Fall of Saigon

• Nixon puts pressure on the South Vietnamese to make peace and compromise
• Negotiations

  • Nixon's National Security Advisor, Henry Kissinger has been negotiating with North Vietnam since 1968
  • This is all done in secret
  • There is Aims of a ceasefire
• Nixon increased bombings in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia to force an end to the War
• In 1972 Nixon visits China to improve relations
• In 1972 Nixon visited the USSR to improve relations
• October 1972- Peace Talks

  • North Vietnam proposes a ceasefire if they can stay in any territory in South Vietnam
  • Free and fair elections
  • New government
  • Nixon promises $1billion in military equipment to South
  • Immediate ceasefire
  • All captured prisoners to be released on both sides
• In January 1973 the peace agreement is signed
• In March 1973 the last US combat troops were removed from Vietnam
• Nixon's promise to support the South did not happen. The US Government refused to approve the funding.
• Vietnam unified under communist rule
• Saigon was renamed Ho Chi Minh city
• Vietnam remains communist today
• American never matched Vietcong tactics.
• The US soldiers were poorly disciplined and had low morale.
• The media helped the war become unpopular. Once the public moves away it is hard to continue a War.
• The war was 12000km away from the US, and was in a dense jungle.
• The Vietcong were fighting on home soil and were supplied by China and the USSR.