Why the America Defeat?

Main Factors Role of the Media Vietnam was first televised war, it was a media war WW1 & WW2 saw heavy censorship of press by government but by 1960s with TV, video cameras, audio recorders this was very difficult to enforce With inadequate government controls, the media was now able to publish uncensored pictures & videos showing the brutality of the war in Vietnam and, thus, vastly influenced American public opinion in unprecedented proportion.

Main Factors Role of the Media In the initial years of the war, the major American network reports focused on “the good guys killing reds” ,however, this quickly changed following the Tet Offensive, when media coverage of the war became predominantly negative. Images of both civilian and military casualties were increasingly televised

Main Factors Role of the Media The TV reports which showed prisoners being tortured or executed, villages being burned, the effects of napalm bombs on children exerted a negative and lasting influence on the public feeling. People began questions why 900,000 Americans had been drafted Instead of being a crusade against communism, the media helped Vietnam become a symbol of defeat and confusion

Main Factors Loss of Public Support at Home As the war became uglier on screen, its public support also declined significantly. Following the 1968 Tet Offensive, anti-war protests were stepped up throughout the university campuses across USA Kent State protested US invasion of Cambodia,,,4 killed, May 1970 Following the revelations of the My Lai Massacre, in Nov 1969, over 500,000 anti-war protesters demonstrated in Washington, D.C.

Main Factors Vietcong & Guerilla Tactics Being heavily outgunned & outnumbered, the Vietcong were no match for USA/South Vietnam forces in open warfare HCM had long history of guerilla warfare (Japanese, French, China) Retreat when enemy attacks raid when enemy camps Attack when enemy tires Pursue when enemy retreats

Main Factors Vietcong & Guerilla Tactics "Who is the enemy? How can you distinguish between the civilians and the non-civilians? The same people who come and work in the bases at daytime, they just want to shoot and kill you at nighttime. So how can you distinguish between the two? The good or the bad? All of them look the same." Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara in a private letter to President Lyndon B. Johnson, May 1967

Main Factors Vietcong & Guerilla Tactics Nightmare for US army as they did not wear military uniforms with no known basecamp or headquarters Looked like peasants in the villages Attacked & disappear into villages, jungles, or their tunnels They simply refused to give in

Main Factors Nationalistic War vs Containment of Communism HCM, his forces, & Vietcong this was a nationalistic war for freedom of Vietnam

Main Factors Nationalistic War vs Containment of Communism For the USA this was a chance to contain the spread of communism throughout SE Asia

Results of the War Refer to pages 163-165 of your textbook and complete the results section of your Causes and Results handout

Vietnam United The US pulled out of South Vietnam in 1973 but still supported South Vietnamese army with financial and military aid In April 1975 the SV regime collapsed & Vietnam was united under communism

Destruction of Vietnam Economic destruction (infrastructure, agriculture, forestry, fishing industries were devastated)…remains one of the world’s poorest countries Over a million killed Hundreds of 1000s of refugees

American Defeat The war had proved that containment through force was unworkable American military power was not invicible American economy