Questions for Film No Neutral Ground: Cambodia and Laos from the PBS series Vietnam: A Television History

 

 

Pathet Lao:  a Communist independence movement, organized in 1951 by Prince Souphanouvong (1909–95).  With DRVN support, the Pathet Lao periodically fought royalist troops as well as Hmong (Mèo) soldiers, trained by US government (CIA) advisors.  The Pathet Laos took absolute control of the country in 1975.  The government at Vientiane later launched a program of market reforms in 1991.

 

Lon Nol (1913–85): Cambodian general and political leader, who in March 1970 led the coup to depose Sihanouk, and set the Khmer National Armed Forces (Forces Armées Nationales Khmères (FANK) against both Vietnamese and Khmer rivals. He settled in Hawaii after the Khmer Rouge victory.

 

Norodom Sihanouk (b. 1922):  king of Cambodia (1941–55, 1993–) and populist leader of the Cambodian people.

 

Pol Pot: (1925? -1998): Khmer political leader (original name Saloth Sar) whose totalitarian regime (1975-79) under the ultra-Maoist leadership of the Khmer Rouge caused the deaths of about 1.7 million people (21% of the country’s population), as well as the displacement of millions more Cambodians. The Khmer Rouge nearly emptied the city of Phnom Penh of its inhabitants during the early years of control. Pol Pot's rule ended with the Vietnamese invasion of Cambodia and the establishment of the pro-Vietnamese government of former Khmer Rouge leader Hun Sen (b. 1950?). 

 

 

  1. How did the wars in VN affect Laos and Cambodia?  What turned the situation in Laos into an international crisis?

 

  1. Why did the Sihanouk government in Cambodia desire political neutrality?  Why did such a position of neutrality ultimately not protect the country from outside intervention?

 

  1. What was the “Nixon Doctrine,” as it pertained to Laos and Cambodia? Why did Nixon and Kissinger secretly launch the bombing campaign in Cambodia in 1969?  What was the most significant unintended outcome of this campaign?

 

  1. Which event brought about a wave of anti-Vietnamese violence in Cambodia?  What was the historical source of this violence?

 

  1. What was the relationship between Sihanouk and the Khmer Rouge?  How did the two parties use each other?

 

  1. What occurred in the aftermath of the Khmer Rouge’s take-over of Phnom Penh on April 17, 1975?  (Personal reflection) Could this tragedy have been avoided?