Vietnam+-+Shmoop!

Vietnam War in a Nutshell Vietnam War - Summary >>
 * Guiding Questions - Vietnam in a Nutshell
 * Why is Vietnam referred to as America's "longest war?"
 * Why was Vietnam such a "monumental catastrophe?"
 * What makes this war so "uniquely awful" for the United States?
 * Guiding Quotes - Summary
 * "Believe it or not, it all began in 1919."
 * "By 1941, Ho Chi Minh was preparing for the independence movement in Vietnam; but it appeared that the struggle would not be against French rule after all."
 * "But another opportunity for decolonization (of Vietnam) had been only an illusion."
 * "With the Soviet threat growing, concerns over a Communist takeover in Vietnam far outweighed anti-imperialist ideals (for the US)."
 * "Though northern and southern regions remained divided, the Accords stated that in two years unification would be possible through the implementation of nationwide free elections"
 * "In an effort to strengthen a democratic, anti-Communist state in South Vietnam in opposition to Minh's Communist regime in the North, the United States inadvertently produced a tyrannical, autocratic government."
 * "By the end of 1964, the American War in Vietnam was in full swing. But against whom, exactly, were the Americans fighting?"
 * "American leaders made grave errors in escalating the war in Vietnam."
 * "During the ten most brutal years of the Vietnam War, the United States clung to two fatal illusions"
 * "The reality was that the war in Vietnam was not about two separate countries."
 * "By the time the United States realized that the war was utterly unwinnable, it was already too late."
 * "In 1975, South Vietnamese government forces surrendered to the NLF and the North Vietnamese Army."