How Much Impact Did the Us Bombing Have on the Conflict in Vietnam?

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P: The US targeted industrial sites in order to dent the war supplies of North Vietnam and ultimately force North Vietnam to come to the negotiating table. E: This was attempted by the US with operation rolling thunder which began on 2nd March 1965 and ended on 1 November 1968. (Bircher page 16) A: This had some success for the Americans. This was because through this they were able to damage North Vietnam’s war effort by causing considerable damage to key industrial sites, which harboured many war supplies. Moreover, the Americans were able to keep the number of troops on the ground at a minimum level whilst still being able to attack the communist groups. However, the majority of this campaign resulted in failure for the US. Despite the bombing, the US was not able to reach its core goal of forcing North Vietnam to negotiate with them. Instead, thousands of the North Vietnamese population volunteered to help repair the damage that had been caused by the bombing. Furthermore, in proportion to the damage done, the countryside was mostly affected in comparison to the factories. In addition, China and the USSR continued to provide essential war suppliers to the North Vietnamese. It is estimated that 1.8million tonnes of equipment was handed over to North Vietnam during the length of the war by these two nations (schoolhistory.com). Therefore, even though the factories were damaged by US bombings, the fact that the North Vietnamese had external sources of weaponry allowed them to continue their war effort. Finally, the cost of the operation in regards to the damage done was disproportionate. It has been claimed that more bombs were dropped on North Vietnam by 1967 than by the allies on Germany in the whole of WW2 (Waugh p.358). Moreover, additional statistics prove that this approach was a failure. The average cost per death was £400,000 (Waugh and Wright,
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