From Dien Bien Phu to the Geneva Agreement: from an international perspective

The workshop was attended by Mr. Jean Noel Poirier - Ambassador of the Republic of France to Vietnam. Among the foreign scientists attending the workshop were many famous scientists such as: Mr. Oliver Tesier - Director of the French School of the Far East in Hanoi, Prof. Dr. Marc J. Gilbert - President of the World Historical Association, Prof. Dr. Carlyle Thayer - Australian Defense Academy, Dr. Pierre Journoud - French Institute of Military History...

On the Vietnamese side, the guests included Dr. Trinh Ngoc Thach - Vice Chairman of the National Assembly's Committee on Culture, Education, Youth, Adolescents and Children. Vietnamese scientists came from major universities and research institutes such as the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Public Administration, Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences, Institute of Military History Research (Ministry of National Defense)...

At the opening session, Prof. Dr. Nguyen Van Khanh (Rector of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities) delivered a speech affirming the great significance of the Dien Bien Phu victory as a brilliant milestone in the history of the Vietnamese people's resistance against foreign invaders. Dien Bien Phu also entered world history as a great historical event, a premise leading to the disintegration of old-style colonialism in the world. Dien Bien Phu is a symbol of victory of the power of peace, science and military art of Vietnam, associated with the names of President Ho Chi Minh and General Vo Nguyen Giap.

The victory at Dien Bien Phu led to the signing of the Geneva Agreement on ending the war and restoring peace in Indochina. During the Dien Bien Phu campaign and the Geneva Agreement negotiations, for the first time, Vietnamese diplomacy stepped onto the international stage, participating in a multilateral international conference with the participation of major countries.

With that meaning, on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the Dien Bien Phu victory and the signing of the Geneva Agreement, this international conference addresses the factors that contributed to Vietnam's victory in the Dien Bien Phu campaign, on different aspects related to the resistance war, and explores the influence and impact of the Dien Bien Phu victory on the decolonization process and the development of the national liberation movement in the world...

The speech also affirmed that, from an international perspective, from Dien Bien Phu to the Geneva Conference, there were many issues that needed to be discussed based on new sources of information and approaches: Was Geneva a manifestation of the trend of reconciliation and East-West dialogue among the great powers? Did the parties coming to the Geneva Conference have the same purpose? How did the national interests and strategies of the major powers influence the Geneva situation? Did Vietnam play a proactive role in the Geneva negotiations? Were the agreement documents the result of arrangements by the major powers?...

Unraveling the different aspects of Dien Bien Phu and Geneva will be valuable historical lessons for the goal of peace and prosperity today, especially in the era of knowledge, integration and globalization.

Next, Mr. Jean Noel Poirier - Ambassador of the Republic of France to Vietnam also gave a short speech, affirming: Dien Bien Phu is an event of great political and historical influence and will always be remembered in the history of mankind. Dien Bien Phu is an important milestone for both Vietnam and France. Therefore, it is necessary to perceive and analyze this event with many different approaches so that in the future, Vietnam and France will always be close and strive to overcome the pain of the past, to also cooperate for the goal of prosperity and development.

After the opening session, there was a roundtable dialogue between the guests: Colonel Doan Su - interpreter of the military advisory group during the Dien Bien Phu campaign; Mr. Nguyen Khac Huynh - former Ambassador of Vietnam, member of the delegation of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam at the Geneva Conference; Prof. Dr. Marc J. Gilbert - President of the World Historical Association; Dr. Pierre Journoud - French Institute of Military History; Assoc. Prof. Dr. Pham Quang Minh - Vice Rector of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities.

During the two days, the conference went through 5 sessions with the main issues discussed: “The domestic and international context of the Dien Bien Phu victory”, “The road to Geneva”, “The international aspect of Dien Bien Phu and the Geneva Agreement”, “International support for Vietnam during and after Dien Bien Phu”, “The impact and significance of Dien Bien Phu”.