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Year 11
Edexcel

The Tet Offensive

I can describe key features of the Tet Offensive and explain its significance.

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Year 11
Edexcel

The Tet Offensive

I can describe key features of the Tet Offensive and explain its significance.

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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. American engagement in Vietnam escalated through the use of advanced technology and increased numbers of troops.
  2. Americans believed that victory was sure to come soon.
  3. The Vietcong and NVA launched a huge surprise attack across South Vietnam during the Tet national holiday.
  4. The Tet Offensive failed to make any gains and resulted in significant losses for the communists.
  5. However, it shocked America and made them doubt whether they could win the war.

Keywords

  • Offensive - an offensive is an attacking military campaign

  • Strategy - a strategy is a plan of action designed to achieve a long-term or overall goal

  • Hotspot - a hotspot is a place of significant activity, danger or violence

Common misconception

Wars are only won on the battlefield.

A variety of factors influence the outcome of a war, such as a nation's economy, geography, and popular sentiment towards the war.


To help you plan your year 11 history lesson on: The Tet Offensive, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

Encourage students to identify or create other acronyms in this and other topics, as they are useful mnemonic devices.
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Adult supervision recommended

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This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2025), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Lesson video

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Starter quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
Complete the sentence with a year: The Tonkin Gulf Resolution was passed on 7th August ...
Correct Answer: 1964
Q2.
What happened during the Gulf of Tonkin incident?
American ships were bombed by Chinese planes
Correct answer: American ships were attacked by North Vietnamese patrol boats
American ships were sunk by Soviet submarines
American ships were damaged after they collided with each other
Q3.
What is meant by the term 'gulf'?
a game played with clubs and a small ball
a peninsula mostly or entirely made up of desert
an area of water between an island and the mainland
Correct answer: a deep inlet of a sea almost surrounded by land
Q4.
What was the name given to the retaliatory bombing raid carried out by the US on a North Vietnamese petrol storage facility?
Correct answer: Operation Pierce Arrow
Operation Eagle Claw
Operation Desert Storm
Operation Overlord
Q5.
What percentage of US citizens supported Johnson's response to the Gulf of Tonkin incident?
33%
55%
Correct answer: 85%
100%
Q6.
Place the events in the order in which they occurred.
1 - Kennedy is assassinated, Johnson replaces Kennedy as US president
2 - OPLAN 34A missions take place to assist ARVN raids
3 - Gulf of Tonkin incident
4 - Operation Pierce Arrow
5 - Tonkin Gulf Resolution
6 - Johnson wins presidential election

Exit quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
What does the 'B' stand for in Johnson's BEAST approach to the war in Vietnam?
Correct Answer: Bombing, bombing
Q2.
What name was given to the bombing campaign by the US against North Vietnam?
Operation Passage to Freedom
Operation Pierce Arrow
Correct answer: Operation Rolling Thunder
Operation Market Time
Q3.
What acronym was given to the South Vietnamese Army?
Correct Answer: ARVN, arvn
Q4.
What is 'Tet'?
an important town in South Vietnam
Correct answer: the Lunar New Year, an important national holiday in Vietnam
the Vietnamese word for a surprise attack
the name given to the South Vietnamese parliament
Q5.
In what ways can the Tet Offensive be seen as a loss for the communists? Choose two answers.
Correct answer: 50 000 Vietcong fighters were lost
Correct answer: all territorial gains were lost within a few weeks
Ho Chi Minh was killed during the offensive
not enough equipment and ammunition was provided for the fighters
it made China and the USSR question their support for North Vietnam
Q6.
In what ways can the Tet Offensive be seen as a victory for the communists? Choose two answers.
the US embassy in Saigon was completely overrun
Correct answer: US public opinion turned sharply against the war
Correct answer: the bombing of North Vietnam ended
General Westmoreland was killed in the fighting
the South Vietnamese people rose up in support for the communists

Additional material

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