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The USA, 1954–75: Conflict at Home and Abroad

Reasons for the failure of the USA in Vietnam

  • 2 things to know
  • Paper 3

Overview

Soviet and Chinese support for the North, the Ho Chi Minh Trail and why bombing failed to close it, Vietcong tactics, poor American morale, the one-year tour, tactics that alienated villagers and opposition at home.

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Evaluation

Why was the one-year tour of duty a weakness for the US army?

Key term

What did the Soviet Union supply to North Vietnam?

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

  1. 1

    What did the Soviet Union supply to North Vietnam?

    Model answer

    Money, aircraft, tanks and artillery, and above all the anti-aircraft guns and missiles that made American bombing so costly.

  2. 2

    What did China supply to North Vietnam?

    Model answer

    Weapons, food and engineering troops who repaired the roads, bridges and railways so that supplies kept moving south.

  3. 3

    Why did communist support for the North matter so much?

    Model answer

    It let the North absorb terrible losses and keep fighting, and it meant the USA never dared invade the North for fear of bringing China into the war.

  4. 4

    What was the Ho Chi Minh Trail?

    Model answer

    A web of jungle paths and roads running through Laos and Cambodia by which the North fed troops, weapons and food to the guerrillas in the South.

  5. 5

    Why could American bombing never close that supply route?

    Model answer

    It was hidden under jungle canopy, had many alternative branches, and repair gangs filled the craters within hours.

  6. 6

    Why did Vietcong tactics work so well against a far richer enemy?

    Model answer

    By refusing open battle, striking by ambush and booby trap and melting back into the villages, they left America’s huge firepower with nothing to hit.

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