Preview

Why Did The Us Fail To Win The Vietnam War

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
901 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Why Did The Us Fail To Win The Vietnam War
【Abstract】 This study focuses on the reason why the US fail to win the Vietnam war. To search for the reason, I analyze this topic from three aspects, the Vietnam, the US and the international. This paper shows that the US fail to win the war both have the subjective reasons and objective reason, internal reasons and external reasons. There still some deficiencies in this research, and there may be without analysis in some aspects.
【Key Words】international environment; resources; experience; aid

1. Introduction
As for the reason why the US fail to win the Vietnam war, there are still many disputes on this issue. In this paper, I will from the three aspects of the Vietnam, United States and the international environment to explain the root cause of failure of the United States during the Vietnam War.

2. The reason why the US fail to win the Vietnam war
2.1 The natural environment of Vietnam
It is generally believed that the natural environment is the key to win the war. Just as the saying goes:"Good timing, geographical convenience and good human relations; Favorable climatic, geographical and human …show more content…
Actually, according to the Lanchester model of guerrilla warfare[In 1916, during World War I, Frederick Lanchester devised a series of differential equations to demonstrate the power relationships between opposing forces. Among these are what is known as Lanchester's Linear Law (for ancient combat) and Lanchester's Square Law (for modern combat with long-range weapons such as firearms)] , in a battle, the regular troops need to be sent at least 8 times more than the guerrilla forces in order to win. But the United States can only send 6 times of the army. In this way, the odds of winning the United States is not large. If the American want to win and not pay a heavy casualties, the United States announced the withdrawal is the rational
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Westmoreland's Attrition Strategy In The Vietnam War
    • 829 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Westmoreland's Attrition Strategy In The Vietnam War

    General William Westmoreland had a responsibility to the people of the United States, the people of South Vietnam and the troops under his command, to lead them to an honorable victory. Instead, General Westmoreland failed to come up with an original strategy to fight the opposing forces and their effective guerrilla warfare. I will be analyzing General Westmoreland’s poor decision to use an ineffective attrition strategy in the Vietnam War and how some people consider him, “the General that lost Vietnam.”(Thompson 2011)…

    • 829 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Assess the View That Lyndon Johnson (Lbj) Had No Choice but to Send Us Troops to Vietnam in 1965.
    • 2895 Words
    • 12 Pages

    Assess the View That Lyndon Johnson (Lbj) Had No Choice but to Send Us Troops to Vietnam in 1965.

    Assess the view that Lyndon Johnson (LBJ) had no choice but to send US troops to Vietnam in 1965.…

    • 2895 Words
    • 12 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Explain Why the United States Became Increasingly Involved in the War in Vietnam
    • 1547 Words
    • 45 Pages

    Explain Why the United States Became Increasingly Involved in the War in Vietnam

    The war in Vietnam was a conflict that started in the 1950s and ended in the early 1970s. During this time period, the United States became increasingly involved in Vietnamese political, economic and military affairs. There were a combination of reasons as to why the United States became more involved, the most important of which in my opinion were the Domino Theory and the growing influence of the National Liberation Front (NFL).…

    • 1547 Words
    • 45 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    His/145 Vietnam War Analysis
    • 440 Words
    • 2 Pages

    His/145 Vietnam War Analysis

    American and World Presentation: Vietnam War By Se’Sees Holmes Justin Horton HIS/145 August 1, 2015 Introduction • Here I will evaluate how the United States became involved in Vietnam. • Then I will explain the political, military, and social outcomes of the end of the war in Vietnam. Overview • A war between two sides: • France and government of South Vietnam supported by the US • Viet Cong and North Vietnam • Lasted from mid 1950’s thru the mid 1970’s • The war ended in the complete communist takeover in 1975…

    • 440 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    An Analysis Of Withdrawing From Vietnam: How America Left A Long And Lost War
    • 977 Words
    • 4 Pages

    An Analysis Of Withdrawing From Vietnam: How America Left A Long And Lost War

    During his lecture at Mississippi State, “Withdrawing from Vietnam: How America Left a Long [And Lost] War,” Dr. Gregory Daddis provided an interesting viewpoint of the United States Campaign in Vietnam. Dr. Daddis thesis states that the dysfunctional relationship between military commanders in Vietnam and stateside leadership, was due largely in part to the unascertainable demands of the President back home, and the failure of United States politicians to understand the capabilities of the military overseas.…

    • 977 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Lyndon Johnson's War Book Review
    • 724 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Lyndon Johnson's War Book Review

    The Vietnam War involved many decisions and outcomes, many of which have latter been reviewed with more uncertainty then confidence. With this Michael Hunt, the author uses both American and Vietnamese resources, some which before the book were never heard from. He uses these sources to try to explain how the United States of America was sucked into involvement with Southeast Asia. The overall conclusion of the book does not bring to many new views on why the United States involved itself with the issues of Vietnam but more confirms already believed views that they began in the conflict with comprehension of Vietnam’s problem other than the issue of the cold war.…

    • 724 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    John F. Kennedy in Vietnam
    • 1990 Words
    • 8 Pages

    John F. Kennedy in Vietnam

    Bibliography: Dudley, William. The Vietnam War: Opposing Viewpoints. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1998. Gardner, Lloyd C. , and Ted Gittinger. Vietnam: The Early Decisions. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1997. Karnow, Stanley. Vietnam: The War Nobody Won. New York: The Viking Press, 1983. Kimball, Jeffery. To Reason Why. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1990. Lomperis, Timothy. The War Everybody Lost and Won. 2nd ed. revised. Washington: D.C.: Congressional Quarterly Inc., 1993. McNamera, Robert. In Retrospect , The Tragedy in Vietnam. New York: Dell Publishing Group, 1996. Olson, James S. The Vietnam War. London: Greenwood Press, 1993. Rowe, John, and Rick Berg. The Vietnam War and American Culture. New York: Columbia University Press, 1991. Rust, William J. Kennedy in Vietnam. New York: U.S. News & World Report, Inc., 1985. Schwab, Orrin. Defending the Free World: John F. Kennedy and the Vietnam War. London: Praeger Publishers, 1998.…

    • 1990 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    My Lai Massacre
    • 739 Words
    • 3 Pages

    My Lai Massacre

    The US military methods failed, but still had an effect on the war. The main reason that they failed was because they couldn't find the enemies. The Viet Cong hid in under ground tunnels, in the jungle or in the villages with the normal innocent civilians, so the US couldn't differentiate between them. Napalm failed because it hardly killed any enemies, and burnt many innocent people alive, this made the Vietnamese civilians disapprove of the Americans. So they thought that they would use defoliants to destroy the jungle, they used a defoliant called 'Agent Orange'. But even after they had destroyed the jungle they still couldn't find the enemies, and because Agent Orange got into the water supplies and cause many birth defects this, again annoyed the civilians. Rolling Thunder failed because it was very expensive and would have been useful but they couldn't hit the target. Search and Destroy missions failed because they were always ambushed. Because of all of the methods used by the Americans, the Vietnamese had stopped supporting them and started to support the Viet Cong, this then made it harder for the US to fight the Viet Cong as they had more support. After the My Lai massacre on the 16 March 1968, the US had killed over 347 innocent civilians and raped and mutilated many of them.…

    • 739 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Explain Why The Us Lost The Vietnam War Essay
    • 911 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Explain Why The Us Lost The Vietnam War Essay

    The Vietnam war is an incredibly controversial topic; some say America won, while others say that they lost. In this case, America took a major loss, they were never winning at any point. The reason the Americans officially lost the war is because they were unable to achieve their goal which was to stop the spread of communism in Vietnam. In fact, the exact opposite happened, after the American forces left South Vietnam in January of 1975, communism immediately overran it. Along with the reasoning behind why the Americans lost are 3 points which will give a deeper explanation on why the U.S lost the Vietnam war. First of all the Americans lost because the North Vietnamese wanted to win more than they did. Following this is the American’s bombing strategies that proved to be horrendously ineffective because they were choosing to bomb locations that would end up giving them no real advantage. Thirdly, and quite possibly the biggest reason that lost America the war was their attempt to fight a war of Attrition against the North Vietnamese strategy of Guerilla warfare…

    • 911 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Was The Us Justified In Vietnam War Essay
    • 493 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Was The Us Justified In Vietnam War Essay

    In conclusion, the US’s decision to take part in the Vietnam war was a mistake. They should of remained neutral and let other countries handle their own business instead of encroaching into international affairs. From the Americans citizens perspective, the involvement was unnecessary and it lost the trust of…

    • 493 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Reasons Why The Us Lost The Vietnam War
    • 564 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Reasons Why The Us Lost The Vietnam War

    The vietnam war was a great war that was tough and had many struggles there was many obstacles in the way to beat the vietnamese many argue that we won because we backed out of the war but a lot of people think we lost the vietnam war and here is a few reasons the united states lost the vietnam war . The united states of america lost the vietnam war because of lack of allied support, lack of support at home, lack of ballistic or nuclear bombs and finally the lack of real military objectives . The first reason why the united states lost the vietnam war was because of lack of allie support.the leader of the south was president diem…

    • 564 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Us Involvement In The Vietnam War
    • 948 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Us Involvement In The Vietnam War

    Although very popular the Vietnam war was huge conflict during the years of 1964 through 1975, this single incident changed many Americans opinions about the nation's role both in foreign affairs and domestic ones. The Vietnam war failed in its primary purpose which was to assists in the defense against north Vietnamese communism, just like the cold war previously this proved to be another example of escalation. The US involvement in Vietnam damaged the us reputation due to very misguided and complex intentions on the part of political leaders like those in the Johnson and Nixon administration which brought upon unhappiness and social unrest among the public. This political corruption along with mismanagement on the economic system and the…

    • 948 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Explain Why The Us Lost The Vietnam War
    • 1099 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Explain Why The Us Lost The Vietnam War

    I believe that America lost the Vietnam War because they were unprepared. America did not need to get involved in the conflict, and it would’ve been possible to avoid most of the apparent consequences America endured. Preparation alongside careful consideration would have benefitted America in deciding if they were required to utilize measures that were proven to be irrationally harsh. Evaluation of the Vietcong’s knowledge of effective warfare would have been impactful in aiding American and Southern Vietnamese forces alike.…

    • 1099 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Vietnam Dbq
    • 1219 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Vietnam Dbq

    The Vietnam war brought many changes to the United States in the 1960’s and the 1970’s. Some of the changes were for the better of the country, take the rediscovered Women’s Rights movements and the ever growing Free Speech movements inspired by New Left, while most of the other changes brought on tensions between government and their people. The Domino Theory pushed our leaders to the edge. In order to stop the Domino Theory in Vietnam, the U.S. invaded. The war was useless for the American government to get involved with. Even Robert Kennedy described our presence in Vietnam as ‘... sending a lion to halt an epidemic of jungle rot.’ (Doc E) From new groups forming to rebel, to inflation and loss of trust in the Government, from 1960’s to the 1970’s the Vietnam War heightened social, political and economic tensions in the United States.…

    • 1219 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Containment In The Things They Carried
    • 1295 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Containment In The Things They Carried

    The Vietnam War is referred to as the “longest and most unpopular American War of the 20th century”(Overview), that lasted from 1955 to 1975. In the US, the war began as a result of the U.S. policy of Containment. This policy’s goal was to prevent the spread of communism throughout the world. The Viet Minh is a communist led…

    • 1295 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More

Related Topics