The 211-page book contains 162 photos, both colour and black-and-white, re-creating the historic campaign, from March 13 to May 7, 1954, said Marina Berthier, an ECPAD employee who played a role in publishing the book, noting most of them taken by war photojournalists like Jean Péraud and Daniel Camus, or by soldiers themselves.
On this occasion, the agency, where many documents and photos related to wars in Indochina are kept, has introduced the website featuring the Dien Bien Phu campaign photos to the public, at imagesdefense.gouv.fr.
It has also participated in producing two documentaries on the wars in Indochina, including parts on the Dien Bien Phu campaign.
The ECPAD is keeping up to 2,500 photos on the campaign taken by war journalists, and a number of documentaries produced during the period.
Exactly 70 years ago, on March 13, 1954, the Vietnamese revolutionary army launched the first attack against the French colonialists’ heavily fortified base of Dien Bien Phu, starting a 56-day historic campaign whose victory directly led to the signing of the Geneva Accords on ending the war and restoring peace in Indochina.
During the 56 days of undaunted, brave, and creative fighting, the Vietnamese army and people created the Dien Bien Phu Victory that “resounded across the five continents and shook the globe”. The entire so-called “invincible” military base of Dien Bien Phu was completely eradicated by the Vietnamese army and people.
President Ho Chi Minh affirmed that the Dien Bien Phu Victory was a brilliant golden milestone in history that directly led to the signing of the Geneva Accords on ending the war and restoring peace in Indochina. It also created the foundation and conditions for the Vietnamese people to secure victory in the resistance war against the US, liberate the South, and reunify the country in 1975.
