The End of the Vietnam War (AQA GCSE History): Revision Note

Summary

American involvement in the Vietnam War ended after the Paris Peace Accords were signed by South Vietnam, North Vietnam and the USA in January 1973. All US troops left Vietnam within months, but fighting between North and South Vietnam quickly resumed. Once it became clear that South Vietnam no longer had US troops or airstrikes to support them, North Vietnam launched a full-scale invasion.

By April 1975, South Vietnam had been completely conquered, and its government surrendered. The war was finally over, but millions of people had been killed and injured. Additionally, huge areas of Vietnam had been destroyed or poisoned. 

Vietnam was a unified country, and the USA had failed to contain communism in North Vietnam, despite the deaths of thousands of US soldiers and the spending of billions of dollars. 

The Paris peace talks and US withdrawal

• In January 1973, the governments of the USA, South Vietnam and North Vietnam signed the Paris Peace Accords

Paris Peace Accords key features

• There would be an immediate ceasefire

• Troops from both North and South Vietnam to stay in their current positions

• All US troops were to leave Vietnam

• All US prisoners of war were to be returned

• Free and fair elections were to be held and Vietnam was to be reunified in a peaceful and orderly manner

• The US would continue to supply South Vietnam with weapons and equipment

Negotiations

• America’s chief negotiator in Paris was President Nixon’s national security advisor, Henry Kissinger

• The heavy bombing campaign over North Vietnam had been intensified during late 1972 to try and force the North into negotiations

• The USA also threatened South Vietnam with cutting off supplies and air support if the South did not enter negotiations

• Nixon and Kissinger had found a way to remove US troops from Vietnam 

  • Nixon claimed “We believe that the agreement will bring peace with honor in Vietnam and Southeast Asia”

• Other people claimed it was a humiliation and a betrayal of South Vietnam

  • North Vietnam still had a strong military and was determined to reunify Vietnam

  • Without US troops on the ground, some people believed that the defeat of South Vietnam by the communist North was inevitable

Fall of Saigon

• The agreed ceasefire quickly collapsed, and by March 1973, 6,000 Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) troops had been killed fighting the Vietcong 

  • Despite this, all US troops had left Vietnam within two months of the agreement being signed in Paris

• In December 1974, North Vietnam tested America’s determination to support South Vietnam by invading and capturing a South Vietnamese province

  • When the USA did nothing to help the ARVN troops, the invasion continued

  • By April 1975, the capital city of Saigon had been captured by North Vietnam’s troops

  • On 30 April 1975, South Vietnam surrendered

• The Vietnam War was over, and Vietnam was a united country with a communist government

The cost of the Vietnam War

• Precise figures of deaths and injuries were not kept by either North or South Vietnam, but it is certain that millions were affected

  • The war also had many other wider impacts

Impact on Vietnam

• Over 2.2 million were people killed (including 1.1 million civilians)

• At least 7 million were wounded (including 5 million civilians)

• Over 7 million tonnes of bombs were dropped on Vietnam

  • This destroyed much of the country’s infrastructure

  • Unexploded bombs went on to kill another 42,000 people after the war ended

• Millions of litres of toxic chemicals such as Agent Orange were sprayed onto forests and fields

  • This caused a million Vietnamese people to be born with or develop disabilities

  • Large areas remained poisoned for years to come

• Over 11million people became refugees because of the fighting and 3 million fled the country in boats

• Millions of people were forced into prostitution to survive

• Many millions of survivors experienced deep psychological trauma

Impact on the USA 

• At least 58,000 members of the US military were killed

• As many as 300,000 more were wounded

• The war caused American society to fracture along many lines

• Trust in the US government and national institutions fell to an all-time low

• Veterans, who were often physically or psychologically damaged by the war, felt betrayed and victimised when they returned home

• The $170 billion spent fighting the war meant that many communities, such as Black Americans, continued to live in poverty due to lack of government funds

• The USA’s reputation as the “champion of the free” was damaged by the conduct of its troops in Vietnam

• Defeat by tiny, impoverished North Vietnam damaged the USA’s reputation as a mighty military power