Who Enlightens,

in Vietnamese, Ho Chi Minh.

He embodies the anti-colonial struggle.

In 1941, he founds the

League for the Independence of Vietnam,

the Viet Minh, of which he becomes the leader.

Meanwhile, World War II has broken out.

The Japanese have launched a large campaign of conquests.

The scarce French colonial troops

were only able to offer a symbolic resistance.

Indochina passes under Japanese Imperial supervision.

But the atomic bombings change everything.

Japan, devastated, surrenders on September 2nd, 1945.

Ho Chi Minh immediately takes his chance.

He seizes power and proclaims the independence of Vietnam.

- [Female Narrator] Welcome to the memory of humanity.

Every historical event, regardless of how small,

is recorded and connected.

You only need to change one to upset all the others.

Here, we're able to control time,

analyze and compare billions of events,

in order to rewrite history in infinite ways.

In the aftermath of World War II,

the balance of powers has been shattered.

Europe is in ruins.

The Soviet Union and the United States

are the new game masters.

Part of the French military staff understands that a war

is too risky, and that they need to negotiate.

This is the report General Leclerc gives to de Gaulle,

who seems hostile to a new conflict.

But the head of the temporary government resigns.

At the time, Leclerc finds himself alone in the face of

the High Commissioner for Indochina, d'Argenlieu,

convinced that the colony must be kept by force if need be.

We have arrived at a point of divergence.

A point of divergence is a key moment,

a crossroads in our history

where our world can swing from one side to the other.

If Leclerc's recommendations had been followed,

France probably wouldn't have engaged in a war,

and would have initiated a peace process.

Ho Chi Minh's Northern Vietnam

would have certainly become communist.

Southern Vietnam might have tried to reunify the country.

It's young army trained by Western military men,

would have easily gotten rid of then,

unseasoned and underequipped militiamen of the Viet Minh.

Therefore, it is easy to imagine a military intervention

of its communist allies, Mao's China, and most importantly,

the Soviet Union.

The United States would never have engaged

in the Vietnam War.

(mysterious cymbal music)

- [Male Narrator] 1950.

Route Coloniale 4.

Located in Tonkin, at the northern extremity of Indochina,

it winds through the jungle along the Chinese border.

(soft engine) (yells in foreign language)

Every day, taking advantage

of the weakness of the French presence, Viet Minh fighters

move clandestinely between the two countries.

Mao's China welcomes into it's midst

Viet Minh training camps, supplies weaponry,

and if need be, asylum.

A precious support base.

(yells in foreign language) (guns fire)

The soldiers of the French Expeditionary Corps

name this path, The Bloody Road.

From the first fights, the Viet Minh majors

quickly understood that they were incapable

of confronting the fire power of the French troops.

On the other hand, the vast support of

the northern population, and their excellent knowledge

of the mountains and jungle,

offered the perfect conditions to conduct guerrilla warfare.

If the French firmly hold the cities,

the Viet Minh rapidly take control of the countryside.

Then, commanded by brilliant generals, like General Giap,

the Viet Minh troops begin to achieve victories.

During the debacle of Cao Bang,

the French discover a trained and equipped Viet Minh army,

able to adapt to modern warfare.

In 1950, the conflict enters into a new,

and broader context.

The worldwide Cold War.

It is not a colonial war anymore,

but a fierce battle between communist and capitalist powers.

If Vietnam turns, so will the neighboring Laos,

then Cambodia, until the whole of Southern Asia

falls like a series of dominoes.

(dramatic instrumental music)

Consequently, from 1952 onwards,

the United States contributes to the French war effort.

But despite the French victories,

and the tremendous casualties inflicted on the

Viet Minh troops, the conflict gets nowhere, bogged down.

The Viet Minh troops, supported by China, are constantly

restocked, and equipped with heavy and modern weaponry.

In France, this far-off conflict is at best ignored,

at worst, seen as a dirty war.

The government feels that this conflict

can no longer be won.

It will be necessary to negotiate.

But, in order to act from a position of strength,

both camps want a clear and decisive victory.

To provoke the enemy into a direct confrontation,

the French military staff plans the installation of

a large fortified base,

right at the heart of the area controlled by the Viet Minh,

near the village of Dien Bien Phu.

- [Female Narrator] Asymmetric warfare.

General Giap uses guerrilla tactics fervently.

Psychological war, lightning raids, ambushes,

nighttime attacks of isolated locations,

then scatterings in the woods and hiding among civilians.

(dramatic instrumental music)

He avoids direct confrontation

and attacks weak spots by surprise.

His objective is perfectly clear, drive the enemy out.

The French Expeditionary Corps

is less than 200,000 soldiers strong.

Divided into scattered units,

a sufficient number to hold the cities and the roads,

but too low to lock down the country.

The French entrench themselves,

and rely on their fire power in direct confrontation.

Often, they can't succeed

in distinguishing the rebels from just civilians,

they don't know on whom they can fire,

nor where danger will come from.

That is what Ho Chi Minh theorizes

as the fight of the tiger and the elephant.

When it's impossible to locate or identify the enemy,

firepower is useless.

(propellor spinning)

(dramatic drum music)

- [Male Narrator] November 20th 1953, 7:20 A.M.

Airbase of Hanoi.

(yelling in foreign language)

On the runway the Battalion Chief Bigeard

has just gotten the green light to launch Operation Castor.

Within a few hours, he and his men will be dropped with

the first wave, above the plains of Dien Bien Phu.

(dramatic instrumental music) (gunshots)

After the first furious fights,

French Parachute Battalions soon hold the plains.

As early as November 25th, the former Japanese runway,

dating back to World War II, is brought back into operation.

Immediately, a heavy airlift is put in place, carrying

into Dien Bien Phu, reinforcements, artillery and everything

needed to change the plains into a strong, operational base.

This large valley, four miles wide by ten and a half long,

is surrounded by mountains four thousand feet high.

At the center, hills provide an excellent natural defense,

and a good view of the surroundings.

The French General Staff makes it the center of its defense.

At it's heart, the airfield, vital to resupply the camp,

and on the outskirts, fortified strongpoints conceive to

support one another in case of attack.

The strongpoints receive feminine designations.

Gabrielle, Beatrice, Isabelle, or Eliane.

The success of this plan is based on the enemies incapacity

to carry heavy artillery

into mountainous regions deprived of roads.

And if, by some miracle, the adversary manages

to collect a few cannons,

the Chief of the French Counter-Battery assures that

his own artillery pieces would silence them right away.

Provided that the airlift is maintained,

the French units are confident they can repel

any assault from the enemy infantry.

The intelligence reports a great deal of activity

among the enemy.

All of its regiments seem to converge towards Dien Bien Phu.

General Giap, at the head of the Viet Minh armies,

is about to launch a high intensity attack.

Colonel de Castries, the Base Commander,

is resolutely waiting.

- [Female Narrator] Dien Bien Phu is 186 miles from Hanoi,

and lost in the middle of a mountainous jungle.

It's impossible for the French army to reach it by foot.

But not for the Viet Minh.

Using the help of tens of thousands of civilians,

General Giap has hundreds of miles of roads laid out.

On bicycles, or aboard trucks supplied by the Soviet Union,

he transports massive amounts of weapons and ammunitions

right under the noses of the French reconnaissance aircraft.

Heavy Chinese cannons dismantled are hauled

with only muscle power

on the mountains that surround Dien Bien Phu.

Giap then has them reassembled,

and installed on the side of the hills,

buried into shelters carefully camouflaged,

within range of the airfield.

On the height surrounding the base,

he deploys whole divisions of anti-aircraft guns,

ready to release a deluge of fire on the French Air Force.

On the eve of the battle, the North Vietnamese General

has more than 30,000 well-equipped soldiers,

and a considerable artillery at his disposal.

His primary objective will be to cut the

enemy's supply line, by firing at the airfield.

More importantly, the French General Staff,

aware of these maneuvers, has not informed the trench camp.

Therefore, de Castries, commander of Dien Bien Phu,

had no knowledge of the enemy's real strengths.

He could not adapt to the evolving threat.

(ominous guitar music)

- [Male Narrator] Night of March 13th, 1954.

Strongpoint Beatrice.

The last Legionnaires still able to fight,

get ready for a last stand.

(gun reloading)

From the end of the afternoon on,

thousands of shells have fallen on their positions,

harrowing these elite soldiers,

destroying their fortifications, their artillery

and killing their Chiefs.

Then, in successive waves, the infantry has charged

over and over again, ignoring it's own casualties,

up until the fall of the French bunkers,

one after the other.

At dawn, despite a relentless resistance of 1 to 12,

the French flag doesn't flutter above the fort anymore.

And yet, this strongpoint was held

by the elite of the French Army.

The following day, Gabrielle falls in turn.

Crushed by pitiless barrage of fire,

then engulfed in a continuous torrent of enemy soldiers.

(dramatic violin music)

The facts are indisputable.

The enemy has a strong artillery.

And the Chief of the French Counter-Battery

proves to be unable to silence it.

Consumed by dishonor, he commits suicide.

The French Air Force is too small

and is impeded by disastrous weather conditions,

as well as by anti-aircraft cannons,

positioned on the heights.

(yelling) (explosions)

After only three days of fighting,

the entire French strategy collapses.

(plane engine roars) (explosions)

The runway is under the direct fire

of the Viet Minh cannons.

Unless a miracle happens, the battle is already lost.

Soon, no other plane can land.

The reinforcements and the supplies

can no longer be brought in, only airdropped.

The pilots take all the risks

to help their comrade in arms on the ground.

They know the trench camp cannot resist.

They see from their cockpits

it's defensive perimeter dwindling day after day.

(gun shots)

The Viet Minh trenches get inexorably closer

to the French Nerf center.

The General Staff sends all of it's available reinforcements

on the planes still fit to fly.

Yet they know these men are likely to be sacrificed in vein.

(rain falls)

In Hanoi, a call for volunteers is issued.

Candidates are aplenty.

Several having never fought, or done a parachute jump.

(yelling in foreign language)

Yet these men know that the battle is already lost,

and that they will land in Hell, and certainly die there.

But they no longer go there for France,

and even less for Indochina.

They go for honor, for their brothers in arms,

for their pals.

(gun shots) (yelling in foreign language)

On the spot, the situation is more and more critical.

Dominique falls in turn.

The French multiply the heroic counter-attacks,

but the Viet Minh soldiers, despite appalling casualties,

prove themselves, of a rock-solid combativeness.

Bravery, as well as death, is found on both sides.

The Field Hospital is overwhelmed with injured men.

Diluvial rains turned the trenches into torrents of mud.

The site is covered with bodies.

France solicits air support from the USA,

but despite two aircraft carriers in the region,

the American bombers won't leave their sheds.

On May 1st, the able-bodied French, are expecting

the full attack of the Viet Minh Army.

Some 25,000-men strong.

On the 4th, Huguette falls.

The survivors fight back-to-back, often with bladed weapons.

Under a shower of shells and heavy machine guns,

the French cling to Eliane.

On the 5th, a mere 2000 men can still stand.

On the 6th, in the evening, a tremendous underground blast

destroys the command center of Eliane 2.

Some bastions are only defended by the wounded.

(dramatic orchestral music)

On the following day at 4 P.M.

de Castries announces by radio

that the enemy is about to penetrate the central fort.

At 5:30 P.M. the stronghold ceases firing.

Dien Bien Phu has fallen.

- [Female Narrator] Was a French victory

in Dien Bien Phu possible?

Hard to know, but in order to win, all of the other

ongoing operations would have had to be put on hold,

and all of the forces thrown into battle.

Dien Bien Phu wasn't a strategic error per se, but

it seems to have been beyond the French operational means.

General Giap fought to liberate his country.

He pinned all his hopes on this fight.

Before Dien Bien Phu though, the Viet Minh had been

on the brink of breaking apart, after the latest fights,

harsh and costly in men.

Some commanders had even been considering retreating

temporarily into China.

But Giap has called for all fighting units,

even those afforded government protection.

In Dien Bien Phu, at the height of the fights, the French

multiply the daring stunts and retake many strongpoints,

but without any backup, they constantly have to retreat,

losing the bitterly-won ground

which is immediately taken by the Viet Minh.

Testimonies of soldiers tell that for each enemy shot down,

two others appeared.

In these conditions, Dien Bien Phu soon became

a battle already lost, in a war already lost.

- [Male Narrator] 11,000 prisoners.

The luckiest, the seriously injured,

have been evacuated by the Red Cross.

For the others, it's the beginning of a new Hell.

Completely exhausted after 56 days of fighting,

they will have to walk several months through the jungle,

to reach Distance Prisoner and political re-education camps.

More than 60% of them will never come back,

having starved to death, died of sickness, or exhaustion.

After seven years of an unpopular war, France gives up.

On July 21st, 1954, the Geneva Accords are signed,

putting an end to the first Indochina War,

and to the French colonial presence.

The Accords provide for a

separation of Vietnam into two zones.

The Democratic Republic of Vietnam to the north,

under communist influence, and the Republic of Vietnam

to the south, awaiting elections.

But the Accords will never be ratified.

The war resumes immediately between the two Vietnams,

but this time without France.

(explosions)

In the face of a communist threat, the USA comes out

of it's reserve and gets actively involved.

Their action, at first limited to an economic

and material aid, evolves into military support,

and then into a massive troop deployment.

It's the beginning of the second phase

of the Vietnam conflict, the one we call the Vietnam War.

In ten years, the Americans will drop their

twice-as-many bombs as all the Allies during World War II.

But that is another story.

(slow orchestral music)

- [Female Narrator] In France, the fall of Dien Bien Phu,

was received with relief for the majority.

This war was quite simply considered illegitimate,

even immoral, by a part of the population.

The soldiers of the Expeditionary Corps were professionals.

Some considered them to be mercenaries

who deserved their fate.

Back in their own country after the hell of war,

some veterans even got stones thrown at them

by communist activists fiercely opposed to the war.

To find a new job,

being an Indochina veteran was problematic.

The strong presence of former German soldiers

and even former Waffen-SS among

the elite regiment of the French Foreign Legion

contributed to people's mistrust of its own army.

However, be they Legionnaires,

infantrymen from North Africa,

or paratroopers of the colonial forces,

they didn't decide to throw their country into this war.

This decision has been taken in Paris,

by politicians at the head of the French state.

As for the Vietnamese, facing a powerfully armed enemy,

they were able to find the weak spot.

The tiger defeated the elephant.

Over nearly 30 years of war, this modest Asian country

defeated France, then the USA, to finally become free.

(dramatic strings music)