Ending the war in Vietnam

Question 1

How did the USA pull out of Vietnam?

Answer 1

• The Paris Peace Conference – New US President Nixon tried to persuade the Communists to withdraw from S. Vietnam if the USA withdrew. He bluffed a major US attack on N. Vietnam if they did not accept the offer.
• Nixon improved relations with China and the USSR and tried to persuade them to reduce aid to N. Vietnam and to pressurise it to end the war.
• The US policy of Vietnamization began in 1969 which entailed the removal of US troops and the training of the S. Vietnamese army. However, S. Vietnam was not strong enough and lacked support.
• Bombing continued in N. Vietnam throughout Vietnamization to show that Nixon wasn’t weak.
• A ceasefire was agreed in 1973.
• Saigon fell to the Communists in April 1975 after 10 years of bloody warfare.

Question 2

How many died?

Answer 2

58,000 US soldiers and up to 2 million Vietnamese had died.

Question 3

How much did it cost the USA?

Answer 3

It costed the USA more than $110billion.

Question 4

The result

Answer 4

Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia became Communist, so the Vietnam war was definitely a failure for containment.

Question 5

What new policy and treaties were created?

Answer 5

The new policy of Détente was adopted by the USA – improving relations with the USSR and China and limiting the testing of nuclear bombs.
The Strategic Arms Limitations Treaty (SALT) was signed in 1972, and SALT 2 in 1979.