Assess the importance of the Viet Cong in the Communist victory in the Second Indochina War

When assessing the greatness of the Viet Cong (VC) in the communist success, virtuoso faecal matternot aspect olden the unity, discipline and effective organisation in the head of the VC pull outs. The Viet Cong were do up of volunteer servicemen who trave doings to southern Vietnam as ? tumble Cadres? - ready to exploit the glide path policy-making harvest. The central office of the Viet Cong campaigns was to polarise the commonwealth, to divide it irrevocably from the GVN, and to mobilise it for service and reach in nourish of the Revolution. The enormousness of the Viet Cong lies in their contribution to the Indochina conflict, and sens be assessed through a social, governmental and armament context. The character reference of the VC in a socio governmental context is of a signifi evoket grandness in the communist victory in the plump for Indochina fight. The VC forces were roughly numerous in rural in the south Vietnam, especially in strategical Hamle t-run villages. Once the VC ceremonious a strong armorial look in an bea, they attempted to seal off the topical anaesthetic(a) population both physically and psychologically from any boost forgather with the Government of southernmost Vietnam (GVN). They were particularly intent on denying the presidential term all scholarship on communist troop movements, cantonment sites, supply cachés, and information relating to those who serve in their local force and governmental infrastructures. To inhibit intelligence cleverness and collection in Communist-control lead or contested areas, the VC not merely systematically place and neutralized anyone suspected of being a GVN spy or informant, but they also imposed and enforced very mean regulations governing travel in break of appearance the villages and hamlets and proscribing all unauthorized polish off with GVN persons. The indoctrination performed by the VC didn?t limit the villagers? hatred to just to GVN intel ligence force play; indeed, all repressive n! atural process was cloaked in highly emotional propaganda designed to aro drill the people to a deep hatred of, a desire for revenge and to compound their concept of revenge against the armed services and civilian officials serving the government. For example, in guidelines for a propaganda campaign in the Ben Tre Province for the period October 1968 to give 1969, the VC directed cadres to make the people feel a goodish hatred of the enemys savage crimes and incite them to avenge their compatriots and kinfolk by enthusiastically and actively taking part in issue activities to heroically annihilate the enemy and achieve great merits. The indoctrination performed by the VC allowed them to gain mass reenforcement from the villagers, taking it away from the polemist GVN. This upkeep allowed the VC to form net take to the woodss across the province, which, militarily, facilitated the late offensives by the north struggled Vietnamese Army (NVA) during the final stages of the struggle. The role of the VC in a military context is of a large importance in the Communist victory in the Second Indochina War. The Communist creation Commander for China during the Second Indochina War, Lin Piao, stated that, ?In post to promote a people?s war, it is imperative to work out the broadest possible united expect and formulate a series of policies which entrust ensure the secureest mobilisation of the basic lot as well as the unity of all the forces that can be unified?? Although the VC were a persistent and ingenious force, raise estimation identifies that a war of attrition was not waiver to get them the war. General for The NVA, General Vo Nguyen Giap, stated that, ?the way to take in the war is by small surpasss, one after the other until the takeover de grace.?Viet Cong strategy differed from other communist nations in that military legal action prepared the way for a political showd avouch, quite a than political activity preparing the way for a military showdown. Having defined the cult! ivation of the struggle in the South as a political rather than a military victory, the Viet VC at first seek to make credible the softness of the Saigon government to administer. In chemical reaction to a festering American presence, they increased their military activity in arrangement to exploit ?contradictions? in the American position. The VC revolutionaries took full gain of the ?contradictions? and custom-built their military activities to exploit these perceived weaknesses by making the war so long, bloody and expensive that American opinion would deform over against it. These activities intended to damage psychologically the U.S. trueness to the war, thus generating a negative cost-benefit analysis among American political leaders and thereby producing a victory more handle that obtained by the Viet Minh in 1954. The essence of the VC strategy was not to defeat the U.S. and allied forces militarily but to convince the Americans through the use of violence, both persuasively and at selected points, that their position is hopeless. This stratagem was unmistakable in the Tet crime of 1968. The initial death of Tet was to destroy the team spirit of the united States and GVN by proving that the communist threat did not only comprise in the countryside, but in urban areas also. The VC forces attacked the US embassy in Saigon, surprising the Americans and forcing them into a conventional war. This ejectd dear(p) for the Viet Cong as there were serious casualties and qualifying of work force ? one 3rd (38,000) of the VC fighting force were either killed or wounded. callable to the loss of numbers, the newton Vietnamese had to infiltrate the ranks of the Viet Cong. Moreover, the VC lost local familiarity of the South Vietnamese terrain, which inhibited the abilities of the new forces from the North. Paradoxically, although the U.S. dictum Tet as a military victory, the American home front did not. ? picture effectively brought the b rutality of the war into the comfort of the life se! ntence room. Vietnam was lost in the living rooms of America ? not on the battlefields of Vietnam? (Marshall McLuhan). Following the Tet disgustful, support for President Johnson dropped to 26 percent, resulting in his withdrawal from the Presidential race. Nixon was elected on a equal to end America?s involvement in Vietnam. politically, the Tet queasy is considered a Communist victory. Although they lost, the military contribution of the VC during Tet effectively led to the U.S. withdrawal in 1973, allowing the NVA to initiate the North Vietnamese umbrage in 1975, causing South Vietnam to surrender unconditionally. The role of the VC in a political context is of a considerable importance in the Communist victory in the Second Indochina War.

cosmos influenced by mainly China and Russia, members of the VC learned the power of propaganda and in doing so became skilled at manipulating people by symbols, and in general they acquired a view of the world in which authorities is the driving and dominant force. Historian Ithiel de Sola Pool states, ?the elements of the Viet Cong that will close out effective the longest after the main forces turn in been more and more battered in armed combat will be those cadres who have built a political base in their own villages, including of course military cadres who will try to slip confirm into the main force.? Further look for shows that it is these cadres that are the political force in the populated areas and who can be partially win over in any politically stable settlement. They are the most politically material and the most responsive to citizens? require and problems. Without giving and receiving political support from the South Vietnamese population, North ! Vietnam was not going to win the war. As stated before, the goal of the struggle in the South was a political rather than a military victory and this became the primary doctrine for the Communists passim the war. The numerous guerilla incidents passim the war had no procedure but to serve the Communist political movement. The destruction inflicted upon Vietnam by the U.S. gave the VC a political advantage in that they won the support of the South Vietnamese peasantry. The political struggle movement allowed the South Vietnamese people to kick in to the war, emphasizing that the politics within the VC are highly significant when assessing the Communist victory in the Second Indochina War. The complex facets of the Viet Cong forces prove that they were essentially important in the Communist victory in the Second Indochina War. The Viet Cong effectively ceremonious their role in the revolution, providing support to the North as well as fighting in ?foreign? territory. In job to s uch heterogeneous and disorganise elements of the GVN, the Viet Cong had at its disposal a government which date patronage to 1945, a reservoir of manpower which had been unified by geezerhood of war and Communist company discipline, and a network of agents which it had established during the war years in the cities and villages of the south. It is for these reasons that the Viet Cong were important in the Communist victory in the Second Indochina War. BibliographyPrimary SourcesChalmers, J. The Third Generation of insurrectionist Warfare, Asiatic Survey, Vol. 8, No. 6. (Jun., 1968), pp. 435-447. de Sola Pool, I. Political Alternatives to the Viet Cong. Asian Survey, Vol. 7, No. 8, Vietnam: A Symposium. (Aug., 1967), pp. 555-566. Doc. Log No. 11-1020-68 (Confidential), dated January 15, 1969, quoted in Le, Thanh Nam (1996). Control and polarisation of the Populace, 25th Aviation ring (online). Available at http://25thaviation.org/ tale/id926.htm (Accessed 21 July, 2006)Lin Pia o, dogged Live the People?s War (Peking: Foreign Lan! guages Press, 1965), pp. 44, quoted in Chalmers, J. The Third Generation of Guerilla Warfare, Asian Survey, Vol. 8, No. 6. (Jun., 1968), pp. 435-447. If you fatality to get a full essay, instal it on our website: OrderEssay.net

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