It was at Dien Bien Phu in November 1953 that French colonial forces threw down the gauntlet to the Vietminh, challenging them to engage in a great battle that would determine the outcome of the long and bitter Indochina war. Neither side dreamed that within six months the French would suffer such a crushing defeat there that they would sue for peace a day after the village fell.

The war between the French and the Communist Vietminh was in its seventh year when General Henri Navarre arrived in Indochina in May 1953 as the new theater commander. In the aftermath of World War II, French energies were devoted to reconstructing their nation, creating a new domestic political consensus, and coping with the threat of Soviet expansion in Europe. France's global strategic goal was to return to its prewar status as a major colonial power, but the French had very limited resources available for this purpose. Although Indochina was one of the most important regions where French military forces were deployed in the early 1950s, Europe still remained their main interest. Thus, Navarre's mission was to defeat the Vietminh insurgency and restore French political prestige and influence in the area-but to do so with limited men and materiel.

Opposing the French were Vietnamese Communist nationalists under the leadership of Ho Chi Minh. Ho had organized the Vietminh to oppose Japanese occupation forces during World War II and continued to lead them against France when that country attempted to reestablish colonial rule in 1946. His goal was to create a unified, independent Vietnam under his leadership. The senior Vietminh commander was Vo Nguyen Giap, a former history teacher and long-time supporter of Ho Chi Minh. With the cessation of hostilities in Korea, the Chinese Communists were able to provide increasing military assistance and hardware to their allies to the south. Given this new level of aid, Ho and Giap sought to go on the offensive against the French and drive them from Indochina.