The Logistics of War: The Role of the Ho Chi Minh Trail in the War. – History Essay
During the 1960’s America found itself committed to bringing democracy and stopping the spread of communism to South East Asia. This progressively led to a war between Communist North Vietnam and the South which was being supported by the US Government and Military. The partitioning of Vietnam came about after a series of treaties during the colonial period aimed at stabilizing the country.
History
Vietnam as a country has a long history of War and armed conflict. The History of Vietnam can be both complex and long. For the purposes of this paper, we will not discuss its history in detail, but when appropriate, references will be made to historical events that play a significant part on the topic or current discussion. History of the Trail and its inception will also be discussed in detail.
There is not that much information on the history of the trail but with the help of the resources we have at our disposal, I am looking forward to find more information on its history and also see if the trail had played any part in previous wars that the Vietnam people were involved in.
The Trail
There is no famous supply route in the world as famous as the Ho Chi Minh Trail. The role it played as a major way to re-supply and movement of troops during the insurgency led by the communist north cannot be denied, and was most likely the major factor that contributed to the North’s ability to win and execute the insurgency effectively. During the course of this semester we will analyze and try to explain how the route was utilized and what impact it had to the whole war effort. The analysis will be in both the American military and The Vietcong (North Vietnam) perspectives. Also we shall try and find out how the idea of using the trail as a supply route came about plus what role the trail played in the North Vietnam’s overall battle and insurgency strategy.
The main aim of this paper is to learn more about the trail since it is not discussed that much when the Vietnam War is mentioned, the reason being it’s a technical topic and requires some substantial military knowledge.
Sources
So far I have managed to garner some material from the Library. Materials gathered include articles from EBSCOHOST and 2 Books that talk in detail about the topic. I am in the process of gathering even more materials before I start sifting through and really work on compiling a more and detail paper outlining the above stated goals or expectations.
Conclusion
Overall the paper will discuss in detail the history, working and impact that the Ho chi Minh trail had on the war, in both the Northern Vietnam and American Military Perspective. I am looking forward to do more research and learn more about this infamous trail.