The Vietnam War

The latter half of the 20th century was a turbulent time for Vietnam. This small Southeast Asian country once occupied by France found itself divided after nationalist revolutionaries overthrew the colonial government, splitting the country between the Democratic Republic of Vietnam in the north and the Republic of Vietnam in the south. Worse still, tensions between the two territories gave way to a decades-long civil conflict that would ensnare the likes of China, the USSR—and perhaps most notably—the United States.

Dig into this globally significant and politically transformative conflict in The Vietnam War. Join expert John C. McManus as he reconstructs the Vietnam War in stunning detail. In 24 illuminating and comprehensive lectures, you will:

• Examine the fall of French Indochina from the Battle of Dien Bien Phu to the Geneva Accords.
• Explore the complicated political dynamics that emerged in both North and South Vietnam after World War II.
• Investigate the details of American involvement from aerial bombing to ground combat. You will weigh the consequences—both good and bad—of major military operations and political decisions in Vietnam.
• Get to know the personalities and ideologies behind the conflict.
• Survey American domestic opposition to what would become an incredibly unpopular and controversial war.

And that’s not all. You will also focus on the human dimensions of the conflict in Vietnam. How did it affect ordinary people? What did combat soldiers on both sides of the struggle see, feel, do, and think while enmeshed in the throes of battle? How did veterans and refugees fare after the dust of war had settled? To what extent were women impacted by the fighting? And what did regular Americans across the political spectrum—not just the politicians and most vocal peace activists—really think about the war? In the end, The Vietnam War is not just a history lesson, but also an exploration of war itself and the kind of impact it can have on ordinary hearts, minds, and spirits.

From French Colony to Socialist Republic

The conflict in Vietnam was more complicated than popularly assumed. It was more than just a proxy war between communist and Western world powers. It was the result of unique political dynamics within the country, and Southeast Asia more broadly, coupled with the nature of American culture and society of the 1960s and 1970s and US worldwide commitments after World War II, plus individual decisions of major leaders like US President Richard Nixon and Vietnamese revolutionary Ho Chi Minh. Together with expert John C. McManus, you will explore the history of the Vietnam War by focusing on these important questions:

• Who? Become acquainted with the major personalities behind the conflict’s most consequential decisions and military operations. Determine how states like China, France, the United States, Cambodia, Laos, and the USSR shaped Vietnam’s political destiny and military prowess in the 20th century. And understand the roles played by organizations like the Viet Cong, ARVN, and NVA within Vietnam.
• What? See what the war looked like from overall military strategies to the day-to-day routines of regular combat soldiers. Explore the breadth of tools and tech on both sides of the conflict. And determine both the short- and long-term consequences of the war within Vietnam and around the world.
• When? Piece together a blow-by-blow portrait of the conflict from its beginnings shortly after the fall of French Indochina to reunification in the 1990s. Construct a timeline of major political decisions and developments in both the United States and Vietnam. And track the erosion of support for war in the United States.
• Where? Determine where the fighting was fiercest in Vietnam. Discover why the Ho Chi Minh Trail, jungles, and underground tunnels were pivotal to Viet Cong war efforts. And explore how and to what extent the situation in Vietnam affected and even bled into neighboring countries like Laos, Cambodia, and Indonesia.
• Why? Dig deeply into the causes of war in Vietnam. Examine the nature and impact of US involvement, first in the sky and then on the ground. And zoom out to take stock of the regional and global geopolitical realities that shaped the war in the 1960s and 1970s.

The Vietnam War pieces together a conflict that so many of us have heard of, but so few of us really understand. This course contextualizes and reconstructs the conflict, zooming in and out of a thorny, decades-long struggle with remarkable precision and efficacy. In just 24 lectures, peel back the myths that have sprung up about the war and gain a far more complete portrait of one of the most important armed conflicts of the 20th century.

Vietnam’s Unfortunate Sons

While most people have some insight into how the war in Vietnam ended, few have reckoned with the full scale and scope of its human impact. That is, how did regular Americans—not just famed leaders and starred generals—view the war? What did common US combat soldiers and Vietnamese guerilla fighters experience in Vietnam? To what extent did the conflict affect women on both sides? And could veterans transition back into American society after enduring such profound physical and psychological trauma in Southeast Asia? We cannot fully understand the conflict in Vietnam if we ignore the ordinary people—soldiers, peace activists, teachers, refugees, children, families—bound up in and forever changed by it.

Experience the Vietnam War from the perspective of the average US soldier and witness their everyday existence in wartime. Step into a pair of military-issued boots to see what daily life was like for a US grunt and average Viet Cong fighter. Listen to individual stories of heroism and tragedy as told by servicemen themselves. Examine the treatment of veterans who came back to America when the war was at its least popular. Look past the hippie movement and SDS to reveal a more complicated picture of domestic opposition to war in Vietnam. And see what life was like for regular Vietnamese people—many who became refugees—after the war.

Ultimately, The Vietnam War expands and adds crucial detail to what you may already know about the conflict. It animates major leaders on both sides of the struggle, detailing as well as analyzing the political and military decisions they made. It pieces together a complete timeline of the war from colonial Vietnam onward. It breaks down and details the importance of key events like the Tet Offensive, My Lai Massacre, and Winter Soldier Investigation. It situates the war in its appropriate regional and global contexts. And it clarifies and humanizes a conflict that is too often seen as confused, distant, and impersonal.