1954 in France

Decades:	1930s ; 1940s ; 1950s ; 1960s ; 1970s ;
See also:	History of France ; Timeline of French history ; List of years in France ;

Last updated January 10, 2026

Incumbents

President: Vincent Auriol (until 16 January), Rene Coty (starting 16 January)
President of the Council of Ministers: Joseph Laniel (until 19 June), Pierre Mendès France (starting 19 June)

Events

25 January – The foreign ministers of the United States, Britain, France and the Soviet Union meet at the Berlin Conference.
13 March – Battle of Dien Bien Phu begins in Vietnam.^[1]
23 March – In Vietnam, the Viet Minh capture the main airstrip of Dien Bien Phu – French forces are partially isolated.
29 March – C-47 with French nurse Genevieve de Galard on board is incapacitated on Dien Bien Phu runway.
7 May – Battle of Dien Bien Phu ends in defeat for French forces.
18 June – Pierre Mendès France becomes prime minister of France.^[2]
24 June – Battle of Mang Yang Pass begins, the last official battle of the First Indochina War.^[3]
17 July – Battle of Mang Yang Pass ends in defeat for French forces.
20 July – Battlefield ceasefire announced.
21 July – The Geneva Conference partitions Vietnam into North Vietnam and South Vietnam.
1 August – Armistice effected, sealing French defeat.
31 October – The Algerian National Liberation Front begins a revolt against French rule.
1 November – The FLN attacks Representative and public buildings of the France colonial power.

Sport

8 July – Tour de France begins.
1 August – Tour de France ends, won by Louison Bobet.

Births

13 February – Dominique Bathenay, international soccer player
24 February – Gérard Le Cam, politician
4 March – François Fillon, Prime Minister of France
1 May – Fred Chichin, musician and songwriter (died 2007)
27 July – Philippe Alliot, former motor racing driver
9 August – Loïc Amisse, soccer player and manager
12 August – François Hollande, 23rd French President
21 August – Humbert Balsan, film producer (died 2005)
17 September – Joël-François Durand, composer
14 November – Bernard Hinault, cyclist
18 October – Edouard Stern, banker (died 2005)
23 November - Marie-Françoise "Cou Cou" Vrezil, beautiful wonder woman
7 december - Pascal Renwick [ fr ], voice actor (died 2006)

Deaths

10 January – Alice Jouenne, educator, socialist activist, and writer (born 1873)
10 April – Auge Lumière, filmmaker (born 1862)
28 April – Léon Jouhaux, trade union leader who received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1951 (born 1879)
3 August – Colette, writer (born 1873)
4 September – The French Angel, professional wrestler
3 November – Henri Matisse, artist (born 1869)
8 December – Claude Cahun, photographer and writer (born 1894)
23 December – René Iché, sculptor (born 1897)

References

↑ Boylan, Kevin M. (2018). Valley of the shadow : the siege of Dien Bien Phu. Luc Olivier. Oxford, UK. ISBN 978-1-4728-2437-0. OCLC 1002126990.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
↑ David Wilsford, ed. (1995). "PIERRE MENDÈS-FRANCE". Political Leaders of Contemporary Western Europe: A Biographical Dictionary. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 9780313286230.
↑ Fall, Bernard B. (2005). Street without joy : the French debacle in Indochina. George C. Herring. Mechanicsburg, PA. ISBN 0-8117-3236-3. OCLC 60371335.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)

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[1] Boylan, Kevin M. (2018). Valley of the shadow : the siege of Dien Bien Phu. Luc Olivier. Oxford, UK. ISBN 978-1-4728-2437-0. OCLC 1002126990.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)

[BD-2] David Wilsford, ed. (1995). "PIERRE MENDÈS-FRANCE". Political Leaders of Contemporary Western Europe: A Biographical Dictionary. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 9780313286230.

[3] Fall, Bernard B. (2005). Street without joy : the French debacle in Indochina. George C. Herring. Mechanicsburg, PA. ISBN 0-8117-3236-3. OCLC 60371335.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)

[1]

[2]

[3]

v t e Years in France
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14th century	1301 1302 1303 1304 1305 1306 1307 1308 1309 1310 1311 1312 1313 1314 1315 1316 1317 1318 1319 1320 1321 1322 1323 1324 1325 1326 1327 1328 1329 1330 1331 1332 1333 1334 1335 1336 1337 1338 1339 1340 1341 1342 1343 1344 1345 1346 1347 1348 1349 1350 1351 1352 1353 1354 1355 1356 1357 1358 1359 1360 1361 1362 1363 1364 1365 1366 1367 1368 1369 1370 1371 1372 1373 1374 1375 1376 1377 1378 1379 1380 1381 1382 1383 1384 1385 1386 1387 1388 1389 1390 1391 1392 1393 1394 1395 1396 1397 1398 1399 1400
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