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From 1940 to 1954, France's brutal war in Indochina marked one of the 20th century's bloodiest decolonisation conflicts. We revisit the forgotten precursor to the Vietnam War through vivid images and powerful eyewitness accounts.
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00:05Between 1945 and 1954, France waged a remote war more than 9,000 kilometers from Paris.
00:21It was a horrific war, marked by bargaining and betrayal, idealism and disillusionment.
00:33It was a war of liberation and servitude, of hope and hell.
00:48This war devastated a country, caused hundreds of thousands of deaths and initiated the collapse of the French colonial empire.
01:02It was a war with many facets, a colonial war, a war of independence, a cold war and a long
01:11forgotten war.
01:35The French were living happily in their colony of Indochina, which included Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam.
01:42After the Second World War, a communist leader, Ho Chi Minh, declared Vietnam's independence.
01:50A war ensued.
01:54Although the French army initially scored a series of victories, it gradually became overwhelmed by the guerrilla warfare waged by
02:01Ho Chi Minh's Viet Minh troops.
02:06In 1949, the communists seized power in China.
02:10It was a turning point.
02:13Mao Zedong offered Ho Chi Minh logistical and military support.
02:17The colonial war turned into a Cold War conflict.
02:22Although public opinion was critical of this distant war, French leaders wanted to continue the fight.
02:28To keep fighting, Paris needed to find fresh inspiration.
02:38In 1951, Paris sent its most prestigious general to Indochina, Jean de Latte de Tassigny, hero of the Second World
02:46War.
02:48As soon as he arrived, de Latte summoned his officers.
02:52I've come to save you because you're the ones getting killed.
02:56No more surrendering.
02:58From now on, you will be under my command.
03:03De Latte traveled through Indochina, dismissing people, making rules and adjustments in his wake.
03:10The army wanted a leader.
03:12They had found one.
03:14The man lacked neither talent nor panache.
03:17De Latte was harsh, but respected, especially as his son Bernal fought in Indochina too.
03:28King Jean, as he was nicknamed, had everything at his disposal.
03:32He summoned up tremendous enthusiasm.
03:34Too bad for anyone tired and weary.
03:37Journalist Lucien Baudard concluded.
03:40I've never seen anyone make an entrance like de Latte did into Indochina.
03:50De Latte's arrival left the Viet Minh unimpressed.
03:54On December 25th, 1950, General Jap launched a general offensive into the north of the country with the aim of
04:01taking Hanoi.
04:14Five divisions, armed and equipped by China, attacked the French defenses, which were ill-prepared and weakened.
04:30The situation was critical.
04:34As soon as he arrived, De Latte personally assumed control of operations.
04:40He hurled all his forces into the battle.
04:42He requisitioned civilian aircraft to reinforce the garrisons under attack.
04:48For the first time in their lives, soldiers and riflemen were offered business class travel by the army.
04:59The general purchased a new weapon.
05:02Special shells supplied by the Americans.
05:08Napalm.
05:09This jellied gasoline spread death and panic among the enemy.
05:28Gauvin Xu, a Viet Minh fighter, remembered.
05:33The planes dive and all hell breaks loose before my eyes.
05:37An immense flame spreading for hundreds of meters.
05:40Sowing terror in the ranks of the combatants.
05:44Napalm.
05:45Fire falling from the sky.
05:47The men are fleeing.
05:48And I can't hold them back any longer.
05:52Napalm would ravage Vietnam for three decades.
06:08The flames ran faster than the Viettes, overtaking and engulfing hundreds, perhaps thousands of them.
06:17De Latte never shied away from employing this terrifying weapon in the name of advancing peace.
06:23He was not afraid of international criticism.
06:26And for good reason.
06:27The use of napalm by the Americans in Korea had provoked no reaction whatsoever.
06:36There is no such thing as a just war.
06:50De Latte dealt a crushing defeat to the Viet Minh, who lost more than 8,000 men in the battle.
06:56He also handed France its first major victory since the start of the war.
07:03The French soldiers were revitalized.
07:05From that point on, the troops, led by a prestigious leader, no longer fought for the small world of the
07:11colonists.
07:12They were fighting under the banner of the free world.
07:171951 had been shaping up to be a great year for the Viet Minh, but it turned out to be
07:21a difficult one.
07:23But one of their attacks shook De Latte to the core.
07:31On May 30th, 1951, a Viet Minh column struck the Hoi Hac Peak, commanded by Bernard, his only son.
07:39The young officer was mortally wounded.
07:52De Latte joined his wife in France to bury their son's body.
08:00The whole nation mourned their terrible loss.
08:15The general explained.
08:18Bernard didn't die for France.
08:20Bernard died for Vietnam.
08:33De Latte did not give up.
08:36As soon as his son was buried, he returned to the field.
08:40His mission was not over.
08:43King Jean met with the leaders of the French Indochina states.
08:47King Norodom Sienuk of Cambodia and Sissivang Vatana, Prime Minister of Laos,
08:53to assure them of France's support and to keep them out of the conflict.
08:59In a show of support for the emperor, Bao Dai, he made a public appearance with him.
09:06The Latte wanted to include the Vietnamese in the fight against communism.
09:10He said about building a Vietnamese national army.
09:15Tens of thousands signed up to fight alongside France against the Viet Minh.
09:22In 1949, Vietnamese nationalist troops numbered 25,000 men.
09:27They soon exceeded 130,000, trained and instructed by French officers.
09:34Young recruits received four-star training.
09:39The lesson is to be done by the Willie.
09:41The father's learned that it needs to be burned in the mountains in the northeast.
09:44The rod is to be judged every day and night.
09:47It needs to be beaten every day of the time and Night.
09:49It needs to be done by the days and nights in the best days.
10:13In September 1951, a tireless delat flew to the United States because the war was costing
10:19France a billion francs a day. His aim was to persuade the powerful United States to contribute funds.
10:50I have a lot of confidence in the way they will understand what I will explain and the logical consequences
10:59that they will take.
11:01With their spirit of so friendly for France, they have always given the most indiscutible and generous proof.
11:11And I am happy that the sun comes this morning to give a good start to this visit.
11:18I say immediately, thank you to America, thank you to my comrades, the American armies.
11:28General Delattre gave countless interviews. He had to be persuasive, but English was not his strong point.
11:34I am very pleased to be here.
11:40In Korea, there is a war against communists. In Indochina, there is a war against communists.
11:49In Korea and Indochina, there is the same war. There is one war in Asia.
11:58Despite his disastrous accent, the general had good press. President Truman was won over and welcomed him to the White
12:05House.
12:09His mission was accomplished. The United States increased its support considerably.
12:14From then on, it would finance 40% of the war. A share that would grow throughout the conflict.
12:28A jeep carrier from the U.S. brings a flight deck load of cheer for French and Vietnam forces in
12:34Indochina.
12:35Grumman Bearcats that once flew for Uncle Sam's Navy now fight freedom's battle in another theater of war.
12:41The reinforcements from across the sea have helped General de Tassigny throw back the communist Ho Chi Minh
12:47until Ho abandoned his frontal warfare and ordered his Reds to return to guerrilla tactics.
12:53It's a victory of sorts, a psychological lift for the free world.
12:56Just as the sight of these fighter planes is a psychological lift for the citizens of Saigon.
13:03These Bearcats are not too little or too late.
13:12Delat's gamble paid off. He managed to contain the Viet Minh and curb the prevailing defeatism in the army.
13:19Uncle Sam showered him with dollars and a French-supported Vietnamese National Army finally entered the fray.
13:26Brilliant results.
13:35But Delat kept a cool head.
13:38Jap still had the Chinese outpost at his disposal.
13:42The general warned.
13:46There may be disasters in Indochina, but there are no miracles.
13:56Delat would not be there to see either of them.
14:00After months of suffering from hip cancer, he returned to France in November 1951.
14:10King Jean died two months later following an operation.
14:18The general joined his son.
14:30All of France was in mourning.
14:35They mourned a leader whose reputation had fueled their hopes.
14:56His death stripped away the veil of illusions.
15:11Ever since the guns began firing, the nature of the war was in a constant flux of change.
15:18Bao Dai's French-trained Vietnamese National Army now confronted Ho Chi Minh's People's Army of Vietnam.
15:28The Cold War had degenerated into civil war.
15:34Hundreds of thousands of people were torn apart on both sides.
15:38Never had the country been so divided.
15:46In the communist camp, radicalization was underway.
15:53With China as a guiding example, the movement was strengthening its grip on the populations under its control.
16:00Whether willingly or by force.
16:06Its department of public security encouraged denunciation and arrested, tortured and murdered anyone who stuck out their head.
16:16To win the support of the peasant masses, an agrarian reform was adopted.
16:22Behind the propaganda images promoting the fair redistribution of land, an immense purge was taking place.
16:30Any citizen whose loyalty was under suspicion was eliminated.
16:37Nguyen Con Roy, a Vietnamese man, explained.
16:41Poor peasants were brought in and forced to denounce the crimes of landlords before the People's Court.
16:48The court had the power to pronounce death sentences and a platoon carried out the executions on the spot.
16:54In some places, the condemned were stoned, hanged, left to die of thirst and hunger, or even buried alive.
17:04Thousands died in the purge.
17:08Nearly 100,000 Vietnamese were sent to camps, many never to return.
17:24A fratricidal confrontation that the colonists ignored.
17:29They generally resided in the cities.
17:32In Hanoi and Saigon, they were still able to enjoy the sunny days in the midst of the chaos.
17:40The savviest, the most affluent, quietly began to pack up.
17:46Major companies were leading the way.
17:50An illusion of tranquility.
17:53Soldier Albert Merglin wrote in his diary.
17:57At 20 or 30 kilometers from Hanoi, we only leave the road with our companies, weapons in hand.
18:03It's clear proof that behind the front there's nothing but emptiness, bluffs and incompetence.
18:09Even if we win this war, we will have to leave Indochina.
18:14A kind of lucidity that political leaders were woefully lacking.
18:25By 1953, France was in the throes of crisis.
18:29On the military front, the war proved unwinnable, even with American aid.
18:36On the political front, Bao Dai had failed to win over his people.
18:41Intelligent but tactless, it seemed obvious that Bao Dai was an idle leader in the service of the French.
18:47He may have the suit, but he lacked the substance.
18:52The political deadlock was obvious.
18:58Back home, the French were impatient.
19:01Between the chronic instability of governments and the cost of the war, the public were weary.
19:06All the more so when a new scandal broke out.
19:12An official exposed the extent of the trafficking of piastres.
19:17Settlers and soldiers were pocketing the difference between the official and actual exchange rates.
19:22But they weren't the only ones.
19:23Ministers, members of parliament, civil servants and bankers all helped themselves.
19:28Worse still, the investigation revealed that the Viet Minh took advantage of the system to buy weapons on the international
19:35market.
19:36It was the last straw.
19:38The political and military crisis was turning into a crisis of confidence.
19:43The French didn't want to hear another word about this bloody war, which was ruining the country and only benefiting
19:50the profiteers.
19:50As for the soldiers, after Delat's successes, they were thoroughly disgusted.
19:56Yves Arbelot wrote,
19:58We are suffering morally from this abandonment by the French people.
20:02We do not accept that our sacrifices are in vain.
20:06I have lost some very dear friends.
20:08Sometimes, when I think of them, tears come to my eyes.
20:18After seven years of blindness and indecision, France's leaders finally understood that they had to negotiate.
20:25But they wanted to do so from a position of strength.
20:30The government was placing its hopes on Henri Neuval.
20:34The brilliant but arrogant general knew nothing about Indochina, and he was chosen for that very reason.
20:40He would bring a new perspective to the situation.
20:45His mission was to inflict such heavy losses on the enemy that France would be able to dictate the conditions
20:51during negotiations.
20:57René Maéa, the 17th Prime Minister since the start of the conflict, gave him only one instruction.
21:04Find an honorable way out.
21:08Navarre chose a modest air base used during the Second World War, located right in the middle of Viet Minh
21:14territory,
21:14a plain of 65 square kilometers surrounded by mountains, Dien Bien Phu.
21:24Navarre planned to build an HQ in the center.
21:27Fortified outposts, christened with feminine names, would guarantee its protection.
21:36General Navarre was assisted by General Cogni.
21:40The Dien Bien Phu base would be commanded by Colonel de Castrie.
21:56In November 1953, thousands of paratroopers were dropped to take over the basin.
22:18Despite a few casualties, the operation went off without a hitch.
22:35Shortly afterwards, a runway was built.
22:38A steady stream of planes dropped off soldiers, cannons and engineers.
22:44The modest base became a huge camp, complete with trenches, bunkers and a hospital.
22:49Nothing was lacking, not even a military field brothel.
23:06Navarre wanted to construct a formidable base in the hope that General Jap,
23:10captivated by the tempting challenge, would simply engage in combat.
23:15But some soldiers were not at ease with this idea.
23:20Lucien de Boudec wrote,
23:22A Dien Bien Phu, we tethered ourselves like a goat to its post.
23:26We're the prey attracting the Viet Minh tiger.
23:30I don't really like this situation.
23:35But Navarre had no doubts about his plan.
23:38For seven years, the French had sought out the enemy.
23:41This time, it was the enemy who would come to them for a true, fair fight.
24:08As Dien Bien Phu was being built, General Jap decided to take up the challenge.
24:15Years of struggle had transformed the history teacher into a seasoned strategist.
24:21He marshaled his army in the jungle.
24:27The Viet Minh fighters were eager to fight.
24:31They probably had no choice in the matter.
24:40A huge network of 260,000 men transported supplies and equipment over a distance of almost 700 kilometers.
24:49But it was mainly Chinese and Soviet trucks that brought weapons and food supplies close to the hills.
24:56Roads were dug through the jungle to ensure that what was needed arrived on time.
25:19In January 1954, the French waited confidently for the assault.
25:26The base was ready.
25:28Victory was beyond doubt.
25:32The camp leader, Colonel de Castry, even dropped leaflets to provoke General Jap.
25:40General, why are you waiting to start this battle?
25:43Do you doubt your success?
25:46Have you lost faith in the value of your generals and the enthusiasm of your troops?
25:51Come on.
25:52I'm waiting for you.
25:56But General Jap kept a cool head.
25:59He preferred to meticulously prepare for the battle, knowing that a defeat would be devastating.
26:06And Ho Chi Minh had given him orders.
26:09Don't fight unless you're sure you're going to win.
26:13Otherwise, refrain.
26:33Time was on the Viet Minh side.
26:35Twenty-seven thousand tons of material were transported around the base.
26:43While Soviet troops were on the Viet Minh side.
26:44While trucks were mobilized, men and bicycles joined in the effort.
26:51Jap claimed, ironically, that, thanks to these bicycles exported en masse since the 1930s,
26:57Peugeot had been the most decisive soldier in the battle.
27:07The French people were neither deaf nor blind.
27:10They knew it was coming, thanks to their intelligence services.
27:14Faced with the influx of Viet Minh reinforcements, General Navarre began to have doubts.
27:20He wrote to Paris.
27:21No one replied.
27:24Yet, the French general did not back down.
27:30Soon, 50,000 Vietnamese fighters were encircling the 12,000 soldiers of the French army.
27:47While the knives were being sharpened, the diplomats were keeping busy.
27:52In Geneva, the superpowers prepared a high-level conference at the Palais des Nations to discuss Korea and Vietnam.
28:01The Battle of Diem Bien Phu came at just the right time.
28:06Both the Viet Minh and France wanted to win, so they could sit at the negotiating table as victors.
28:23At Diem Bien Phu, on March 13, 1954, Japs army was ready.
28:28At 5.15pm, all hell broke loose.
28:53The Bietri strongpoint, 2.5km away from headquarters, exploded.
28:59The post commander was killed by the police.
29:01The radio links destroyed.
29:08The defenses collapsed during the night.
29:11The Viet Minh artillery was more powerful than expected.
29:14Concealed on hillsides and in caves, it was undetectable.
29:22On March 15, it was Point Gabrielle's turn to fall.
29:29General Piroz, head of the French artillery, didn't believe that the Viet Minh would be able to position their guns
29:35on the slopes.
29:36He committed suicide after realizing his mistake.
29:46By the fifth day, four French battalions were out of action.
29:51The valley was pounded with shells.
29:58Firepower was supposed to be the French's trump card, but it was the Vietnamese who had it.
30:12No more planes could land.
30:16The entrenched camp was virtually unsupplied, except by parachute drops.
30:26Even so, Viet Minh anti-aircraft defenses prevented any accurate airdrops.
30:37The Viet Minh launched wave after wave of assaults, even if it meant dying by the hundreds.
30:42The ultimate sacrifice for their country was simply to save themselves.
30:53One of them said,
30:55The deluge of fire from the enemy continues to fall.
30:59The only way out is to charge forward.
31:02We'll die if we stay down anyway.
31:05We must leap from our shelters, running at full speed towards the barbed wire.
31:11In front of the breach, the dead and wounded are piling up.
31:15Half our battalion is dead or wounded.
31:23In this epic battle, who were the fanatics?
31:27Who were the patriots?
31:44The French forces also died en masse for the cause.
31:48More than 4,000 men parachuted down from the sky.
31:54These volunteers knew the battle was lost.
31:58Some had never jumped before.
32:03They sacrificed themselves in solidarity with their buddies.
32:10The initially silent descent ended in the deafening roar of flak and machine gun fire.
32:21Private Pierre Lattin recounted,
32:24When I landed, I saw shell impacts raising earthen sprays and men flailing about.
32:30Everything exploded around me.
32:33I felt as if I had fallen into another world.
32:38Another soldier said,
32:40The further down I went, the more the smell of corpses caught in my throat.
32:59Faced with fierce resistance from the French, the Viet Minh resorted to slowly strangling the camp.
33:05Every night, their fighters dug trenches and nibbled away.
33:10The base was shrinking.
33:15A Vietnamese soldier explained.
33:20We were encircling the enemy on all sides.
33:22The galleries dug by our infantrymen were so close to the barbed wire of the French posts that they joined
33:28their own trenches.
33:32The French forces were overwhelmed by the attackers.
33:37In what remained of the bunkers, resistance continued.
33:42There was a rumor that the Americans would support the war effort.
33:46The free world would hold out.
33:49After all, it was during this time that Paris dispatched its chief of staff to Washington.
34:01France's chief of staff with President Eisenhower and Admiral Radford.
34:04General Paul E. Lee here for conferences on the Indochina War, to which the U.S. allocated $1,200,000
34:10,000 last year.
34:12Chief topic of conversation, Indochina's critical battle at Dien Bien Phu.
34:18General E. Lee negotiated an intervention by American bombers from the Pacific Fleet to save Dien Bien Phu.
34:27But President Eisenhower and the Congress were reluctant.
34:30The operation never took place.
34:34The French were left on their own.
34:43In the lowlands, the wounded lay dying, unable to be evacuated.
34:48One soldier, Lucien de Boudec, recalled.
34:53The living and the dead mingle in the mud. The air stinks.
34:57Nothing to eat.
34:5920 hours of nightmares.
35:02My friend was cut in half by a shell.
35:05It took two hours for him to die.
35:14At the medical center, doctors sorted out the men they could save.
35:26Geneviève de Galat, the courier whose plane was hit, was present at the scene.
35:30She helped the dozens of dying men as best she could.
35:35She was assisted by the brothel's prostitutes, who acted as nurses.
35:40She explained.
35:43They were remarkable.
35:45These women, these prostitutes were transformed into angels of mercy.
35:51They enabled me to help the others.
35:54They supported our wounded in their misery.
35:57They made them eat, drink, hope against hope.
36:16Then we had to meet the people of America.
36:23Goodbye.
36:46With the conference about to open, John Foster Dulles, the American Secretary of State, met his counterpart, George Bideau.
36:54Without really thinking, he suggested the use of two atomic bombs.
36:59The French Foreign Minister objected.
37:01The bombs would cause too many French casualties and could plunge the world into an abyss.
37:07Diem Bien Phu was one of the most heated moments of the Cold War.
37:18While talks continued, the final offensive began on May 1st in the mud of the basin.
37:26Hold up in his shelter, De Castrie was powerless.
37:32On May 7th, he telephoned General Cogni.
37:35Their last conversation was recorded.
38:05Yes, my lord.
38:06Yes, my lord.
38:08Do you want to call me?
38:11Take care.
38:13Goodbye, my lord.
38:20Goodbye, my lord.
38:31of siege. On May 7th, 1954, Dicastri ordered a ceasefire.
38:40Diem Bien Phu had fallen.
38:45A French soldier remembered,
38:48Sudden silence. I felt like I was deaf.
38:59Diem Bien Phu was supposed to be a dazzling Verdun. It became another Waterloo. The trap set
39:07to capture the Viet Minh was sprung on French troops. France suffered a humiliating defeat.
39:17Their citizens grieved for the more than 3,500 dead and missing, and more than 10,000 prisoners.
39:27As for the Vietnamese, they lost over 20,000 men, but were victorious.
39:35The French leaders made several mistakes. The most fatal? They underestimated their adversary.
39:47Contrary to the popular myth, General Navarre was not defeated by an army of barefoot soldiers.
39:53This story was cleverly manufactured, but it ignores the fact that the Viet Minh were armed
39:59by Beijing and supported by Moscow.
40:28In Geneva, the announcement of the loss could not have come at a worse time.
40:33Dien Bien Phu was supposed to put France in a position of strength, but instead it put her in a
40:38position of weakness.
40:40Georges Bideau, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, who was negotiating at the Palais des Nations, wrote,
40:46France enters the negotiations with a two of clubs and a three of diamonds.
40:52The consequences of this disaster were felt in France.
40:56The fall of the entrenched camp brought down the 20th government of the Fourth Republic
41:00and propelled Pierre Mendez France into the limelight.
41:09The MP had been advocating negotiations since 1950.
41:13His time had finally come.
41:15On June 18, 1954, a highly symbolic date,
41:20Pierre Mendez France went to Geneva to negotiate.
41:29I'm quite happy to be able to realize the object that we all are following,
41:34that is the establishment of peace in the Orient.
41:38Mr. President, you could have a hand hand.
41:43Mr. President, could you repeat everything in English, please?
41:46It's too difficult for me.
41:48I'm sorry.
41:51Mendez France put his resignation on the line.
41:54If an agreement was not reached within 30 days, he would step down.
41:59Reinforcements from mainland France would be called in,
42:02and the war would continue.
42:03This prospect allowed him to negotiate under better conditions.
42:08Zhu Enlai, the Chinese negotiator,
42:10and Molotov, the Soviet negotiator,
42:12knew that he was their ideal interlocutor.
42:17They put enormous pressure on Fan Bandong,
42:20the negotiator delegated by Ho Chi Minh.
42:24On July 21, 1954,
42:26a few hours before the end of the ultimatum,
42:28at 3.20 a.m.,
42:30an agreement was finally reached.
42:36Au Palais des Nations,
42:38au cours d'une très sabre cérémonie,
42:39le général Del Tey signait au nom de la France
42:42les documents mettant fin aux hostilités au Vietnam
42:44et au nom du Viet Minh,
42:46M. Tha Quang Bu les parapet à son tour.
42:50Certes, l'accord contraint la France à des sacrifices douloureux,
42:53mais pouvait-il l'être davantage
42:55que la perte des 92 000 combattants de l'Union française
42:58tombait dans cette guerre sans espoir.
43:03Mendes-France showed real political courage.
43:06He enabled France to withdraw from the conflict.
43:11La raison et la paix l'ont emporté.
43:14Songeons ensemble.
43:17A ceux qui, hélas, ne reviendront pas.
43:20A ceux qui sont restés meurtris
43:22dans leur chair ou dans leur cœur.
43:25Je n'ai pas besoin d'exprimer
43:26les sentiments que j'éprouve,
43:28car ce sont les beaux.
43:35A ceasefire was finally signed.
43:37Like the two Germanys,
43:39the two Berlins,
43:40and the two Koreas,
43:41Vietnam was temporarily divided
43:43into two zones
43:44on either side of the 17th parallel.
43:49The North fell to the Viet Minh,
43:51while the South became a republic
43:53under American protection.
43:56The sovereignty of Cambodia and Laos
43:58was also recognized.
44:14Prisoners who had been languishing
44:15in camps for several months
44:17were gradually exchanged.
44:20Of the 10,000 French prisoners,
44:22a third perished.
44:26A terrible slaughter
44:28committed by the Viet Minh
44:29in defiance of the rules of war.
45:09Ho Chi Minh had won.
45:12His supporters celebrated
45:14this resounding victory.
45:39Vantan remembered.
45:42Cries of joy went up in the fields
45:44and on the hills,
45:45red with blood and burnt by napalm.
45:47These young infantrymen
45:49were victorious.
45:51How happy we were.
45:59Ho Chi Minh gave himself
46:01a Soviet-style parade,
46:02but the victory came at a price.
46:05While the population
46:07had gained independence,
46:08it was also burdened
46:09with new chains.
46:12Ho Chi Minh established
46:14a communist regime,
46:15closely aligned with Soviet Russia
46:17and the People's Republic of China.
46:35A huge exodus
46:37led to nearly a million Vietnamese
46:39fleeing to the south
46:40to escape poverty and intolerance.
46:48They liquidated their assets
46:49and left as quickly as they could.
47:04French troops were also evacuating.
47:06French legionnaires,
47:08mainland and colonial troops
47:10all left for other places.
47:19The Vietnamese who fought
47:21in the French army
47:22were abandoned.
47:24One officer,
47:26Elie de Saint-Marc, wrote,
47:29Most Vietnamese people
47:30don't say anything.
47:32They just look at us.
47:34We're ashamed.
47:37If they'd killed us then,
47:38we'd have thought it right.
47:43One of them said to me,
47:44So, Captain,
47:46you're giving up on us.
47:48I said nothing.
47:53The settlers left the country,
47:55leaving the lives
47:56they had built there behind.
47:58The model colony
48:00had come to an end.
48:04Some Vietnamese civilians
48:06were evacuated to France.
48:08Quickly forgotten,
48:09they symbolized
48:10what France wanted to conceal,
48:12its defeat.
48:17In the end,
48:19the Indochina war
48:20resulted in the death
48:21or disappearance
48:22of 100,000 men
48:24on the French side.
48:26The Viet Minh
48:27lost between 300,000
48:29and 500,000 souls,
48:32civilians and soldiers alike.
48:34A terrible waste.
48:39Like a Greek tragedy,
48:42both sides lost.
48:46France wanted to maintain
48:47its empire,
48:48but it collapsed.
48:50And its defeat
48:51sparked an uprising
48:52in Algeria.
48:58The Vietnamese
48:59had won the war
49:00and gained independence.
49:02But those living
49:04in the north
49:04now had to live
49:06under the yoke
49:06of a harsh regime.
49:11The Americans
49:12would replace
49:13the French in the region.
49:14They were to make
49:15exactly the same mistakes,
49:17cause an even greater slaughter
49:19and suffer
49:21an even deeper trauma.
49:24The Indochina war
49:27was followed
49:28by the Vietnam war.
49:33Never miss a moment
49:34with SBS On Demand.
49:36You can stream
49:37your favourite channels
49:38live,
49:39anytime,
49:39on any device.
49:41Same shows,
49:42same times,
49:43always free.
49:45Stream now
49:46on SBS On Demand.
49:49The End
49:49The End
50:15Transcription by CastingWords
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