China takes control of the Paracel Islands

Congressional restrictions brought U.S. bombing in Cambodia to a halt. The bombing had expanded a war rooted in Vietnam into a neighboring country and inflicted major civilian and infrastructural...

Congress established reporting and time limits for presidential deployments of U.S. forces, responding to the Vietnam experience and executive escalation. The law reshaped later debates over war...

Congress passed the War Powers Resolution after years of expanding military action in Southeast Asia. It sought to reassert congressional authority over U.S. deployments, reflecting public and...

Chinese and South Vietnamese forces fought around the islands, which both governments claimed. The clash ended with Chinese control of the archipelago. Competing accounts of who initiated the firing...

A naval battle broke out as the People’s Republic of China moved to take control of the Paracel Islands, which the Republic of Vietnam also claimed. The conflict over maritime sovereignty continued...

Richard Nixon resigned the U.S. presidency. The political crisis further weakened the ability of the U.S. executive to sustain promises of renewed military intervention in Vietnam, a factor understood...

North Vietnamese forces began the campaign against Phước Long Province, testing the Republic of Vietnam’s ability to defend territory without the direct return of U.S. forces. The battle became a...

After the Republic of Vietnam fell, former military officers and civil servants were required to register and attend “re-education.” Detention lasted far longer for many than the short periods...

North Vietnamese forces took Phước Long city and province. The United States did not intervene militarily, signaling to leaders in Hanoi that Washington was unlikely to return to direct combat. The...

People’s Army of Vietnam forces captured Phước Long city. The Republic of Vietnam’s defeat there, without a U.S. military response, informed strategic calculations on both sides before the final...