Tet turned American opinion against the war; Nixon withdrew troops while using diplomacy with Moscow and Beijing.
In January 1968, communist forces launched the Tet Offensive, attacking towns across the South. They suffered heavy losses and did not spark a general uprising. But the scale of the attack shocked Americans, who had been told the war was being won.
Johnson halted most bombing and announced he would not seek re-election. Richard Nixon became president in 1969 promising "peace with honour".
Nixon's Vietnamisation policy handed fighting to South Vietnamese forces while withdrawing American troops. He also widened the war into Cambodia and Laos and bombed the North heavily. In 1972 he visited Beijing and Moscow, using triangular diplomacy to isolate Hanoi.
The Paris Peace Accords of January 1973 led to the withdrawal of the remaining US troops. Fighting between the Vietnamese continued. In April 1975, North Vietnamese forces captured Saigon and Vietnam was reunified under communist rule.
- Tet Offensive
- January 1968.
- Paris Peace Accords
- January 1973.
- Fall of Saigon
- 30 April 1975.
Worked example: Was Tet a communist victory?
A classic evaluation question.
- Military: a defeat; heavy losses and no uprising.
- Political: a victory; it destroyed confidence in Johnson's strategy.
- Consequence: it began the US move towards withdrawal.
- Judgement: its significance lay in its political impact.
Watch out for this
The USA was defeated militarily in 1968 and fled Vietnam at once.
Tet was a military setback for the communists but a political turning point. US troops withdrew gradually until 1973.
Check your understanding
What was Vietnamisation?
- Handing the fighting to South Vietnamese forces while withdrawing US troops
- A plan to reunify Vietnam under Ho
- Sending more US troops to fight