💼 Henry Kissinger
Nixon's adviser and chief US negotiator. He wanted the USA to leave Vietnam without looking defeated, and he used talks, bombing and diplomacy with China and the USSR together.
Nixon and Ford's Policies: Vietnamisation, Peace and Communist Victory, 1969-75 » Kissinger, China and the Paris Peace Talks
What you'll learn this session
Study time: 30 minutes
Edexcel spec: Paper 2 Section A, Investigation A4, Key topic 4
- Why Nixon changed US relations with China, and what he hoped to gain
- The roles of Henry Kissinger and Le Duc Tho in the Paris peace talks
- How the Paris Peace Accords of January 1973 ended US involvement
- How to answer a 6-mark 'Describe TWO features' question
🔒 Unlock Full Course Content
Sign up to access the complete lesson and track your progress!
Unlock This CourseNixon, China and the search for a deal
Since 1949 the USA had refused to recognise Communist China, and the two countries were enemies. Both China and the Soviet Union sent weapons and supplies to North Vietnam. Nixon saw a chance: if he improved relations with these two Communist powers, they might press Hanoi to accept a settlement. They also had their own quarrel with each other, and both wanted better ties with the USA.
Nixon's National Security Adviser, Henry Kissinger, made a secret visit to Beijing in July 1971 to prepare the way. In February 1972 Nixon himself visited China, the first US President to do so. He met the Chinese leader, Mao Zedong. A few months later, in May 1972, he also visited Moscow. The visits did not end the war by themselves, and China and the Soviet Union did not drop North Vietnam. But they showed Hanoi that its two big allies were talking to its enemy, which increased the pressure on the North to negotiate.
Kissinger and Le Duc Tho
Key terms:
- National Security Adviser: the President's chief adviser on foreign policy and defence.
- Paris Peace Accords: the agreement signed in Paris on 27 January 1973 to end the USA's war in Vietnam.
The public peace talks in Paris, which began in 1968, were stuck (see Nixon and Vietnamisation). So from 1970 Kissinger also held secret meetings in Paris with Le Duc Tho, a leading Communist Party figure who led North Vietnam's negotiators. Private talks let both men bargain without the pressure of the press and public opinion.
🏆 Le Duc Tho
North Vietnam's chief negotiator. He wanted all US troops out and the Communists in a position to win the South in the end, so he gave way only where he had to.
By October 1972 the two men had a draft deal. The South Vietnamese President, Thieu, was furious. Under it North Vietnamese troops could stay in the South, and he had not been properly consulted. He refused to agree. Kissinger announced that 'peace is at hand', but the deal was not signed.
The Christmas bombing and the Accords
In December 1972 the talks broke down. Nixon, who had just been re-elected in November, ordered a heavy bombing campaign on Hanoi and Haiphong. It lasted about eleven days from 18 December and became known as the Christmas bombing. It was meant to force the North back to the table and to show Thieu that the USA would stay strong. It was widely criticised around the world, and the North lost many people and some of its air defences, but its leaders returned to the talks in January.
The Paris Peace Accords were signed on 27 January 1973. Their main terms were:
- a ceasefire across Vietnam;
- US troops to leave within 60 days, and American prisoners of war to be returned;
- North Vietnamese troops already in the South allowed to stay;
- the Saigon government to stay in place for now, with the future to be settled by the Vietnamese.
The last US combat troops left on schedule in March 1973, so Nixon could claim 'peace with honour'. Kissinger and Le Duc Tho were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1973, but Le Duc Tho refused it, saying peace had not yet been achieved. The ceasefire did not last. What happened next is covered in The Fall of Saigon, 1973-75.
Common mistakes
- Saying Nixon's visit to China ended the war. It put pressure on Hanoi but fighting went on.
- Mixing up the two negotiators. Kissinger was American and Le Duc Tho was North Vietnamese.
- Saying all fighting stopped in 1973. US troops left, but North Vietnamese troops stayed in the South.
- Writing about only one feature. In a 'Describe TWO features' question, one feature alone scores at most 3 marks.
Exam-style question
Describe TWO features of EITHER Nixon's relations with China OR the Paris Peace Accords (January 1973). [6 marks]
Model answer
I will describe the Paris Peace Accords.
One feature of the Paris Peace Accords was that they ended the USA's part in the fighting. There was a ceasefire, and US troops were to leave within 60 days, which they did by March 1973. American prisoners of war were also to be returned.
A second feature was that North Vietnamese troops were allowed to stay in the South. This was a concession by the USA, and it left the Communists well placed, even though the Saigon government under Thieu stayed in power for the time being.
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
Pick the option you can support with the most facts, and say which one you have chosen. Start each paragraph by naming the feature, then add two facts such as a date, a name or a term of the deal.
Recap
- Nixon improved relations with China (Kissinger's secret visit in 1971, Nixon's visit in February 1972) and the USSR, hoping to pressure North Vietnam to settle.
- Kissinger and Le Duc Tho held secret talks in Paris and had a draft deal by October 1972, but Thieu refused it.
- The Christmas bombing of December 1972 was followed by the Paris Peace Accords, signed on 27 January 1973.
- The Accords brought a ceasefire, US withdrawal within 60 days and the return of prisoners, but North Vietnamese troops stayed in the South.