At the end of WW2, the Cold War began. The French sought to reclaim their Indochina colony while North Vietnam was receiving military aid from China and Soviet Union. Thus Vietnam became one of the battlefields of the Cold War.
Despite having superior airforce, French's strategy of luring North Vietnamese guerilla army into a decisive big battle backfired. Dien Bien Phu valley was built up to be a fortress for the French but North Vietnamese were able to bring their artillery up to the surrounding highlands. The result was a battlefield that didnt favour the French.
French defeat in North Vietnam marked the end of France as a colonial empire and possibly the end of colonialism.