Paris Peace Accords

The Paris Peace Accords were signed in 1973 by the governments of North Vietnam, South Vietnam, and the United States with the intent to establish peace in Vietnam. They were signed in Paris, France.

Related Topics:
1973 - North Vietnam - South Vietnam - United States - Paris, France

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Peace talks in Paris had been planned since at least 1968. However the American Presidential Election which was ongoing at that time complicated matters, which prompted the South Vietnamese government to wait until Richard Nixon was elected before continuing. The Lyndon Johnson administration and his potential successor, Hubert Humphrey had favored pre-election peace talks, but South Vietnam's Prime Minister Nguyen Cao Ky disagreed with their proposed format of these talks, in which the Communist Viet Cong guerilla army was allowed to be treated as an indpendent party. The South Vietnamese government regarded the Viet Cong as agents of the Communist government of North Vietnam, and thus not a soverign party. The North similarly viewed the Southern government as an agent of the United States, and similarly non-soverign. Johnson thus began to negotiate unilaterially with the Northern government until he left office.

Related Topics:
Richard Nixon - Lyndon Johnson - Hubert Humphrey - South Vietnam - Nguyen Cao Ky - Viet Cong - North Vietnam

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After Nixon's election, problems still continued. For many months the North and South famously debated over the shape of the table that would be used at the Paris Peace Conference. The North favored a circular table, in which all parties, including NLF representatives, would appear to be equal in importance. The South argued that only a rectangular table was acceptable, for only a rectangle could show two distinct sides to the conflict, the North and South. Eventually a compromise was reached, in which representatives of the North and South government would sit at a circular table, with members representing all other parties sitting on individual square tables around them.

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A treaty was finally signed on January 27, 1973. All parties pledged to "respect the independence, sovereignty, unity, and territorial integrity of Vietnam as recognized by the 1954 Geneva Agreements on Vietnam." The United States agreed to continue its withdrawal of troops, which had started in 1969, leading to a complete withdrawal by March 29, 1973.

Related Topics:
January 27 - 1973 - 1969 - March 29

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The treaty's terms were unpopular with many in president Nguyen Van Thieu's Southern government. Thieu's main objection was that North Vietnamese troops were permitted to remain in areas they controlled in the South. Moreover, Thieu felt the sudden withdrawal of American forces would cripple their military strength, leaving them vulnerable if the North decided to violate the cease-fire. In 1975 this proved true, and the Northern government successfully invaded and conquered the South.

Related Topics:
Nguyen Van Thieu - 1975

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