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i. The main reason was that the Vietcong and the NLF had widespread support among ordinary peasants who had genuine grievances against an inefficient government which failed to introduce necessary reforms. When the NLF was formed in 1960 the communists were only one of several opposition groups; by ignoring the rightness of the NLF case and choosing instead to prop up such an obviously deficient regime in their obsession with the fight against communism, the Americans actually encouraged the spread of communism in the south. ii. The Vietcong, like the Vietminh before them, were experts at guerrilla warfare and were fighting on familiar territory; the Americans found them much more difficult to deal with than the conventional armies they had faced in Korea: with no distinguishing uniform, guerrillas could easily merge into the local peasant population. It proved impossible to stop supplies and reinforcements moving down the Ho Chi Minh Trail. iii. The Vietcong received important help from North Vietnam in the way of troops, while China and Russia supplied arms. After 1970 the Russian contribution was vitally important and included rifles, machineguns, long-range artillery, anti-aircraft missiles and tanks. iv. The North Vietnamese were dedicated to eventual victory and the unification of their country and showed amazing resilience; in spite of appalling damage and casualties during the bombings, they responded by evacuating city populations and rebuilding factories outside the cities.
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