What this lesson teaches
I can examine how far the superpowers got involved in civil wars in Asia, and what difference it made.
Syllabus K230, The Cold War, Learning Outcomes. Examine the extent and impact of superpowers involvement in civil wars with reference to the Vietnam War.
Make a guess
In early 1968, communist forces attacked cities across South Vietnam in the Tet Offensive and were pushed back with heavy losses. What do you think its effect on the USA was?
- It made Americans confident that victory was close.
- It had no effect, because the attackers were beaten back.
- It convinced many Americans that the war could not be won soon.
Show the answer
It convinced many Americans that the war could not be won soon.
Leaders had said the enemy was near defeat. Tet's scale shocked the public, so a military failure became a political blow.
The 1968 Tet Offensive failed on the battlefield, but it convinced many Americans that the war could not be won soon.
Tet is the Vietnamese New Year. In early 1968, communist forces attacked cities across South Vietnam. US and South Vietnamese forces pushed them back, and communist losses were heavy.
But the size of the attacks shocked Americans. Leaders had said the enemy was close to defeat. Now the war looked longer and costlier. So a military failure had a big political effect.
Tet added to pressure from deaths, costs and protests. Young men could be drafted, or called up by law, to fight, so the war reached ordinary families, and protests grew on university campuses. In November 1969 Americans learned that US soldiers had killed about 500 unarmed villagers at My Lai in March 1968. The news made many doubt that the war was right. President Richard Nixon later began Vietnamisation. This meant pulling out US troops while training and arming the South's forces to do the fighting. US bombing continued. The Paris agreement of January 1973 let US combat troops leave and prisoners return. But the Vietnamese kept fighting each other.
- Tet, 1968
- Communist attacks across the South; pushed back with heavy losses.
- Vietnamisation
- Nixon hands the fighting to the South's forces.
- Paris agreement, 1973
- US combat troops leave; fighting continues.
Real examples to use
Tet, 30 to 31 January 1968
More than 80,000 communist troops attacked over 100 towns and cities, including 36 provincial capitals. On 31 March Johnson announced he would not run for re-election.
My Lai, 16 March 1968
US soldiers killed about 500 unarmed villagers, mostly women, children and old men. When it became public in November 1969, it deepened opposition to the war.
The draft and protest
About 1.8 million men were drafted between 1964 and 1973. About two million Americans joined the Moratorium protests of 15 October 1969, and on 4 May 1970 National Guardsmen shot dead four students at Kent State University.
The cost
The war cost the USA about 111 billion dollars from 1965 to 1975 and more than 58,000 American lives.
Worked example: Two kinds of success
How can Tet be a military failure and a political turning point?
- Military: the attacks were beaten back with heavy losses.
- Political: Americans stopped believing victory was near.
- So Tet pushed the USA towards leaving the war.
Watch out for this
Tet was beaten back, so it had no effect on US policy.
Tet failed militarily, but it changed American opinion and pushed the USA towards withdrawal.
Check your understanding
Why is Tet seen as a political turning point?
- It was a major communist military victory that captured and held Saigon.
- It showed Americans that victory was not near, even though the attacks failed.
- It ended the war in 1968 with a ceasefire.
Show the answer
It showed Americans that victory was not near, even though the attacks failed.
Yes. It changed expectations about the war.
Check your understanding
The Tet Offensive of 1968 was a military defeat for the communists. Why was it still a turning point?
- It shattered belief that victory was near, so Johnson limited the war and did not run again.
- It ended North Vietnam's ability to fight, so the North asked for peace talks straight away.
- It forced the USA to withdraw its combat troops from Vietnam later in 1968.
Show the answer
It shattered belief that victory was near, so Johnson limited the war and did not run again.
Its political effect in the USA mattered more than the battlefield result.