Debate Night: Who Won the Vietnam War?

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First published: Wednesday October 4th, 2023
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Welcome to Debate Night! Who won the Vietnam War, if anyone?

Before We Begin

Welcome back to Debate Night, everybody! Tonight's topic is about the infamous and tragic Vietnam War. Who do you think won? Now is your chance to debate about it.

Premise

The Vietnam War was a war between North Vietnam and South Vietnam, sometimes thought of as part of the greater "Cold War" between the Soviet Union and the United States. Many people died, the vast majority of them Vietnamese, including civilians. The United States fought in it, angering many young Americans who were upset by the massive cost, both monetary and human. In the end, the North is sometimes considered to be victorious, but others argue that they were not. What do you think?

Many casualties occurred. Did anyone emerge victorious?

Who won the war?

Instructions

Debate about whether the North or South won the war. Please note that this is not about who was the "rightful winner", but who logically emerged victorious, if anyone.

Rules

1. Be respectful and kind. Nobody wants you to be rude or mean.

2. Be open-minded. Even if you disagree with someone, try to understand their point of view, or at the very least do not just call them wrong.

The Last Word

Do you have any suggestions on what the next Debate Night topic should be?

Level 60

Oct 4, 2023

America won

#backtobackworldwarwinners😎🦅🇺🇸

Level 66

Oct 4, 2023

For real though. We rarely lose a war, and Vietnam is the only major war we've lost.

Level 34

Oct 5, 2023

Even won the Space War lol

Level 60

Oct 4, 2023

In all seriousness, the North won (with a heavy cost), as Vietnam is a communist nation today.

Level 66

Oct 4, 2023

Truly, they were fighting for control of Vietnam, and the north clearly won that.

Level 66

Oct 5, 2023

Vietnam is communist to this day... so it's pretty obvious that the United States lost.

Level 63

Oct 5, 2023

I thought it was a pretty obvious fact. Even if we just accept that to this day the flag of Vietnam is red with a star, not yellow with stripes, and the official name is the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. I think it is generally difficult to challenge even those who are not satisfied with the defeat of the United States and the pro-American government at all.

Level 68

Oct 5, 2023

Yeah America lost by a long shot and should be able to admit that.

Level 34

Oct 5, 2023

America lost- But not necessarily in terms of military might. In reality, in almost every single battle fought (and yes this is actually true) the Vietnamese casualties were far higher. The North Vietnamese won in terms of land, because they were more acquitted to their homeland, as well as the fact that they knew the terrain better than anyone else. However America lost far less troops, and caused mass havoc among the Vietnamese. Although much of this havoc was on civilians, making it somewhat questionable. I think the United States was mainly trying to repel Communism, NOT completely capture and eradicate the North Vietnamese. Who won? The North obviously, but at an extremely heavy cost, and their outcome was seriously fogged and recovery was tough.

Level 66

Oct 5, 2023

Plus, the effects of Americans in Vietnam are present today

Level 43

Oct 23, 2023

You make a good point, but the US's involvement barely changed anything in the end. Even though it was extremely bloody and a terrible war for Vietnam, the US failed to achieve it's goals there. We never managed to halt the spread of Communism, and it even spread to Cambodia and Laos. We never even managed to make a small democratic state in Vietnam either. In the end, we barely slowed down the spread of it either way. We didn't even gain new allies, new land, more resources, or more money. The only thing we gained was unrest, more debt, casualties, and more enemies. We may have "tactically retreated," but that only made our losses less extensive. Same thing happened in Afghanistan as well. The North 100% won the war. It was very costly and brutal for them, but in the end, they got what their goal was, and we didn't.

Level 34

Oct 5, 2023

Also, I do believe Vietnam Veterans deserve more respect than they were both given previously and still are given (though less) to this day.

Level 59

Oct 6, 2023

(North) Vietnam won

Level 63

Oct 6, 2023

The north won. The United States was on the side of South, and it's pretty clear they lost. If the war was for control of Vietnam, and vietnam is controlled by what is effectively North vietnam, then the north won the war.

Level 65

Oct 8, 2023

The north 100% won, but it seems like tensions have lowered dramatically, and these days, Vietnam and the United States have really strong ties.