<P> The Battle of Dien Bien Phu ( French : Bataille de Diên Biên Phu ; Vietnamese : Chiến dịch Điện Biên Phủ , IPA : ( ɗîəˀn ɓīən fû ) ) was the climactic confrontation of the First Indochina War between the French Union 's French Far East Expeditionary Corps and Viet Minh communist - nationalist revolutionaries . It was , from the French view before the event , a set piece battle to draw out the Vietnamese and destroy them with superior firepower . The battle occurred between March and May 1954 and culminated in a comprehensive French defeat that influenced negotiations underway at Geneva among several nations over the future of Indochina . </P>
when was the battle of dien bien phu and what was the result
between March and May 1954 a comprehensive French defeat