During the Vietnam War, with the exception of air strikes, the US kept its military operations to the South. Given that attacking the north would have placed the momentum with the US and allowed it to remove important North Vietnamese infrastructure, it seems weird that the Americans didn't. So why not? To find out watch this short and simple animated history documentary.

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As many of you will know, the Vietnam War was mostly fought in 1 Vietnam, South Vietnam, which had to deal with incursions from its northern neighbor as well as Cambodia and Laos.

Throughout the war, the Saigon government was primarily aided by the United States, which kept the overwhelming majority of its military efforts in the South.

But given that North Vietnam was their primary enemy, why didn't the United States fight there?

Vietnam used to be part of French Indochina, which along with many other colonies gained its independence from France in the wake of World War II.

As a condition for its freedom, Vietnam won independence as both North Vietnam, centred in Hanoi, and South Vietnam run from Saigon.

Shockingly, the Vietnamese people weren't happy with being divided, and it wasn't long until both Vietnams were fighting to unify under their respective governments.

North Vietnam was communist and this was the Cold War.

And so naturally both Moscow and Washington took an interest.

The United States believed that the South was going to lose eventually and so sought to intervene to prevent the spread of communism.

But given that invading the North would have relieved the South and also, if successful, would mean that there would be 1 less communist nation in the world, why didn't the US invade there?

Well, even though the US didn't send troops into North Vietnam, they did bomb it.

However, in spite of the United States' freedom to use its air force over North Vietnam, it never launched an invasion of the country for several important reasons.

The US military and government remembered that in the Korean War when US forces pushed north into the communist state and towards the Chinese border, Beijing soon got involved.

And the Chinese government was quick to remind the United States that if it were to move against Hanoi, China would send troops to directly intervene.

And this threat now had much more weight since China had just fallen out with the USSR, and thus it was believed in Washington that China was serious, since if it failed to follow through it would no longer be seen as a serious communist state.

As such, it made the most sense for the United States to adopt the strategy of defeating the Northern Vietnamese forces within the borders of the South.

This was the idea that should a state fall to communism, it would influence its neighbors to do the same thereafter.

Thus, the American strategy was only to prevent the further spread of communism, not to use military force to topple already established Marxist states.

The fear being that if already existing communist countries felt that their mere existence was grounds for an invasion, many may have asked for Soviet or Chinese nuclear protection, which as previously established had the potential to cause problems.

And also the American government was much less optimistic when it came to the outcome of the war.

Whilst many believed that North Vietnam could be defeated, there were few that believed that communism in the North could be eradicated.

This was primarily because many in both Vietnams associated the end of French imperial rule there with the communist resistance.

That said, there were those in the military that believed risking war with China was worth it.

This didn't happen because Congress wouldn't have approved the resources and manpower necessary to do it, and also because at this point the president was busy with a thing.

For some, though, it seemed like the only way out.

America was kind of trapped at this point.

It couldn't advance, leaving all of the momentum with the North Vietnamese forces, but it also couldn't withdraw, because doing so would be admitting defeat to a communist state and would also leave an ally to be conquered.

And so, after a decade of this, the United States had to accept that the cost of helping South Vietnam was too high.

And so, in 1973, after the US had signed an agreement with the North stating that it totally wouldn't annex the South, the United States left.

And something which would surprise exactly 0 people, the North invaded once more in 1975.

And soon the 2 Vietnams were reunited under a communist government.

I hope you enjoyed this episode with a special thanks to my patrons...

Marcus Arsner, Spencer Lightfoot, Captain Psydog, Marvin Cassell, Miss Isette, Camoon Yoon, Winston K.

Wood, Boogalewoogalee, The McWhopper, Aaron the White, Gustav Swan, Maggie Patskowski, Anthony Beckett, Shwenin, Spinning 3 Plates, Copper Tone, Daniel Tobian, Charles the First, and Words About Books Podcast.


Speaker 0: As many of you will know, the Vietnam War was mostly fought in 1 Vietnam, South Vietnam, which had to deal with incursions from its northern neighbor as well as Cambodia and Laos. Throughout the war, the Saigon government was primarily aided by the United States, which kept the overwhelming majority of its military efforts in the South. But given that North Vietnam was their primary enemy, why didn't the United States fight there? Why didn't the USA invade North Vietnam? So first of all, a bit of background.

Vietnam used to be part of French Indochina, which along with many other colonies gained its independence from France in the wake of World War II. As a condition for its freedom, Vietnam won independence as both North Vietnam, centred in Hanoi, and South Vietnam run from Saigon. Shockingly, the Vietnamese people weren't happy with being divided, and it wasn't long until both Vietnams were fighting to unify under their respective governments. North Vietnam was communist and this was the Cold War. And so naturally both Moscow and Washington took an interest.

The United States believed that the South was going to lose eventually and so sought to intervene to prevent the spread of communism. But given that invading the North would have relieved the South and also, if successful, would mean that there would be 1 less communist nation in the world, why didn't the US invade there? Well, even though the US didn't send troops into North Vietnam, they did bomb it. A lot. However, in spite of the United States' freedom to use its air force over North Vietnam, it never launched an invasion of the country for several important reasons.

The first and primary reason was China. The US military and government remembered that in the Korean War when US forces pushed north into the communist state and towards the Chinese border, Beijing soon got involved. And the Chinese government was quick to remind the United States that if it were to move against Hanoi, China would send troops to directly intervene. And this threat now had much more weight since China had just fallen out with the USSR, and thus it was believed in Washington that China was serious, since if it failed to follow through it would no longer be seen as a serious communist state. As such, it made the most sense for the United States to adopt the strategy of defeating the Northern Vietnamese forces within the borders of the South.

The second reason was domino theory. This was the idea that should a state fall to communism, it would influence its neighbors to do the same thereafter. Thus, the American strategy was only to prevent the further spread of communism, not to use military force to topple already established Marxist states. The fear being that if already existing communist countries felt that their mere existence was grounds for an invasion, many may have asked for Soviet or Chinese nuclear protection, which as previously established had the potential to cause problems. And also the American government was much less optimistic when it came to the outcome of the war.

Whilst many believed that North Vietnam could be defeated, there were few that believed that communism in the North could be eradicated. This was primarily because many in both Vietnams associated the end of French imperial rule there with the communist resistance. That said, there were those in the military that believed risking war with China was worth it. This didn't happen because Congress wouldn't have approved the resources and manpower necessary to do it, and also because at this point the president was busy with a thing. For some, though, it seemed like the only way out.

America was kind of trapped at this point. It couldn't advance, leaving all of the momentum with the North Vietnamese forces, but it also couldn't withdraw, because doing so would be admitting defeat to a communist state and would also leave an ally to be conquered. And so, after a decade of this, the United States had to accept that the cost of helping South Vietnam was too high. And so, in 1973, after the US had signed an agreement with the North stating that it totally wouldn't annex the South, the United States left. And something which would surprise exactly 0 people, the North invaded once more in 1975.

And soon the 2 Vietnams were reunited under a communist government. I hope you enjoyed this episode with a special thanks to my patrons... Marcus Arsner, Spencer Lightfoot, Captain Psydog, Marvin Cassell, Miss Isette, Camoon Yoon, Winston K. Wood, Boogalewoogalee, The McWhopper, Aaron the White, Gustav Swan, Maggie Patskowski, Anthony Beckett, Shwenin, Spinning 3 Plates, Copper Tone, Daniel Tobian, Charles the First, and Words About Books Podcast. Helpbooks podcast.

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Why didn't the USA invade North Vietnam? (Short Animated Documentary)