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?). |