Overall Outcome
Towards the end of the 1960s, North Vietnamese and Viet Cong troops started to attack strongly against the South, with little resistance, as the South were not strong enough to continue to fight the war. On top of this, the American and Australian home fronts were infuriated and upset by news of the My Lai Massacre and the expansion of the war into Cambodia. The prospects for the war were looking bleak, and general public opinion continued to plummet, until the withdrawal of American and Australian troops began. After the Tet Offensive - (the large scale simultaneous attacks on all major cities, including Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam) the war concluded on the the 30th of April 1975. However, this was not fully established until 1976, when the North and South of Vietnam were united under a communist government. This is shown by renowned historical and corroborating authors, Robert Desailly, Peter Stapleton and Robert Lewis, who agree, “At last, after many arduous years of fighting against the French, the Japanese and the USA, Vietnam was united as one nation under communist leadership.” (Desailly, 1991)
Map of the Tet Offensive!
Ultimately, America had failed in what they fought so long and hard for in the war - the containment of communism. When President Lyndon Johnson realised that the US could no longer continue to support the war in Vietnam, he began a process of Vietnamization, which was essentially handing over the power to the government of South Vietnam, by bringing American troops home. Not only was this demoralising, but also signified the first war that America had ever lost - against a communism nation.
Watch the Video on bringing U.S. Troops Home:
The U.S anti communists understood and believed that America had the right to support Vietnam, however they also knew why they lost - because of Washington’s lack of resolution, but not only that, also because the South Vietnamese had relied solely upon America’s involvement in the war. America’s style and type of fighting was foreign to the people of Vietnam, but also the wrong way of going about it, as they relied entirely on modern weaponry and fire power and were not able to control the guerrilla style of warfare that the North’s participated in. This is shown by Natalya Luck, an Oxford University specialised in Modern World History, stated that, “The US army, throughout the Vietnam War, used the tactics they had been trained in from the beginning of their Army Careers... These tactics had worked in every other war they had fought, but not in Vietnam. These tactics made them slow and vulnerable to the Vietcong hit and run attacks, further slowing units with more wounded soldiers.” (Luck, 2012) The U.S military tactics were all wrong, as they tried to win the hearts and minds of the Vietnamese people but to no avail. With the destruction of the villages, and Ngo Dinh Diem’s unruly, undemocratic and unpopular ideas, democracy was not sought after.
Check out this link here for more information about American and Australian withdrawl!
Moreover, the politicians in Washington were not able to understand the complexity of the situation in South Vietnam, and completely underestimated the military genius of Vo Nguyen Giap, ultimately intervening in what was essentially a ‘local war’. This is shown by Geoff Lewis, a university lecturer at Charles Sturt University in history, who states, “The US underestimated the force and strength of nationalism, supported by communism in the war. At the same time they overestimated the threat of communism in the context of Cold War rhetoric.” (Lewis, 2013) This is supported by Pham Van Dong, an associate of Ho Chi Minh in 1955, who states, “It is impossible for westerners to understand the force of the people’s will to resist, and to continue to resist. The struggle of the people exceeds the imagination. It has astonished us too.” (Pham Van Dong; cited in; Theis, 1980) Overall, the U.S policy in Vietnam was limited which led to their demise - the North Vietnamese had emerged as one of the most potent militaristic-nationalist forces in history, due to centuries of foreign invasion. Even though the Vietnam War was won by communists, many argued that the losses and violation of human rights by the communists should not be counted as a win.
For more information about the impacts on America and Vietnam, follow this link here!
How the war played out!
Sources
BBC, 2013. After the Vietnam War. [Online] Available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/history/mwh/vietnam/afterthewarrev.1.shtml [Accessed 9 november 2013].
Buzzle, 2013. Who Won the Vietnam War. [Online] Available at: http://www.buzzle.com/articles/who-won-the-vietnam-war.html [Accessed 10 November 2013].
Desailly, R., 1991. Conflict in the Modern World. Singapore: The Jacaranda Press.
Djik, R. v., 2003. New Perspective on Why the United States Failed in Vietnam. [Online] Available at: http://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=7321 [Accessed 10 November 2013].
English-Online, 2013. The Vietnam War. [Online] Available at: http://www.english-online.at/history/vietnam-war/vietnam-war-background.htm [Accessed 9 November 2013].
History Channel, 2013. Vietnam War. [Online] Available at: http://www.history.com/topics/vietnam-war [Accessed 11 November 2013].
Lewis, G., 2013. Conflict in Indochina 1954-1979. [Online] Available at: http://hsc.csu.edu.au/modern_history/internatonal_studies/indochina/3214/page34.htm [Accessed 11 November 2013].
The Vietnam War, 2013. Who won the Vietnam War?. [Online] Available at: http://thevietnamwar.info/who-won-the-vietnam-war/ [Accessed 9 November 2013].
Vietnam Nationalist Party, 1999. Why We Lost South Vietnam?. [Online] Available at: http://www.vietquoc.com/whylost.htm [Accessed 10 November 2013].
Buzzle, 2013. Who Won the Vietnam War. [Online] Available at: http://www.buzzle.com/articles/who-won-the-vietnam-war.html [Accessed 10 November 2013].
Desailly, R., 1991. Conflict in the Modern World. Singapore: The Jacaranda Press.
Djik, R. v., 2003. New Perspective on Why the United States Failed in Vietnam. [Online] Available at: http://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=7321 [Accessed 10 November 2013].
English-Online, 2013. The Vietnam War. [Online] Available at: http://www.english-online.at/history/vietnam-war/vietnam-war-background.htm [Accessed 9 November 2013].
History Channel, 2013. Vietnam War. [Online] Available at: http://www.history.com/topics/vietnam-war [Accessed 11 November 2013].
Lewis, G., 2013. Conflict in Indochina 1954-1979. [Online] Available at: http://hsc.csu.edu.au/modern_history/internatonal_studies/indochina/3214/page34.htm [Accessed 11 November 2013].
The Vietnam War, 2013. Who won the Vietnam War?. [Online] Available at: http://thevietnamwar.info/who-won-the-vietnam-war/ [Accessed 9 November 2013].
Vietnam Nationalist Party, 1999. Why We Lost South Vietnam?. [Online] Available at: http://www.vietquoc.com/whylost.htm [Accessed 10 November 2013].