Dienbienphu

Cultural  

1. A place in Indochina, now Vietnam, where Vietnamese communists decisively defeated French forces in 1954. The defeat led to the French withdrawal from Indochina. (See Vietnam War.)

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Example Sentences

The Joint Chiefs of Staff were adamant in their opposition: General Wheeler called McNamara's proposal "an aerial Dienbienphu."

From Time Magazine Archive

Pleven had been Defense Minister during Dienbienphu, feared ugly comparisons with the Algerian war.

From Time Magazine Archive

From time to time, its crackerjack pilots moonlighted, accepting such missions as dropping French paratroopers into Dienbienphu in 1954.

From Time Magazine Archive

The North Vietnamese sustained three times as many casualties as the French at Dienbienphu.

From Time Magazine Archive

Giap's main claim to fame is that he led the forces that defeated the French at Dienbienphu, but he is well aware that he is up against a very different enemy now.

From Time Magazine Archive