Conducts research and collects data on the global history of labour, workers, and labour relations

General Giap

4 October 2013
Source: 
BG X1/57

General Vo Nguyen Giap, who died in Hanoi on 4 October 2013, at the age of 102, was a brilliant military strategist. 'The Volcano', as he was nicknamed by his troops, obtained this reputation in 1954 in the Battle of Dien Bien Phu, when Giaps army trapped 12.000 French troops from the hills surrounding the valley of Dien Bien Phu. The victory of Giaps guerilla army signalled the end of French colonial rule in Vietnam.

An intriguing scale model of Dien Bien Phu was made by the Dutch artist Tom Küsters (1943-2008) and donated to the IISH in 2009 with related documentation, screen prints and printed materials.