Paris Peace Agreements

Paris Peace Agreements an “Agreement on Ending the War and Restoring Peace to Vietnam,” signed on January 27, 1973, in Paris by the Republic of Vietnam, the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, the Provisional Revolutionary Government of Vietnam, and the United States. It was followed by three detailed protocols derived from it and signed by the same signatories. It called for a cease-fire throughout North and South Vietnam and the ending of direct U.S. participation in the Vietnam War by a withdrawal of all U.S. forces in South Vietnam, the dismantlement of U.S. bases, and a Four-Power Joint Military Commission to oversee the agreement's implementation. It also called for the release of all prisoners of war, limitations on arms replacement in both regions, and negotiations between North and South Vietnam to establish peaceful relations and reunification. Despite the agreements, violations of the cease-fire and other provisions had resumed by the fall of 1973.

Henry Kissinger, President Richard M. Nixon's national security adviser, and Le Duc Tho, the special adviser to the North Vietnamese Politburo, had held “backchannel” negotiations in 1970–71 in an attempt to reach an agreement. After the 1973 agreement was signed, Kissinger and Le Duc Tho were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for 1973, but the latter declined to accept it.