The Stalemate and NLF Strength

Cold War – The Tet Offensive, 1968

In this course, Professor Edwin Moïse (Clemson University) discusses the Tet Offensive of 1968. In the first module, we look at the stalemate in Vietnam and the NLF strengths. After this, we discuss the planning of the Tet Offensive in the North. Then, we discuss the failures of the Tet Offensive. In the fourth module, we discuss the sustained battlefield losses of 1968 and President Johnson's announcement, of March 1968, that he would not seek re-election. After this, we discuss the election of 1968. Finally, we discuss the impact of Hamburger Hill on American support for the war in Vietnam.

The Stalemate and NLF Strength

In this module, we look at the stalemate in Vietnam and the NLF strengths. In particular, we look at: (i) the escalation of the fighting to include US ground troops and how by 1967 the fighting had reached a stalemate; (ii) the combat losses of the communists and how they were more prepared to sustain heavy losses; (iii) the Progress Campaign of 1967 and Westmoreland's selling of the war in the US; and (iv) the miscalculation of NLF strength and how well the war was going.