NAME: ____________________________ PERIOD: ___ DATE: _________MR. XIAO / MRS. BRANFORD GLOBAL HISTORY 10

~ CAMBODIA ~What are some examples of Proxy War that we have learned in the Cold War unit?_____________________________________________________________________________

During the Vietnam War, the North Vietnamese Army and the Viet Cong (Communist guerrilla forces in South Vietnam) used what is known as the Ho Chi Minh Trail to move troops and supplies from the north to the south through Laos and Cambodia. American warplanes bombed the Ho Chi Minh Trail, hoping to stop the supplies from getting into the south and destabilized Laos and Cambodia in the process.

Laos became Communist in 1975, right after the end of the Vietnam War. In the same year, the Cambodian Civil War finally came to an end, and the Communist Khmer Rouge under Pol Pot (backed by China) defeated the Khmer Republic (backed by the U.S.) and took over Cambodia. Under the Khmer Rouge, the urban population was forced to join rural communes. Collective farming during the Khmer Rouge turned out to be a complete failure, and led to mass starvations. The Khmer Rouge insisted on absolute self-sufficiency, and opposed western

technology -including modern medicine, which caused the death of thousands to easily treatable diseases. In addition, the Khmer Rouge's racist emphasis on national purity committed several genocides of Cambodian minorities. Finally, arbitrary executions and torture against its own people were carried out by the government.

In total, the Khmer Rouge regime were responsible for the death of between 1.5 to 3 million people, roughly 25% of the entire country’s population. The Khmer Rouge regime was eventually toppled by a Vietnamese invasion in 1978, and the leaders were put on trial for crimes against humanity.

Guerilla [Spanish, guerra (war), guerilla (little war)] A form of irregular warfare of an inferior force against a superior force, usually involving hit-and-run tactics and sabotage

Aug. ’15 Doc. #8b

Historical Context—refers to the historical circumstances that led to this event/idea/historical development.

1. Explain the historical circumstances that led to the development shown in the image by Sitha Sao. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

2. Which other country also utilized the idea of collective agriculture (from an earlier unit)?_____________________________________________________________________________

3. What is the Domino Theory? How is the Khmer Rouge an example of the Domino Theory?_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

4. In the case of Southeast Asia, was the U.S. policy of containment successful? Why or why not?_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________