First Indochina War

First Indochina War
Part of the Indochina Wars of the Cold War
A French Foreign Legion unit patrols in a communist-controlled area.
Date December 19, 1946 – August 1, 1954 Location French Indochina Result Viet Minh victory Geneva Conference French departure from Indochina State of Vietnam reduced to the southern half of the country Democratic Republic of Vietnam gains international recognition Kingdom of Laos and Cambodia gain independence Territorial changes Partition of Vietnam along the 17th Parallel, with the Viet Minh occupying the north, and Bao Dai's régime occupying the south of the country
Belligerents
French Union State of Vietnam Kingdom of Cambodia Kingdom of Laos Supported by:  Thailand Philippines Burma  United States (after 1950) Republic of China	Democratic Republic of Vietnam Viet Minh (split into a Vietnamese, Laotian and Cambodian branch) Pathet Lao Lao Issara Khmer Issarak Supported by:  China  Soviet Union
Commanders and leaders
Charles De Gaulle Bao Dai Ngo Dinh Diem Nguyen Van Hinh (1950–1954) Vang Pao Souvanna Phouma Norodom Sihanouk Penn Nouth Lon Nol Sisowath Sirik Matak Son Ngoc Thanh U Nu Bhumibol Adulyadej Plaek Phibunsongkhram Harry Truman	Hồ Chí Minh Võ Nguyên Giáp Lê Duẩn Souphanouvong Tou Samouth Mao Zedong
Strength
French Union: 190,000 Local Auxiliary: 55,000 State of Vietnam: 150,000[1] Total: ~400,000	125,000 Regulars, 75,000 Regional, 250,000 Popular Forces/Irregulars[2] Total: 450,000
Casualties and losses
French Union: 75,581 dead 64,127 wounded 40,000 captured State of Vietnam: 419,000 dead, wounded or captured[3] Total: ~560,000+ dead, wounded or captured	Combined total: 300,000+ dead 500,000+ wounded 100,000+ captured Total: 900,000+ dead, wounded or captured
150,000+ civilians killed[4]
The Cambodian government was divided. Left wing parties supported the Viet Minh, while right - wing parties supported the French and Bao Dai's Vietnam.

The First Indochina War was fought in French Indochina from December 19, 1946 to August 1, 1954. Other names for the war are the French Indochina War, Anti-French War, Franco-Vietnamese War, Franco-Vietminh War, Indochina War, Dirty War in France, and Anti-French Resistance War. The war was fought between the French Union's French Far East Expeditionary Corps, led by France and supported by Emperor Bảo Đại's Vietnamese National Army, and the Việt Minh, led by Hồ Chí Minh and Võ Nguyên Giáp. Most of the fighting took place in Tonkin, in northern Vietnam, but the conflict spread over the entire country and also extended into the neighboring French Indochinese protectorates of Laos and Cambodia.

1. ↑ Windrow, Martin (1998). The French Indochina War 1946-1954 (Men-At-Arms, 322). London: Osprey Publishing. pp. 11. ISBN 1855327899.
2. ↑ Windrow 1998, p. 23
3. ↑ France's world newspaper, 15-7-1954
4. ↑ Smedberg, M (2008), Vietnamkrigen: 1880-1980. Historiska Media, p. 88