Geneva Agreements

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The Geneva Agreements of 1954 (also, "Geneva Accords") arranged a settlement which brought about an end to the First Indochina war. The agreement was reached at the end of the Geneva Conference. A ceasefire was signed and France agreed to withdraw its troops from the region. French Indochina was split into three countries: Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam. Vietnam was to be temporarily divided along the 17th Parallel until elections could be held to unite the country. These elections were never held. The Vietminh established a communist state in the North led by Ho Chi Minh. The South was ruled by a right-wing government with US support under the heavily corrupt Ngo Dinh Diem, among others.