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North Vietnamese leadership
Viet Cong and North Vietnamese leadership began to call for a change of direction in the war’s conduct. -
Chinese New Year or Tet holiday period
In many places the Viet Cong were astonishingly successful; in the former capital, Hue, they took control of a large part of the city. The most spectacular Viet Cong successes were, however, in the South Vietnamese capital Saigon, where a number of government buildings were attacked. An elite Viet Cong squad even managed to fight its way into the grounds of the American embassy. -
When the War Started.
The offensive, during which more than 100 towns and cities were attacked, began during the early hours of 31 January 1968. The first assaults achieved almost complete surprise, not least because they occurred over the Chinese New Year or Tet holiday period, which, according to recent tradition, was a time of truce. -
Tet Offensive American politicians
After the Tet Offensive American politicians and military leaders doubted whether a military victory would be possible, and began to think of other ways of ending the conflict. In this sense Tet marks the turning point in the Vietnam War. -
The Middle Vietnam War
But perhaps the offensive’s most enduring significance lay in how widely it revealed the horrors of the Vietnam War, and indeed war in general. -
When the most attacks occured
Although most of the attacks were quickly defeated, in Hue and at the American provincial base at Khe Sahn Tet signalled the beginning of protracted battles. Yet there was no “general uprising” in South Vietnam. -
The Fight Begins
The initial Viet Cong successes, the ferocity of the fighting, and heavy American and South Vietnamese casualties ultimately left a far greater impression on worldwide public opinion than the offensive’s final defeat.
