First Indochina War

The First Indochina War was when France tried to regain its colonies after the Japanese occupation, but the Viet Minh, used to combat Japanese troops, rebelled against them. The French made their last stand at Dien Bien Phu, where they were defeated by Vo Nguyen Giap's forces with devastating losses. The war in Indochina was not much popular with the French public, but the political stagnation of the Fourth Republic resulted in ongoing prosecution of the war. The United States supported the war politically and financially.

After the war, the Geneva Conference on July 21, 1954 made a provisional division of Vietnam at the 17th parallel with the north (see North Vietnam) being given to the Viet Minh under Ho Chi Minh and the south becoming the Republic of Vietnam under President Ngo Dinh Diem.