Nixon FP Flashcards
What did Nixon want with Vietnam?
Peace with honour
Vietnam 3 way approach
Detente, Vietnamisation, Military
Mad bomber theory
bomb Vietnam so much that people think he’s mad and fear he’ll use nuclear weapons
Vietnam 1969
Feb bombed Ho Chi Minh trail to pressure peace
Vietnam 1970
Jan escalated (but still withdrew troops) carpet bombed NV anti-aircraft bases and Ho Chi Minh trail in Loas and Cambodia
Vietnam 1971
tested Vietnamisation 5,000 elite SV troops began Lam Son Offensive in Laos, communists routed them with help of new Soviet equipment.
Shown on TV, SV soldiers holding onto American helicopter skids, Pilots shown greasing skids
1972 Vietnam
Communist staged a great offensive, Nixon then bombed Hanoi, bombed and mined NV port of Haiphong
Vietnam approval rating
1972 55% supported heavy bombing, 64% supported mining of Haiphong, 74% thought it important SV didn’t fall to communism
First peace negotiations compromise
NV conceded Thieu could stay in power but insisted on a say in SV govt
Committee of National Reconciliation
Offered by Kissinger (1/3 SV, 1/3 Communist, 1/3 neutral) to oversee discussions of constitutions and elections
Original peace deal
Oct 1972 Kissinger said peace was at hand but Nixon backed out feared he was giving into protesters
Vietnam actions post reelection
Bombed and mined Haiphong over christmas which caused worldwide uproar, several papers and congressmen questioned his sanity
Final concession Vietnam
Nixon secretly promised billions of reconstruction aid to NV
Peace deal Vietnam
Jan 1973 (basically same as Oct). Negotiated by Kissinger. Agreed: ceasefire, prisoner of war exchange, NV forces stay in SV but couldn’t fight or be increased, SV continue to exist and Thieu stays in power, Committee of National Reconciliation would contain Coms
Vietnam- soldier and civilian statistics
3 mil American soldiers served, 46,000 killed, 300,000 wounded, 10,000 died through accidents
137,000 SV soldiers killed, 300,000 wounded
400,000 civilians killed 750,000 wounded
Detente
relaxation of strained relations through verbal communication
Kissinger and Nixon thought it a great error to let ideology dominate FP
China detente
relaxed restrictions on trade 1969-70. 1971 China invited the American table tennis team to China. Nixon visited in 1972, first president to do so
China pressed NV to agree peace
China resentment
resented Nixons insistence upon maintaining a close relationship with Taiwan and worried about Soviet-American Detente
Why did America involve itself with Chile
1970 elected Salvatore Allende, a social democrat. American-owned mining companies feared nationalisation and Nixon feared communism
Actions in Chile
granted CIA $10mil to unseat Allende. Stopped all WB and Inter-American Development Bank loans to Chile. CIA funded media criticism, opposition parties, strikes by truckers and taxis and encouraged demonstrations by middle class housewives. Sep 1973 Pinochet led a bloody coup and overthrew govt
My Lai Massacre
under Johnson in 1968 but becomes public knowledge in 1969 when Ron Ridenhour did an interview.
347 civilians murdered
Realpolitik
emphasise national interest over legalism and moralism in FP
Kissingers policy
3 concerns over Soviets
growing power, stability of Europe (Germany), arms race
Four-Power Agreement
Sep 1971, USA USSR Britain and France signed it. Soviets recognised Western access rights to West Berlin and the West conceded to West Berlin not being apart of West Germany
