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The USA, 1954–75: Conflict at Home and Abroad

The peace process and end of the war

  • 2 things to know
  • Paper 3

Overview

Why the USA wanted a settlement, the Paris talks, the December collapse and the Christmas bombing, the terms of 1973, why they mattered and failed, and the cost in lives, money and returning soldiers.

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Key term

Why was the USA looking for a negotiated settlement by 1972?

Key term

Who negotiated for the USA, and where did the talks take place?

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

  1. 1

    Why was the USA looking for a negotiated settlement by 1972?

    Model answer

    The war could not be won, it was draining money and lives and dividing the country, and Nixon wanted peace in hand before the presidential election.

  2. 2

    Who negotiated for the USA, and where did the talks take place?

    Model answer

    Henry Kissinger, in Paris, holding secret meetings with the North’s negotiator Le Duc Tho alongside the public conference.

  3. 3

    Why did the talks collapse in December 1972?

    Model answer

    President Thieu of South Vietnam rejected the draft because it let North Vietnamese troops stay in the South, and the North then hardened its own terms.

  4. 4

    What brought the North Vietnamese back to the negotiating table?

    Model answer

    Eleven days of heavy bombing of Hanoi and Haiphong over Christmas 1972, while Nixon quietly promised Thieu continued American aid.

  5. 5

    What were the main terms agreed in Paris in January 1973?

    Model answer

    A ceasefire, the withdrawal of all remaining US forces within sixty days, the return of prisoners of war, and North Vietnamese troops allowed to remain where they stood in the South.

  6. 6

    Why did the 1973 agreement matter to the USA?

    Model answer

    It ended direct American involvement after nearly a decade of fighting and let Nixon claim he had won peace with honour.

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