Reasons the USA lost The Vietnam War Flashcards
Introduction
Reasons why the USA lost in Vietnam
K-In the 1950 the USA had adopted a policy of containment,when it comes to communism,especially in Asia and Europe.
K-This was because the USA was afraid of the domino effect,this where each country would become communist
In Asia the USA got involved in the Korean War to stop communism where the north of Korea was fighting the south.The US later repeated this in Vietnam
This essay will discuss(Difficulties faced by the Us military,strengths of North Vietnam,Weaknesses of south Vietnam and changing public opinion in the USA
This essay will argue that changing public opinion in the USA is not to the most important factor in why the USA lost the war in vietnam,but instead Difficulties faced by the US military
Difficulties faced by the US military
One factor which contributed to the USA losing the Vietnam war,was Difficulties faced by the US military.
K1
soldiers often trained for eight to nine weeks.
K2
Requires to further do a “tour of duty” this being a tour of Vietnam lasting one year.
A)this meant that many US Solideirs were inexperienced and often young,this perhaps leading to why the US lost the Vietnam war as soldiers often were trained for a short time and often young making countless errors.
A)However many Vietcong fighters had no training,this meaning that the US still should have won in Vietnam as at least US soldiers had formal training whereas the Vietcong didn’t.
Strengths of North Vietnam
K1)The Vietcong knew Vietnams terrain well and often used guarilla warfare(catching us solidiers suprised)
K2(set up traps such as Punji stakes traps,these were traps in the ground with sharp stakes with human excrement on them.
k3)Many Vietcong dressed as ordinary people further catching us soliders suprised
A).This showing why the Us lost in Vietnam was the Americans were at a severe disadvantage as the Vietcong knew the country well and prepared for jungle fighting.
This as a result making Us Victory extremely hard,this potentially being why the USA lost in the Vietnam
A+)However north Vietnams victory over America is mostly due to China and USSR supplying military supplies to North Vietnam, through the Ho chi Minh tunnel such as medical equipment and fire-armsthis potentially showing that without China and the USSR the USA would have perhaps won the Vietnam war
Weakness of south Vietnam
K-Vietnam. South Vietnam has many army problems such as 113,000 soldiers deserting in 1965.
K-American officials often found Vietnams army to be “weak In dedication, direction and discipline”.
A)This meaning as a result many SV soldiers didn’t trust their superiors, making fighting the north of Vietnam much harder, this potentially showing why the USA lost in Vietnam as many Sv soldiers deserted or often didn’t trust military tactics set out by superiors, making victory for the US much harder.
A+)However south Vietnam still had a much larger army as SV had 850,000 whereas the NV had 690,000 as a result just of size south Vietnam still should’ve won, this potentially showing the USA still should have won in Vietnam
changing public opinion in the USA
At the start of the Vietnam war, public opinion was swayed towards American going to war, as they wanted to stop the spread of communism. This often continuing till 1970
K2 However from the mid 1960s US public opinion heavily swayed against American involvement, with huge anti war marches and protesting songs
A)As a result soldiers morale was lowered for US soldiers to fight, as it was seen as they shouldn’t be fighting in Vietnam, Furthermore with the public against the Vietnam war, meant soldiers were harder to recruit until the draft which was introduced in 1969(forcing soldiers to join the army)
This potentially showing why the USA lost the vietnam war, as soldiers didn’t believe in what they were fighting in to be morally right meaning soldiers no longer believed in what they were fighting making soldiers less effective in combat and soldiers became harder to recruit meaning the US army had less troops.
However the war was still supported by Americans mostly, a 1965 Gallup opinion poll found the majority of Americans backed American involvement in Vietnam, with this only changing in 1969 where a similar poll was set up where 52% of Americans were against American involvement in Vietnam, this showing that perhaps American soldiers weren’t as heavily impacted by the public opinion to the point where they should have lost the war as the opinion changed during the later half of the Vietnam war
Conclusion
How important was changing public opinion in the USA as a reason why America lost
the war in Vietnam?
in conclusion changing public opinion in the USA,was not the most important factor when it comes to why the USA lost the vietnam war but instead Problems faced by the US military
In conclusion Difficulties faced by the US military is more important than the Strenghts of North Vietnam, as although the vietcong knew the Terrain of vietnam well and catched solidiers off guard with “guarilla” warfare,by taking out small groups of US solidiers at a time and further using Punji stake traps to again catch US soldiers off guard, this however wasn’t the main reason why North Vietnam was strong as, the Ho chi Minh tunnel saw north vietnam getting supplied by china and the USSR,it can be argued that the USA didnt lose to vietnam but instead to the USSR and china as without the supplies,the US have a far higher chance of victory. This showing that Us militray difficulties is more important than the strenghts of North vietnam
In conclusion Difficulties faced by the US military is more important than the weaknesses of south Vietnam, as although south Vietnam had problems such as 113,000 troops deserting and the south Vietnam army being “weak In dedication,direction and discipline “this making it harder for US victory as the south vietnam army was weak.However the USA still shouldve won as 850,000 >690,000 which shows that the USA still had a vastly superior number advantage even with these weaknesses,showing the US still shouldve won just off number.This showing that Difficulties faced by the US militray is more important than the weakness of south vietnam as even though the SV army had problems,the US still had vastly more superior troops when in regards to numbers
In conclusion Difficulties faced by the US military is more important than changing public opinion in the USA, as although from the mid 1960s many Americans protested American involvement in Vietnam, lowering soldier morale and making it more difficult for the US military to recruit troops, therefore making it harder to win in Vietnam as troops no longer fought at their best meaning soldiers weren’t as effective as they could have been. However this wasn’t the case until 1969 where the gallop opinion poll showed that 52% of Americans now opposed American involvement,this showing that Changing public opinion wasn’t a major factor in why the USA lost the vietnam war, as for the majority of the Vietnam war, American involvement was backed.This showing why difficulties faced by the US military was the most important factor discussed.
EVALUATION
FOR Difficulties faced by the US
E-Overall Difficulties faced by the US military is the most important factor because,
k-US solidiers were not trained for the jungle that was Vietnam,meaning most solidiers were not expecting the conditions they were fighting in,
K-furthermore Rifles used by solidiers often jammed making there weapons obsolete at moments.
C-This showing that without these problems perhaps the USA might have won in Vietnam, making all other factors redundant
EVALUATION
for The strengths of North vietnam
E-Overall the strengths of North Vietnam isn’t as important as Difficulties faced by the US military
K-TET offensive in 1968,saw the north of Vietnam invade south Vietnam and take the capital Saigon.
K-harmed the North of Vietnam as much as the south as 50,000 out of the 85,000 of north Vietnams soldiers were dead,
this potentially destroying any future opportunities of using tactics on south Vietnam, this showing that the strengths of north Vietnam wasn’t as important as difficulties faced by the US military because North Vietnams victory by getting Saigon in the south of Vietnam,also practically damaged their own military just as much.
C-this isnt as important as difficulties faced by The US military,as without problems such as weapons jamming and improperly trained soldier’s the US may have succeeded
Evaluation
for the weaknesses of south vietnam
Overall, the weakness of south vietnam had an important role,however less important than the difficulties faced by the US military.
K-This is because the south Vietnamese disliked living in hamlets often angering the South Vietnamese, forcing them to leave their homes encouraging the south Vietnamese to join the Vietcong further hurting the US chances of victory,
c-however not as damaging as the difficulties faced by the US military as most soldiers were trained for a short period of time causing soldiers to be inexperienced and not ready for combat therefore the US failed in vietnam
