There were several reasons why the United States lost the war in Vietnam. First we were on Vietnam soil and they knew their environment well. They were supported by the South Vietnamese.They had pride and nationalism. They were also encouraged and inspired by neighboring countries that were achieving freedom. Next the U.S. used hi-tech tactics while the Vietcong's used guerrilla tactics. The guerrilla tactics were more appropriate and worked well. China and Russia supplied Vietnam with weapons while the U.S supplied their troops with weapons from America. The U.S. knew they could not use nuclear weapons yet they were over confident. The U.S. however lost a lot of public support and their morale was horrible. They failed to complete their political
“Vietnam was lost in the living rooms of America, not on the battlefields of Vietnam”(Google.com). Some Americans against the government that send US army to Vietnam and they said Americans need to get out of Vietnam. Some Americans support US soldiers went to Vietnam and help south Vietnam which is anti-communist. During the Vietnam war, the two biggest lessons were the two groups in America which called Hawks and Doves that divided US and the student who also opposed the war in Vietnam.
As mentioned before, the Vietnam war occurred because of United States’ involvement in Vietnamese politics and attempts to end communism. The Tet Offensive, which was a terrible failure turned out to be a huge success, here is a quote from a credible source showing this: “Failing to spark revolts, the Tet Offensive was a costly military failure. Without a public uprising, most attacks were little more than suicidal raids because of the small number of troops. The broad offensive also lacked plans for retreat, which led to further casualties. PAVN and NLF losses were estimated at 45,000, of an 84,000-member attack force; South Vietnamese losses were 2,300 while the United States suffered 1,100 combat fatalities.” The main goal of the North Vietnamese Tet Offensive was to launch a series attacks on military and government sites in South Vietnam, and take control and apply communist rule. Although the Tet Offensive failed to take South Vietnam, it defeated the United States. This is because when the Tet Offensive was launched, North Vietnam was close to defeat, and the United States’ attempt to stop the spread of communism was almost successful. However, when this attack was launched, North Vietnamese soldiers pushed the South and the United States back and the war continued raging on until President Richard Nixon’s order for United States’ withdrawal in 1973. This, again, was one of the most significant moments in history because it showed the rest of the world that the West could be
Beyond the lack of support from the United States’ citizens, the biggest reason that we lost was the lack of intel in regards to the enemy and the land. Before the Vietnam War, most of our wars had a very obvious enemy that we were fighting but this war was not the case. The most common enemy in this war which was referred to as North Vietnamese and they used a Guerrilla Warfare tactic and would blend in with the Vietnamese citizens. Guerrilla Warfare is also known as a hit and run tactic, the enemy would attack and then as quickly as they attacked they would disappear into the jungle without giving the United States the ability to mobilize and counter attack. The other tactic that the North Vietnamese that hurt the United States ability
The Cold War lasted from 1947 until 1991, a period of almost 50 years. It started because of increased spreading of Communism by the U.S.S.R after World War 2 which increased tension between the United States and the U.S.S.R. The United States was trying to stop the spread of Communism because the United States is a Capitalist and Democratic country and they hated Communism. During that time, the United States was involved in several proxy wars such as the Vietnam War, and Korean War. The Vietnam War lasted from November 1, 1955 - April 30, 1975. The United States did not achieve or accomplish any of their objectives, because they lost the war, and they were going based off of the Domino Theory. The United States believed that if the Vietnamese
We lost the Vietnam war because we did not understand the terrain, gorilla warfare tactics, and reasons to why the Vietnamese were fighting,not for communism but for Vietnam. Due to this misunderstanding to a people who once had faith in their government no matter what,because of false statements told to their people that trust was gone largely part from the Vietnam War.
The U.S. couldn’t have one this war because they didn’t take the time to gain the intelligence required to give them the upper hand, research what technology would work or wouldn’t work, and create a strong clear mission for everyone to follow. The U.S fought in the Vietnam War because of the domino theory. The domino theory is the fear that if one country fell to the influence of communism then the surrounding countries would soon follow. President Eisenhower quotes “You have a row of dominoes set up, you knock over the first one, and what will happen to the last one is the certainty that it will go over very quickly”. The domino theory, and communism led the U.S. into the war.
In the fallout of World War II, decolonization around the world was taking place after their colonial rulers had been wasted off any feasible measure to retain them. At the same time, the communist superpower of the USSR began a campaign to set up a buffer zone, otherwise called satellite states, against their former allies and the North American Treaty Organization (NATO). An feeling of mutual antagonism between the two created a global stalemate, and the only measurable way to demonstrate their power was in small conflicts: such as in Afghanistan for the Communists and Vietnam for the Americans. For America, their duel with the Communists lead to a strategy to hold Communist sympathies in controllable, isolated areas. The American
First of all what caused the Vietnam War? The Vietnam War started as a result of U.S strategy of containment during the Cold War, which aimed to prevent the spread of communism throughout the world. The communists who achieved their goal of reuniting and gaining independence for the whole Vietnam won the war whereas South Vietnam under the U.S. support lost the war. The U.S. failed to defend South Vietnam against the North Communists and probably lost the war politically rather than militarily as Vietnam was far from the war of major battles. In the bigger picture of containment, the U.S. did achieve their initial goals to a certain extent.
Over the centuries there have been many wars in which many lives have been lost and a huge impact has been made upon the United States of America. The Vietnam War was a great loss for the United States and many times it is also called The Resistance War against America. This war was fought between North Vietnam which fought alongside the Soviet Union, China and other communist groups and the government of South Vietnam who fought alongside the United States and other anti-communist nations and groups.
War is never pleasant for anyone, the shedding of blood and tears falling to the ground. The Vietnam war was no exception; both the North and South Vietnam and their ally, the United States used questionable tactics and equipment to survive and prevail in the war. Initially, the war was fought between North Vietnam and South Vietnam, but the US intervened, later on, to fight against communism(North Vietnam). The US had a crucial impact in the war, supplying South Vietnam with military and economic aid to win against North Vietnam. North Vietnam didn’t lose their composure, despite given this news and instead fought vigilantly to cause a stalemate between the two sides. Vietnam took a turn after this event, leading to an innumerable amount of deaths throughout the war. Like many wars, the question lies: was the
Considered a great loss for the United States, the Vietnam War claimed thousands of U.S. lives. Throughout the power struggles, warfare, and lost lives, Francis “Frank” Horsting unloaded supply ships on the beaches of Vietnam. Drafted at the age of twenty, Frank traveled to Fort Knox in Kentucky before he set off for Vietnam. Along the way he sent a gift to his wife, Rebecca; this gift, a twelve-piece set of Noritake brand china, will forevermore hold a spot in Frank Horsting’s family as it trickles down the family tree. Many factors played a role in why the war began and why the United States intervened. While in Vietnam, among the fighting and bloodshed, Frank Horsting sent his wife Rebecca a china set that would stay in the family for generations to come.
The Vietnam War was a humbling and costly war for the United States. Although many assumed it would be a quick war due to the battle being in a third world country, the United States troops were unprepared for the type of war that would be fought. The techniques and strategies used to fight the North Vietnamese Army and Vietcong were too conventional to fight guerrilla warfare. Politically, the war was a disaster both in Vietnam and in the United States.
Even when the desperately-needed supplies for the Afrika Korps arrived in port, they would still be hundreds of kilometres away from the front. The only two large capacity ports in the North African theatre were in Tripoli in Axis-held Western Libya, and Alexandria in British-held Egypt, a distance of close to 1900 kilometres. The pendulum-esque front of the African campaign meant that offensives “did not simply take you away from your railhead; they took you entire time zones from it. Supply became not just a problem but the problem”. The further East that Rommel pushed away from Tripoli, the longer his supply lines stretched, and the less dangerous he became. Conversely, in Egypt, the Allied forces were fighting with their supply lines at their backs, and once Rommel’s advance ran out of steam at El Alamein, the fully-stocked Allies drove them off the continent. Thus, Rommel’s decision to ignore Hitler’s orders of defending Libya, and instead attempt to seize Egypt - whether it was in the pursuit of glory, or a
Many reasons contribute to the lost war in Vietnam. One reason was the lost of motivation amongst the soldiers in Vietnam. The lost of motivation in part was because the government also believed that the war was a lost cause. “The North Vietnamese could see that American interest in the fate of South Vietnam was diminishing; with American troop levels falling from 550,000 in 1969 to 4000,000 in 1970 and to 3000,000 in 1971” (Brands 149). Another reason was the misleading of information by government advisors who stated that everything was fine in Vietnam when in reality it wasn’t. The United States kept deploying troops but the Viet Cong kept doubling their troops. The United States army was not familiar with the area and the geographical
To begin with, the Vietnamese were led by the notable Ho Chi Minh who was inherently against the ruling of the French in Vietnam. Having received his education from Paris and the Soviet Union, he was a self-proclaimed communist and a true believer of western democratic systems such as right to free speech (Dorman & Kennedy, 2008, 106). He was not ready to surrender his land to foreigners especially considering the fact that they would also lose their control over all the proceeds from their farming, and Vietnamese citizens being reduced to manual labourers. Additionally, the Americans lost the war on Vietnam due to several reasons. The regime South of Vietnam was not able to build popular support, hence making it hard to fight a common enemy. The South