Why did the United States fail to win the Vietnam War?

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Why did the United States fail to win the Vietnam War?

   The Vietnam War was a prolonged war which begun in 1954 and ended in 1975. The war was between the communist armies of North Vietnam who were supported by the Chinese and the armies of South Vietnam who were supported by the United States. However, although the United States were significantly involved, they failed to win the Vietnam War. This was predominantly due to many factors, which included: the failure of the political will, influence of the anti-war movement, role of the media, military failure and the US failed to understand the Vietnamese context. The combination of these factors led to the failure to win the Vietnam War.

   The failure of the political will consisted of the fact that the defeat was an inevitable consequence due to the gradual escalation which was forced onto the US military by a civilian government. In spite of this, the US could have won the war with much more needed effort but the government did not have the political nerve to do this. Thus, the escalation policy convinced the communists that the US lacked the will to win and could be worn down. Hence they took advantage of this unwillingness of the US in order to succeed in the war.

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   In comparison to this the influence of the anti-war movement also resulted in the failure of the US. This was because many citizens in the US were against the war and wanted the US to withdraw from Vietnam. The Presidents and senators had to consider the views of the voters, but attitudes for the war were always mixed. Therefore the consensus in favour of US policy had broken down but it was not replaced by a new agreement against the war but by division. In addition, events such as the protests over the invasion of Cambodia in 1970 added ...

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