Cambodia

A detailed Summary of Cambodia

In the spring of 1970 the samll nation of Cambodia was sucked into the vortex of War. Cambodia suffered millions of casualties as the North Vietnamese communist forces engaged US supported Cambodian troops. Whose denouement lead to one of the worst bloodbaths in history.

Contending explanations for the outbreak of the conflict from all three levels of analysis there are many reasons why this outbreak began:

Under the individual level of analysis there was the leader of Cambodia, Prince Sihanouk, who had been the supreme leader of Cambodia since 1941 embarked on an international tour. At the same time Lon Nol was acting as a Sihanouk's prime minister seeking treatment in France. So Prince Sirik Matak was acting prime minister in his place. When Lon Nol returned to Cambodia he and Prince Sirik Matak began a number of conspiracy steps in order to stage a coup against the then absent Prince Sihanouk.

Both Lon Nol and Sirik Matak were both extremely fed up with the Hanoi and wanted to engage the Vietnamese to get them out of Cambodia. Both Prince Sihanouk preferred a more diplomatic approach, which upset both Sihanouk and Nol. Sirik Matak then went to Lon Nol's house, the then acting prime minister to forc

But the other sides were not free form losses also. The United States sent over 546,000 troops to Vietnam and lost over 60,000 American troops in the war against Vietnam and in their air campaigns under President Nixon. The Vietnemenease lost over two million people in the Vietnam War.

At the state level of analysis there were also many reasons for the Cambodian War. The Khmer Rouge Communist Government was opposed by many leaders of Cambodia. The Communists fell in to two groups: Vietnamese-trained veterans of the independence struggle, including former Buddhist monks and their peasant followers. And young urban radicals such as Pol Pot who was the Cambodian guerrilla commander. When Pol Pot became secretary general of the Worker's Party of Kampuchea or (the Communist Party of Kampuchea) in 1963, the party made a concerted effort to seize control of Cambodia.

From the System Level of Analysis the Lon Nol/ Sirik Matak coup was the end of the Cambodian neutrality that Prince Sihanouk was attempting to place on the country before he was overthrown. At this level the participation of South Vietnam and the United States was a major factor in Cambodia getting involved in the war. In order to get rid of the Communists, the Cambodian government under Lon Nol requested military support form South Vietnam. Thus United States concluded that this meant Lon Nol would even support American Military involvement, which of course Lon Nol did. Both the United States and South Vietnam were delighted by the change in Cambodia. Since Sihanouk had been a thorn in their side for years by keeping neutrality, the new leader meant someone they could deal with and control.

Of about 425,000 Cambodians about half survived the Cambodian War. Of about 250,000 Muslim Chams (an ethic group inhabiting the rural areas of Cambodia), 90,000 were massacred and the survivors were dispersed. By 1979, 15 percent of the rural Khmer population and 25% of the urban Khmer population had perished. In 1978, in a purge of the Eastern Zone on the Eastern Zone of the Vietnam boarder, at least 250,000 people were killed in the worst

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Vietnam War, Prince Sihanouk, Lon Lon, North Vietnamese, Khmer Rouge, Sirik Matak, Lon Nol, Sirik Matik, Phonom Penh, Muslim Chams, lon nol, prince sihanouk, sirik matak, prince sirik, south vietnam, sirik matik, vietnam war, prince sirik matak, pol pot, level analysis, leader cambodia, primary cause conflict, coup prince sihanouk, acting prime minister, prince sirik matik,

Approximate Word count = 1435
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Miscellaneous