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Chapter 21; Section 5
The End of the War
The Vietnam War and American Society
1960 - 1975
Paris peace talksNegotiations
between the U.S. and North Vietnam beginning in 1968
VietnamizationPresident Nixon’s policy
of replacing American military forces with
those of South Vietnam
Vietnam Veterans MemorialMonument in
Washington, D.C. built to honor those killed in
the Vietnam War
Main IdeaThe end of the Vietnam
War involved:- slow-moving peace
negotiations-the gradual withdrawal
of American troops-the fall of South
Vietnam
Toward the end of his term as President,
Johnson had called for peace negotiations to
end the Vietnam War. The resulting Paris peace
talks, which began in May 1968, failed to produce
an agreement.
President Nixon campaigned on the claim that he had a secret plan
to end the war. In June 1969, he began the policy
of Vietnamization, replacing American troops
in Vietnam with South Vietnamese soldiers.
Although Nixon wanted to end the war, he did not
want to lose it. He launched secret bombing raids and
expanded the war to Cambodia, hoping to
destroy Viet Cong camps there.
Nixon hoped his Cambodian attacks would
help America in peace negotiations. Instead, the attacks resulted in both
civil war in Cambodia and more antiwar protests in
the United States.
• In a 1969 speech, Nixon appealed to
those who, he felt, quietly
supported his policies. He
referred to this group of
Americans as “the silent majority.”
When student antiwar protesters at Kent State
University in Ohio reacted angrily to Nixon’s invasion of Cambodia, Nixon ordered the National Guard to Kent State. Students threw rocks at the guardsmen and the troops opened fire, killing 4 and
wounding 9 protesters and bystanders.
•The violence at Kent State, and
a similar incident at Jackson State in Mississippi,
horrified Americans.
Guardsmen surround the charred remains of the ROTC building on
May 4, 1970.
Provisions of Peace Settlement between the United States, South Vietnam, North Vietnam, and the Viet Cong, signed
in Paris in January 1973:
• The United States would withdraw all its forces from South Vietnam within 60 days.
• All prisoners of war would be released. • All parties to the agreement would end military
activities in Laos and Cambodia.• The 17th parallel would continue to divide
North and South Vietnam until the country could be reunited.
American Withdrawal
Q: Why did the United States invade Cambodia?
To quicken the peace process
and to strengthen its position in negotiations
Legacy of the WarOver 58,000
Americans dead
$150 billion in costs to
United States
Over 300,000 Americans wounded
Millions of Vietnamese soldiers and
civilians dead
Successful? Laos and Cambodia fell to communism but the
rest of the region did not.
April 1975 – Cambodia fell to the
Khmer Rouge, a force of Communists led by
Pol Pot.
Khmer Rouge
• Communist group that committed
genocide by killing 1.5 million
Cambodians
• New Vietnamese leaders forced
thousands into “re-education camps”
while many fled the country as refugees.
• Many people from Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos would flee
to the United States, leaving their entire lives behind.
• Americans realized that our technology
and money would not always mean victory against communism.
•Many veterans were not
appreciated when they returned
home.
Q: What did the complete withdrawal of American troops mean for South Vietnam?
South Vietnam could not stand up to the forces of the north and inevitably was
forced to surrender
Q: Who finally won the Vietnam War?
North Vietnam
Vietnam Veterans Day Documentary 3:06 Minutes