All language subtitles for Butterfly.Effect.S03E13_English

(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)