How The Vietnam War Affected Cambodia

Many people know of the Vietnam War and its devastating effect on both the United States and Vietnam, but few know of its effect on Cambodia and the mass genocide following the war. The United States, under Lyndon Johnson’s administration, bombed Cambodian villages believed to be containing Vietnamese communists and supply routes. U.S carpet bombing began to increase in support of the pullout of U.S troops in Vietnam. The B-52 bombing campaign ended as a result of a peace treaty between the United States and the North Vietnamese, but the Khmer Rouge and Lon Nol armies continued to fight until Phenom Penh fell to the Khmer Rouge. The Khmer Rouge then began their terrible reign and efforts to reconstruct Cambodia resulting in a mass genocide. The Vietnam War had a lasting negative impact on Cambodia and its people, with the United States lack of involvement in the civil war leading to the rise of the communist group the Khmer Rouge. Between 1965 and 1975 the Vietnam War began to expand into Cambodian territory. In 1965 Cambodia, under Prince Sihanouk, officially cut ties with the United States in effort to remain neutral in

The Unites States bombing campaign was one of the reasons the North Vietnamese troops were pushed further into Cambodia. As much as Cambodia wanted to remain neutral in the Vietnam War, they could not avoid it. When the United States and North Vietnamese came to a cease fire and formed a peace treaty the U.S pulled out their troops, but they left with an ongoing war between the Cambodian citizens and their government. The disputes with the government led to the rise of Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge. The Khmer Rouge were brutal and harsh killed millions in efforts to reconstruct Cambodia. Eventually the Khmer Rouge fell and the people were