Bahá'í Faith in Vietnam decisive French defeat at the Battle of Dien Bien Phu, both sides met at the Geneva Conference on July 21, 1954. A provisional division of Vietnam was made at the 17th parallel, creating the Democratic Republic of Vietnam in the north and the State of Vietnam (later the Republic of Vietnam) in the south. Much of the development of the Bahá'í Faith during the following period took place in South Vietnam; the first Bahá'í groups in the north would not be established until 1992, long after the country's reunification. In February 1954, Shirin Fozdar, a Bahá'í from India who had
1954 Geneva Conference Truman administration of having "lost China" when the communists were successful in dominating the country. The Eisenhower administration had considered air strikes in support of the French at Dien Bien Phu but was unable to obtain a commitment to united action from key allies, such as the United Kingdom. Eisenhower was wary of becoming drawn into "another Korea" that would be deeply unpopular with the American public. US domestic policy considerations strongly influenced the country's position at Geneva. Columnist Walter Lippmann wrote on April 29 that "the American position at Geneva is an impossible one, so long as leading Republican