Vietnam War Dbq Essay

The Tet uprising was a major event in the Vietnam war. America was fighting North Vietnam, where communism was in use, in favor of South Vietnam to protect freedom as they vowed to do. America was a superpower with an excellent military and numerous supplies and weapons. In no way do they expect a loss. While America’s military tactics tended to be more on the offensive side, North Vietnam fought with strategy, only fighting when opportunity and surprise was on their side. During the Tet uprising, North Vietnam used strategy to attack South Vietnamese cities, forcing America to realize they were not winning by a landslide like they initially thought, supporting the statement “The Tet uprising was a major turning point in the Vietnam War.”
For example, Walter Cronkite, a CBS news anchor, said, “We have been too often disappointed by the optimism of the American leaders” (document 2). Following WWI and WWII, America had established themselves as a superpower in the army and navy. America was a proud nation and the Vietnam War was seen as an easy victory. After the Tet uprising. America had to face the fact that the war was not as one-sided as they thought. American leaders had been assuring a victory, and after the Tet uprising America had to face the fact that a total victory would not be the outcome of this war. Also, Bui Tin, who served on the general staff for the North Vietnamese army, said, “We would attack poorly defended parts of South Vietnam cities during a holiday and a truce when few South Vietnamese troops would be on duty” (document 3). North Vietnam would only engage in battle when victory was assured. This allowed them to advance in the war. By attacking when the other side had their guard down, they took away their enemies ability to have a chance to fight back. The Tet uprising was an excellent example of this strategy. The Tet uprising was an important event in the Vietnam War, and a huge turning point in North Vietnam’s