Chapter 21; Section 5 - PowerPoint Presentation

Slide1

Chapter 21; Section 5

The End of the War

The Vietnam War and American Society 1960 - 1975Slide2

Paris peace talksNegotiations between the U.S. and North Vietnam beginning in 1968Slide3

Vietnamization President Nixon’s policy of replacing American military forces with those of South VietnamSlide4

Vietnam Veterans Memorial Monument in Washington, D.C. built to honor those killed in the Vietnam WarSlide5

Main IdeaThe end of the Vietnam War involved:- slow-moving peace negotiations

-the gradual withdrawal of American troops

-the fall of South Vietnam Slide6

Toward the end of his term as President, Johnson had called for peace negotiations to end the Vietnam War. The resulting Paris peace talks, which began in May 1968, failed to produce an agreement.Slide7

President Nixon campaigned on the claim that he had a secret plan to end the war. In June 1969, he began the policy of Vietnamization, replacing American troops in Vietnam with South Vietnamese soldiers.Slide8

Although Nixon wanted to end the war, he did not want to lose it. He launched secret bombing raids and expanded the war to Cambodia, hoping to destroy Viet Cong camps there.Slide9

Nixon hoped his Cambodian attacks would help America in peace negotiations. Instead, the attacks resulted in both civil war in Cambodia and more antiwar protests in the United States. Slide10

In a 1969 speech, Nixon appealed to those who, he felt, quietly supported his policies. He referred to this group of Americans as “the silent majority.”Slide11

President Nixon’s Speech1:33 MinutesSlide12

When student antiwar protesters at Kent State University in Ohio reacted angrily to Nixon’s invasion of Cambodia, Nixon ordered the National Guard to Kent State. Students threw rocks at the guardsmen and the troops opened fire, killing

4 and wounding 9 protesters and bystanders.Slide13

The violence at Kent State, and a similar incident at Jackson State in Mississippi, horrified Americans.Slide14

Guardsmen surround the charred remains of the ROTC building on May 4, 1970.Slide15

Kent State Shootings3:29 MinutesSlide16

Provisions of Peace Settlement between the United States, South Vietnam, North Vietnam, and the Viet Cong, signed in Paris in January 1973:The United States would withdraw all its forces from South Vietnam within

60 days.

All prisoners of war would be released.

All parties to the agreement would end military activities in

Laos

and

Cambodia

.

The

17th parallel

would continue to divide North and South Vietnam until the country could be reunited.

American WithdrawalSlide17

Q: Why did the United States invade Cambodia? To quicken the peace process and to strengthen its position in negotiationsSlide18

Legacy of the WarOver

58,000

Americans dead

$

150 billion

in costs to United States

Over

300,000

Americans wounded

Millions

of Vietnamese soldiers and civilians deadSlide19

Successful? Laos and Cambodia fell to communism but the rest of the region did not.Slide20
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April 1975 – Cambodia fell to the Khmer Rouge, a force of Communists led by Pol Pot. Slide22

Khmer RougeCommunist group that committed genocide by killing 1.5 million CambodiansSlide23

New Vietnamese leaders forced thousands into “re-education camps” while many fled the country as refugees. Slide24

Many people from Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos would flee to the United States, leaving their entire lives behind.Slide25

Americans realized that our technology and money would not always mean victory against communism.Slide26

Many veterans were not appreciated when they returned home.Slide27

Vietnam Veterans Memorial was completed in 1982.Slide28

Vietnam Veterans Memorial1:09 MinutesSlide29

Q: What did the complete withdrawal of American troops mean for South Vietnam? South Vietnam could not stand up to the forces of the north and inevitably was forced to surrenderSlide30

Q: Who finally won the Vietnam War? North VietnamSlide31

Vietnam Veterans Day Documentary3:06 Minutes