Modern History 2011 Exam Examplar
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The significance of the Tet Offensive on part of North Vietnams strategy in achieving victory in the Vietnam war is best examined in terms of its effects on the US, both military and domestically, as well as its effects on North Vietnam itself.
Tactically, the Tet Offensive was a failure. It did not lead to the capture if Saigam or heavy losses on the US part. However, it was of great strategy value. The north showed that it was capable of striking anywhere, and had the numerical strength to do so. Ultimately it put pressure on the US home front. In the November elections of 1968, Lyndon B Johnson lost office in favour of Richard Nixon, who advocated a withdrawal of troops from Vietnam while still saving face on the international stage. In this regard, the Tet Offensive succeeded in elemoralising the US home front and provoking a gradual withdrawal. And American television show host remarked in shock, 1 thought we were winning the war? with the realisation that Johnson had not been as successful as the media had claimed, and with growing anti-war sentiment, continuing Us involvement was no longer an acceptable option. It was the turning point of the war.
However, it was not a sudden victory for the DRU. While Nixon promised to withdraw troops, he was still concerned about the postulated Domino Effect theory, as well as the effects that withdrawal form the would have an American prestige. To sue face, he opted for a policy of Vietnamisation- continuing US involvement only as far as supporting the RUNs own efforts to win against the North.
Vietnamisation spelled great suffering for the people of the DRU. The great bombing campaign- Linebackers 1 and 2, Rolling Thunder, among others- laid waste to vast tracts of land, while Operation Meuu forced the Ho Chi Miuh trail to move further into hostile Cambodian territory. However, like the Nazi bombing campaigns amongst Britain in World War 2, this only served to strengthen the peoples resolve. Many in the South were suffering as a result as well- to root out the Viet Cong. The US was clearing jungles and displacing populations as well as destroying agriculture. As a result, the Viet Cong general more support from sympathetic villagers. Vietnamisation also failed to holster the ARUNs strength, as corruption and poor organisation compromised the troops morale.
Tet also provoked Nixons adoption of a policy of Triangulation in order to isolate the DRU from its Chinese and Soviet support. However, this policy failed, but not as a result of any North Vietnamese action. Rafter, it was the RUNs president Ngayen Van Thieu who refused to deal with the communists.
It would not be fair however, to say that the failure of Vietnamisation and Triangulation to defeat the DRU was part if the Norths Strategy to win the war, much less that they were directly caused by Tet.