Vietnam celebrates 70 years since Dien Bien Phu battle that ended French colonial rule
DIEN BIEN PHU, Vietnam (AP) — Vietnam on Tuesday celebrated the 70th anniversary of the battle of Dien Bien Phu in which the French colonial army was defeated by Vietnamese troops, marking the end of the French occupation of Indochina.
At Dien Bien Phu, Vietnamese troops led by General Vo Nguyen Giap, surprised French forces with heavy artillery fire at their mountainous garrison in northwestern Vietnam.
When Dien Bien Phu fell in 1954, it spelled the end of almost a century of French colonial rule.
“The historic Dien Bien Phu victory is a remarkable event, not only for the Vietnamese revolution,” Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh said in a speech at the ceremony. “It is also a monumental saga that inspired countries rising up to fight for independence and freedom, marking the collapse of the colonialism all over the world.”
On Tuesday morning, the commemoration was held at a stadium in the center of Dien Bien Phu, once a village in a valley dense with trenches, barbed wires and bomb craters. It is now a city of more than 80,000 people.
Related articles
Edward Olivares' grand slam and Mitch Keller's complete game lead Pirates over Angels 4
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Edward Olivares hit his first career grand slam and Mitch Keller pitched a five-hi2024-05-08Peregrine lander: Technical hitch threatens US Moon mission
By Jonathan Amos, science correspondent for the BBCThe Vulcan rocket launching from Cape Canaveral,2024-05-08- No fast-track and no mining rally at Karangahake Gorge. Photo: Coromandel Watchdog of Hauraki / supp2024-05-08
Woman burned during beauty treatment: 'It was really terrifying'
The woman was left with "checkerboard" burns across her chest. Photo: Supplied2024-05-08The yearly memorial march at the former death camp at Auschwitz overshadowed by the Israel
OSWIECIM, Poland (AP) — U.S. university presidents joined Holocaust survivors and thousands of Israe2024-05-08Major geomagnetic storm lights up parts of New Zealand
Aurora Australis seen in New Zealand after geomagnetic storm in March. Photo: Supplied / Ian Griffin2024-05-08
atest comment