How america lost vietnam after winning the war against a. In april of 1975 south vietnam surrendered to north vietnam. For all of the selfsatisfied voyeurism surrounding the vietnam war, its hard to find a concrete idea about why the u. In a longawaited alternative to the lengthy and overly expensive texts on the vietnam war, charles neu presents americas lost war, a balanced, lively narrative account of that tragic conflict, one that sweeps across the whole timespan of the war and. It is estimated to have suffered 1,394,000 casualties killed and wounded during the vietnam war. Hess describes and evaluates the main arguments of. Vietnam war was by far the most convulsive and traumatic of americas three wars in asia in the 50 years since pearl harbor. The absence of a clear explanation is not an accident. The us had lost the vietnam war and also taken a major blow in the cold war. It is essential reading for teachers and students of. It is hard to justify the war, since veterans didnt like the war, the public didnt want it, and sure as hell the vietnamese people didnt like the war. I cant give a good answer to this, but here are a couple of points that are germane.
Their case hangs on the assertion that south vietnam was actually winning the war in 1961, but the united states failed to appreciate its success and build on it, thus snatching defeat from the jaws of victory for the revisionists the first of a number of such american lost victories in vietnam. Looks at many facets of vietnam war, examining central arguments of scholars, journalists, and participants and providing evidence on both sides of. America lost the vietnam war the moment its leaders chose to refight the last war by surrendering the initiative in the conflict to the north vietnamese. Instead, say the revisionists, the united states chose to interfere in. To what extent did america get it wrong, terribly wrong. A vietnam war reader university of north carolina press. How can we explain americas involvement in the vietnam war. Explaining americas lost war is an awardwinning historiography of one of the 20 th centurys seminal conflicts. Originally published in the january 2014 issue of armchair general. Hess describes and evaluates the main arguments of scholars, participants, and journalists, both revisionist and orthodox in their approach, as they try to answer fundamental questions of the vietnam war.
Game of thrones lego divergent throne of glass star wars. The vietnam war was a long, costly and divisive conflict that pitted the communist government of north vietnam against south vietnam and its principal ally, the united states. The book is highly recommended not only for historians and students but for anyone who wants to understand the vietnam war and its aftermath. America officially lost the vietnam war 40 years ago this week how the endgames in iraq and afghanistan compare to the fall of saigon. Request pdf on jan 1, 2010, martin grossheim and others published vietnam. The involvement of the united states in the vietnam war has been the most polarizing issue within postwar american history. Estimates include both civilian and military deaths in north and south vietnam, laos, and cambodia the war persisted from 1955 to 1975 and most of the fighting took place in south vietnam.
Vietname war vietnam war the vietnam war was starting in 1965 and ending in 1975. Fast fact sheet fast, fun facts and frequently asked questions faqs about the vietnam war november 1, 1955 april 30, 1975 how long was the vietnam war. The most important reason why the usa withdrew from. Vietnam had a profound impact on american foreign policy for years before actual involvement in. Communist forces in the vietnam war lost most battles and suffered disproportionally higher casualties than the united states and its allies throughout the conflict. Explaining americas lost war is an awardwinning historiography of one of the 20th centurys seminal conflicts. The remarkable story of the secret letters from nixon and ford to the president of south vietnam and the american promises that were never kept. A few months later in march the final us troops were removed from vietnam. The australian people were forced to take the issues about the cold war, vietnam and the arms race seriously because of australias military. Soon the country became officially unified as the socialist republic of vietnam. Morse believes that if nuclear weapons had been used, more than the war would have been lost by the americans. Hill, 4th edition, 2002 herring was the leading american historian of the war, and this is the book i used to write most of my lectures when i star ted teaching vietnam. Vietnam was actually winning the war in 1961, but the united states failed to appreciate its success and build on it, thus snatching defeat from the jaws of victory for the revisionists the first of a number of such american lost victories in vietnam. Vietnam is the clearest explanation of the arguments over american involvement in the vietnam war.
Hess, 9781405125277, available at book depository with free delivery worldwide. Journal of americas military past an excellent selection of primary sources. Herring rendition of americas longest war is widely considered to be a balanced, fair, and honest account of the vietnam war. America lost the vietnam war for a very simple reason.
The vietnam war was a conflict, which the united states involved itself in unnecessarily and ultimately lost. Many consider his discussion of the legacy of the war to be the quintessential blueprint for how historians should critique and analyze historical events such as wars. People are still asking what went wrong in vietnam. History essays americas involvement in the vietnam war. Looks at many facets of vietnam war, examining central arguments of scholars, journalists, and participants and providing evidence on both sides of controversies around this event addresses key. Decision making process on vietnam policy is a fortyseven volume, 7,000page, 2. Indeed the vietnam war was by far the most convulsive and traumatic of americas three wars in asia in the 50 years since pearl harbor. Hess find, read and cite all the research you need on researchgate. The vva veteran this book, better than any book i know, shows the multiple sides of the vietnam war. The us lost the vietnam war on many fronts, domestic hostility to war coupled with a powerful antiwar movement and growing concern for the economy meant electoral suicide if a hardline on vietnam continued. In a longawaited alternative to the lengthy and overly expensive texts on the vietnam war, charles neu presents americas lost war, a balanced, lively narrative account of that tragic conflict, one that sweeps across the whole timespan of the war and explores american.
America officially lost the vietnam war 40 years ago this. Rather than a full accounting of the war and americas mistakes and crimes in it, the focus was on recovering american pride, to be accomplished in part by righting an alleged betrayal of americas vietnam veterans. The problem is, that losing has been so indoctrinated into peoples head because the us didnt have a victory parade down ho chi minh boulevard in hanoi. Now available in a completely revised and updated second edition, vietnam. Popularly known as the pentagon papers, the history of u. The first area to be discussed is the impact the vietnam war had on foreign policy before, during, and after the war. The ground war in south vietnam and the air war in the north were certainly important in shaping the fates of the victors and losers, but they alone fail to explain why hanoi. Looks at many facets of vietnam war, examining central arguments of scholars, journalists, and participants and providing evidence on both sides of controversies around this event. It left americas foreign policy at least temporarily in disarray, discrediting the postwar policy of containment and undermining the consensus that supported it. Ho and giap made an aggressive attack on the national will of the u. Americasofficial explanation for its involvement in the vietnam war was the containmentof communism and the liberation of the vietnamese people. The vietnam war lasted for 19 years, 5 months, 4 weeks and 1 day and was americas longest involvement in any war.
That was why they could persevere the prolonged attacks of a very powerful enemy. It left americas foreign policy at least temporarily in disarray, discrediting the postwar policy of containment and undermin. Why the us lost the vietnam war common dreams views. Circulate throughout the class to support students and correct any individual misunderstandings. Clearly examines the historiography of the vietnam war questions whether the vietnam war was lost due to poor strategy and leadership, or was inherently doomed to failure. Estimates of casualties of the vietnam war vary widely. Capitalism, yet the conduct of the vietnam war was complex and strategic, and brought repercussions which had never been seen before. Vietnams american war by pierre asselin cambridge core. In march of 1945, and just five months before surrendering to the allies, japan did something with profound. The vietnam war has been widely regarded these past 40 years as a total american defeat and a huge mistake. Hess describes and evaluates the main arguments of scholars, participants, and journalists, both. Explaining americas lost war is the finest effort by any scholar to date to take stock of the voluminous historiography of the war, expose the central points of contention, and weigh the persuasiveness of competing claims in light of available evidence.
Hess finds that the historiography of the vietnam war departs from the traditional model of historical appreciation of the united states wars. Request pdf on jan 1, 2010, martin grossheim and others published. The vietnam war body count controversy centers on the counting of enemy dead by the united states armed forces during the vietnam war 19551975. The united states intervention in vietnam is seen by the world as americas greatest loss and longest war. The people of vietnam and the countrys leadership were so full of revolutionary fervor that they were mentally unbeatable.
The vietnam war had great political impact and led to deep division within australian society. Yet consider what actually prompted us to become involved with vietnam in the first place. In the vietnam war, the us was unable to understand what a revolutionary war was and that was the reason why us strategies failed painfully in gaining victory vickers, 1993, p. This is an excellent book for those seeking help in navigating the vast amount of literature on the vietnam war. Jon mixon, who has studied military actions during war times, feels that the vietnamese war was lost by the americans because south vietnam was. By 1968 american public opinion was already turning against the war, a war which was supposed to be over very quickly but which had dragged on for several years and showed no sign of ending despite 500,000 american ground troops and a huge military budget. There are issues around killing and counting unarmed civilians noncombatants as enemy combatants, as well as inflating the number of actual enemy who were killed in action kia. Explaining americas lost war wiley blackwell, 2008. As such, the book unquestionably deserves the careful attention of. It was divisive at the time, both domestically and internationally, and debates continue to the present day. Whether tet was the most important reason for americas withdrawal was open to conjecture. These vietnam war documents have been curated by alpha history authors.