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Easter Rising & Tet Offensive

  • 06-01-2015 10:45pm
    #1
    DarkyHughes
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 1,393 ✭✭✭


    Does anybody see striking similarities with the two.

    Both were planned in extreme secrecy.
    Both were huge logistical feats in getting weapons into place.
    They both happened on relaxing days, Tet being huge in Vietnam & the horse racing was on in Ireland on a Bank Holiday .
    Both were supposed to be general uprisings all over their counties, neither happened.
    They took their targets very well & totally surprised their enemies
    Without the support of the majority of the nation rising the insurgents were really left all alone with no help, no contact & no reinforcements .
    Both insurgents were routed out pretty quickly.
    Massacres occurred on all sides during Tet & Easter.
    Both were military disasters but both were two of the biggest military political propaganda success in the 20the century.


Comments

  • #2
    Del.Monte
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 12,363 ✭✭✭✭Del.Monte


    What massacre occurred during the Easter Rising - save for civilians?

    ****



  • #3
    pedroeibar1
    Closed Accounts Posts: 5,108 ✭✭✭pedroeibar1


    No, because there are none. During Tet the NVA lost about 40,000 soldiers, the US about 2,500. In the 1916 Rising there were about 500 dead, about 100 of them Crown forces and almost 300 were civilians.
    Better go to Specsavers.


  • #4
    DarkyHughes
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 1,393 ✭✭✭DarkyHughes


    Del.Monte wrote: »
    What massacre occurred during the Easter Rising - save for civilians?

    The North King St. Massacre.


  • #5
    DarkyHughes
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 1,393 ✭✭✭DarkyHughes


    pedroeibar1 wrote: »
    No, because there are none. During Tet the NVA lost about 40,000 soldiers, the US about 2,500. In the 1916 Rising there were about 500 dead, about 100 of them Crown forces and almost 300 were civilians.
    Better go to Specsavers.

    I should have said in my first post I meant on a much lower, lower scale to Tet, i taught that was just a given, guess not.

    There's no denying both were military disasters & giant political success even if that's how the commanders didn't intend for things to go thhat way


  • #6
    Jesus.
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 4,794 ✭✭✭Jesus.


    pedroeibar1 wrote: »
    about 100 of them Crown forces

    There were slightly more than that. The British themselves reported 132.
    DarkyHughes wrote: »
    I should have said in my first post I meant on a much lower, lower scale to Tet, i taught that was just a given, guess not.

    Nothing's a given when it comes to Pedantic Pedro...


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  • #7
    Manach
    Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 9,733 Mod ✭✭✭✭Manach


    From a political standpoint, there would be some similarities. They serve as a focal point for the respective national narratives where the military defeat was parleyed in a form of moral victory. However this might be obscured somewhat from the respective standpoints where for instance in the Tet offensive where I'd be familiar with Western sources (ie the excellent 10,000 day war) but not from first hand Vietnamese historical perspectives.


  • #8
    DarkyHughes
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 1,393 ✭✭✭DarkyHughes


    One big difference tho maybe should be pointed out is that the NVA leadership said they were willing to lose 10 men for every 1 American they got. And they didn't just say it they put it into practice. A lot of young VC & NVA wore a tattoo that said "born in the North to die in the South" It was extremely brutal but effective

    The Easter Rising however the rebels inflicted around twice as many causalities on the British. And later on during the 1919 - 1921 war the IRA inflicted around 200 more casualties than the British did on them. I think this is why Collins signed the treaty, if they had & any serious chance of inflicting a real military victory over the British like the NVA & VC did over the US than the IRA would have to do the same & loose 10 IRA men for every British if DLG was serious about a terrible war (I can't think of a war that's not terrible tho). Collins wasn't prepared to pay that price. I don't Dev would have either.


  • #9
    whisky_galore
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 16,517 ✭✭✭✭whisky_galore


    I'm sure you could take insurgencies worldwide and still pick out similarities to 1916. What does it prove?


  • #10
    Arsemageddon
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,129 ✭✭✭Arsemageddon


    I would suggest that the similarities between the Tet offensive and 1916 are mostly superficial. As has been pointed out already the sheer scale of Tet dwarfs 1916.
    The Vietnam war was the first real TV war, and Tet provided shocking combat images, these images served as a tipping point that convinced the American public that the war was now unwinnable. Also, after the offensive ended the NVA and VC were able to continue fighting.

    In contrast 1916 was merely a distraction for the UK government during WWI, slower communications and existing censorship laws meant news of the rising was slow to spread. After the rising ended Irish republicans switched to politics to further there goals, there was no military plan B. It took 3 years for the IRA to take the field again.

    The failure of the 1916 rising and the execution of the majority of it's leaders allowed a new (and dare I say it), militarily more competent leadership to emerge. The new leadership learnt the lesson that the IRA would always come off second best if they became involved in large, prolonged engagements with crown forces. Upon his return to Ireland De Valera's insistence that the Customs House be attacked resulted in the capture of large numbers of IRA men. Had such tactics been used in the early stages of the war the IRA would have been quickly wiped out.


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