Watercolor Painting 

In 1947, the first regiment of the military arm of the Việt Minh was created for operations against the French around Hanoi. This regiment formed the basis for the People’s Army of Vietnam (Quân Đội Nhân Dân Việt Nam), commonly called the North Vietnamese Army by the United States. With the influx of weapons and support from the newly communist People’s Republic of China in 1950, the People’s Army of Vietnam was able to push French forces out of most rural areas. By 1954, they were so well supported they were able to defeat the French in a major battle in Diên Biên Phu. The defeat in this battle was enough to convince the French to abandon their interests in Vietnam.