Vietnam war goes on without Americans

In Paris, many efforts were made to show that no party had lost the war. Efforts were in vain. In the picture, several representatives are seen signing the peace agreement on 27th January 1973. U.S. ArcWeb file.

On 27th January 1973 the South Vietnamese delegation, the North Vietnamese, America and the Provisional Government of the Republic of South Vietnam (the Vietcong) signed the Paris Peace Accords. The document consisted of 23 items with each side’s missions prepared to the smallest details, however South Vietnam was excluded.

The Americans wanted to close that chapter of their history as soon as possible. Peace agreements accounted for a ceasefire, the withdrawal of Americans in 60 days in exchange, the holding of elections in the South and the exchange of prisoners.

These agreements accounted to a break for the U.S. With the end of their participation in the war they saved millions and especially they saved the great tension that existed in the country. However for Vietnam (both North and South) it was only a pause in the fighting. A South Vietnamese in Saigon said:

The war is over for Americans, but ours isn’t and nobody knows when or how it will end. For its part the government announced that the South would not hold elections in its territory. Before the arrival of the ceasefire, fighting had escalated to as much territory as possible.

But the Saigon government received the news with indifference and decided to tackle the North attack. The United States had pledged to continue economic aid to the South, but very quickly was reduced and suspended by President Gerald Ford.

Although the victory did not look short term and Giap’s men were retreating in front of the ARVN, there were indications that the Easter Offensive had strengthened the Paris Peace Accords. In late 1974 Hanoi had twice increased its fighters from 150,000 to 300,000. They constructed a road network from Quang Tri Province to the Mekong (all in South Vietnam) to allow the march of men and machines.

The Khe Sanh airfield was operational again and their power. The pipeline was opened to Loc Ninh to send fuel to the South. The Ho Chi Minh trail, free of bombs, was busy on all types of vehicles, big, small and heavy. In early 1974, they attacked the areas of Quang Nam and Quang Ngai, and recorded in May heavy fighting in Ben Cat and Thuong Duc retrieved by the vRNA with great difficulty. But in the spring of 1974, EVN was recovered lost in the Delta Mecong.