The 1975 spring offensive (Vietnamese: chiến dịch mùa Xuân 1975), officially known as the general offensive and uprising of spring 1975 (Vietnamese: Tổng tiến công và nổi dậy mùa Xuân 1975) was the final North Vietnamese campaign in the Vietnam War that led to the capitulation of Republic of Vietnam. After the initial success capturing Phước Long Province, the North Vietnamese leadership increased the scope of the People's Army of Vietnam's (PAVN) offensive and captured and held the key Central Highlands city of Buôn Ma Thuột between 10 and 18 March. These operations were intended to be preparatory to launching a general offensive in 1976.

Following the attack on Buôn Ma Thuôt, the Republic of Vietnam realized they were no longer able to defend the entire country and ordered a strategic withdrawal from the Central Highlands. The retreat from the Central Highlands, however, was a debacle as civilian refugees fled under fire with soldiers, mostly along a single highway reaching from the highlands to the coast. This situation was exacerbated by confusing orders, lack of command and control, and a well-led and aggressive enemy, which led to the utter rout and destruction of the bulk of South Vietnamese forces in the Central Highlands. A similar collapse occurred in the northern provinces.

Surprised by the rapidity of the ARVN collapse, North Vietnam transferred the bulk of its northern forces more than 350 miles (560 km) to the south in order to capture the South Vietnamese capital of Saigon in time to celebrate their late President Ho Chi Minh's birthday and end the war. South Vietnamese forces regrouped around the capital and defended the key transportation hubs at Phan Rang and Xuân Lộc, but a loss of political and military will to continue the fight became ever more manifest. Under political pressure, South Vietnamese President Nguyễn Văn Thiệu resigned on 21 April, in hopes that a new leader that was more amenable to the North Vietnamese could reopen negotiations with them. It was, however, too late. Southwest of Saigon IV Corps, meanwhile, remained relatively stable with its forces aggressively preventing VC units from taking over any provincial capitals. With PAVN spearheads already entering Saigon, the South Vietnamese government, then under the leadership of Dương Văn Minh, capitulated on 30 April 1975.

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  • marxisthayaca [he/him,they/them]
    ·
    2 years ago

    Before /r/CTH collapsed, we had the bookclub and throughout 2020 we read George Jackson's 'Blood in my eye' and Huey Newton's 'Revolutionary Suicide'. Jackson specifically called the United States fascist. I was at the time a bit uncomfortable by that line of thought.

    Pointless as it may be to continue the discourse on whether America is now, has been, or when it finally turned fascist. I am at the point where it is very obvious there is no "turning back" from said fascism as it is the blood that pumps through the state and organs of government. Whether it was ushered in 2016 or we've been fascist since the likes of Reagan, George W. Bush, etc. We have careened off the cliff, we've basically been falling in slow motion. The question is when will we start picking up speed.

    I turn on the radio and all I hear about is the obsession with crime - what has happened and when will it happen to you (but most scary is when will it happen to YOUR children). The preoccupation with property crime, and children are property in the eyes of these "worried talking heads", dominates the discourse in local radio and newspaper rags.

    Lina Hildago, for example, hasn't done a noteworthy job as county judge but somehow the newspapers and the rest of the media have laid the rise in crime at her feet.

    This country is fascist. The cops control the state. The majority of people wanna be cops. Your bosses disdain you and they wish you'd die quietly at your desk. The Supreme Court is dominated by fascists. Half the states what to redefine what "democracy" means.

    Just burn it all down.

    • Wertheimer [any]
      ·
      2 years ago

      Lina Hildago, for example, hasn’t done a noteworthy job as county judge but somehow the newspapers and the rest of the media have laid the rise in crime at her feet.

      And crime is actually down in Harris County!

      https://equalityalec.substack.com/p/the-houston-chronicle-and-fascism

      • Quimby [any, any]
        ·
        2 years ago

        thanks to John Oliver (lol), I know that crime has fallen in 30 of the past 31 years, and in each of those years except one, people think it rose.

      • marxisthayaca [he/him,they/them]
        ·
        2 years ago

        Hah. Shit even I took their argument at face value - i did see that gun homicides are up and that’s thanks to Gregg Abott not her policies.

    • Dimmer06 [he/him,comrade/them]
      ·
      2 years ago

      One of the things that radicalized me was those kind of boomer memes that were like "Fascism will come to America wrapped in a flag and carrying a cross" or that boiled down Umberto Eco list everyone loves. What these entirely lack is historical and political context to explain US fascism and this is why they will never be effective. Their thesis is that fascism is coming and you should prepare, not that fascism is here and it's time to fight. USians just accept that millions of them go through the penal system because it's been that way for sixty years. USians just accept that our "democracy" is a joke because that's all we've ever known it to be. Jackson breaks that down better than anyone I've read because he traces the emergence of US fascism as a part of the broader emergence of fascism and he is very blunt that it is fascism when other intellectuals shy away from calling the spade a spade. It's why Jackson is so suppressed and most USians refuse to engage with him seriously because it would mean they are sitting in the Third Reich shrugging their shoulders, if not actively helping it!