Was the Tet Offensive A Greater Reverse For The Americans Than The North Vietnamese? The Tet offensive was a greater reverse for the Americans than it was the North Vietnamese. This is due to the ideological shift in both the USA and in NV which swung the war the communist’s way. This can be examined by simply looking at the American media of the time, which largely criticises the American handling of the offensive and so would’ve demoralised Americans and severely turned opinion against the war. Not only did this happen at home but within the army, and changed SV thinking which allowed them to perhaps concede that communism could become inevitable.
It has hurt our credibility across the world and caused a loss of faith in government by its citizens. Although the necessity of the war is argued by many, it is only done in an analysis of its occurrence. Had it not happened and the world possibly fell under Communism, then we would be arguing the exact opposite. The United States did what it felt it had to do at the time, given the information it had. To go to war in Vietnam was a risk the US felt it had to take in order to contain Communism, thus securing its economic prosperity and worldwide dominance.
But one of the hardest battle’s for the US was to keep their own countries support. In this essay I will be exploring the main factors of the Vietnam war between 1960-1975, looking at how they changed before, during and after ORT. Before ORT took place the aims of the US Government were to stop communist taking over South Vietnam (SV). As they feared that the Domino Theory would affect countries who were still capitalist. The rise in communist countries was increasing as other countries close to each other would follow the same route as nearby countries.
Mao criticised Khrushchev for his policies such as de-Stalinisation and his secret speech. He was also very critical of the policy of Peaceful Coexistence as he believed it was a way of being friendly with the United States (the enemy) and also Mao saw it abandoning millions of comrades struggling to free themselves of capitalist and imperialist oppression. This, therefore, made the USSR an ‘enemy’. How could two countries work together if they had such differing beliefs about how to run their countries? This problem had a big contribution to the split as they couldn’t agree on anything, and if they did, it was because their national interests were at risk.
The American Government leaders were afraid that the Communist forces would take control over Vietnam. If Vietnam fell, it would then lead to nation after nation falling to Communism. The United States strongly opposes to the political and economic system that Communism encompasses. After fighting the war for independence from France, Vietnam was split in half in 1954. After France withdrew from Vietnam, the Vietnamese Communists took over control of North Vietnam.
The whole point of America becoming its own sovereign country was Britain’s overbearing control on the colonies. Many early Americans had concerns and feared a government in which, by design, could become too strong. Consequentially, the Democratic – Republican party (later known to historians simply as the Republican Party) was formed with ideas of smaller government and thusly, less control. A semblance of the rivalry between the parties in the United States could be seen in the French Revolution. The Republicans supported the popular forces in the French Revolt and wanted America to assist.
His experience with Vietnam influenced his thinking on military intervention. Senator Kennedy was also an opponent of the war in Iraq. Few democrats were on his side in opposing the war, but his consistent stand on his opposing to the war with Iraq led to a reputation as a champion for liberal Democrats. (Joshua Keating
President James K. Polk and President George W. Bush had both wanted to go to war with countries that they believed had been a threat to the United States. They both had believed that these two countries that they had wanted to go to war with had been terrorizing American citizens. Both presidents had honestly believed that the only way to settle this dispute was to go to war. These two presidents had manipulated the government and Americans into thinking that that the only option they had left was to go to war. They both made citizens feel that their lives were going to be, if not already, in danger.
The Vietnam War Heather Cameron Axia College of the University of Phoenix The Vietnam War Every good American, before the war in Vietnam, held their political leaders and Congressmen in high regard. It was during the 1960's that this viewpoint began to change as the American death toll began to rise. One major viewpoint, eerily similar to today, was that though the intentions of entering into the conflict were good, the fact that it seemed to be a losing battle and the costs seemed to be too high; it was time to pull out of Vietnam. The other side of that coin was that there was a purpose for going into Vietnam and we should not leave until the job was done (Schulzinger, 1999). It had not been since the early 1940's that the
Conservatism in America The Conservative Era lasted from 1968 to 1986. It consisted of some great events of our American History timeline. Many things happened during these times. Some good, some bad. There are four main things I’d like to go over regarding the rise of a “Conservative” America.