the first indochina war was fought in french indochina from december 19, 1946 to august 1, 1954. other names for the war are the french indochina war, anti-french war, franco-vietnamese war, franco-vietminh war, indochina war, dirty war in france, and anti-french resistance war in contemporary vietnam. the war was fought between the french union's french far east expeditionary corps, led by france and supported by emperor bảo đại's vietnamese national army on one side, and the việt minh, led by hồ chí minh and võ nguyên giáp on the other. most of the fighting took place in tonkin in northern vietnam, but the conflict spread over the entire country and also extended into the neighboring french indochina protectorates of laos and cambodia.