An Alternate history: What if America 'Won' the Vietnam War?Before I move onto the scenario, Let me illustrate why I put the word 'won' in quotation points.
What if America 'Won' the Vietnam War?
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| What if America Won the Vietnam War - WhatIfHub |
The Vietnam War wasn't an utterly American war, even though the US involved itself massively in the 1960s and '70s.
The conflict itself had been raging ever after the end of World War 2 once Vietnam declared its independence from France.
The conflict in Vietnam can only be described as two phases: a half revolution for independence and half civil war. The initial part was waged against colonization by France and Japan.
And next to the second between the split North and South. The second phase was when the Americans became involved and then the conflict which was indeed more than just communists vs. non-communists.
what if South Vietnam had won the war
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| what if South Vietnam had won the war- whatifhub.com |
That's why this title is misleading somewhat since America would not have won the Vietnam battle, but it would have been a South Vietnamese achievement with American support.
So the scenario is technical "What if the South Vietnamese won their Civil War and Americans gained more Influence in Indochina?" But that's not a very appealing title.
Now that we've got that figured out, onto the plot. Say that it's the 1960's and the United States has addressed troops into Vietnam.
America is completely supporting the South Vietnamese administration and has committed ground troops to attack the Viet Công and NVA.
How would the US be capable of winning this intervention against the communist North and being able to prevent the spread of communism?
how the world would be different today if the U.S. had not become involved in Vietnam.
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| how the world would be different today if the u.s. had not become involved in vietnam.- whatifhub.com |
Well, the excellent solution to a quick end of the North's extension would be a complete invasion of North Vietnam.
Yet this is impossible as an invasion of a communist nation would automatically put America in a World War 3 situation with the USSR and China.
The US couldn't just bomb the North into submission as history shows we did this many times in Vietnam, and they just changed routes or used simpler technology to achieve their goals.
The single way to win the war was a complete military invasion of the North. Ground troops, the whole shebang.
This Article will have two scenarios: 1 where there is no threat of retaliation from the USSR and China had America thoroughly invaded North Vietnam.
what if the US never lefVietnamam
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| what if the US never left vietnam- whatifhub.com |
The second where America is able to build a stable government in Saigon and is able to push back Northern aggression to the point where the NVA and Viet Công could no longer fight back.
One: For some reason, the USSR and Chinese just don't care about North Vietnam, and so the US is able to invade.
American troops promptly storm into Hanoi, overthrow the communist party, and set up a pro-American government.
What would the atmosphere and Vietnam look like, had America done that?
Well, for one, Vietnam would have been joined under American command.
Well, for one, Vietnam would have been joined under American command.
The South government would have control over the North and South, American investors and contractors would come and do trade with the recently invaded North, US media would say the Vietnam War a massive accomplishment and would apply it to showcase American firepower.
The main threat to the US and the recently united Vietnam would be a possible Chinese invasion of the North had China shifted its minds about the US occupation.
The US privately plans for all alternatives including this Chinese retaliation. Extra resources are sent into the North, and military advantages are exchanged from the South to quell any rebellion among communist Vietnamese.
how close were we to winning the Vietnam war
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| how close were we to winning the Vietnam war- whatifhub.com |
This communist rebellion among the northern Vietnamese would be a significant threat to the American occupation.
Communism was very famous among the rural villages, and so the countryside could've harbored resistance against the Americans.
Many Vietnamese would liken the invading Americans to the French and would be very resentful of Westerners overthrowing their government.
Communism, for the Vietnamese, was an organized front against colonialism, which is why Ho Chi Minh himself became a communist.
For the Vietnamese, communism was not holy because of anti-capitalist views, but the generally anti-colonial ideas represented by communists. With this, I am assuming there will be a new resurgence in communism.
America would have to deal with a communist rebellion. This rebellion would apparently be beaten back by American firepower and resentment would still survive.
This will just be temporary; ultimately after years of occupation, reasonably until the mid-1970s, the Americans withdraw troops from Vietnam.
This is like our timeline's Vietnamization, but instead of battle, We would be bringing in more Vietnamese political influence.
In this plot, Vietnam would have American influence like that of Japan or South Korea. Its government would have ties with the Americans, and its economy would be capitalist.
Whether or not this country would prosper is up to your own view. The second plot is the Americans thoroughly render the North Vietnamese army useless and neutralize any communist authorities.
This could be a broad bombing campaign and a successful shutoff of the Ho Chi Minh trail, no matter how strange this would be.
After this, America commits more resources into putting in a permanent government in South Vietnam and stays invested in the region into our modern day, like Korea.
North Vietnam slowly loses the continuous support from China as the Chinese build relationships with Americans, and the country becomes more alone.
However, much like China's relation with North Korea, the Chinese would sometimes back the Hanoi government in the US. North Vietnam's soldiers are rendered useless and are incapable of putting up a full-scale assault on the South.
The Viet Công is destroyed, and any form of guerilla war is ineffective against the better-trained South Vietnamese forces.
If anything, the situation would play out like in Korea: South Vietnam could gradually reform itself, becoming more and more democratic, with help from the West, and boosting its economy. But this is only an optimistic view.
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It could clearly stay a dictatorship as it did in our timeline. Now, North Vietnam and South Vietnam are still divided, and the Vietnamese people wish for the union.
The North is still influenced by China and the South by the West. However, relations have normalized, and no more considerable power really wishes to jeopardize relations.
Maybe North Vietnam would reflect Vietnam today, or would it devolve into a crazed North Korea dictatorship? I'll leave you to decide.
These two scenarios were one of the most accurate ways I see the US could have at least had a victory in Vietnam.
How do you think, if at all, the circumstance would have been had the Americans 'won' the battle in Vietnam?
How do you think, if at all, the circumstance would have been had the Americans 'won' the battle in Vietnam?
* This article was originally published here
