Compare and contrast the United States’ war in Vietnam with the American Revolution. Both conflicts could be likened to Mao’s three phases of insurgency. Explain why and discuss all three phases as they apply to both conflicts. Also, were there any similarities to British problems in the Revolution and American problems in Vietnam as far as winning the hearts and minds of the mass base?
Comparing how Mao’s three phases of insurgency within the force structures and doctrine of the British and American forces in the two wars is relatively simple. In both conflicts the main cause of each power nation's failure can be traced to a misunderstanding or lack of understanding the root cause of the conflicts. Which provided a basis for the insurgency
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This allowed the conflicts to transition to phase two, guerrilla warfare, and armed struggle. In guerrilla warfare, attacks are carefully planned for heightened effect, but usually not for military purposes.
Contrast
Both the British in the American Revolution and the Americans in the Vietnam War were faced with a guerilla war within the early periods of conflict. The British who accepted after the initial stages of the war that the American regular army was the key to defeating the rebellion, the Americans never deducted that more than limited offensive operations against the Hanoi regime was needed in order to bring the conflict to a successful close. Unlike the British, the Americans in Vietnam never had a significant defeat in the field.
The lesson learned in both wars is that when the military is to be used as a mechanism of policy in dealing with revolutionary civil wars, the force must be swift and decisive.
The means to the application of military force must be in line with achieving national objectives.
Evaluate how this knowledge has been applied to present day conflicts involving the US
The Vietnam War: A Concise International History is a strong book that portrays a vivid picture of both sides of the war. By getting access to new information and using valid sources, Lawrence’s study deserves credibility. After reading this book, a new light and understanding of the Vietnam war exists.
By definition, a successful military invasion gives the occupier superiority on the ground and in the air, in the ability to use physical force and violence. Despite that, when a military invader loses control of what the people read and believe, of when and if they work, of how they spend their money — when the occupiers are constantly on the defensive, as they try to maintain their position — their ability to command events is detached from their ability to use violence.
The Vietnam War was a multinational conflict lasting from 1955 until 1973. Due to international events and relations of the time, the Vietnam War was a civil war that was heavily influenced by Cold War ideology. Western politicians who accepted the reality of the Domino Theory implemented many policies to increase their countries’ involvement in Vietnam, in order to stop the progress of Communism through South-East Asia. America’s increase in military involvement in the Vietnam War was founded upon the basis of ideological tensions between Communism and Democracy. However, at its core, the Vietnam War was a struggle against the French, and did not
The assertion that the Americans lost the Vietnam War because they failed to win the hearts and minds of the Vietnamese is incorrect. This can proven by examining other aspects of the war such as military tactics , political relationships, finances and other contributing factors.
The American Revolution and Vietnam War had several similarities. The insurgents were able to effectively use the media to control the narrative. The information that was broadcast back home was disturbing and caused the citizens to rise up against the wars. This results in major street protest, which put pressure on the government to withdraw the Soldiers. In both uprising the insurgents were also using unconventional tactics which the conventional Armies reluctantly did not adjust to. The British thought that force would only bring about a temporary solution, so their initial duty was to enforce the law and stop any rebellion. (Daly) The Americans initial role in Vietnam was to act as military advisors, to stop the spread of communism, to
The book, We Were Soldiers Once... And Young, begins at a pivotal point in American history. The year was 1965; the year America began to directly interfere with the Vietnam affairs and send our young men to defend the notion of "freedom." During this year, Vietnam interested and concerned only a few Americans. In fact, the controversy of American involvement in Vietnam had hardly begun. But this all changed in November 1965 at the Ia Drang Valley in distant Vietnam. The Battle at LZ X-Ray and LZ Albany was the first major battle of the Vietnam conflict; a conflict that lasted decade and caused American turmoil for many more years.
The relationship between conventional and guerilla operations was a key element of the Vietnamese communists’ “Dau Tranh” strategy to fight and win the Vietnam War. A brief description of the Dua Tranh (meaning struggle) strategy is appropriate since it was the basis for North Vietnam’s success. The strategy consisted of an armed struggle and a political struggle. The armed struggle began with Stage One hit and run guerilla tactics to “decimate the enemy piecemeal and weaken then eliminate the government’s administrative control of the countryside...
Also, during the revolution the Americans fought to free their country from the oppression of Britain, while in the Vietnam War they used their super power position to try and stop the communist ideology from growing. During the revolution, the American’s emerged as the victors in their fight against Britain. Unfortunately victory in the war against South Vietnam did not occur. The American Revolution war lasted eight years, while, the war against the communists in South Vietnam lasted as long as twenty years (Daly & Robert,
They had many successful tactics such as their wide spreading tunnel systems. This system could have failed because the US could simply bomb them; however these tunnels went up to 9 metres in the ground, this meant that bombing would not affect the tunnels. The tunnels were very well built; the US men were simply too large with their bulky equipment to fit into the tunnels therefore there was no way that any US men could get in. In case of US soldier intrusions the Vietnamese guerilla fighters had put some booby traps in their own tunnels! However they did not have to worry about falling into their own traps as they had memorised the whole map of the tunnels this was a huge advantage as it meant that no VC fighter had to carry a map, this ensured that the tunnels were not vulnerable. One huge advantage they had was that they could ambush the US and get away without the US having a hint of where they
The Vietnam War was a rough time for many soldiers. Memories of home, loved ones, comfort, happiness, a normal life, everything was left behind to do their duties as soldiers. They carried with them many mementos of their life at home; that way they had some kind of life to hang onto to give them the hope and comfort they needed to keep themselves pushing forward. Though, many others have done the same and kept objects to hold onto to remind themselves that there is hope and that there is light at the end of the tunnel. Despite the Vietnam War and World War I taking place during different time periods, these two wars are extremely similar because of the way they are presented in history.
In the Revolutionary War, America rose up to fight against an army that was exceedingly larger, superior, and more orderly than our army was. While the Continental Army had many disadvantages, they surprisingly had several advantages too. These advantages ultimately triumphed over the strong points of the British.
Current military leadership should comprehend the nature of war in which they are engaged within a given political frame in order to develop plans that are coherent with the desired political end state. According to Clausewitz, war is an act of politics that forces an enemy to comply with certain conditions or to destroy him through the use of violence. A nation determines its vital interests, which drives national strategy to obtain or protect those interests. A country achieves those goals though the execution of one of the four elements of power, which are diplomatic, informational, military and economical means. The use of military force...
On the other hand, big forces like U.S in Vietnam, and British in the U.S during the Revolutionary War were fighting to gain more control and gain resources from the land they were fighting in, which is not a strong reason to motivate soldiers to sacrifice as much as their enemies did. In the Vietnamese war, and the American Revolutionary war, we see a lot of similarities. First, in the American Revolutionary war, British were the invaders who were far more powerful than the Americans. Americans had the motivation to fight for their freedom and independence. Since Americans were weaker then British, they used guerrilla warfare, which was new to British and cost them a lot of casualties. On the other hand, in the Vietnamese War, the Americans were the invading force, and the Vietnamese were fighting on their own soil. They were fighting to kick out the invader and gain freedom and independence of their country. The Vietnamese used exactly what the Americans used in their fight in the revolutionary war against the British, guerrilla warfare. These tactics lead to the defeat and withdrawal of U.S from
In modern military theory, the highest level is the strategic level, in which activities at the strategic level focus directly on policy objectives, both during peace and warfare. In the study of modern military strategy, there is a distinction between military strategy and national strategy, in which the former is the use of military objective to secure political objectives and the latter coordinates and concentrates all the elements of national...
Looking at this war as an example of most wars, the causes of warfare stem from some sort of disagreement. Many of these disagreements derive from human insecurities about change. Fear of change drives people to hold tighter to their traditions and customs. When change is slow and progressive people may mutter under their breath, di...