ESSAY 1 P1: Vietnam

SYNOPSIS

In writing this essay, candidates must be able to take a line of argument and indicate to what extent the strategies and tactics used by the United States against North Vietnam, were successful in containing communism the Vietnam War between 1965 and 1973.

MAIN ASPECTS

Candidates should include the following aspects in their response:

• Introduction: Candidates should take a line of argument and indicate how they intend supporting their standpoint.

ELABORATION

• Reasons why the United States became involved in the Vietnam War (contain the spread of communism, fear of the 'Domino Effect', spread of Capitalism)

Focus on why the USA’s strategies & tactics USA were unsuccessful in preventing the establishment of a united Vietnam under communism rule:

  • Johnson (1963 – 1968) –pursued an aggressive, militarist ‘Hawkish” policy towards Vietnam/ Hence, Policy of escalation, aimed at greater USA involvement & escalation of war cost;

Tactics & strategies of USA:

  • “Operation Rolling Thunder”—aerial, “strategic target” bombing using cluster bombs and chemical weapons);/ mostly on crops, & villages (civilians), /tarnish America’s image in Vietnam and in the international media./
  • “Search & Destroy” missions on enemy units were also conduct/
  • 'Operation Ranch Hand' (bombing and cutting off supply routes from North Vietnam to Viet Cong)/ caused lasting environmental damage (“deforestation”) but not to the Ho Chi Minh Trail./ failure to stop the weapons supply/
  • “Villagisation” (creation of new villages and attempts to separate villagers [farmers] from guerrillas);/failed—difficulty in separating guerrillas from villagers–farmers /peasants./ hit-and-run attacks against USA forces continued/ and its failure to win the hearts and minds of the South Vietnamese/
  • WHAM- winning hearts and minds (build trust) of the Vietnamese./My Lai Massacre (1968)] / and its bolstering up of the unpopular, military dictatorship (supported by the wealthy elite) of South Vietnam/ US in a war on two fronts: from disgruntled local Vietnamese (mainly peasant and rural based) who were now pro-Vietcong, and bitterly opposed to the US-backed military dictatorship in South Vietnam/, and from North Vietnam/
  • the use of young and inexperienced US soldiers,/ their lack of understanding of the Vietnamese terrain/ & their false sense of confidence—/resulted in the death of thousands of USA soldiers/
  • [Other factors]: strategies & tactics of USA not only factors:
  • Vietcong succeeded in inflicting heavy losses on the USA because of its far superior guerrilla strategies and tactics, namely: avoiding open battles with enemy, and the use of crippling guerrilla tactics, such as its:
  • (1) effective use of underground tunnels booby traps, ambushes and mines;
  • (2) its hit-and-run attacks on USA patrols at night;
  • (3)Ho Chi Minh, who exemplified this skilful, unified leadership, had years of experience in the West and appropriated his learning to use against France and the United States;
  • (4)In sharp contrast to the corrupt U.S.-backed leadership in southern Vietnam, northern Vietnam’s leaders were sincere and passionate about their nationalism; (5) its use the local population to gather information about troop movements, which facilitated The Tet Offensive (1968), considerably weakened USA confidence & convinced public opinion in the USA, that they were losing the war /
  • Of secondary importance was the American media, that compounded the situation, as the official government line that the United States was winning the war contrasted sharply with the shocking images Americans saw on their televisions during the evening news covered by an uncensored media in the USA,/ Why ? the latter , was a by-product of the strategies and policies pursued by USA and the Vietcong/ However, his “credibility gap” between what the government was saying and what was actually happening fuelled anti-war activism in the late1960s and early1970s./ which crippled the Democratic Party and effectively ruined Johnson’s chances for re-election /
  • President Nixon (1969-1973) pursued a “Vietnamization”/ and simultaneously, increasing the air war over North Vietnam/ and —“Operation Menu” (1969),authorizing the secret, massive carpet bombing of Cambodia, from which the Vietcong was being supplied.
  • Nixon’s ‘Christmas Bombings’ (1972), brought immediate condemnation from the international community and forced the USA to reconsider its tactics and negotiation strategy, / which ultimately forced the USA to withdraw its forces from Vietnam, & the formation of a united communist Vietnam/
  • Any other relevant response

CONCLUSION:

USA policies and strategies, and the equally important superior guerrilla strategies and tactics of the Vietcong, were of far more importance , than the role of the USA media, in its failure to prevent the establishment of a united Communist regime in Vietnam. [50]

OR

Focus on why the strategies and tactics of USA against North Vietnam were successful in achieving its aims:

• If candidates indicate that the USA was successful in the war in Vietnam between

1965 and 1973, then they need to support their argument with relevant evidence.

[50]

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