💪 Building up the ARVN
The USA trained South Vietnamese soldiers, increased the size of the ARVN and gave it modern American weapons and equipment, including helicopters and artillery.
Nixon and Ford's Policies: Vietnamisation, Peace and Communist Victory, 1969-75 » Nixon and Vietnamisation
What you'll learn this session
Study time: 30 minutes
Edexcel spec: Paper 2 Section A, Investigation A4, Key topic 4
- Why the peace talks of 1968-69 got nowhere
- What Vietnamisation was and how Nixon used it to withdraw US troops
- The North Vietnamese Easter Offensive of 1972 and how it was halted
- How to answer a 6-mark 'Describe TWO features' question
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Unlock This CoursePeace talks that went nowhere, 1968-69
After the Tet Offensive, Johnson offered peace talks, and in May 1968 American and North Vietnamese delegates began meeting in Paris. Months passed with no progress. The two sides argued even over who should sit at the table, because the North wanted the National Liberation Front (NLF) included, while the South Vietnamese government refused to treat the NLF as an equal.
The real gap was wider. North Vietnam demanded that all American troops leave and that a new government, with Communists in it, replace the one in Saigon. The USA and South Vietnam wanted the North to withdraw its troops from the South too, and wanted the Saigon government to survive. Neither side would give way, because each still believed it could do better on the battlefield. Johnson halted the bombing of the North on 31 October 1968, but the talks were still stuck when Richard Nixon became President in January 1969.
Nixon's problem
Nixon had promised to end the war with honour. By 1969 over half a million American troops were in Vietnam, thousands were dying each year, and opposition at home was growing. Nixon did not want to be the first President to lose a war, but he could not keep the numbers up either. He needed a way to take American soldiers out without handing victory to the Communists.
Vietnamisation
Key terms:
- Vietnamisation: Nixon's policy of handing the fighting to South Vietnam's own army while American troops were withdrawn.
- ARVN: the Army of the Republic of Vietnam, the South Vietnamese army.
- Easter Offensive: the large conventional invasion of South Vietnam by North Vietnamese forces that began at the end of March 1972.
Vietnamisation meant that South Vietnam would do more of the fighting while the USA did less. Nixon announced the plan in 1969, and the first withdrawals of American troops began that summer. The idea was that, as US troops left, the ARVN would grow stronger and take their place.
🚶 Bringing Americans home
US troop numbers fell in stages from over half a million in 1969. By March 1973 all American combat troops had left.
Nixon hoped Vietnamisation would also win time at home. With fewer Americans fighting, fewer would die, and public anger might fall. But the policy had a weakness. The ARVN was still short of good leadership and many soldiers had low morale, and it depended on American supplies and, above all, American air power. Nixon's other moves in these years, including the bombing of Cambodia and Laos, are covered in the next lesson, Widening the War: Cambodia, Laos and the Secret Bombing.
The Easter Offensive, 1972
By 1972 most US ground troops had gone. At the end of March, North Vietnam launched its biggest attack since Tet. Unlike Tet, this was not guerrilla fighting. Tens of thousands of North Vietnamese soldiers attacked with tanks and heavy artillery across the border, and they captured Quang Tri province in the north. It was a test of Vietnamisation: could the ARVN stop a full invasion without American soldiers?
At first the answer looked like no. Some ARVN units broke and retreated, though others held key towns such as An Loc. What turned the battle was American air power. Nixon sent more bombers and ships to the area, ordered heavy bombing of North Vietnamese troops and supply lines, and in May had the harbour at Haiphong mined to cut off Soviet and Chinese supplies. By September the ARVN had won back Quang Tri city.
The offensive was halted, so Vietnamisation seemed to have passed its test. But the victory was only possible with US bombers, which showed how far South Vietnam still relied on America. The talks that followed are covered in a later lesson, Kissinger, China and the Paris Peace Talks.
Common mistakes
- Saying Vietnamisation meant the USA left Vietnam in 1969. Withdrawal was gradual and the last combat troops left in 1973.
- Saying the Easter Offensive was a guerrilla campaign like Tet. It was a conventional invasion with tanks and artillery.
- Saying the ARVN beat the offensive alone. American air power was vital to halting it.
- Writing 'one feature' only. In a 'Describe TWO features' question, one feature alone scores at most 3 marks.
Exam-style question
Describe TWO features of EITHER Vietnamisation OR the Easter Offensive (1972). [6 marks]
Model answer
I will describe Vietnamisation.
One feature of Vietnamisation was that South Vietnam's army, the ARVN, was built up to take over the fighting. The USA trained more South Vietnamese soldiers and gave the ARVN modern American weapons, so that it could replace US troops.
A second feature was that American troops were withdrawn in stages. Withdrawals began in 1969, when there were over half a million US troops in Vietnam, and by March 1973 all American combat troops had left. This also helped Nixon to lower the number of American deaths and calm opposition at home.
What lifts it to the top level: two different features, each clearly named and then supported with specific detail rather than general comment.
Exam tip
Start each paragraph by naming the feature ('One feature was...', 'A second feature was...'), then add two facts such as a date, a number or a name. Do not spend time on a conclusion, as this question does not ask for a judgement.
Recap
- The Paris peace talks that began in May 1968 were stuck over who should take part and over troop withdrawal and the future of the Saigon government.
- Nixon's policy of Vietnamisation handed the fighting to the ARVN while US troops were withdrawn. The last combat troops left by March 1973.
- The USA trained the ARVN and gave it modern weapons, but it still relied on American supplies and air power.
- The Easter Offensive (from the end of March 1972) was a conventional invasion. It was halted with the help of US air power, and the ARVN retook Quang Tri city by September.