However, thanks to resource 1.1, I know now that in 1979, after the war had concluded, a conflict ensued between the Chinese and Vietnam, the Sino-Vietnamese war. During the war, China had launched an offensive in response to Vietnam's invasion and occupation of Cambodia in 1978.

The video also covered what I already knew about the 3 American Presidents involved in the war (JFK, LBJ, NIXON!!!!!) and their stance on the war for the USA.

I used to think that communism only spread in Vietnam because of foreign influence such as the Soviet Union etc.

From resource 2.1, i learnt that communism gained popularity in Vietnam mainly due to oppression of the French during the colonial period. The Vietnamese viewed communism as a way to fight French Imperialism and gain national sovereignty and equality. The oppressive legacy that the French left, was what ultimately turned many Vietnamese against capitalism.

Operation rolling thunder as "The bombing campaign, along with the growing number of American casualties and the lack of progress on the ground, contributed to growing opposition to the war in the United States and around the world." I did not know that the American public were already aware of the growing number of causalties during operation thunder and there were already growing sentiments then which sought of marked one of the key turning points in the Vietnam war where there was less support for the War by the public in Vietnam.

This connects to the information presented in resource 1.3 where this caused the rise of the Vietcong against Diem. This, on top of the already existing opposition against the South/ capitalism, led to the Vietminh having even greater power and becoming stronger than the DRV. This resulted in direct US intervention to support the South in their fight against communism through the Gulf of Tonkin incident. Hence, I now think that the weak leadership in the South led to US involvement and greatly escalated the internal conflict into a proxy war

but now i know that he was very much involved due to the rise of his regime, and how he was a figure of strength to the communist party rather than just the vietcong (eg founding the ICP)

It reinforces the knowledge that NV was able to hold up large scale resistance due to the Communist Aids which China and USSR was competing to outprovide each other with.

It extended my understanding of how the NV forces being able to resist i.e. failure of Operation Rolling Thunder and Tet offensive could harm the public opinion of the US government, such as the televised and documented civilian deaths and the tet offensive being televised painting the image that the war was not in fact a easy victory and showing NV resilience.

However, resource 5.3 told me that there was more than one factor involved, such as public sentiment shifting and the opposition to continuing the war in US. The resource stated as information was more accessible to the general public of America, the public opinion began turning against US involvement in the Vietnam war, due to the lies fed by the US to them. Most of the soldiers of America were also not supportive of the US goals to contain communism, which are some of the reasons US deciding to withdraw from Vietnam, suffering losses and weakening president Nixons presidency.

Through resource 1.3, I learnt that it was a strategic but flawed plan to shift responsibility to the South Vietnamese military though it was not always up to the task. Hence, Vietnamization did not solve the root problem of the war, and led to more casualties.

I understood more about the de-escalation of the war and how the US withdrew from the Paris Peace Accords in 1973 and called for the release of prisoners of war, which was an important humanitarian issue. However, the North Vietnamese continued to fight against the South Vietnamese government, and in 1975, North Vietnamese forces captured Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam, and the war came to an end. It also included minor events such as the Fall of Saigon, which had marked the reunification of Vietnam and the victory of the communist North Vietnamese over the U.S.-supported South Vietnamese government

I also learned from the resource about the more in-depth details of the Guerilla Tactics utilized by the Viet Cong (slow whittling of the enemy, digging tunnels, claymore mines with heavy artillery shelling, etc) and how it boosted their morale and pushed the US further back into their own corner.

However, the resource also allowed me to understand how the US veterans that fought in Vietnam were treated. The public viewed them as violent symbols of war and was hostile towards them. They were ostracised and seen as traitors for losing the war and they found it hard to find jobs and receive public care.

One thing that still puzzles me is why the US kept supporting Diem even when he was doing very badly.

Before, what I knew about the Gulf of Tonkin incident was that evidence was simply inconclusive for the US to pass the Gulf of Tonkin resolution. But infact, there was another part to the story too! The resouce states that " What would be the most ironic part of this is that the reason behind the North Vietnamese torpedo boats’ attacks was because of an attack by US-led South Vietnam boats prior."

Yea, so this got me thinking how sechming the US actually is, it seems to me that they have been plotting this for a long time in order to get the North Vietnamese into their trap in order to protect their prestige.

Something I still wonder is how one surprise attack could change everything for the US government and people.

Resource 3.3 taught me that they faced great public criticism and scrutiny. The public viewed them as violent symbols of war and was hostile towards them.

The Vietnam War Veterans found it hard to find jobs and receive public care

because many criticised them for losing the war and saw them

as traitors.

but now i know that nixon implemented the vietnamization policy to slowly adjust the southern powers, and to shift the responsibility of the war onto them to precent to a power vacuum when US troops left. this broadened my understanding of how US powers wanted to shift power back to vietnam and did not want to be totally involved, as well as to prevent backpash in america

Thus, I now think that while the soldiers showed bravery, they were unfairly treated and neglected by the very society they served, which adds a tragic layer to the aftermath of the Vietnam War.

(surface to air missiles) which was crucial for the Vietnameses during Operation Rolling Thunder. This showed how the Soviets were serious about providing support to North Vietnam to expand communism, ultimately leading to the North winning the war

but now i know that it had greater purposes than that, like turning communists against saigons leader, diving the us and southern troops. i now also know that it had a large impact on the american public as well, as they began to doubt the US government's competence, leading President Johnson to not rerun for president

Firstly, it was the vietnamese political policy, which was based on the chinese and koreans in their wars against the same US adversary, to start their talks of peace in tandem with battlefield victories and evolving based on the situations. This helped to garner the support of the North Vietnamese people to fight against the US with all they got, taking a hard stance to not stop until the US unconditionally surrenders, and unconditional self governance, which probably explained the reason for the North Vietnamese persistance against the US as they had more at stake (the US only needed to protect their credibility), which forced the US to continually increase their involvement and escalate the war to one that is of a larger scale.

Another tactic, would be drawing the international audience on their side and garnering more support on a larger global scale. The media played a big role in showcasing the US autrocities and their real intention of of protecting their credibility, therefore with more people on North Vietnam's side they "won" the war when there were more calls and pressures on the US to stop the war.

Lastly, it was their good gurilla tactics that I would say are really good in the aspect of tiring the Americans out and lowering their morale, slowly but surely winning the war.

These help to support my understanding of the strong tactics used by the North Vietnamese to resist the US over such a long period of time. (Linked to he first point on continually making the US involve themselves more and more in Vietnam)

On a side note

In my opinion, while I would not deny that the aid provided by the USSR and China placed the North Vietnamese on a more even playing field (as the North was smart enough to forge useful alliances), I would say that there is a more critical factor that the North Vietnamese were able to use these aid well to their advantage while the Southern Vietnamese are not very good at doing so, hence the North Vietnamese still had a better chance at winning in this sense.

i feel bad for the soldiers, because most of them were loyal to their nation and wanted to serve their country, but they did not know that most of them would die due to the negligence of their leaders

This resource extended my thinking about how the innocent victims felt, as well as the Viet cong child soldier because the images showed that the victims were affected the most, which is very cruel because most of them were innocent.

and altogether the US' persistence in their stand against communism could have been the root factor that caused the outbreak of the war. (south vietnamese public being inclined to the north viet despite the US stand, the US stepping up their inference after Diem's assasination)

and the majority of the US public displayed an anti-war sentiment

in contrast to the other resources that were more focused on the timeline and events of the war this resource was about the impact of the war on the lesser known people involved

this is too sad this made me feel lots of emotions

However, it furthered my understanding in the depth of US hatred towards the war, such as how veterans were viewed as symbols of violence and treated harshly by the society

The Issue of the Vietnam War, especially the Tet Offensive, reveals how military actions and political decisions deeply affect both soldiers and civilians. I used to believe wars were about who had the bigger army or better weapons. But now I think war is far more complex it’s about morale, media, public opinion, and the human cost. The resource made me reflect on how both sides suffered and how power doesn’t always mean victory. It showed how it is not really possible to win everything.

possible while Mao was firmly against that.

Khruschev had a speech that praised US president Eisenhower and his foregin policy, which infuriated Mao.

This resource extended my thinking that the north had played a rather significant role in starting the war. Thus, i now think that Ho Chi Minh was an intelligent. man because he united the Viet Minh against colonial powers

and introduced the patriotism campaign and led to the public to oppose colonial powers like the US, which made it easier for them to win the war.

this resource highlights the impacts of the vietnam war in lesser acknowledged aspects such as the arts

the artworks and photography reflect the complexity of the war, and especially Self immolation by Malcom brown that prompted me to think about the possible different interpretations of it, and how it led to widespread awareness of the need for reform in Saigon

Now our US allies bid us adieu

Your people overthrew 

My people gone

This made me able to connect emotionally with the events that happened in the Vietnam War. Learning that events such as the Vietnamisation attempt of the United States were at the cost of not only the Southern front, but that of ordinary civilians that were forced to become soldiers made me realise that ordinary civilians had to bear the brunt of poor leadership in the South. This made me able to connect the two events in an emotional way and got me reflecting on how betrayed the civilians may have felt after all odds seemed to be against them and their livelihoods (with the US leaving them and the Southern government not helping much).

this resource highlights how much South Vietnam suffered for the sake of US government’s egoistic motives. For example, it brought up a bombing campaign that was initiated so that Hanoi would be impressed by US determination. However, they missed their target and the bombs caused many casualties. This made me realise how far the US would go to prove their strength and for international respect/fear.

political leaders who assured them that the war would be

won soon.The element of Hope in winning the war was

taken away by the Tet Offensive as now public realize that

there wasn't going to be an end and victory is not close

hence weakening US support for

war in Vietnam and causing protest to arise