After a siege of sixty days the French army was defeated by the Viet Minh. The significance is that up to that point France and the rest of the world considered the Viet Minh as very primitive; however they were met by well armed and trained forces, being a kind of advance of what would come later in Vietnam. In the more immediate it ended the colonial dream of France in the area.
The French lost this battle to the Viet Minh, causing them to pull away from Vietnam. Vietnam wanted France to leave right away, but France still wanted some control.
