President Nixon's policies in Vietnam (14) Flashcards
Nixons views of Vietnam?
Comes to office in January 1969
Wants ‘Peace with honour’ and a swift victory
Dual intent?
Vietnamisation would strengthen the negotiating position with North Vietnam but also secure the South’s military machine so that it could hold off against the North on its own.
Nixon three main policies in his first year?
March 1969 - Operation Menu on Cambodia
July 1969 - Nixon Doctrine
November 1969 - Vietnamisation announced
Nixon withdrawing troops
Vietnamisation was not abandonment of Vietnam but the wider strategy to pull US troops out of foreign conflicts that it could not win - supports Nixon doctrine
June 1969 - 543,000
January 1972 - 156,800
June 1972 - 47,000
By 1971 344,000 Americans remained in Vietnam, 36% since Nixon took office
Bolstering of ARVN
Nixon did not want to lose Vietnam but needed to bring troops home so he strengthened the ARVN
The structure, pay and career prospects of the ARVN were significantly improved as well as its weaponry modernised
Introduction of the M-16 Armalite Rifle.
There was also an increase in military vehicles as well as planes and helicopters.
The ARVN was increased in size from 82,000 in 1968 to 1,000,000 by 1970.
Impact of Vietnamisation
o The ARVN became a more effective fighting force, holding its ground against the 1972 North Spring Offensive in which 8,000 ARVN were killed but almost five times that many NLF fighters were killed
o The ARVN were also supported by US bombing
o The USA’s Operation Linebacker I saw 150,000 tons of bombs dropped on North Vietnam
Strength of Vietnamisation
The ARVN was able to hold its own against the NLF Spring Offensive, killing five times the number of its casualties
Domestic problems were lessened as US troops were pulled from the conflict
The number of US casualties was lessened
Weakness of Vietnamisation
ARVN morale however remained low, a chronic problem of Vietnamisation
Favouritism and corruption were not resolved, officers were chosen based on their loyalty to the Thieu regime
ARVN desertion rates was very high
ARVN was not an effective fighting force
There was no patriotism amongst the ARVN
Aims of Operation Menu
Sever supplies lines of the Ho Chi Minh Trail
Pressurise the North into accepting a suitable peace agreement
Compensate for the planned Vietnamisation programme and keep the trust of the South that they were not being abandoned
US invasion of Cambodia
March 1970 - pro-US general Lon Nol takes over Cambodia
NV backs the Khemer Rouge, led by Pol Pot, to overthrow Lon Nol
Nixon feared a communist takeover of Cambodia as NV forces pushed toward the capital Phnom Penh
South Vietnamese forces conduct raids with US air support
Call for US help
April 1970 - 20,000 US troops invade Cambodia
This show of support was negated by the April promise from Nixon to withdraw 150,000 troops within the year
Consequences of the Cambodian invasion
- Ability of Vietcong to operate in Cambodia was seriously undermined as large areas of jungle was destroyed
- No strategic gains from the US
- Losses faced by the North undermined another Southern invasion
- Pushed the NV forces further into Cambodia where they backed Pol Pot’s Khmer Rouge and thus the US had to now support the Lon Nol Government as well as Saigons
- Widespread oppostion at home - May 1970 Kent State Shooting - 4 shot in Ohio University
- Congress removed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
Invasion of Laos
Operation LAM SON 719 February 1971, send an ARVN armoured convoy speeding down Route 9 to Tchepone
ARVN forces will also be stationed on foot, north and south of the road to destroy and weapons caches on the way.
30,000 ARVN forces against almost 60,000 NV forces - US banned from entering by Congress
The armoured convoy had to stop halfway along Route 9.
At the end of the invasion of Laos, US choppers had to evacuate ARVN by chopper
LAM SON 719 was the largest helicopter operation of the war with US pilots flying over 160,000 sorties
3800 ARVN were killed and 253 US troops had died
Proved the ARVN were not ready to take control of the war
Veterans protest
VVAW held a 5-day rally against the war at Washington and the leader, John Kerry, testified against the war in front of Congress; he was the first to do so. 800 US veterans threw away their medals in front of the White House on the last day of the protest.
Nixons relations with China
- Sino-Soviet relations were worsening and there was a Sino-Soviet communist split by the early 1960s. Nixon realised that China was becoming a major nuclear, military and strategic force in Asia. If China could be pulled away from the Soviets then the balance of power in the Cold War would shift and the USSR would become isolated.
- In July 1969, the USA removed some trade controls and travel restrictions on China. This was part of Nixon’s ‘artichoke’ approach – to peel off restrictions one layer at a time. By 1970 some initial diplomatic connections had been achieved in Warsaw.
- Mao Zedong felt that isolationism was not benefiting his country and with disputes with the USSR on its border he wanted security.
- In July 1971, Kissinger visited Beijing and there was a Sino-American summit in early 1972. Zhou Enlai changed China’s policy from dual confrontation to realising that the USSR was a greater threat in the short term.
- Kissinger failed to persuade China to pressurise North Vietnam into engaging in a peace process.
Progress of Peace talks
Johnson had begun preliminary talks in May 1968
Thieu remained determined to keep the US military in the country - kept stalling talks
Meeting between Kissinger and Le Duc Tho in October 1972 proved a turning point
US put pressure on Theiu and Nixon re-initiated Operation Rolling Thunder in December 1972 - included Hanoi
On 27 January 1973, the Paris Peace Agreement was finally ratified
