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.”

President Nixon’s Speech1:33 Minutes

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.

Kent State Shootings

3:29 Minutes

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.

•Vietnam Veterans Memorial was completed in

1982.

Vietnam Veterans Memorial1:09 Minutes

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