After the French defeat in Dien Bein Phu an international conference was called at Geneva in 1954 in order to devise a settlement, which would end the war, enable the French to leave Indochina whilst at the same time giving them the chance to maintain some influence in Indochina. The Americans aimed on the other hand to contain communism in Southeast Asia. They were keen that for Vietnam to avoid elections as they feared it was inevitable Ho Chi Minh would win single-handedly. The outcome of the Geneva conference was that Laos and Cambodia were to become independent states and under the agreements a ceasefire was affirmed.…
