Place Emerges from Battle’s Shadow
The epic battle of Điện Biên Phủ is forever associated with the birth of modern Vietnam, where the bestlaid plans of the French generals were turned to dust by the peasant army of General Vo Nguyen Giap.
But Christian C. Lentz notes that just as one was reminded that “Vietnam is a country, not just a war, so too is Dien Bien Phu a place, not just a battle.”
Lentz has undertaken long archival research and field study to uncover the hidden history of the place tucked in the forested mountains of northwest Vietnam inhabited by Tai and a number of other ethnic minorities. A key to Giap’s victory was his ability to mobilize thousands of people — mainly minorities — to haul tons of rice and guns for the troops who overwhelmed the entrenched French.
“Vietnam’s anti-colonial victory over France was but one of the many struggles that enlisted local peoples as the embattled place of Điện Biên Phủ became a crucible in the longer transformation of the Black River borderlands into Vietnam’s northwest frontier,” the author says. It was not just the battle but the territory of Điện Biên Phủ that emerged as an important foundation of the liberated Vietnamese nation. Yet the hardships suffered during the battle and ethnic inequality felt in the struggle also sowed the seeds of resistance. It is a valuable micro-study of Vietnam’s national struggle.
The territory emerged as an important foundation of the liberated Vietnamese nation.