How did the countries of French Indochina gain their independence?

Communist-led Viet Minh forces fought France in the First Indochina War and defeated the French at Dien Bien Phu in 1954. The Geneva Accords that followed ended French rule and recognized independence for Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. France did not simply grant independence to avoid costs, and the United States did not negotiate independence on the colonies’ behalf.

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