Zanim była Ofensywa Tet. Sytuacja operacyjna wojsk amerykańskich i sojuszniczych w Wietnamie Południowym w 1967 r. i jej wpływ
na walki w dolinie Dak To w świetle materiałów Zarządu II
Sztabu Generalnego Wojska Polskiego.
Krytyka źródła

Karol Sacewicz

Vol. 34 No. 2 (2019)

ISSN:

1427-7476

Section: Studia

Before the Tet Offensive. The Operational Situation of the American and Allied Troops in South Vietnam in 1967 and its Impact on the Fighting in the Valley of Dak To in the Light of Materials of the II Directorate of the General Staff of the Polish People’s Army. Source Criticism

Karol Sacewicz

Uniwersytet Warmińsko-Mazurski w Olsztynie

Remembrance and Justice, Vol. 34 No. 2 (2019), pages: 366-410

Publication date: 2019-12-30

PDF (Język Polski)

Abstract

The Second Indochina War, commonly known as the Vietnam War, was one of the biggest and longest military conflicts of the Cold War period. Nevertheless, it is dominated in Polish historiography by other wars of that period. That does not mean those topics were not investigated, as evidenced by works by Piotr Ostaszewski, Przemysław Benken, Łukasz M. Nadolski, Krzysztof Kubiak and Artur Dmochowski. However, the issue was never in the mainstream of research on armed conflicts after 1945. The article is an attempt to acknowledge and present this war through the lens of the studies of the II Directorate of the General Staff of the Polish Army, i.e. the Military Intelligence of the Polish People’s Republic. The subject of analysis is the military situation of the American and allied troops in South Vietnam in 1967 – a year which tends to be marginalised in depicting the course of that war, and not only in Polish historiography. In order to understand the significance of 1967 as the breaking point for the battles fought in the Indochinese Peninsula, particular emphasis is put on the largest and bloodiest battle thus far fought in November 1967 over Dak To in the Central Highlands in the province of Kon Tum. The battle, before the Tet Offensive, was a clear signal that not only would victory not bring a quick operational success, but also that it did not mean that the Americans were going to win that war at all. The article is an attempt at a substantive evaluation of the content of the reports of the II Directorate and the staff preparing them.

Keywords

wojna w Wietnamie • Wietnam Południowy • Płaskowyż Centralny • Dak To • wzgórze 875 • Kon Tum • wojska amerykańskie • MACV • Zarząd II Sztabu Generalnego WP • wywiad wojskowy PRL • Viet Cong • Ofensywa Tet • „Ivy Division” • „Sky Soldiers” Vietnam War, South Vietnam Central Highlands • Dak To • Hill 875 • Kon Tum • American troops • MACV • II Directorate of the General Staff of the Polish Army • military intelligence of the Polish People’s Republic • Viet Cong • Tet Offensive • „Ivy Division” • „Sky Soldiers”

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Citation rules

Sacewicz, K. (2019). Before the Tet Offensive. The Operational Situation of the American and Allied Troops in South Vietnam in 1967 and its Impact on the Fighting in the Valley of Dak To in the Light of Materials of the II Directorate of the General Staff of the Polish People’s Army. Source Criticism. Remembrance and Justice, 34(2), 366–410. Retrieved from https://czasopisma.ipn.gov.pl/index.php/pis/article/view/14

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