First Indochina War
- Period
- December 1946 – August 1954
- Sides
- Viet Minh vs France
- Battles
- 19
The First Indochina War, known alternatively as the French Indochina War, was fought in French Indochina between the French Union and the Viet Minh and their respective allies, from 19 December 1946 until 11 August 1954. Most of the engagements of this conflict occurred in Vietnam.
Sources: Wikipedia — First Indochina War · CC BY-SA 4.0
Battles 19
December 1946 – February 1947
Battle of Hanoi (1946)
On December 19, 1946, Viet Minh soldiers detonated explosives in Hanoi, and the ensuing battle, known as the Battle of Hanoi marked the opening salvo of the First Indochina War.
October 1947 – November 1947
Operation Léa
Operation Léa was a French Union military operation between 7 October and 8 November 1947 during the First Indochina War. It is also known as the Việt Bắc campaign by the Viet Minh. It was an attempt by the French General Valluy to crush the Việt Minh. An airborne force would capture the Việt Minh leadership and three French columns would strike into the Việt Minh heartland.
November 1947 – December 1947
Operation Ceinture
Operation Ceinture was a late 1947 military endeavour by the French Far East Expeditionary Corps against the Viet Minh during the First Indochina War. A month-long effort that commenced on 20 November following the cessation of Operation Léa, Ceinture intended to rid the region between Hanoi, Thái Nguyên and Tuyên Quang of Viet-Minh infiltration. The French utilised 18 paratroop battalions and naval landing craft to engage the Viet-Minh's 112th Regiment, however the latter were able to for the most part slip through French cordons, abandoning weapon caches. The cumulative casualties after Operation Ceinture and Operation Lea were 1,000 for the French and 9,500 for the Viet Minh.
October 1950
Battle of Route Coloniale 4
The Battle of Route Coloniale 4, also called the Autumn-Winter Border Campaign by the Viet Minh, was a battle of the First Indochina War. It took place along Route Coloniale 4, a road used to supply the French military base at Cao Bằng. French military traffic along the road had previously been subject to an ongoing series of ambushes during 1947–1949.
January 1951
Battle of Vĩnh Yên
The Battle of Vĩnh Yên which occurred from 13 to 17 January 1951, was a major engagement in the First Indochina War between the French Union and the communist Việt Minh. The French Union forces, including the French Armed Forces and Vietnamese National Army, led by World War II hero Jean de Lattre de Tassigny, inflicted a decisive defeat on the Việt Minh forces, which were commanded by Võ Nguyên Giáp. This victory of the French Union against the communists marked a turn in the tide of the war, which was previously characterized by a number of Việt Minh victories.
March 1951
Battle of Mạo Khê
The Battle of Mạo Khê, occurring from March 23 to March 28, 1951, was a significant engagement in the First Indochina War between the French Union and the communist Việt Minh. The French Union forces, including the French Far East Expeditionary Corps and Vietnamese National Army, led by World War II hero Jean de Lattre de Tassigny, inflicted a defeat on Việt Minh forces, which were commanded by General Võ Nguyên Giáp. However this victory of the French Union against the Việt Minh, unlike their success in Vĩnh Yên before, was not decisive. The Việt Minh would attack again shortly afterwards.
May 1951 – June 1951
Battle of the Day River
The Battle of the Day River took place between late May and early June 1951, around the Day River Delta in the Gulf of Tonkin. Part of the First Indochina War, the battle was the first conventional campaign of Võ Nguyên Giáp, and saw his Việt Minh People's Army of Vietnam (VPA) forces tackle the Catholic-dominated region of the Delta in order to break its resistance to communist Việt Minh infiltration. On the back of two defeats at similar ventures through March and April that year, Giap led three divisions in a pattern of guerrilla and diversion attacks on Ninh Bình, Nam Định, Phủ Lý and Phat Diem beginning on May 28 which saw the destruction of commando François, a naval commando.
October 1951
Battle of Nghĩa Lộ (1951)
The Battle of Nghĩa Lộ, also called Ly Thuong Kiet Campaign by Việt Minh, was fought between forces of the French Union and Việt Minh during the First Indochina War. Both general Giap and de Lattre waited eagerly for the battle due to the postponement that occurred when Giap's attack along the Day River were driven back in June 1951. Since Giap was the one controlling the tempo of this war for months, it took a huge turn during the pause after his defeat causing his military situation to become unstable. On 3 October, the Việt Minh 312th Division launched an attack on French forces in the town of Nghĩa Lộ and its vicinity which was led by the general Giap. This attack on Nghĩa Lộ occurred 95 miles west of Hanoi and only 65 miles past that of the western de Lattre Line. This village was the utmost importance to de Lattre because it served as the capital of the T'ai natives, which had very strong ties with the French. The first attacked was carried out by two regiments of the 312th Division to the surrounding posts that acted as the main defense of the town in order to maintain military control. Since de Lattre was not present at the time, General Salan took the reins of the situation and quickly reinforced the surrounding posts with paratroopers carried by parachutes to fortify defenses. This quick strategy by General Salan was looked upon the saving grace of this battle since it repelled a secondary attack by two regiments of the 312th Division that same night. Additional reinforcements occurred during the 4th of October along with air support which led to General Giap to call off his attack which they then fled across the Red River. A year later on 17 October, the Việt Minh launched another attack on Nghĩa Lộ and succeeded in driving out the remaining French from the area.
November 1951 – February 1952
Battle of Hòa Bình
The Battle of Hòa Bình was fought during the First Indochina War. It occurred from 10 November 1951 to 25 February 1952, when French Union forces attempted to lure the Việt Minh out into the open and to force it to fight on French terms.
October 1952 – November 1952
Operation Lorraine
Operation Lorraine was a French military operation of the First Indochina War.
November 1952 – December 1952
Battle of Nà Sản
The Battle of Nà Sản was fought between the French Union and the Việt Minh at Nà Sản, Sơn La Province, during the First Indochina War for control of the T’ai region in Northwest Vietnam. The battle ended with the victory of the French Union.
April 1953 – May 1953
Battle of Muong Khoua
The Battle of Muong Khoua took place between April 13 and May 18, 1953, in northern Laos during the First Upper Laos Campaign in the French Indochina War. A garrison of a dozen French and 300 Laotian troops occupied a fortified outpost in the hills above the village of Muong Khoua, across the Vietnamese border from Điện Biên Phủ. Muong Khoua was among the last French outposts in northern Laos following the decision of the French High Command to string isolated garrisons through the region in order to buy time to fortify the major Laotian cities against Việt Minh attack.
July 1953 – August 1953
Operation Camargue
Operation Camargue was one of the largest operations by the French Far East Expeditionary Corps and Vietnamese National Army in the First Indochina War. It took place from 28 July until 10 August 1953. French armored platoons, airborne units and troops delivered by landing craft to the coast of central Annam, modern-day Vietnam, attempted to sweep forces of the communist Viet Minh from the critical Route 1.
July 1953
Operation Hirondelle
Operation Hirondelle took place during the First Indochina War in July 1953. It was an airborne raid on Viet Minh supply depots near Lạng Sơn, involving parachute units of the French Army and Vietnamese National Army. Raids near the junction of Route Coloniale 4 and Route Coloniale 1 revealed supply caches hidden in caves, which were photographed and destroyed.
October 1953 – November 1953
Operation Mouette
Operation Mouette was an operation in 1953 by the armies of the French Union in Northern Vietnam during the First Indochina War. It was launched on October 15 in an attempt to locate and destroy communist Việt Minh major troops operating under the command of Võ Nguyên Giáp around the area of Phu Nho Quan, south of the Red River Delta. Following the establishment of a French camp in the area, various troops were dispatched to engage the Viet-Minh forces. The operation was ended and the French Union withdrew by November 7, claiming approximately 1,000 enemy combatants killed, twice as many wounded, and 181 captured as well as a substantial quantity of weapons and ammunition.
November 1953
Operation Castor
Operation Castor was a successful airborne operation for French Union forces in the First Indochina War. This operation of France and the State of Vietnam established a fortified airhead in Điện Biên Province against the communist Việt Minh, in the north-west corner of Vietnam and was commanded by Brigadier General Jean Gilles. The Operation began at 10:35 on 20 November 1953, with reinforcements dropped over the following two days. With all its objectives achieved, the operation ended on 22 November. Castor was the largest airborne operation since World War II.
January 1954 – March 1954
Operation Atlante
Operation Atlante was a military operation of the First Indochina War which consisted of three stages, Aréthuse, Axelle and Attila, taking place across six months from January 20, 1954. French Army commander General Henri Navarre employed 53 battalions of French infantry and artillery in an attempt to ensnare 30,000 Việt Minh troops thought to be secreted among the 2,000,000 strong local population in the marshy lagoons between Da Nang and Nha Trang in southern Vietnam. The objective was to pacify the local populace and re-establish the sovereignty of the Bảo Đại government.
March 1954 – May 1954
Battle of Dien Bien Phu
The Battle of Điện Biên Phủ was a defeat of the French Union forces by the Viet Minh forces in the First Indochina War. It took place between 13 March and 7 May 1954.
June 1954 – July 1954
Battle of Mang Yang Pass
The Battle of Mang Yang Pass was one of the last battles of the First Indochina War between the French Union and Việt Minh which took place from 24 to 29 June 1954. The battle was one of the bloodiest defeats of the French Union forces, along with the battle of Dien Bien Phu shortly beforehand.
Earlier and later events nearby
- 1288Battle of Bạch Đằng (1288)
- 1673–1681Revolt of the Three Feudatories
- 1945August Revolution
- December 1946 – August 1954First Indochina WarThis page
- 1954Battle of Dien Bien Phu
- 1986Đổi Mới
Who ruled this land
States that held this place in the historical borders data (Cliopatria). Years are approximate, as fine as the data's snapshots (every few years to a century). Tap to open the map for that year.
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- 250 BCÂu Lạc
- 200–150 BCNanyue
- 100 BC – AD 1Han dynasty
- AD 25Xin dynasty
- AD 50Trung sisters
- AD 75–225Han dynasty
- AD 250–275Eastern Wu
- AD 300–425Jin dynasty
- AD 450–475Liu Song dynasty
- AD 500Southern Qi
- AD 525Liang dynasty
- AD 550–600Early Lý dynasty
- AD 625Sui dynasty
- AD 650–750Tang dynasty
- AD 775–900Kingdom of Nanzhao
- AD 950Dali Kingdom
- AD 975–1280Ngô dynasty
- 1300–1360Sukhothai Kingdom
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