Cambodia

A detailed Summary of Cambodia

Since the earliest of Cambodia's history, this small Asian country has fought for peace and independence from a long string of foreign invaders. It has fought the rule of such countries as Siam, Vietnam, and France over the years. This was also the scene for Cambodia during The Cold War. Japan, Vietnam and the terrorist group known as the Khmer Rouge attempted overpowerment during the conflict of superpowers. This time, Cambodia only managed to have to struggle harder to achieve it's goals while enduring such hardships as genocide.

During The Cold War, The Soviet Union and The United States were reaching as far as they could to sway countries from the other's ideals. This rule holds true for Cambodia's involvement. The Soviet Union was looking to expand communism while the United States was doing anything in its power to stop it. The United States believed that once the Soviet Union had a communist grip on Vietnam, Cambodia's neighboring country, Laos and Cambodia itself would follow a sort of domino effect and join Vietnam in communism. Following this domino theory, it was easy for the United States to imagine other Southeast Asian countries following suit, such as Thailand and Indonesia, and the possibility of it even stretchi

When the United States abandoned the Vietnam effort in 1975, the Khmer Rouge stormed Phnom Penh, Cambodia's capital, and cut off the entire country from the world's media. It is estimated the Khmer Rouge systematically killed one to three million Khmer citizens, especially those appearing to be educated. Thus began Cambodia's arguably darkest period in it's history. These years of the Khmer Rouge or "The Pol Pot years" began on April 17, 1975 and didn't end until January 7, 1979. In these years, Cambodia was essentially cut off from the rest of the world. Not since the Nazi concentration camps of World War II had such atrocities been performed upon a population, especially its own population. January 7, 1979 saw the Khmer Rouge overthrown from Phnom Penh and pushed northwest to Battambong Province where they established their capitol in Pailin. The presence of The Khmer Rouge is still felt in Cambodia today.

The real beginning of Cambodia's introduction into play in The Cold War was when the United States, in March of 1969, unofficially and secretly, bombed Cambodia with B-52's. The continual bombing would last until 1973, essentially dropping 382,851 tons of explosives on Cambodia in an effort to destroy communist supply routes and base camps. This bombing called "Operation Breakfast" was approved by President Nixon and conducted without the knowledge of Congress or the American public. Despite the US's effor

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Approximate Word count = 959
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: History