Tet Offensive

(noun)

A military campaign during the Vietnam War that was launched on January 30, 1968 by forces of the People's Army of Vietnam against the forces of the Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam), the United States, and their allies. 

Related Terms

Examples of Tet Offensive in the following topics:

  • 1968: The Year of Upheaval

    • In January, the Tet Offensive undermined the American public's confidence in the Vietnam War.
    • The Tet Offensive was a military campaign launched by the People's Army of Vietnam on January 30, 1968.
    • It was a surprise attack, coming after the Tet holidays, during which time a cease-fire had been customary.
    • Outline the events of 1968 including the Tet Offensive and assassinations of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Robert Kennedy

  • Gradual Withdrawal

    • Beginning on March 30,the Easter Offensive (known as the Nguyễn Huệ Offensive to the North Vietnamese) quickly overran the three northernmost provinces of South Vietnam.
    • South Vietnam had countered the heaviest attack since Tet, but it was very evident that the ARVN was totally dependent on U.S. airpower for its survival.

  • The Collapse of Nazi Germany

    • The failed Ardennes Offensive (December 16, 1944 – January 25, 1945) was the last major German campaign of the war.
    • Starting on January 12, 1945, the Red Army began the Vistula–Oder Offensive across the Narew River; and, from Warsaw, a three-day operation on a broad front, which incorporated four army Fronts. 
    • The Battle of Berlin, designated the Berlin Strategic Offensive Operation by the Soviet Union, was the final major offensive of the European theater.
    • Following the Vistula–Oder Offensive of January–February 1945, the Red Army had temporarily halted on a line 60 km (37 mi) east of Berlin.
    • The Battle of Berlin, designated the Berlin Strategic Offensive Operation by the Soviet Union, was the final major offensive of the European theater.

  • America's Early Role

    • The AEF helped the French Army on the Western Front during the Aisne Offensive (at Château-Thierry and Belleau Wood) in June 1918.
    • They fought its major actions in the Saint-Mihiel and Meuse-Argonne Offensives in late 1918.

  • The Western Front

    • Dubbed the Nivelle Offensive, the attacked proceeded poorly and 100,000 French troops fell within a week.
    • With its economy and society under great strain, Germany finally broke under the Allied series of attacks known as The Hundred Days Offensive beginning in August 1918.

  • The Bolsheviks

    • Despite this enormous apparent German success, the manpower required for German occupation of former Russian territory may have contributed to the failure of the German Spring Offensive in the Western Front and secured relatively little food or other materiel.

  • American Arrival in Europe

    • In January 1943, at the Casablanca Conference, it was agreed Royal Air Force (RAF) Bomber Command operations against Germany would be reinforced by the USAAF in a Combined Operations Offensive plan called Operation Pointblank. 

  • The Call to Arms

    • The AEF helped the French Army on the Western Front in June 1918 during the Aisne Offensive at Château-Thierry and Belleau Wood, and later that year fought major actions in the Saint-Mihiel and Meuse-Argonne.

  • The European Theater

    • However, neither French nor British troops gave any significant assistance to the Poles during the invasion, and the German–French border, excepting the Saar Offensive, remained mostly calm.