Cambodia Post Vietnam

What is this flag?

1. 1970-75 Flag of Cambodia - Khmer Republic  

2. Red flag = Khmer Rouge 

Who is this?

1. Prince Sihanouk

2. Monarchy/dictatorship

How is Cambodia involved in the Cold War?

1. Ho Chi Minh trail 

2. US scatter weed killer over huge areas of jungle on trail 

3. No combat troops due to neutral area 

How did Nixon’s bombing of Cambodia help the Khmer Rouge? 

1. March 1969 Operation Menu 

2. Bombing, supply lines; show of strength, strategic fear of Communist influence in Cambodia on border with Vietnam 

3. Supported pro-US General Lon Nol in his war against the Khmer Rouge, supported by NV. 

4. April 1970, 20,000 US ground troops joined ARVN; US air support lines,

In the letter from the ambassador to Cambodia to Johnson, who is the ‘bloc’?

1. Eastern bloc, communist countries politically

2. Economically and militarily aligned with the Soviet Union/USSR

What does this letter express?

1. Cambodia’s external Communist threat is currently limited, and the country has defended its sovereignty since independence in 1954, including resisting Viet Minh and Viet Cong incursions

2. Many border incidents attributed to Cambodia’s neighbors are in fact caused by Communist incursions

3. Communist Bloc strategy: avoid direct pressure on Cambodia while waiting for a regional outcome

4. China/other Communist states court Cambodia through support for neutralism and economic aid, creating an image of friendship

5. Prince Sihanouk recognises long-term Communist threat, especially if Laos or South Vietnam fall, and is striving to maintain Cambodia’s independence and neutrality

How is this linked to the US in Vietnam? 

1. USA see communism as monolithic threat, working together under Moscow who are pulling the strings 

2. US believe Sihanouk will try to resist communism; Sihanouk thinks Laos/SV already gone 

3. Laos/SV more likely to have greater influence with going communist 

4. Danger of the dominoes falling 

Who was General Lon Nol? What are the similarities to Diem and Thieu in Vietnam? 

1. Cambodian military officer/politician  

2. Similar in authoritarian/brutal regime 

3. Military general who lead a coup like Thieu and established regime 

What else occurred that involved Lon Nol?

1. Dropped 430,000 tonnes on Cambodia 

2. Lon Nol accepted US help 

3. Corrupt, inefficient leader, worried about his own overthrow, so didn't allow collusion between armed forces 

4. Communists in alliance with NV

5. Bombing did not permanently disrupt logistics and communications 

6. Drove some into the hands of the KR

Why did fighting continue in Cambodia despite the Paris Peace Accords for Vietnam? 

1. North Vietnamese exit should have put the government on route to victory 

2. Khmer Rouge only numbered 40,000 

3. KR intensified their fighting 

4. Pincer movement around Phnom Penh 

5. April 1975: The capital falls to Communists

What was the impact of the Khmer Rouge’s leadership from 1975 to 1979? 

1. April 1975: Lon Nol government collapsed

2. Communist forces entered Phnom Penh, ordered its inhabitants to abandon the city/take up life in rural areas

3. Phnom Penh/other cities and towns throughout the country emptied in less than a week

4. 1000’s of city dwellers died on the forced marches, conditions worsened in following years

5. Democratic Kampuchea 

6. Next 6 months, Cambodia experienced most rapid/radical social transformation in its history

7. Money, markets/private property were abolished

8. Schools, hospitals, shops, offices/monasteries closed

9. Nothing published; no travel without permission; everyone ordered to wear peasant work clothes

10. Party leaders controlled everything, but remained in hiding/explained few of their decisions - urged everyone to “build and defend” the country

How can these impacts be simplified?

1. Fall of Saigon—30 April 1975 

2. Khmer Rouge entered Phnom Penh - 17 April 1975 

3. Laos became communist 2 December 1975 

In a memo from the national security advisor to President Ford, what was happening to the people of Cambodia?

1. Cambodian refugees fled to Thailand

2. Cambodian communists reconstructing the country through harsh/brutal methods to implement their policies

3. Former teachers, students/low-ranking men in Nol’s military forces executed

4. Even members of entire family of former government officials/soldiers executed

5. Book burnings in Phnom Penh

6. Education ceased to exist to save for ideological training for children 7-12 

7. Organised religion eradicated—monks work in fields, most pagodas dismantled/used for other purposes (storing grain) 

Some people in the US called for action to stop this. Why was nothing done? 

1. 1976–77: new regime, following Maoist China, sought to collectivise Cambodia totally

2. Population mobilised into an unpaid labour force/sought to double the average prerevolutionary yields of rice immediately (on national scale)

3. Enormous human costs of that ill-conceived experiment

How did the new regime achieve this?

1. The Killing Fields 

2. Pol Pot 

3. Ideological cleansing 

4. Enforced self sufficiency 

5. Random execution of subversive elements 

6. Genocide; almost wholly wiping out educated and professional classes 

7. Destroy society and replace it with a new agricultural society 

8. Cities emptied 

What were the consequences?

1. Conservative estimates: between April 1975-early 1979, when regime overthrown, at least 1.5 million Cambodians—20% total population—died from overwork, starvation, disease, or execution

2. 1/2 population became refugees

3. Vietnamese invasion leads to toppling of regime 1979

What did these events in Cambodia mean for the Cold War? 

1. Solidifies US' current defeat, although eventually win  

2. Another win for communism—Vietnam falls 1975, then Laos, Khmer Rouge 

3. Military unwillingness/need to recover 

4. USSR lack of control over Khmer Rouge, instability 

5. Another domino  

6. ONE OF THE LOWEST POINTS OF AMERICAN MORALE 

7. Vietnamese communists fight Khmer Rouge