Ending the Vietnam War: The Vietnamese Communists' Perspective

by Ang,Cheng Guan

• ISBN13: 9780415326094
• ISBN10: 0415326095
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2003-11-06
• Publisher: RoutledgeCurzon

Summary

Existing studies of the Vietnam War have been written mostly from an American perspective, using western sources, and viewing the conflict through western eyes. This book, based on extensive original research, including Vietnamese, Chinese and former Soviet sources, tells the story of the war from the Tet offensive in 1968 up to the reunification of Vietnam in April 1975. Overall, it provides an important corrective to the predominantly US-centric narratives of the war by placing the Vietnamese communists center-stage in the story. It is a sequel to the author's RoutledgeCurzon bookThe Vietnam War From the Other Side, which covers the period 1962-68.

Author Biography

Ang Cheng Guan is Associate Professor at the National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements	ix
Map	x
Introduction	1	(4)
Overview of the book	5	(4)
1 The start of negotiations	9	(28)
Decision to negotiate	9	(1)
The Tet Offensive - Phase II	10	(1)
The start of the talks in Paris	11	(1)
The Tet Offensive - Phase III	12	(1)
Le Duc Tho-Harriman private meetings: the first five sessions	13	(1)
Hiccups and resumption of talks	14	(2)
The military situation in 1968 reviewed	16	(1)
The Four-Party Conference	17	(1)
The military situation in early 1969	18	(2)
Policy differences within the Hanoi leadership	20	(2)
The NLF's ten-point plan and Nixon's eight-point plan	22	(2)
Establishment of the Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam (PRGSVN)	24	(1)
Stalemate in Paris	25	(1)
Hanoi and Sino-Soviet relations, 1969	26	(2)
Ho Chi Minh's death and its aftermath	28	(4)
Military developments in the South, 1969	32	(2)
Military developments in Laos	34	(1)
The negotiations in 1969 reviewed	35	(2)
2 The widening war	37	(23)
The 18th Plenary Session of the Lao Dong Party	37	(1)
Reorganising the VPA	38	(4)
Le Duc Tho-Kissinger first secret meeting (21 February 1970)	42	(1)
Le Duc Tho-Kissinger second secret meeting (16 March 1970)	43	(1)
Communist activities in Cambodia	43	(2)
The deposition of Sihanouk and its aftermath	45	(3)
Le Duc Tho-Kissinger third secret meeting (4 April 1970)	48	(1)
Indochinese Summit Conference (24-25 April 1970)	49	(1)
Tensions between the Vietnamese and Cambodian communists	49	(1)
Military developments in Cambodia	50	(3)
Le Duan - 'first among equals'	53	(1)
Xuan Thuy-Kissinger secret meeting (7 September 1970)	54	(2)
Communist military preparations	56	(2)
Xuna Thuy-Kissinger secret meeting (27 September 1970)	58	(2)
3 Fighting and negotiating	60	(27)
Kissinger's approach rebuffed	60	(1)
The 19th Plenary Session of the Lao Dong Party	60	(1)
COSVN Directive No. O1/CT71	61	(1)
Communist spring-summer 1971 counter-offensives: Route 9-southern Laos and Cambodia	62	(5)
Sino-Vietnamese communists' relations	67	(3)
Communist counter-offensive: Tay Nguyen	70	(1)
Vietnamese-Cambodian communists' relations	71	(1)
Xuan Thuy-Kissinger meeting (31 May 1971)	71	(2)
Le Duc Tho-Kissinger meeting (26 June 1971)	73	(1)
Hanoi's analysis of the situation in mid-1971	74	(1)
Kissinger's secret visit to Beijing	75	(2)
Vietnamese communists' relations with Beijing and Moscow, 1971	77	(2)
Le Duc Tho-Kissinger meeting (12 July 1971)	79	(1)
Kissinger's new eight-point plan	80	(1)
Vietnamese communists' relations with Moscow, 1971	81	(1)
Kissinger's second visit to Beijing	82	(1)
Kissinger's new offer	83	(2)
Hanoi's analysis of the situation at the end of 1971	85	(2)
4 Negotiations at a standstill	87	(16)
Secret meetings made public	87	(1)
Nixon's visit to China	87	(2)
Communist military preparations	89	(2)
The 20th Plenary Session of the Lao Dong Party	91	(1)
The 1972 Easter Offensive	92	(3)
US bombing campaign	95	(2)
Vietnam-Soviet relations, 1972	97	(1)
Le Duc Tho-Kissinger meeting (2 May 1972)	98	(1)
The US-Soviet Summit meeting	99	(1)
A change of strategy	100	(3)
5 The peace agreement	103	(24)
Le Duc Tho-Kissinger fourteenth meeting (19 July 1972)	103	(1)
Hanoi's new negotiation strategy	104	(1)
Le Duc Tho-Kissinger meetings (1 and 14 August 1972)	105	(2)
Vietnamese communists' relations with Beijing and Moscow	107	(1)
Le Duc Tho-Kissinger meeting (15 September 1972)	108	(1)
The 26-27 September 1972 intensive negotiations	109	(2)
The communist plan for a 'general uprising' (4 October 1972)	111	(1)
The 8-12 October 1972 negotiations	111	(2)
Xuan Thuy-Kissinger meeting (17 October 1972)	113	(2)
The peace agreement aborted	115	(1)
Another cycle of negotiations	115	(2)
Linebacker II and counter-offensives	117	(3)
Another attempt at negotiation	120	(2)
The final agreement	122	(1)
Laying the groundwork for the agreement	123	(4)
6 An incomplete victory	127	(23)
Communist strategy for the South	127	(1)
COSVN meeting (16-17 March 1973)	128	(1)
COSVN Directive 3/CT/73	129	(2)
The journey to Hanoi	131	(1)
Meeting with Le Duan	132	(2)
Discussions with the Central Military Committee	134	(1)
Developments in South Vietnam reviewed	134	(2)
The Politburo meeting (May June 1973)	136	(3)
Developments in North Vietnam	139	(1)
Developments in Laos	140	(1)
Developments in Cambodia	141	(1)
Vietnamese communists' relations with China and the USSR, 1973	142	(1)
Hanoi, Beijing and the on-going conflict in Cambodia	143	(2)
COSVN Conference (September 1973)	145	(1)
Military preparations	146	(1)
Resolution 21 (15 October 1973) and COSVN Resolution 12	147	(1)
Developments in the US	148	(2)
7 Ending the war	150	(16)
The situation in the South	150	(1)
Military preparations	151	(3)
Meeting with Le Duan at Do Son	154	(2)
COSVN conference (July 1974)	156	(1)
Politburo meeting (September-October 1974)	156	(2)
Politburo meeting (December 1974 January 1975)	158	(1)
The fighting in the South	159	(2)
The 1974-1975 dry season offensive	161	(3)
Vietnamese communists' relations with Beijing and Moscow	164	(1)
The Ho Chi Minh campaign	165	(1)
Notes	166	(19)
Select bibliography	185	(11)
Index	196