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| 1953 |
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| By this time, the Communists had built an army of some 125,000 men and women, to whom 230,000 French troops stood in opposition. In November, the French began construction of a huge entrenched camp at Dien Bien Phu. | 1 |
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| 1954, March 13–May 7 |
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| As a result of the BATTLE OF DIEN BIEN PHU, the French, gradually surrounded and cut off by forces under the command of Gen. Vo Nguyên Giap, appealed for help to the U.S.; but Pres. Eisenhower, although he declared (March 24) that the defeat of “Communist aggression” in Indochina, Burma, Thailand, or elsewhere in Southeast Asia was of crucial importance to the U.S., declined to use U.S. air forces to relieve the siege of Dien Bien Phu. Meanwhile (March 9) the French had indicated a readiness to discuss a peace settlement. | 2 |
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| April 26–July 21 |
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| THE GENEVA CONFERENCE debated the Korean situation and in addition the problems of Cambodia and Laos as well as those of Vietnam. Much of the time the conference was deadlocked, especially on the questions of a cease-fire, a truce line, and an enforcement commission. On June 4, a Vietnamese prince serving as premier and French premier Joseph Laniel signed accords providing for South Vietnam's “complete independence” in “free association” with France. The new French premier Pierre Mendès-France, who was intent on making peace, conferred with Chinese Communist premier Zhou Enlai at Berne (June 23) and came to an agreement on the basic lines of a settlement (See June 12). The Geneva Conference (July 20) agreed to an armistice in Indochina that divided Vietnam just north of Huê into northern and southern halves at the 17th parallel. The Communist-led Democratic Republic of Vietnam ruled in Hanoi in the north, while Bao Dai's regime, now with Ngô Dinh Diem as premier (as of June 14) but without the French, continued in the south. | 3 |
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| July 21 |
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| In addition to the division of Vietnam, the GENEVA ACCORDS provided for elections to be held nationwide within two years, under international supervision. The Soviet Union, Great Britain, and the People's Republic of China signed the accords, but Pres. Eisenhower refused to accept responsibility for the armistice, to be bound by its terms, or to try to upset them. Diem, too, refused to participate in the election plan. | 4 |
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| Sept. 8 |
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| The Manila Pact (or Southeast Asia Treaty Organization, SEATO) was engineered by the U.S. in an effort to forestall further Communist gains after the defeat of France. The U.S. was joined by Great Britain, France, Australia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Thailand, and Pakistan, with the objective of contributing to peace and security in Southeast Asia through mutual aid. Cambodia, Laos, and South Vietnam, precluded by the Geneva Accords from formally joining, signed a protocol bringing them within the scope of the treaty's military and economic terms. The treaty became effective on Feb. 19, 1955. | 5 |
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