What Was The Tet Offensive?

The Tet offensive was an episode of the Vietnam war in which North Vietnamese forces which, until then, had engaged mostly in small-scale guerrilla-style actions, decided to stage a large-scale offensive in the South, attacking areas and installations that had formerly been thought inviolable, including the capital Saigon. It occurred during the Tet New Year festival in 1968. The hope of the North Vietnamese was that the people of the South would join them and rise up against the Americans and the South Vietnamese government.

In purely military terms, the offensive proved to be a great failure for the northern side. No popular uprising took place. The objectives seized were quickly recaptured and many casualties were sustained among the attacking forces. However, the Tet offensive belied the previous assurances of America's leaders that the strength of North Vietnam was ebbing and the war on the way to being won. It had a tremendous psychological effect on the American public and for the first time led many to contemplate the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Vietnam before victory had been achieved.