The Paris Peace Accords were signed on January 27 1973 between the United States (US) government, South Vietnam then politically known as the Republic of Vietnam, North Vietnam known officially as the Democratic Republic of Vietnam and the PRG or the Provisional Revolutionary Government which represented interests of revolutionary groups residing in South Vietnam. The purpose of the accord was to end the Vietnam War and bring peace to war-ravaged Vietnam. In particular, the accord was aimed to end direct involvement of American military in the war and stop the wars between South and North Vietnam (Griffith, 42). When President Richard Nixon addressed the American people after the signing of the accord, he stated that they had achieved “peace with honour”. This was not an accurate characterisation of the signing of the peace accord.
The signing of the Paris Peace Accord was hinged on selfish agenda’s by the involved parties rather than a sincere quest for lasting peace. President Nixon pursued the Paris Peace Accord as part of a well-orchestrated campaign agenda. President was pursuing a second term as the US president and he wanted to do way with the Vietnam War and focus on his re-election campaigns. Nixon also wanted to pursue strong foreign policies with China and the Soviet Union two sides which wanted peace restored in Vietnam. Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam, feared that it would be politically isolated if the US forged an alliance with China and the Soviet Union (Isserman & Bowman, 23).
Divided loyalties during the negotiations for the Paris Peace Accord compromised peace during the negotiations. While normal peace talks were going on, the then US security advisor, Henry Kissinger met Le Duc Tho who was the lead negotiator for North Vietnam. Kissinger assured North Vietnam that their troops would continue to rein terror in South Vietnam after the cease-fire (Levy, 72). He also refused to support South Vietnam leader, Nguyen Van Thieu. On October 22 1972 Nixon suspended all attacks to North Vietnam and four days later, Henry Kissinger proclaimed that “peace was at hand”. The peace never materialised and soon Thieu who had been excluded from the negotiations demanded for changes to be made to the resolutions of the talks in order to include interests of his people (Isserman & Bowman, 34). His demands infuriated Hanoi and the negotiations broke off on 13th December 1972.
The signing of the Accord was marred by diverse challenges. The talks to end the Vietnam War between the US and Hanoi reached a deadlock and stalled in 1968 almost immediately after they had started. Eight months after President Lyndon Johnson had handed over power to President Richard Nixon, the negotiating teams in Vietnam had only settled on petty issues such as the shape of the table to use for the negotiations. Although Nixon had promised “peace with honour” the stalemate between the negotiating parties, continued for three and half years. During this time, talks used to take place in Paris but the impasse and high-handedness between the South and North Vietnamese governments continued. These events escalated the war resulting in more civilian and military men casualties.
Shortly before a date had been set to commence the Paris talks, the then US president Lyndon Johnson halted all bombing operations in Northern part of North Vietnam. However, the talks stalled as North Vietnam demanded all bombings in North Vietnam be stopped. The US side was reluctant and demanded that the North Vietnam government agreed to a reciprocal de-escalation in the Southern part of Vietnam (Levy, 56). President Johnson agreed to end air strikes and begin serious negotiations after much pressing by the North and Southern Vietnam governments.
There was also strife in the acceptance of the government of South Vietnam. The government of North Vietnam and the National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam (Viet Cong or NLF) did not recognize the government of South Vietnam. To resolve this impasse, the US and North Vietnam would be the principal parties to the Paris Peace talks (Isserman & Bowman, 29). The NLF officials would join Vietnam without recognition by South Vietnam while South Vietnam officials would team up with American negotiators. As such, the Paris Peace Accord was signed amidst mistrust and deep-seated resentment between North and South Vietnamese governments.
These events can be attested by Phillip Caputo who was a US marine and fought in the Vietnamese war. In his book, A Rumor of War, Caputo states that he arrived in Vietnam in March 1965 with the hope of participating briefly in the war and hoping that it would end soon. This was not to be the journey to peace was long, marred by thousands of deaths of his fellow soldiers and civilians. Caputo states that he and his fellow soldiers killed many of their opponents. It was difficult to stop the war because of the counter attacks and the instinctual killing traits that had been instilled into soldiers during training. “They had taught us to kill, and now they were going to court-martial us for killing” (Caputo, 1977, Pg. 322).
After these events, President Nixon who was caught between a tough enemy and a stubborn ally promised Thieu’ South Vietnam Government $ 1 billion in military equipment. The US also threatened that it would restart war if North Vietnam failed to abide by the peace agreements. There was also the widely criticised “Christmas bombing” as a blot in the seemingly peaceful resolution of the Vietnam War. President Nixon ordered for an intense attack on North Vietnam. US forces flew more than 2,000 sorties and dropped more than 35,000 tonnes of bombs in rail yards, transport terminals, barracks, and factories among other Vietnamese establishments (Griffith, 63). This catastrophic attack seriously compromises Nixon’s allegation that peace in Vietnam was achieved “with honour”.
Works Cited
Caputo, Philip. A Rumor of War. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1977. Print. Griffith, Robert. Major Problems in American History since 1945. S.l.: Wadsworth, 2013. Print.
Isserman, Maurice, and John S. Bowman. Vietnam War. New York: Facts on File, 2003. Internet resource.
Levy, Debbie. The Vietnam War. Minneapolis: Lerner Publications, 2004. Print.
