4.1.3

Paris Peace Talks

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Paris Peace Talks

In March 1968 President Johnson announced his intentions to pursue a negotiated settlement with North Vietnam.

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Negotiations break down

  • In March 1968 Johnson announced his intentions to pursue a negotiated settlement with North Vietnam.
    • Hanoi agreed to meet but in May 1968 negotiations broke down.
    • The USA distrusted the North Vietnamese.
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The North Negotiations

  • In February 1970, USA’s Henry Kissinger met Le Duc Tho, a special adviser to North Vietnam in Paris to discuss peace.
  • The North Negotiations were not straightforward.
  • The North Vietnamese insisted that any peace settlement must contain two political concessions:
    • The replacement of the South Vietnamese president Nguyen Van Tieu.
    • A coalition government must rule in South Vietnam and it must include the NLF.
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US reaction to the proposal

  • The Chinese put pressure on the USA to accept a realistic proposal.
  • The USA did not want Nguyen Van Tieu as president as they thought it would destabilise the country and leave America’s allies vulnerable.
  • The USA especially didn’t want the NLF in power as they had caused so much damage to US troops.
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South Vietnam pulls out of talks

  • In October 1972, Henry Kissinger had worked out a peace agreement with the North Vietnamese.
  • However, fearing the Americans were going to abandon his country, the President of South Vietnam, Nguyen Van Thieu, refused to sign the agreement and the South Vietnamese pulled out of the talks.
  • A ceasefire was agreed, and American forces would leave Vietnam.
    • The city of Saigon fell to the communists on 30 April 1975.

Jump to other topics

1Origins of the Cold War, 1945-9

2Widening of the Cold War

3The Global War

4Confrontation & Cooperation

5Brezhnev Era

6Ending of the Cold War

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