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French War

First Indochina War
Part of the Indochina Wars and the Cold War
First Indochina War COLLAGE.jpg
Clockwise from top: After the fall of Dien Bien Phu supporting Laotian troops fall back across the Mekong River into Laos; French Marine commandos wade ashore off the Annam coast in July 1950; M24 Chaffee American light tank used by French in Vietnam; Geneva Conference in 21 July 1954; A Grumman F6F-5 Hellcat from Escadrille 1F prepares to land on the French carrier Arromanches (R95) operating in the Gulf of Tonkin.
Date 19 December 1946 (1946-12-19) – 1 August 1954 (1954-08-01)
(7 years, 7 months, 1 week and 6 days)
Location French Indochina, mainly North Vietnam
Result

Viet Minh victory

Territorial
changes
Provisional division of Vietnam
Belligerents

North Vietnam Viet Minh
Laos Lao Issara (1945–1949)

Cambodia Khmer Issarak

Japan Japanese volunteers


Supported by:
 Soviet Union
 China (1949–1954)
 East Germany

France France (1945–1954)

Cambodia Cambodia
(1953–1954)
 Laos
(1953–1954)
South Vietnam State of Vietnam (1949–1954)


Supported by:
 United States(1950–1954)
Commanders and leaders
North Vietnam Ho Chi Minh
North Vietnam Võ Nguyên Giáp
Laos Souphanouvong
Cambodia Son Ngoc Minh

French Expeditionary Corps

State of Vietnam

Strength
Viet Minh:
Regulars: 125,000
Regional: 75,000
Popular Forces/Irregulars: 250,000
Former Imperial Japanese Army volunteers: ~5,000
Total: ~450,000
France:
Expeditionary Corps: 190,000
Local Auxiliary: 55,000
State of Vietnam:
150,000
Former Imperial Japanese Army volunteers: ~1,000
Total: ~450,000
Casualties and losses
Vietnamese goverment figure:
191.605 dead or missing
French Union:
75,581 dead (20,524 being French)
64,127 wounded,
40,000 captured
State of Vietnam:
58,877 dead or missing
Total: ~134,500 dead or missing
125,000–400,000 civilians killed

Viet Minh victory

North Vietnam Viet Minh
Laos Lao Issara (1945–1949)

Cambodia Khmer Issarak

Japan Japanese volunteers

France France (1945–1954)


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Wikipedia

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