🏆 A military defeat for the Communists
The uprising did not happen. Most attacks failed within days, and the Vietcong lost huge numbers of fighters.
Confrontation in the Vietnam War, Escalation 1964-68 » Khe Sanh, the Tet Offensive and the Battle of Hue
What you'll learn this session
Study time: 30 minutes
Edexcel spec: Paper 2 Section A, Investigation A4, Key topic 3
- The siege of Khe Sanh, the Tet Offensive and the Battle of Hue in 1968
- Why Tet was a military defeat for the Communists but a turning point in the USA
- Why Johnson decided not to stand for President again
- How to answer a 16-mark 'How far do you agree with this interpretation?' question
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Unlock This CourseKhe Sanh: a second Dien Bien Phu?
By 1968 the USA had around half a million troops in Vietnam, and American television news showed the war in people's homes every night. In January 1968 the cameras turned to Khe Sanh, a Marine base in the far north-west of South Vietnam, close to Laos and the border with North Vietnam. About 6,000 Marines and South Vietnamese troops were there. From 21 January, North Vietnamese forces surrounded the base and shelled it. This was a siege, as at Dien Bien Phu.
Many Americans feared a repeat of Dien Bien Phu, where the French were defeated in 1954. General Westmoreland was determined that it would not happen. He kept Khe Sanh supplied by air and used huge amounts of bombing to protect it. The siege lasted until April 1968 and the base held. Historians disagree about why the North besieged it: some think it was a real attempt to win another Dien Bien Phu, others that it drew attention from the towns.
Key terms:
- Tet Offensive: the surprise attacks by the Vietcong and North Vietnamese on towns and cities across South Vietnam, which began during Tet, the Vietnamese New Year, in 1968.
- Credibility gap: the gap between what leaders said about the war and what people could see for themselves.
The Tet Offensive, 1968
In the early hours of 30-31 January 1968, during the Tet holiday, the Vietcong and North Vietnamese army attacked more than 100 towns and cities across South Vietnam. Many South Vietnamese soldiers were away for the holiday. A small group of Vietcong fighters even broke into the grounds of the American embassy in Saigon. They were killed or captured within hours, but the attack shocked America.
The Communists hoped that ordinary South Vietnamese would rise up against the government, and that the South Vietnamese army would collapse. Neither happened. American and South Vietnamese forces recovered quickly and drove the attackers out of most places within days. The Vietcong lost very large numbers of fighters, and the NLF never fully recovered its strength. In military terms, Tet was a defeat for the Communists.
The Battle of Hue
The hardest fighting was at Hue, the old imperial capital. Communist troops captured most of the city and held the Citadel, an old walled fortress, for weeks. US Marines and South Vietnamese troops had to retake it street by street, with heavy shelling and bombing. The fighting lasted until early March, and much of Hue was left in ruins. Thousands of civilians died, and many were killed by the Communists when they held the city.
📺 A turning point in the USA
Americans saw fighting in Saigon and Hue after being told the enemy was nearly beaten. Many stopped trusting what leaders said.
Why Tet was a turning point in the USA
Late in 1967, Westmoreland had told Americans that the end was in sight. Tet made those claims look wrong. After 1968 more people questioned whether the war could be won at all, and the gap between what leaders said and what people saw (the credibility gap) grew wider. Westmoreland then asked for about 200,000 more troops. Johnson turned down almost all of the request. How the press and public opinion shaped the war is covered in a later lesson, Media Coverage, Pro-War Demonstrations and the Fulbright Hearings.
On 31 March 1968 Johnson went on television. He announced a reduction in the bombing of North Vietnam and offered peace talks. Then he said he would not seek, and would not accept, his party's nomination for another term as President. In the weeks before, Johnson had also done badly against an anti-war challenger in the New Hampshire primary, an election in which party members choose their candidate. Nixon's very different approach to the war is the subject of the next lesson, Nixon and Vietnamisation.
Common mistakes
- Saying Tet was an American defeat on the battlefield. The Communists lost most of the fighting; it was in American opinion that Tet changed the war.
- Saying Hue was won quickly. It took about a month of hard fighting and much of the city was destroyed.
- Saying Johnson resigned. He stayed President until January 1969 but did not stand again.
- Writing about the sources without using them. Quote them, and say whether each supports or challenges the extract.
Exam-style question
This question has two real sources from the time and an extract written for this lesson. Study Extract C and Sources A and B.
Extract C
(a practice extract written for this lesson, in the style of a modern history book)
Tet was a turning point in America, not in Vietnam. The Communists failed to hold any town and lost heavily. Yet pictures of fighting in Saigon and Hue left Americans doubting that the war could be won. This loss of public confidence ended Johnson's escalation and his hopes of another term.
Source A
From a broadcast by Walter Cronkite, the CBS television news presenter, after a visit to Vietnam, 27 February 1968
To say that we are closer to victory today is to believe, in the face of the evidence, the optimists who have been wrong in the past. To suggest we are on the edge of defeat is to yield to unreasonable pessimism. To say that we are mired in stalemate seems the only realistic, yet unsatisfactory, conclusion.
Source B
From a television address by President Johnson, 31 March 1968
Their attack--during the Tet holidays--failed to achieve its principal objectives. ... With America's sons in the fields far away, with America's future under challenge right here at home, ... I do not believe that I should devote an hour or a day of my time to any personal partisan causes ... Accordingly, I shall not seek, and I will not accept, the nomination of my party for another term as your President.
Extract C suggests that Tet was a turning point because it destroyed American confidence in the war and ended Johnson's escalation. How far do you agree with this interpretation? Use Extract C, Sources A and B and your own knowledge to explain your answer. [16 marks]
Model answer
I mostly agree with Extract C, because Tet damaged American confidence and ended escalation, although Johnson's decision had other causes too.
Source A supports the extract. Cronkite rejects the claim that 'we are closer to victory', saying those who believed it were 'the optimists who have been wrong in the past', and concludes that the war is 'mired in stalemate'. This is a respected journalist, so it shows how confidence had fallen. My own knowledge agrees. In late 1967 Westmoreland had told Americans that the end was in sight, so the attack on more than 100 towns, and on the US embassy in Saigon, made official claims look false. The extract is also right that Tet was a military defeat for the Communists. The uprising did not happen, and the Vietcong lost huge numbers of fighters.
The extract's view that escalation ended is also supported. Westmoreland asked for about 200,000 more troops, and Johnson turned down almost all of the request. On 31 March he announced a reduction in the bombing of North Vietnam and offered talks, which was a step back from escalation.
However, Source B challenges part of the extract. Johnson says the Tet attack 'failed to achieve its principal objectives', which fits the Communist military defeat, but he says nothing about losing public confidence. He gives a different reason for not standing again: he does not want to devote 'an hour or a day' to 'personal partisan causes' while 'America's sons' are fighting. As a politician, he would not admit that opinion had beaten him. My own knowledge adds that Johnson had also done badly in the New Hampshire primary against an anti-war challenger, so there were political causes too.
Overall I agree with Extract C to a large extent. Tet turned American opinion, as Source A shows, and Johnson ended escalation. But the extract goes too far in saying that loss of confidence alone ended his hopes of another term, because Source B and the New Hampshire result show political pressures as well. Those pressures themselves grew after Tet, so the offensive remains the main turning point.
What lifts it to the top level: it uses the extract and both sources with short quotes, adds precise own knowledge, weighs support against challenge, and reaches a judgement justified by comparing the public reason Johnson gave with the political pressures behind it.
Exam tip
In a 16-mark interpretation question, use the extract, both sources and your own knowledge, and give both sides. Ask what a source's author wanted the audience to believe, then finish with a judgement that says how far you agree and why.
Recap
- The siege of Khe Sanh began on 21 January 1968. The base held, helped by massive bombing.
- The Tet Offensive began on 30-31 January 1968, with attacks on more than 100 towns. The hoped-for uprising did not happen, and the Communists lost heavily.
- At Hue the Communists held the city for weeks, and its recapture destroyed much of it.
- Tet was a military defeat for the Communists but a turning point in the USA. Johnson refused almost all of Westmoreland's troop request, reduced the bombing and said on 31 March 1968 that he would not stand again.