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Section III (Peace and Conflict): Conflict in Indochina 1954-1979
Quick questions on The Tet Offensive 1968: HSC Modern History Indochina
9short Q&A pairs drawn directly from our worked dot-point answer. For full context and worked exam questions, read the parent dot-point page.
What is the planning?Show answer
The DRV Politburo had debated strategy through 1967. Le Duan's militant faction pushed for a decisive blow; General Nguyen Chi Thanh (COSVN commander, died 6 July 1967) had championed conventional escalation; General Vo Nguyen Giap urged a longer war. Resolution 13 of the Politburo (January 1967) authorised the "decisive victory" doctrine; Resolution 14 (January 1968) authorised the "General Offensive, General Uprising" (Tong Cong Kich, Tong Khoi Nghia).
What is the attacks?Show answer
The lunar new year ceasefire was supposed to hold from 27 January. Premature attacks at Pleiku, Nha Trang, and Da Nang on 30 January warned MACV but the main wave still achieved surprise on the night of 30 to 31 January 1968.
What is hue?Show answer
The most prolonged urban battle was at Hue, the former imperial capital. PAVN and PLAF (around 10,000 troops, including the 6th PAVN Regiment) occupied the Citadel from 31 January 1968. US Marine units (2nd Battalion 5th Marines, 1st Battalion 1st Marines) and ARVN forces fought house by house. The Citadel was retaken on 25 February 1968.
What is khe Sanh?Show answer
The siege of Khe Sanh ran from 21 January to 9 July 1968. The 26th Marine Regiment, supported by ARVN Ranger and Special Forces units, held the base against the PAVN 304th and 325C Divisions. Operation Niagara delivered around 100,000 tonnes of air-dropped munitions, the heaviest tactical air support of the war. US losses: 274 killed at the base, around 1,300 wounded.
What is the military and political verdicts?Show answer
Militarily, Tet was a defeat for the DRV. PAVN and PLAF lost around 45,000 killed across the three waves of Tet (Tet 1 January to March, Tet 2 in May, Tet 3 in August-September). The southern PLAF was so weakened that PAVN regulars dominated the rest of the war. The popular uprising did not occur.
What is historiography?Show answer
Don Oberdorfer (Tet!, 1971) is the standard contemporary narrative.
What is treating Tet as a US military defeat?Show answer
Tet was a tactical defeat for the DRV; the political effect on US opinion is what made it strategically decisive.
What is forgetting the Hue massacre?Show answer
It is the major communist atrocity of the war and is examinable.
What is confusing Khe Sanh with the urban attacks?Show answer
Khe Sanh was the diversion, not the main effort.