How did Dien Bien Phu event Happen?

Answer 1

France underestimated the enemy. The French had already made the decision to pull out of Indochina, but it wanted to do so with a sense of honor and leave a favorable impression on the Vietnamese. The task fell on the new French commander General Navarre. French paratrooper jumped on and occupied Dien Bien Phu (Operation Castor) in the northern part of Vietnam. General Giap's Viet Minh Army surrounded Dien Bien Phu and pounded it with artillery and infantry attacks until the French had no choice but to surrender. * Two possible solutions to Dien Bien Phu which did not happen were the evacuation of French forces (Operation Xenophon) and a US B-29 nuclear bombing of the Vietnamese (Operation Vulture). The US was receptive to the latter plan, but Churchill was against it. * The Battle of Dien Bien Phu by Jules Roy gives a very good account of this event, although I found it to be written with a slight pro-French bias.