1954 in the Vietnam War had fortified a remote outpost in northwestern Vietnam named Điện Biên Phủ with the objective of inducing the Viet Minh to attack and then utilizing superior French firepower to destroy the attackers. Viet Minh General Võ Nguyên Giáp described the French positions in a river valley as being at the bottom of a rice bowl with the Viet Minh holding the high ground surrounding the French. In May, French military forces surrendered to the Viet Minh concluding the Battle of Dien Bien Phu. In July, a cease fire agreement was reached by the Geneva Accords dividing Vietnam into two provisional
1954 Geneva Conference as constituting a political or territorial boundary." Separate accords were signed by the signatories with the Kingdom of Cambodia and the Kingdom of Laos in relation to Cambodia and Laos respectively. The British and Communist Chinese delegations reached agreement on the sidelines of the Conference to upgrade their diplomatic relations. The DRV at Geneva accepted a much worse settlement than the military situation on the ground indicated. "For Ho Chi Minh, there was no getting around the fact that his victory, however unprecedented and stunning was incomplete and perhaps temporary. The vision that had always driven him on, that of