📅 On This Day in Military History

January 31

3 events across history

⚔️📍 Berlin, Germany1917

Germany Announces Unrestricted Submarine Warfare

Germany declared it would sink any ship — including neutral vessels — found in a war zone around Britain. The decision reversed a previous pledge made after American protests over the sinking of the Lusitania in 1915.

Unrestricted submarine warfare was the single greatest factor drawing the United States into World War I; America declared war on Germany two months later.

Outcome

U.S. severs diplomatic relations; enters WWI by April

🌿The Vietnam War1968

Battle of Hue

Part of the Tet Offensive, NVA forces captured Hue — South Vietnam's ancient imperial capital — and held it for 26 days. House-by-house fighting through the old city and the Citadel cost hundreds of American and thousands of South Vietnamese casualties. During the occupation, NVA forces executed between 2,800 and 6,000 civilians and officials in mass graves discovered after the battle.

The most intense urban combat of the war. The Hue Massacre was one of the worst atrocities of the war. The destruction of the ancient city, broadcast on American television, compounded the psychological impact of Tet. The image of a Marine lighting a thatched roof with his Zippo lighter became an iconic anti-war image.

Full battle details →

⚔️📍 South Vietnam1968

Tet Offensive Begins — Vietnam War

North Vietnamese and Viet Cong forces launched coordinated surprise attacks on more than 100 South Vietnamese cities and towns during the Tet holiday ceasefire. Viet Cong fighters even briefly seized part of the U.S. Embassy compound in Saigon.

Though a military defeat for North Vietnam, the Tet Offensive shattered American public confidence that the war was being won and triggered a crisis that led Lyndon Johnson not to seek re-election.

Outcome

Military defeat for North Vietnam; strategic political victory

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