Editing Tet Offensive (section)

{{Short description|Military campaign during the Vietnam War (1968)}}
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{{Use American English|date=November 2018}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2024}}
{{Infobox military conflict
| conflict          = Tet Offensive<br />''Sự kiện Tết Mậu Thân''
| partof            = the [[Vietnam War]]
| image             = Tet Offensive map.png
| image_size        = 300px
| caption           = Map indicating towns and cities in which significant fighting occurred during the Tet Offensive of 1968
| date              = Phase 1: 30 January – 20 March 1968<br />({{Age in years, months, weeks and days|month1=1|day1=20|year1=1968|month2=3|day2=20|year2=1968}})<br />Phase 2: 5 May – 15 June 1968<br />({{Age in years, months, weeks and days|month1=5|day1=5|year1=1968|month2=6|day2=15|year2=1968}})<br />Phase 3: 9 August – 23 September 1968<br />({{Age in years, months, weeks and days|month1=8|day1=9|year1=1968|month2=9|day2=23|year2=1968}})
| place             = [[South Vietnam]]
| coordinates       = {{coord|11|N|107|E|dim:30_region:VN-39_type:adm1st_scale:3000000|display=inline,title}}<!-- EDITORS NOTE: Please do not change the coordinates as they currently conform to TemplateData for Infobox military conflict. Thank you. -->
| result            = [[United States|American]] – [[South Vietnamese]] tactical victory 
* [[North Vietnamese]] – [[Viet Cong]] political and strategic victory<ref name="Smedberg, M 2008 p. 188">Smedberg, p. 188</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nationalgeographic.org/thisday/jan30/tet-offensive/ |title=Tet Offensive |work=[[National Geographic Society|National Geographic]] |date=May 20, 2022 |access-date=April 14, 2023|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220501185233/https://www.nationalgeographic.org/thisday/jan30/tet-offensive/|archive-date=1 May 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Tet Offensive {{!}} Encyclopedia.com |url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/history/asia-and-africa/southeast-asia-history/tet-offensive |website=[[Encyclopedia.com]] |access-date=14 April 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Tet Offensive {{!}} Facts, Casualties, Videos, & Significance {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Tet-Offensive |website=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]] |date=July 16, 2023 |language=en}}</ref> 
* Viet Cong suffer catastrophic losses and much of their Southern infrastructure destroyed
* (see [[#Aftermath|aftermath]] for details and long-term consequences)
| combatant1        = {{flag|South Vietnam}}<br />{{flag|United States|1960}}<br />{{flagcountry|Third Republic of Korea}}<br />{{flag|Australia}}<br />{{flag|New Zealand}}<br />{{flag|Thailand}}
| combatant2        = {{flag|North Vietnam}}<br />{{flagicon|Republic of South Vietnam}} [[Viet Cong]]
| commander1        = {{flagicon|South Vietnam}} [[Nguyễn Văn Thiệu]]<br />{{flagicon|South Vietnam}} [[Nguyễn Cao Kỳ]]<br />{{flagicon|South Vietnam}} [[Cao Văn Viên]]<br />{{flagicon|United States|1960}} [[Lyndon B. Johnson]]<br />{{nowrap|{{flagicon|United States|1960}} [[William Westmoreland]]}}
| commander2        = {{flagicon|North Vietnam}} [[Lê Duẩn]]<br />{{flagicon|North Vietnam}} [[Lê Đức Thọ]]<br />{{flagicon|North Vietnam}} [[Văn Tiến Dũng]]<br />{{flagicon|Republic of South Vietnam}} [[Hoàng Văn Thái]]<br />{{flagicon|Republic of South Vietnam}} [[Trần Văn Trà]]
| strength1         = ~1,300,000<ref name="HoangLung">Hoang Ngoc Lung (1978). The General Offensives of 1968–69.</ref>{{rp|8}}
| strength2         = Phase 1: ~80,000<br />Total: ~323,000 – 595,000<ref>The South Vietnamese government estimated North Vietnamese forces at 323,000, including 130,000 regulars and 160,000 guerrillas. Hoang, p. 10. [[Military Assistance Command, Vietnam|MACV]] estimated that strength at 330,000. The CIA and the U.S. State Department concluded that the North Vietnamese force level lay somewhere between 435,000 and 595,000. Dougan and Weiss, p. 184.</ref>
| casualties1       = '''In Phase One:'''<br />{{flagicon|South Vietnam}} '''South Vietnam:'''<br />4,954 killed<br />15,917 wounded<br />926 missing<br />
{{flagicon|United States|1960}}{{flagicon|South Korea|1967}}{{flagicon|Australia}}{{flagicon|New Zealand}}{{flagicon|Thailand}} <br />'''Others:'''<br /> 4,124 killed<br />19,295 wounded<br />604 missing<br />'''Total casualties in Phase One''':<br />45,820 casualties:
* 9,078 killed
* 35,212 wounded
* 1,530 missing<ref>Tổng công kích, Tổng nổi dậy Tết mậu thân 1968 (Tet offensive 1968) – ARVN's Đại Nam publishing in 1969, p. 35</ref><ref>Does not include ARVN or U.S. casualties incurred during the "Border Battles"; ARVN killed, wounded, or missing from Phase III; U.S. wounded from Phase III; or U.S. missing during Phases II and III.</ref><br />123 aircraft destroyed, 214 heavily damaged and 215 medium damaged<ref>Steel and Blood: South Vietnamese Armor and the War for Southeast Asia. Naval Institute Press, 2008. P 33</ref>
'''In Phase Two:'''<br>{{flagicon|United States}} 2,169 killed, unknown wounded<br>{{flagicon|South Vietnam}} 2,054 killed, unknown wounded<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/retropolis/wp/2018/05/25/the-men-killed-on-a-single-day-in-the-vietnam-war-and-the-haunting-wall-that-memorializes-them/|title=The men killed on a single, bloody day in Vietnam, and the haunting wall that memorializes them|date=May 25, 2018|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]}}</ref>
'''Total for 3 phases:''' Unknown
| casualties2       = '''In Phase One:''' <br />RVN/U.S. claimed:
* 45,000+ killed
* 5,800 captured<ref>"These figures are for the period January 31 to February 29."</ref><ref name=Moise>{{cite book|last=Moise|first=Edwin|title=The Myths of Tet The most misunderstood event of the Vietnam War|publisher=University of Kansas Press|year=2017|isbn=978-0700625024}}</ref>{{rp|162}}
One PAVN source (Saigon only):
* 5,000+ killed
* 10,000 wounded
* 7,000 captured<ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1994/05/16/communist-leaders-stoutly-defend-tet-losses/44a7d0c0-a3d4-40d1-bcdc-99e109b51b65/ Communist Leaders Stoutly Defend Tet Losses – The Washington Post<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>
'''Phase One, Phase [[May Offensive|Two]] and Phase [[Phase III Offensive|Three]]:''' <br />''[[Trần Văn Trà]] reports (Phase One and Two):''<br />75,000+ killed and wounded<ref>Includes casualties incurred during the "Border Battles", Tet Mau Than and the second and third phases of the offensive. General Tran Van Tra claimed that from January through August 1968 the offensive had cost North Vietnam more than 75,000 dead and wounded. This is probably a low estimate. Tran Van Tra, ''Tet'', in Jayne S. Warner and Luu Doan Huynh, eds., ''The Vietnam War: Vietnamese and American Perspectives''. Armonk NY: M.E. Sharpe, 1993, pgs. 49 & 50.</ref><br />''PAVN source (total for 3 phases):''<br />111,179 casualties:
* 45,267 killed
* 61,267 wounded
* 5,070 missing<ref>PAVN's Department of warfare,  124th/TGi, document 1.103 (11-2-1969)</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nhandan.com.vn/chinhtri/item/7976502-.html|title=Tết Mậu Thân 1968 qua những số liệu – Báo Nhân Dân điện tử|website=Tết Mậu Thân 1968 qua những số liệu – Báo Nhân Dân điện tử|date=January 25, 2008 |access-date=March 3, 2019}}</ref>
| casualties3       = '''Civilian:''' 14,300 killed, 24,000 wounded, and 630,000 refugees<ref name="DouganWeiss" />{{rp|116}}
| campaignbox       = {{Campaignbox Vietnam War}}
}}

The '''Tet Offensive'''{{efn|{{langx|vi|Sự kiện Tết Mậu Thân 1968}}, {{lit}} "1968 [[Chinese zodiac#Chinese calendar|Yang Earth Monkey]] Tet event", also {{lang|vi|Tổng tiến công và nổi dậy, Tết Mậu Thân 1968}}, "General offensive and uprising of Tet Mau Than". The Vietnamese name 'Mau Than' uses the [[sexagenary cycle]]. 1968 was a year of Yang-Earth (''Mậu'') Monkey (''Thân'') in the traditional year-naming cycle.}} was a major escalation and one of the largest military campaigns of the [[Vietnam War]]. The [[Viet Cong]] (VC) and [[North Vietnam]]ese [[People's Army of Vietnam]] (PAVN) launched a surprise attack on 30 January 1968 against the forces of the [[South Vietnam]]ese [[Republic of Vietnam Military Forces|Army of the Republic of Vietnam]] (ARVN), the [[United States Armed Forces]] and their [[Vietnam War#Pro-Saigon|allies]]. It was a campaign of surprise attacks against military and civilian command and control centers throughout South Vietnam.<ref>Ang, p. 351. Two interpretations of the offensive's goals have continued to dominate Western historical debate. The first maintained that the political consequences of the winter-spring offensive were an intended rather than an [[unintended consequence]]. This view was supported by William Westmoreland and his friend Jamie Salt in ''A Soldier Reports'', Garden City NY: Doubleday, 1976, p. 322; Harry G. Summers in ''On Strategy'', Novato CA: Presidio Press, 1982, p. 133; Leslie Gelb and Richard Betts, ''The Irony of Vietnam'', Washington, D.C.: The Brookings Institution, 1979, pp. 333–334; and Schmitz p. 90. This thesis appeared logical in hindsight, but it "fails to account for any realistic North Vietnamese military objectives, the logical prerequisite for an effort to influence American opinion." James J. Wirtz in ''The Tet Offensive'', Ithaca NY: Cornell University Press, 1991, p. 18. The second thesis (which was also supported by the majority of contemporary captured VC documents) was that the goal of the offensive was the immediate toppling of the Saigon government or, at the very least, the destruction of the government apparatus, the installation of a coalition government, or the occupation of large tracts of South Vietnamese territory. Historians supporting this view are Stanley Karnow in ''Vietnam'', New York: Viking, 1983, p. 537; U.S. Grant Sharp in ''Strategy for Defeat'', San Rafael CA: Presidio Press, 1978, p. 214; Patrick McGarvey in ''Visions of Victory'', Stanford CA: Stanford University Press, 1969; and Wirtz, p. 60.</ref> The name is the truncated version of the Lunar New Year festival name in Vietnamese, [[Tết|Tết Nguyên Đán]], with the offense chosen during a holiday period as most ARVN personnel were on leave.<ref name="state tet offensive">{{cite web | url=https://history.state.gov/milestones/1961-1968/tet | title=U.S. Involvement in the Vietnam War: The Tet Offensive, 1968 | publisher=United States Department of State | access-date=December 29, 2014}}</ref> The purpose of the wide-scale offensive by the Hanoi [[Politburo]] was to trigger political instability in a belief that mass armed assault on urban centers would trigger [[defection]]s and [[rebellion]]s.

The offensive was launched prematurely in the early morning hours of 30 January in large parts of the [[I Corps (South Vietnam)|I]] and [[II Corps (South Vietnam)|II Corps Tactical Zones]] of South Vietnam. This early attack allowed allied forces some time to prepare defensive measures. When the main operation began during the early morning hours of 31 January, the offensive was countrywide; eventually more than 80,000 PAVN/VC troops struck more than 100 towns and cities, including 36 of 44 provincial capitals, five of the six autonomous cities, 72 of 245 district towns and the southern capital.<ref name="DouganWeiss">Dougan and Weiss</ref>{{rp|8}} The offensive was the largest military operation conducted by either side up to that point in the war.

Hanoi had launched the offensive in the belief that it would trigger a popular uprising leading to the collapse of the South Vietnamese government. Although the initial attacks stunned the allies, causing them to lose control of several cities temporarily, they quickly regrouped, repelled the attacks and inflicted heavy casualties on PAVN/VC forces. The popular uprising anticipated by Hanoi never materialized. During the [[Battle of Huế]], intense fighting lasted for a month, resulting in the destruction of the city. During its occupation, the PAVN/VC executed thousands of people in the [[Massacre at Huế]]. Around the American combat base at [[Battle of Khe Sanh|Khe Sanh]], fighting continued for two more months.

The offensive was a military defeat for North Vietnam, as neither uprisings nor ARVN unit defections occurred in South Vietnam. However, this offensive had far-reaching consequences for its effect on the views of the Vietnam War by the American public and the world broadly. General Westmoreland reported that defeating the PAVN/VC would require 200,000 more American soldiers and activation of the reserves, prompting even loyal supporters of the war to admit that the current war strategy required reevaluation.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h1862.html|title=Tet Offensive|website=www.u-s-history.com|access-date=March 3, 2019}}</ref> The offensive had a strong effect on the U.S. government and shocked the American public, which had been led to believe by its political and military leaders that the North Vietnamese were being defeated and incapable of launching such an ambitious military operation. American public support for the war declined as a result of the Tet casualties and the escalation of draft calls.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Fallows|first=James|date=2020-05-31|title=Is This the Worst Year in Modern American History?|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/05/1968-and-2020-lessons-from-americas-worst-year-so-far/612415/|access-date=2020-06-07|website=The Atlantic|language=en-US}}</ref> Subsequently, the [[Presidency of Lyndon B. Johnson|Johnson administration]] sought [[Paris Peace Accords#Paris peace negotiations|negotiations]] to end the war. Shortly before the [[1968 United States presidential election]], Republican candidate and former vice president [[Richard Nixon]] encouraged South Vietnamese president [[Nguyễn Văn Thiệu]] to become publicly uncooperative in the negotiations, casting doubt on Johnson's ability to bring peace.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Baker|first=Peter|date=2017-01-03|title=Nixon Tried to Spoil Johnson's Vietnam Peace Talks in '68, Notes Show|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/02/us/politics/nixon-tried-to-spoil-johnsons-vietnam-peace-talks-in-68-notes-show.html|access-date=2021-07-02|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

The term "Tet offensive" usually refers to the January–February 1968 offensive, but it can also include the so-called "[[May offensive|Mini-Tet]]" offensive that took place in May and the [[Phase III offensive]] in August, or the 21 weeks of unusually intense combat that followed the initial attacks in January.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://kansaspress.ku.edu/978-0-7006-2502-4.html|title=The Myths of Tet|website=kansaspress.ku.edu|access-date=February 15, 2020|archive-date=March 11, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210311044347/https://kansaspress.ku.edu/978-0-7006-2502-4.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>