The Krom Pracheachon ( Khmer : ក្រុមប្រជាជន [krom prɑciəcɔn] ; "People's Group"), often referred to simply as Pracheachon , was a Cambodian political party that contested in parliamentary elections in 1955 , 1958 and 1972 .
128-777: Second Third The Cambodian Civil War ( Khmer : សង្គ្រាមស៊ីវិលកម្ពុជា , UNGEGN : Sângkréam Sivĭl Kâmpŭchéa ) was a civil war in Cambodia fought between the forces of the Communist Party of Kampuchea (known as the Khmer Rouge , supported by North Vietnam and the Viet Cong ) against the government forces of the Kingdom of Cambodia and, after October 1970, the Khmer Republic , which had succeeded
256-589: A 10-day state visit to the US . President Eisenhower pledged his continued support, and a parade was held in Diệm's honor. But Secretary of State Dulles privately conceded Diệm had to be backed because they could find no better alternative. Between 1954 and 1957, the Diệm government succeeded in preventing large-scale organized unrest in the countryside. In April 1957, insurgents launched an assassination campaign, referred to as "extermination of traitors". 17 people were killed in
384-669: A Marxist–Leninist political organization which operated primarily in Hong Kong and the Soviet Union . The party aimed to overthrow French rule and establish an independent communist state in Vietnam. In September 1940, Japan invaded French Indochina, following France's capitulation to Nazi Germany . French influence was suppressed by the Japanese, and in 1941 Cung, now known as Ho Chi Minh , returned to Vietnam to establish
512-625: A Military Assistance and Advisory Group (MAAG) to screen French requests for aid, advise on strategy, and train Vietnamese soldiers. By 1954, the US had spent $ 1 billion in support of the French military effort, shouldering 80% of the cost of the war. During the Battle of Dien Bien Phu in 1954, US carriers sailed to the Gulf of Tonkin and the US conducted reconnaissance flights. France and
640-517: A marriage of convenience that was spurred on by his thirst for revenge against those who had betrayed him. For the Khmer Rouge, it was a means to greatly expand the appeal of their movement. Peasants, motivated by loyalty to the monarchy, gradually rallied to the GRUNK cause. The personal appeal of Sihanouk and widespread U.S. aerial bombardment helped recruitment. This task was made even easier for
768-565: A psychological warfare campaign which exaggerated anti-Catholic sentiment among the Viet Minh and distributed propaganda attributed to Viet Minh threatening an American attack on Hanoi with atomic bombs. During the 300-day period, up to one million northerners, mainly minority Catholics, moved south, fearing persecution by the Communists. The exodus was coordinated by a U.S.-funded $ 93 million relocation program, which involved
896-471: A ceasefire with the Viet Minh, and independence was granted to Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam. At the 1954 Geneva Conference, Vietnam was temporarily partitioned at the 17th parallel . Ho Chi Minh wished to continue war in the south, but was restrained by Chinese allies who convinced him he could win control by electoral means. Under the Geneva Accords, civilians were allowed to move freely between
1024-590: A coordinated uprising in South Vietnam against the government and a third of the population was soon living in areas of communist control. In December 1960, North Vietnam formally created the Viet Cong (VC) with the intent of uniting all anti-GVN insurgents, including non-communists. It was formed in Memot, Cambodia , and directed through COSVN. The VC "placed heavy emphasis on the withdrawal of American advisors and influence, on land reform and liberalization of
1152-418: A favorable environment for the growth of a domestic communist insurgency in the rural areas. The prince then found himself in a political dilemma. To maintain the balance against the rising tide of the conservatives, he named the leaders of the very group he had been oppressing as members of a "counter-government" that was meant to monitor and criticize Lon Nol's administration. One of Lon Nol's first priorities
1280-520: A more "modest" winning margin of "60 to 70 percent." Diệm, however, viewed the election as a test of authority. He declared South Vietnam to be an independent state under the name Republic of Vietnam (ROV), with him as president. Likewise, Ho Chi Minh and other communists won at least 99% of the vote in North Vietnamese "elections". The domino theory , which argued that if a country fell to communism, all surrounding countries would follow,
1408-905: A new card, since the Asian communists are already attacking us before the end of the Vietnam War." Besides, PAVN and the Viet Cong would make very convenient scapegoats for Cambodia's ills, much more so than the minuscule Khmer Rouge, and ridding Cambodia of their presence would solve many problems simultaneously. Although the U.S. had been aware of the PAVN/Viet Cong sanctuaries in Cambodia since 1966, President Lyndon B. Johnson had chosen not to attack them due to possible international repercussions and his belief that Sihanouk could be convinced to alter his policies. Johnson did, however, authorize
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#17327730166281536-557: A person knowledgeable in Indochinese affairs who did not agree that had elections been held as of the time of the fighting, possibly 80% of the population would have voted for the Communist Ho Chi Minh as their leader rather than Chief of State Bảo Đại. Indeed, the lack of leadership and drive on the part of Bảo Đại was a factor in the feeling prevalent among Vietnamese that they had nothing to fight for. According to
1664-412: A policy of " Vietnamization " from 1969, which saw the conflict fought by an expanded ARVN, while US forces withdrew. A 1970 coup in Cambodia resulted in a PAVN invasion and a US–ARVN counter-invasion , escalating its civil war. US troops had mostly withdrawn from Vietnam by 1972, and the 1973 Paris Peace Accords saw the rest leave. The accords were broken almost immediately and fighting continued until
1792-634: A shield for the American withdrawal from Vietnam (by destroying the PAVN logistical system and killing enemy troops) in Cambodia; second, it would provide a test for the policy of Vietnamization; third, it would serve as a signal to Hanoi that Nixon meant business. Despite Nixon's appreciation of Lon Nol's position, the Cambodian leader was not even informed in advance of the decision to send troops into his country. He learned about it only after it had begun from
1920-663: Is the most commonly used title in English . It has been called the Second Indochina War since it spread to Laos and Cambodia , the Vietnam Conflict , and Nam (colloquially 'Nam). In Vietnam it is commonly known as Kháng chiến chống Mỹ ( lit. ' Resistance War against America ' ). The Government of Vietnam officially refers to it as the Resistance War against America to Save
2048-475: The 1975 spring offensive and fall of Saigon to the PAVN, marking the war's end. North and South Vietnam were reunified in 1976. The war exacted enormous human cost : estimates of Vietnamese soldiers and civilians killed range from 970,000 to 3 million. Some 275,000–310,000 Cambodians , 20,000–62,000 Laotians , and 58,220 US service members died. Its end would precipitate the Vietnamese boat people and
2176-610: The Châu Đốc massacre at a bar in July, and in September a district chief was killed with his family. By early 1959, Diệm had come to regard the violence as an organized campaign and implemented Law 10/59, which made political violence punishable by death and property confiscation. There had been division among former Viet Minh, whose main goal was to hold elections promised in the Geneva Accords, leading to " wildcat " activities separate from
2304-669: The Cold War between the Soviet Union and US. American military involvement greatly escalated from 1965 until its withdrawal in 1973. The fighting spilled over into the Laotian and Cambodian Civil Wars , which ended with all three countries becoming communist in 1975. After the defeat of French Indochina in the First Indochina War that began in 1946, Vietnam gained independence in the 1954 Geneva Conference but
2432-808: The Cuban Missile Crisis (October 1962) played out on television worldwide. It was the closest the Cold War came to nuclear war . The Kennedy administration remained committed to the Cold War foreign policy inherited from the Truman and Eisenhower administrations. In 1961, the US had 50,000 troops based in South Korea, and Kennedy faced four crisis situations: the failure of the Bay of Pigs Invasion he had approved in April, settlement negotiations between
2560-569: The French Navy and the US Seventh Fleet to ferry refugees. The northern refugees gave the later Ngô Đình Diệm regime a strong anti-communist constituency. Over 100,000 Viet Minh fighters went to the north for "regroupment", expecting to return south within two years. The Viet Minh left roughly 5,000 to 10,000 cadres in the south as a base for future insurgency. The last French soldiers left South Vietnam in April 1956 and
2688-671: The Geneva Conference of 1954 . Sihanouk was convinced that the PRC, not the U.S., would eventually control the Indochinese Peninsula and that "our interests are best served by dealing with the camp that one day will dominate the whole of Asia – and coming to terms before its victory – in order to obtain the best terms possible." During the same year, however, he allowed his pro-American minister of defense, General Lon Nol , to crack down on leftist activities, crushing
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#17327730166282816-545: The Green Berets , would be effective in a "brush fire" war in Vietnam. Pracheachon For much of its existence, the party was a legal front organization for the clandestine Communist Party of Kampuchea . The Pracheachon came into existence as a result of the Geneva Accords of 1954. This guaranteed Cambodia's independence and neutrality, with parliamentary elections to be held the following year. Many of
2944-669: The Ho Chi Minh trail to supply and reinforce the VC. By 1963, the north had covertly sent 40,000 soldiers of its own People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN), armed with Soviet and Chinese weapons, to fight in the insurgency in the south. President John F. Kennedy increased US involvement from 900 military advisors in 1960 to 16,300 in 1963 and sent more aid to the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN), which failed to produce results. In 1963, Diem
3072-623: The Khmer National Armed Forces was, however by this time a close associate of Lon Nol, and it was widely thought that the Pracheachon had been reorganized by Nol's brother Lon Non specifically to provide a 'token' opposition to the PSR. Figures associated with the Pracheachon in this period included Saloth Chhay , a left-wing journalist who was the brother of Pol Pot (Saloth Sar). The Socio-Republican Party won all seats in
3200-660: The Korean War in June convinced Washington policymakers that the war in Indochina was another example of communist expansionism, directed by the Soviet Union. Military advisors from China began assisting the Viet Minh in July 1950. Chinese weapons, expertise, and laborers transformed the Viet Minh from a guerrilla force into a regular army. In September 1950, the US further enforced the Truman Doctrine by creating
3328-628: The Pentagon Papers , which commented on Eisenhower's observation, Diệm would have been a more popular candidate than Bảo Đại against Hồ, stating that "It is almost certain that by 1956 the proportion which might have voted for Ho - in a free election against Diem - would have been much smaller than 80%." In 1957, independent observers from India, Poland, and Canada representing the International Control Commission (ICC) stated that fair elections were impossible, with
3456-596: The Pracheachon by accusing its members of subversion and subservience to Hanoi . Simultaneously, Sihanouk lost the support of Cambodia's conservatives as a result of his failure to come to grips with the deteriorating economic situation (exacerbated by the loss of rice exports, most of which went to the PAVN/Viet Cong) and with the growing communist military presence. On 11 September 1966, Cambodia held its first open election. Through manipulation and harassment
3584-581: The U.S. Air Force carried out the bombing of Base Area 353 (in the Fishhook region opposite South Vietnam's Tây Ninh Province ) by 59 B-52 Stratofortress bombers. This strike was the first in a series of attacks on the sanctuaries that lasted until May 1970. During Operation Menu , the Air Force conducted 3,875 sorties and dropped more than 108,000 tons of ordnance on the eastern border areas. Only five high-ranking congressional officials were informed of
3712-601: The Viet Minh , an anti-Japanese resistance movement that advocated for independence. The Viet Minh received aid from the Allies , namely the US, Soviet Union, and Republic of China . Beginning in 1944, the US Office of Strategic Services (O.S.S.) provided the Viet Minh with weapons, ammunition, and training to fight the occupying Japanese and Vichy French forces. Throughout the war, Vietnamese guerrilla resistance against
3840-577: The Vietnam War respectively. The Cambodian civil war led to the Cambodian genocide , one of the bloodiest in history. During the early-to-mid-1960s, Prince Norodom Sihanouk's policies had protected his nation from the turmoil that engulfed Laos and South Vietnam. Neither the People's Republic of China (PRC) nor North Vietnam disputed Sihanouk's claim to represent "progressive" political policies and
3968-458: The maquisards . They led their followers into the highlands of the northeast and into the lands of the Khmer Loeu , a tribal people who were hostile to both the lowland Khmers and the central government. For the Khmer Rouge, who still lacked assistance from the North Vietnamese, it was a period of regroupment, organization, and training. Hanoi basically ignored its Chinese-sponsored allies, and
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4096-457: The British were opposed. Eisenhower, wary of involving the US in an Asian land war, decided against intervention. Throughout the conflict, US intelligence estimates remained skeptical of France's chance of success. On 7 May 1954, the French garrison at Dien Bien Phu surrendered. The defeat marked the end of French military involvement in Indochina. At the Geneva Conference , they negotiated
4224-462: The Cambodian army. The North Vietnamese turned over some of their conquests and provided other assistance to the Khmer Rouge, thus empowering what was at the time a small guerrilla movement. The Cambodian government hastened to expand its army to combat the North Vietnamese and the growing power of the Khmer Rouge. The U.S. was motivated by the desire to buy time for its withdrawal from Southeast Asia, to protect its ally in South Vietnam, and to prevent
4352-560: The Cambodians fighting for independence (notably members of the United Issarak Front ) had been associated with the Viet Minh , who now agreed to withdraw their units from Cambodia: a large number of Khmer leftists, led by veteran Issarak Son Ngoc Minh , departed for Hanoi , where they were to remain for the next twenty years. Those remaining leftists were encouraged to form a legal political party to contest elections:
4480-644: The DRV had arrogated to itself in Indochina, the North Vietnamese leaders declared that all communist states should join forces against "American imperialism." Indeed, the issue of Vietnamese versus Chinese hegemony over Indochina greatly influenced the attitude Hanoi adopted towards Moscow in the early and mid-1970s. During the Cambodian civil war, the Soviet leaders, ready to acquiesce in Hanoi's dominance over Laos and Cambodia, actually insisted on sending their aid shipments to
4608-455: The GVN, on coalition government and the neutralization of Vietnam." The identities of the leaders of the organization were often kept secret. Support for the VC was driven by resentment of Diem's reversal of Viet Minh land reforms in the countryside. The Viet Minh had confiscated large private landholdings, reduced rents and debts, and leased communal lands, mostly to poorer peasants. Diem brought
4736-588: The ICC reporting that neither South nor North Vietnam had honored the armistice agreement. From April to June 1955, Diệm eliminated political opposition in the south by launching operations against religious groups: the Cao Đài and Hòa Hảo of Ba Cụt . The campaign also attacked the Bình Xuyên organized crime group, which was allied with members of the communist party secret police and had military elements. The group
4864-472: The Japanese grew dramatically, and by the end of 1944 the Viet Minh had grown to over 500,000 members. US President Franklin D. Roosevelt was an ardent supporter of Vietnamese resistance, and proposed that Vietnam's independence be granted under an international trusteeship following the war. Following the surrender of Japan in 1945, the Viet Minh launched the August Revolution , overthrowing
4992-628: The Japanese-backed Empire of Vietnam and seizing weapons from the surrendering Japanese forces. On September 2, Ho Chi Minh proclaimed the Declaration of independence of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV). However, on September 23, French forces overthrew the DRV and reinstated French rule. American support for the Viet Minh promptly ended, and O.S.S. forces left as the French sought to reassert control of
5120-542: The Khmer Rouge and North Vietnam now took an active role in supplying and training the Khmer Rouge. All of this resulted in the Cambodian government being greatly weakened and the insurgents multiplying several fold in size over the course of a few weeks. As noted in the official Vietnamese war history, "our troops helped our Cambodian friends to completely liberate five provinces with a total population of three million people... our troops also helped our Cambodian friends train cadre and expand their armed forces. In just two months
5248-569: The Khmer Rouge by visiting them in the field, their ranks swelled from 6,000 to 50,000 fighters. The prince then allied himself with the Khmer Rouge, the North Vietnamese, the Laotian Pathet Lao and the Viet Cong, throwing his personal prestige behind the communists. On 5 May, the actual establishment of FUNK and of the Gouvernement royal d'union nationale du Kampuchéa or GRUNK (Royal Government of National Union of Kampuchea),
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5376-474: The Khmer Rouge through the DRV, whereas China firmly rebuffed Hanoi's proposal that Chinese aid to Cambodia be sent via North Vietnam. Facing Chinese competition and Soviet acquiescence, the North Vietnamese leaders found the Soviet option more advantageous to their interests, a calculation that played a major role in the gradual pro-Soviet shift in Hanoi's foreign policies. In the wake of the coup, Lon Nol did not immediately launch Cambodia into war. He appealed to
5504-523: The Khmer Rouge) in active subversion within his country. At the suggestion of Lon Nol (who had returned to the cabinet as defense minister in November 1968) and other conservative politicians, on 11 May 1969, the prince welcomed the restoration of normal diplomatic relations with the U.S. and created a new Government of National Salvation with Lon Nol as his prime minister. He did so "in order to play
5632-421: The Krom Pracheachon, which had a socialist platform. The Communist Party itself (led by Tou Samouth and Sieu Heng , and including later prominent figures such as Saloth Sar (Pol Pot) and Ieng Sary ) continued as a purely clandestine organization. The Pracheachon was led by Non Suon , Keo Meas , and Penn Yuth , all former Issaraks. It adopted the symbol of a plough . The Cambodian elections of 1955 were
5760-403: The Nation. It is sometimes called the American War . Vietnam had been under French control as part of French Indochina since the mid-19th century. Under French rule, Vietnamese nationalism was suppressed, so revolutionary groups conducted their activities abroad, particularly in France and China. One such nationalist, Nguyen Sinh Cung , established the Indochinese Communist Party in 1930,
5888-430: The North Vietnamese had launched an offensive (Campaign X ) of its own against FANK forces at the request of the Khmer Rouge and in order to protect and expand their Base Areas and logistical system. By June, three months after the removal of Sihanouk, they had swept government forces from the entire northeastern third of the country. After defeating those forces, the North Vietnamese turned the newly won territories over to
6016-435: The North Vietnamese invasion in April 1970, as a direct result of the PAVN seizing 40% of the country, handing it over to the communist insurgents, and then actively supplying and training the insurgents. While Sihanouk was out of the country on a trip to France, anti-Vietnamese rioting (which was semi-sponsored by the government) took place in Phnom Penh, during which the North Vietnamese and Viet Cong embassies were sacked. In
6144-409: The PRC also completed its withdrawal from North Vietnam. Between 1953 and 1956, the North Vietnamese government instituted agrarian reforms, including "rent reduction" and "land reform", which resulted in political oppression. During land reform, North Vietnamese witnesses suggested a ratio of one execution for every 160 village residents, which extrapolates to 100,000 executions. Because the campaign
6272-417: The Pentagon for more arms, equipment, and staff for what he proprietarily viewed as "my war". There were other problems. The officer corps of FANK was generally corrupt and greedy. The inclusion of "ghost" soldiers allowed massive payroll padding; ration allowances were kept by the officers while their men starved; and the sale of arms and ammunition on the black market (or to the enemy) was commonplace. Worse,
6400-493: The Republican government was defeated on 17 April 1975 when the victorious Khmer Rouge proclaimed the establishment of Democratic Kampuchea . The war caused a refugee crisis in Cambodia with two million people—more than 25 percent of the population—displaced from rural areas into the cities, especially Phnom Penh which grew from about 600,000 in 1970 to an estimated population of nearly 2 million by 1975. Children were often being persuaded or forced to commit atrocities during
6528-415: The Soviet archives revealing that the offensive was launched at the explicit request of the Khmer Rouge following negotiations with Nuon Chea. The North Vietnamese overran most of northeastern Cambodia by June 1970. The North Vietnamese invasion completely changed the course of the civil war. Cambodia's army was mauled, lands containing nearly half of the Cambodian population were conquered and handed over to
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#17327730166286656-408: The State of Vietnam, with Bảo Đại as Emperor, and Ngô Đình Diệm as prime minister. Neither the US, nor Diệm's State of Vietnam, signed anything at the Geneva Conference. The non-communist Vietnamese delegation objected strenuously to any division of Vietnam, but lost when the French accepted the proposal of Viet Minh delegate Phạm Văn Đồng , who proposed Vietnam eventually be united by elections under
6784-453: The US discussed the use of tactical nuclear weapons , though reports of how seriously this was considered and by whom, are vague. According to then-Vice President Richard Nixon , the Joint Chiefs of Staff drew up plans to use nuclear weapons to support the French. Nixon, a so-called " hawk ", suggested the US might have to "put American boys in". President Dwight D. Eisenhower made American participation contingent on British support, but
6912-473: The Vienna summit with Khrushchev, "Now we have a problem making our power credible and Vietnam looks like the place." Kennedy's policy toward South Vietnam assumed Diệm and his forces had to defeat the guerrillas on their own. He was against the deployment of American combat troops and observed "to introduce U.S. forces in large numbers there today, while it might have an initially favorable military impact, would almost certainly lead to adverse political and, in
7040-463: The Viet Cong all harshly denounced these actions. Significantly, no Cambodians—including the Buddhist community—condemned the killings. In his apology to the Saigon government, Lon Nol stated that "it was difficult to distinguish between Vietnamese citizens who were Viet Cong and those who were not. So it is quite normal that the reaction of Cambodian troops, who feel themselves betrayed, is difficult to control." From Beijing, Sihanouk proclaimed that
7168-431: The Vietnamese as hostages against PAVN/Viet Cong activities, and the military set about rounding them up into detention camps. That was when the killing began. In towns and villages all over Cambodia, soldiers and civilians sought out their Vietnamese neighbors in order to murder them. On 15 April, the bodies of 800 Vietnamese floated down the Mekong River and into South Vietnam. The South Vietnamese, North Vietnamese, and
7296-415: The armed forces of our Cambodian allies grew from ten guerrilla teams to nine battalions and 80 companies of full-time troops with a total strength of 20,000 soldiers, plus hundreds of guerrilla squads and platoons in the villages." On 29 April 1970, South Vietnamese and U.S. units unleashed a limited, multi-pronged Cambodian Campaign that Washington hoped would solve three problems: First, it would provide
7424-478: The bombing. After the event, it was claimed by Nixon and Kissinger that Sihanouk had given his tacit approval for the raids, but this is dubious. Sihanouk told U.S. diplomat Chester Bowles on 10 January 1968, that he would not oppose American "hot pursuit" of retreating North Vietnamese troops "in remote areas [of Cambodia]," provided that Cambodians were unharmed. Kenton Clymer notes that this statement "cannot reasonably be construed to mean that Sihanouk approved of
7552-743: The border. About 500 of the "regroupees" of 1954 were sent south on the trail during its first year of operation. The first arms delivery via the trail was completed in August 1959. In April 1960, North Vietnam imposed universal military conscription for men. About 40,000 communist soldiers infiltrated the south from 1961 to 1963. In the 1960 U.S. presidential election , Senator John F. Kennedy defeated incumbent Vice President Richard Nixon. Although Eisenhower warned Kennedy about Laos and Vietnam, Europe and Latin America "loomed larger than Asia on his sights." In June 1961, he bitterly disagreed with Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev when they met in Vienna to discuss key U.S.–Soviet issues. Only 16 months later,
7680-405: The capital against the presence of PAVN troops in the country, put a pro-American government in power (later declared the Khmer Republic) which demanded that the PAVN leave Cambodia. The PAVN refused and, at the request of the Khmer Rouge, promptly invaded Cambodia in force. Between March and June 1970, the North Vietnamese captured most of the northeastern third of the country in engagements with
7808-418: The change of government. They were joined by the military, for whom the prospect of the return of American military and financial aid was a cause for celebration. Within days of his deposition, Sihanouk, now in Beijing, broadcast an appeal to the people to resist the usurpers. Demonstrations and riots occurred (mainly in areas contiguous to PAVN/Viet Cong controlled areas), but no nationwide groundswell threatened
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#17327730166287936-454: The clandestine party's leadership. Following Lon Nol 's expulsion of Sihanouk in the Cambodian coup of 1970 and the subsequent declaration of the Khmer Republic , the Pracheachon was resurrected, and fielded some candidates against Nol's Socio-Republican Party in the 1972 elections. Initially, its leader was expected to be the leftist Hang Thun Hak ; Hak instead joined the PSR, and Penn Yuth emerged as its leader. Yuth, now an officer in
8064-411: The communists after 9 October 1970, when Lon Nol abolished the loosely federalist monarchy and proclaimed the establishment of a centralized Khmer Republic . The GRUNK was soon caught between the competing Communist powers: North Vietnam, China and the Soviet Union. During the visits that Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai and Sihanouk paid to North Korea in April and June 1970, respectively, they called for
8192-426: The conservatives won 75 percent of the seats in the National Assembly to Sihanouk's surprise. Lon Nol was chosen by the right as prime minister and, as his deputy, they named Prince Sirik Matak ; an ultraconservative member of the Sisowath branch of the royal clan and long-time enemy of Sihanouk. In addition to these developments and the clash of interests among Phnom Penh 's politicized elite, social tensions created
8320-410: The conservatives. Lon Nol was forced to resign, and, in a typical move, the prince named new leftists to the government to balance the conservatives. The immediate crisis had passed, but it engendered two consequences. First, it drove thousands of new recruits into the arms of the hard-line maquis of the Cambodian Communist Party (which Sihanouk labelled the Khmers rouges ("Red Khmers")). Second, for
8448-438: The country . Tensions between the Viet Minh and French authorities had erupted into full-scale war by 1946, a conflict which soon became entwined with the wider Cold War . On March 12, 1947, US President Harry S. Truman announced the Truman Doctrine , an anticommunist foreign policy which pledged US support to nations resisting "attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressures". In Indochina, this doctrine
8576-438: The country to the Virgin Mary . In the summer of 1955, Diệm launched the "Denounce the Communists" campaign, during which suspected communists and other anti-government elements were arrested, imprisoned, tortured, or executed. He instituted the death penalty in August 1956 against activity deemed communist. The North Vietnamese government claimed that, by November 1957, over 65,000 individuals were imprisoned and 2,148 killed in
8704-418: The demilitarized zone, between North and South Vietnam. The North Vietnamese Communist Party approved a "people's war" on the South at a session in January 1959, and, in May, Group 559 was established to maintain and upgrade the Ho Chi Minh trail , at this time a six-month mountain trek through Laos. On 28 July, North Vietnamese and Pathet Lao forces invaded Laos, fighting the Royal Lao Army all along
8832-415: The end of 1965, and to 536,000 by the end of 1968. US forces relied on air supremacy and overwhelming firepower to conduct search and destroy operations in rural areas. In 1968, North Vietnam launched the Tet Offensive , which was a tactical defeat but convinced many in the US that the war could not be won. The PAVN began engaging in more conventional warfare . Johnson's successor, Richard Nixon , began
8960-399: The establishment of a "united front of the five revolutionary Asian countries" (China, North Korea, North Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia, the last being represented by the GRUNK). While the North Korean leaders enthusiastically welcomed the plan, it soon foundered on Hanoi's opposition. Having realized that such a front would exclude the Soviet Union and implicitly challenge the hegemonic role that
9088-422: The explicit request of the Khmer Rouge following negotiations with Nuon Chea . It has also been argued that U.S. bombing was decisive in delaying a Khmer Rouge victory. Victory in Vietnam , the official war history of the People's Army of Vietnam , candidly states that the communist insurgency in Cambodia had already increased from "ten guerrilla teams" to several tens of thousands of fighters only two months after
9216-520: The first in which the Krom Pracheachon took part. Due to severe harassment of its members by forces loyal to the Sangkum party of Prince Norodom Sihanouk , the Pracheachon was able to field only 35 candidates, winning 31,034 votes in total and gaining no seats. According to the historian Ben Kiernan , Sihanouk later admitted that many districts had voted for socialist candidates, even when
9344-593: The government in Phnom Penh was dissolved and his intention to create the Front uni national du Kampuchéa ( National United Front of Kampuchea ) or FUNK. Sihanouk later said "I had chosen not to be with either the Americans or the communists, because I considered that there were two dangers, American imperialism and Asian communism. It was Lon Nol who obliged me to choose between them." The North Vietnamese reacted to
9472-431: The government. In one incident at Kampong Cham on 29 March, however, an enraged crowd killed Lon Nol's brother, Lon Nil , tore out his liver, and cooked and ate it. An estimated 40,000 peasants then began to march on the capital to demand Sihanouk's reinstatement. They were dispersed, with many casualties, by contingents of the armed forces. Most of the population, urban and rural, took out their anger and frustrations on
9600-482: The head of the U.S. mission, who had himself learned about it from a radio broadcast. Extensive logistical installations and large amounts of supplies were found and destroyed, but as reporting from the American command in Saigon disclosed, still larger amounts of military material had already been moved further from the border to shelter it from the incursion into Cambodia by the U.S. and South Vietnam. One month prior,
9728-409: The indifference of their "fraternal comrades" to their insurgency between 1967 and 1969 would make an indelible impression on the Khmer Rouge leadership. On 17 January 1968, the Khmer Rouge launched their first offensive. It was aimed more at gathering weapons and spreading propaganda than in seizing territory since, at that time, the adherents of the insurgency numbered no more than 4,000–5,000. During
9856-737: The insurgency entitled "The Road to the South" to the Politburo in Hanoi. However, as China and the Soviets opposed confrontation, his plan was rejected. Despite this, the North Vietnamese leadership approved tentative measures to revive southern insurgency in December 1956. Communist forces were under a single command structure set up in 1958. In May 1958, North Vietnamese forces seized the transportation hub at Tchepone in Southern Laos near
9984-568: The intensive, ongoing B-52 bombing raids ... In any event, no one asked him. ... Sihanouk was never asked to approve the B-52 bombings, and he never gave his approval." During the course of the Menu bombings, Sihanouk's government formally protested "American violation[s] of Cambodian territory and airspace" at the United Nations on over 100 occasions, although it "specifically protested
10112-566: The interior, communal reforms, and cooperatives. GRUNK claimed that it was not a government-in-exile since Khieu Samphan and the insurgents remained inside Cambodia. Sihanouk and his loyalists remained in China, although the prince did make a visit to the "liberated areas" of Cambodia, including Angkor Wat , in March 1973. These visits were used mainly for propaganda purposes and had no real influence on political affairs. For Sihanouk, this proved to be
10240-580: The international community and to the United Nations in an attempt to gain support for the new government and condemned violations of Cambodia's neutrality "by foreign forces, whatever camp they come from." His hope for continued neutralism availed him no more than it had Sihanouk. On 29 March 1970, the North Vietnamese had taken matters into their own hands and launched an offensive against the now renamed Forces Armées Nationales Khmères or FANK ( Khmer National Armed Forces ) with documents uncovered from
10368-539: The kingdom (both supported by the United States and South Vietnam ). The struggle was complicated by the influence and actions of the allies of the two warring sides. North Vietnam's People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) involvement was designed to protect its Base Areas and sanctuaries in eastern Cambodia, without which it would have been harder to pursue its military effort in South Vietnam . Their presence
10496-504: The landlords back, people who had been farming land for years had to return it to landlords and pay years of back rent. Marilyn B. Young wrote that "The divisions within villages reproduced those that had existed against the French: 75% support for the NLF, 20% trying to remain neutral and 5% firmly pro-government". In March 1956, southern communist leader Lê Duẩn presented a plan to revive
10624-416: The larger Indochina refugee crisis , which saw millions leave Indochina, an estimated 250,000 perished at sea. The US destroyed 20% of South Vietnam's jungle and 20–50% of the mangrove forests, by spraying over 20 million U.S. gallons (75 million liters) of toxic herbicides; a notable example of ecocide . The Khmer Rouge carried out the Cambodian genocide , while conflict between them and
10752-503: The leadership of the prince's domestic leftist opposition, the Pracheachon Party, had been integrated into the government. On 3 May 1965, Sihanouk broke diplomatic relations with the U.S., ended the flow of American aid, and turned to the PRC and the Soviet Union for economic and military assistance. By the late 1960s, Sihanouk's delicate domestic and foreign policy balancing act was beginning to go awry. In 1966, an agreement
10880-628: The leftists' links with Vietnam and presented them as a threat to the Cambodian nation. Pressure on the Pracheachon was increased by posters showing buildings and trains destroyed by the Viet Minh, and slogans such as "The Pracheachon ruins the nation and sells the country to foreigners" and "The Pracheachon is not part of the Sangkum" appeared on walls and banners. In the election, the Pracheachon managed to field only five candidates: 4 of these were to withdraw following police harassment, leaving only Keo Meas himself, who officially received 396 votes. Meas
11008-465: The local insurgents. The Khmer Rouge also established "liberated" areas in the south and the southwestern parts of the country, where they operated independently of the North Vietnamese. As combat operations quickly revealed, the two sides were badly mismatched. FANK, whose ranks had been increased by thousands of young urban Cambodians who had flocked to join it in the months following the removal of Sihanouk, had expanded well beyond its capacity to absorb
11136-538: The long run, adverse military consequences." The quality of the South Vietnamese military, however, remained poor. Poor leadership, corruption, and political promotions weakened the ARVN. The frequency of guerrilla attacks rose as the insurgency gathered steam. While Hanoi's support for the VC played a role, South Vietnamese governmental incompetence was at the core of the crisis. One major issue Kennedy raised
11264-410: The nation's Vietnamese population. Lon Nol's call for 10,000 volunteers to boost the manpower of Cambodia's poorly equipped, 30,000-man army, managed to swamp the military with over 70,000 recruits. Rumours abounded concerning a possible PAVN offensive aimed at Phnom Penh itself. Paranoia flourished and this set off a violent reaction against the nation's 400,000 ethnic Vietnamese. Lon Nol hoped to use
11392-524: The new men. Later, given the press of tactical operations and the need to replace combat casualties, there was insufficient time to impart needed skills to individuals or to units, and lack of training remained the bane of FANK's existence until its collapse. During the period 1974–1975, FANK forces officially grew from 100,000 to approximately 250,000 men, but probably only numbered around 180,000 due to payroll padding by their officers and due to desertions. U.S. military aid (ammunition, supplies, and equipment)
11520-416: The official result showed them receiving few or no votes. In the period before the 1958 election, Sihanouk appeared deeply concerned with the possibility of Viet Minh / North Vietnamese domination of Cambodia. To coincide with the election, he published a series of articles tracing the history of Cambodian communism. Though the articles were perceptive in their analysis of communist tactics, they stressed
11648-501: The other communists and anti-GVN activists. Douglas Pike estimated that insurgents carried out 2,000 abductions, and 1,700 assassinations of government officials, village chiefs, hospital workers and teachers from 1957 to 1960. Violence between insurgents and government forces increased drastically from 180 clashes in January 1960, to 545 clashes in September. In September 1960, COSVN , North Vietnam's southern headquarters, ordered
11776-461: The overthrow of the Sangkum regime by North Vietnam . They were initially sentenced to death by a military court, with the sentences later being commuted to life imprisonment. The Pracheachon dissolved, and many of the remaining leftists fled Phnom Penh for the forests, except for several prominent figures ( Khieu Samphan , Hou Yuon and Hu Nim ) who had joined the Sangkum. Around this time, Communist leader Tou Samouth disappeared; Saloth Sar assumed
11904-524: The patrons of PAVN and the Viet Cong exert more control over their clients. On 18 March 1970, Lon Nol requested that the National Assembly vote on the future of the prince's leadership of the nation. Sihanouk was ousted from power by a vote of 86–3. Cheng Heng became president of the National Assembly, while Prime Minister Lon Nol was granted emergency powers. Sirik Matak retained his post as deputy prime minister. The new government emphasized that
12032-778: The pay system, there were no allotments for their families, who were, therefore, forced to follow their husbands/sons into the battle zones. These problems (exacerbated by continuously declining morale) only increased over time. Vietnam War ≈860,000 (1967) ≈1,420,000 (1968) Total military dead/missing: ≈1,100,000 Total military wounded: ≈604,200 (excluding GRUNK / Khmer Rouge and Pathet Lao ) Second Third American intervention 1965 1966 1967 Tet Offensive and aftermath Vietnamization 1969–1971 1972 Post- Paris Peace Accords (1973–1974) Spring 1975 Air operations Naval operations Lists of allied operations The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975)
12160-573: The peasantry, the name of Lon Nol became associated with ruthless repression throughout Cambodia. While the 1967 insurgency had been unplanned, the Khmer Rouge tried, without much success, to organize a more serious revolt during the following year. The prince's decimation of the Prachea Chon and the urban communists had, however, cleared the field of competition for Saloth Sar (also known as Pol Pot ), Ieng Sary, and Son Sen—the Maoist leadership of
12288-481: The political changes in Cambodia by sending Premier Phạm Văn Đồng to meet Sihanouk in China and recruit him into an alliance with the Khmer Rouge. Pol Pot was also contacted by the Vietnamese who now offered him whatever resources he wanted for his insurgency against the Cambodian government. Pol Pot and Sihanouk were actually in Beijing at the same time, but the Vietnamese and Chinese leaders never informed Sihanouk of
12416-464: The presence of Pol Pot or allowed the two men to meet. Shortly after, Sihanouk issued an appeal by radio to the people of Cambodia to rise up against the government and support the Khmer Rouge. In doing so, Sihanouk lent his name and popularity in the rural areas of Cambodia to a movement over which he had little control. In May 1970, Pol Pot finally returned to Cambodia and the pace of the insurgency greatly increased. After Sihanouk showed his support for
12544-410: The prince's absence, Lon Nol did nothing to halt these activities. On 12 March, the prime minister closed the port of Sihanoukville to the North Vietnamese and issued an impossible ultimatum to them. All PAVN/Viet Cong forces were to withdraw from Cambodian soil within 72 hours (on 15 March) or face military action. Sihanouk, hearing of the turmoil, headed for Moscow and Beijing in order to demand that
12672-761: The pro-Western government of Laos and the Pathet Lao communist movement in May, construction of the Berlin Wall in August, and the Cuban Missile Crisis in October. Kennedy believed another failure to stop communist expansion would irreparably damage US credibility. He was determined to "draw a line in the sand" and prevent a communist victory in Vietnam. He told James Reston of The New York Times after
12800-412: The process. According to Gabriel Kolko , 40,000 political prisoners had been jailed by the end of 1958. In October 1956, Diệm launched a land reform program limiting the size of rice farms per owner. 1.8m acres of farm land became available for purchase by landless people. By 1960, the process had stalled because many of Diem's biggest supporters were large landowners. In May 1957, Diệm undertook
12928-578: The reconnaissance teams of the highly classified Military Assistance Command, Vietnam Studies and Observations Group (SOG) to enter Cambodia and gather intelligence on the Base Areas in 1967. The election of Richard Nixon in 1968 and the introduction of his policies of gradual U.S. withdrawal from South Vietnam and the Vietnamization of the conflict there, changed everything. On 18 March 1969, on secret orders from Nixon and Henry Kissinger ,
13056-401: The repression. After returning home in March, Sihanouk abandoned his centrist position and personally ordered the arrest of Khieu Samphan , Hou Yuon , and Hu Nim , the leaders of the "counter government", all of whom escaped into the northeast. Simultaneously, Sihanouk ordered the arrest of Chinese middlemen involved in the illegal rice trade, thereby raising government revenues and placating
13184-587: The same month, the communists established the Revolutionary Army of Kampuchea as the military wing of the party. As early as the end of the Battambang revolt, Sihanouk had begun to reevaluate his relationship with the communists. His earlier agreement with the Chinese had availed him nothing. They had not only failed to restrain the North Vietnamese, but they had actually involved themselves (through
13312-512: The spread of communism to Cambodia. American, South Vietnamese, and North Vietnamese forces directly participated in the fighting. The U.S. assisted the central government with massive U.S. aerial bombing campaigns and direct material and financial aid, while the North Vietnamese kept soldiers on the lands that they had previously occupied and occasionally engaged the Khmer Republic army in ground combat. After five years of savage fighting,
13440-841: The supervision of "local commissions". The US countered with what became known as the "American Plan", with the support of South Vietnam and the UK. It provided for unification elections under the supervision of the UN, but was rejected by the Soviet delegation. The US said, "With respect to the statement made by the representative of the State of Vietnam, the United States reiterates its traditional position that peoples are entitled to determine their own future and that it will not join in any arrangement which would hinder this". US President Eisenhower wrote in 1954: I have never talked or corresponded with
13568-448: The tactical ineptitude among FANK officers was as common as their greed. Lon Nol frequently bypassed the general staff and directed operations down to battalion-level while also forbidding any real coordination between the army, navy and air force. The common soldiers fought bravely at first, but they were saddled with low pay (with which they had to purchase their own food and medical care), ammunition shortages, and mixed equipment. Due to
13696-401: The transfer of power had been totally legal and constitutional and it received the recognition of most foreign governments. There have been, and continue to be, accusations that the U.S. government played some role in the overthrow of Sihanouk, but conclusive evidence has never been found to support them. The majority of middle-class and educated Khmers had grown weary of the prince and welcomed
13824-522: The two provisional states for a 300-day period. Elections throughout the country were to be held in 1956 to establish a unified government. However, the US, represented at the conference by Secretary of State John Foster Dulles , objected to the resolution; Dulles' objection was supported only by the representative of Bảo Đại. John Foster's brother, Allen Dulles , who was director of the Central Intelligence Agency , then initiated
13952-592: The unified Vietnam escalated into the Cambodian–Vietnamese War . In response, China invaded Vietnam , with border conflicts lasting until 1991. Within the US, the war gave rise to Vietnam syndrome , a public aversion to American overseas military involvement, which, with the Watergate scandal , contributed to the crisis of confidence that affected America throughout the 1970s. Various names have been applied and have shifted over time, though Vietnam War
14080-533: The use of B-52s" only once, following an attack on Bu Chric in November 1969. Operation Freedom Deal followed Operation Menu. Under Freedom Deal, from 19 May 1970 to 15 August 1973, U.S. bombing of Cambodia extended over the entire eastern one-half of the country and was especially intense in the heavily populated southeastern one-quarter of the country, including a wide ring surrounding the largest city of Phnom Penh. In large areas, according to maps of U.S. bombing sites, it appears that nearly every square mile of land
14208-483: The war. The Cambodian government estimated that more than 20 percent of the property in the country had been destroyed during the war. In total, an estimated 275,000–310,000 people were killed as a result of the war. The conflict was part of the Second Indochina War (1955–1975) which also consumed the neighboring Laos , South Vietnam, and North Vietnam individually referred to as the Laotian Civil War and
14336-402: Was a heavy contributor to the refugee crisis in Cambodia. It has been argued that the U.S. intervention in Cambodia contributed to the eventual seizure of power by the Khmer Rouge, that grew from 4,000 in number in 1970 to 70,000 in 1975. This view has been disputed, with documents uncovered from the Soviet archives revealing that the North Vietnamese offensive in Cambodia in 1970 was launched at
14464-534: Was an armed conflict in Vietnam , Laos , and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam was supported by the Soviet Union and China , while South Vietnam was supported by the United States and other anti-communist nations. The conflict was the second of the Indochina Wars and a major proxy war of
14592-559: Was at first tolerated by Prince Sihanouk , the Cambodian head of state, but domestic resistance combined with China and North Vietnam continuing to provide aid to the anti-government Khmer Rouge alarmed Sihanouk and caused him to go to Moscow to request the Soviets rein in the behavior of North Vietnam. The deposition of Sihanouk by the Cambodian National Assembly in March 1970 , following wide scale protests in
14720-402: Was defeated in April following a battle in Saigon . As broad-based opposition to his harsh tactics mounted, Diệm increasingly sought to blame the communists. In a referendum on the future of the State of Vietnam in October 1955, Diệm rigged the poll supervised by his brother Ngô Đình Nhu and was credited with 98% of the vote, including 133% in Saigon. His American advisors had recommended
14848-433: Was divided into two parts at the 17th parallel : the Viet Minh , led by Ho Chi Minh , took control of North Vietnam, while the US assumed financial and military support for South Vietnam, led by Ngo Dinh Diem . The North Vietnamese began supplying and directing the Viet Cong (VC), a common front of dissidents in the south, which intensified a guerrilla war from 1957. In 1958, North Vietnam invaded Laos , establishing
14976-888: Was first proposed by the Eisenhower administration . John F. Kennedy , then a senator , said in a speech to the American Friends of Vietnam : "Burma, Thailand, India, Japan, the Philippines and obviously Laos and Cambodia are among those whose security would be threatened if the Red Tide of Communism overflowed into Vietnam." A devout Roman Catholic, Diệm was fervently anti-communist, nationalist, and socially conservative. Historian Luu Doan Huynh notes "Diệm represented narrow and extremist nationalism coupled with autocracy and nepotism ." Most Vietnamese were Buddhist , and alarmed by Diệm's actions, like his dedication of
15104-683: Was first put into practice in February 1950, when the United States recognized the French-backed State of Vietnam in Saigon , led by former Emperor Bảo Đại, as the legitimate government of Vietnam, after the communist states of the Soviet Union and People's Republic of China recognized the Democratic Republic of Vietnam , led by Ho Chi Minh, as the legitimate Vietnamese government the previous month. The outbreak of
15232-500: Was forced to sit out the election from a haven on the Vietnamese border, fearing arrest. Um Neng was one of the group's leaders at this time. The Krom Pracheachon was again subject to repressive measures (ostensibly for reasons of "security") in the run-up to the 1962 elections, in which its members hoped to participate. Sihanouk's police arrested 14 of its remaining members, including Secretary-General Non Suon; they were charged with possessing documents incriminating them in seeking
15360-674: Was funneled to FANK through the Military Equipment Delivery Team, Cambodia (MEDTC). Authorized a total of 113 officers and men, the team arrived in Phnom Penh in 1971, under the overall command of CINCPAC Admiral John S. McCain Jr. The attitude of the Nixon administration could be summed up by the advice given by Henry Kissinger to the first head of the liaison team, Colonel Jonathan Ladd: "Don't think of victory; just keep it alive." Nevertheless, McCain constantly petitioned
15488-407: Was hit by bombs. The effectiveness of the U.S. bombing on the Khmer Rouge and the death toll of Cambodian civilians is disputed. With limited data, the range of Cambodian deaths caused by U.S. bombing may be between 30,000 and 150,000 Cambodian civilians and Khmer Rouge fighters. Another impact of the U.S. bombing and the Cambodian civil war was to destroy the homes and livelihood of many people. This
15616-474: Was killed in a US-backed military coup , which added to the south's instability. Following the Gulf of Tonkin incident in 1964, the US Congress passed a resolution that gave President Lyndon B. Johnson authority to increase military presence without a declaration of war. Johnson launched a bombing campaign of the north and began sending combat troops, dramatically increasing deployment to 184,000 by
15744-471: Was mainly in the Red River Delta area, 50,000 executions became accepted by scholars. However, declassified documents from Vietnamese and Hungarian archives indicate executions were much lower, though likely greater than 13,500. In 1956, leaders in Hanoi admitted to "excesses" in implementing this program and restored much of the land to the original owners. The south, meanwhile, constituted
15872-571: Was out of the country in France , a rebellion broke out in the area around Samlaut in Battambang , when enraged villagers attacked a tax collection brigade. With the probable encouragement of local communist cadres, the insurrection quickly spread throughout the whole region. Lon Nol, acting in the prince's absence (but with his approval), responded by declaring martial law . Hundreds of peasants were killed and whole villages were laid waste during
16000-424: Was proclaimed. Sihanouk assumed the post of head of state, appointing Penn Nouth , one of his most loyal supporters, as prime minister. Khieu Samphan was designated deputy prime minister, minister of defense, and commander in chief of the GRUNK armed forces (though actual military operations were directed by Pol Pot). Hu Nim became minister of information, and Hou Yuon assumed multiple responsibilities as minister of
16128-453: Was struck between the prince and the Chinese, allowing the presence of large-scale PAVN and Viet Cong troop deployments and logistical bases in the eastern border regions. He had also agreed to allow the use of the port of Sihanoukville by communist-flagged vessels delivering supplies and material to support the PAVN/Viet Cong military effort in South Vietnam. These concessions made questionable Cambodia's neutrality, which had been guaranteed by
16256-472: Was to fix the ailing economy by halting the illegal sale of rice to the communists. Soldiers were dispatched to the rice-growing areas to forcibly collect the harvests at gunpoint, and they paid only the low government price. There was widespread unrest, especially in rice-rich Battambang Province , an area long-noted for the presence of large landowners, great disparity in wealth, and where the communists still had some influence. On 11 March 1967, while Sihanouk
16384-524: Was whether the Soviet space and missile programs had surpassed those of the US. Although Kennedy stressed long-range missile parity with the Soviets, he was interested in using special forces for counterinsurgency warfare in Third World countries threatened by communist insurgencies. Although they were intended for use behind front lines after a conventional Soviet invasion of Europe, Kennedy believed guerrilla tactics employed by special forces, such as
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