Book contents
- The Cambridge History of the Vietnam War
- The Cambridge History of the Vietnam War
- The Cambridge History of the Vietnam War
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Maps
- Contributors to Volume III
- General Introduction
- Introduction
- Part I The Late Vietnam War
- 1 Nixon’s War
- 2 US Military Strategy in the Nixon Era
- 3 The US Congress and the Vietnam War
- 4 US Antiwar Sentiment and International Relationships in the Late Vietnam War
- 5 Saigon War Politics, 1968–1975
- 6 Hanoi’s Politburo at War, 1969–1975
- 7 The Vietnam War and the Regional Context
- 8 Moscow, Beijing, and Détente
- 9 The Easter Offensive and the Second Air War
- 10 The Second Civil War, 1973–1975
- 11 Cambodia at War
- 12 Laos at War
- Part II The Postwar Era
- Part III Legacies
- Index
11 - Cambodia at War
from Part I - The Late Vietnam War
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 02 January 2025
- The Cambridge History of the Vietnam War
- The Cambridge History of the Vietnam War
- The Cambridge History of the Vietnam War
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Maps
- Contributors to Volume III
- General Introduction
- Introduction
- Part I The Late Vietnam War
- 1 Nixon’s War
- 2 US Military Strategy in the Nixon Era
- 3 The US Congress and the Vietnam War
- 4 US Antiwar Sentiment and International Relationships in the Late Vietnam War
- 5 Saigon War Politics, 1968–1975
- 6 Hanoi’s Politburo at War, 1969–1975
- 7 The Vietnam War and the Regional Context
- 8 Moscow, Beijing, and Détente
- 9 The Easter Offensive and the Second Air War
- 10 The Second Civil War, 1973–1975
- 11 Cambodia at War
- 12 Laos at War
- Part II The Postwar Era
- Part III Legacies
- Index
Summary
The Nixon administration’s decision in 1969 to begin the systematic bombing of Cambodia fundamentally altered the nature of the war the US was fighting in Vietnam for all parties involved – Americans, North Vietnamese, South Vietnamese, and especially the Cambodians. Cambodia had largely remained isolated from the fighting even as it escalated in 1965. North Vietnamese troops and Viet Cong cadres had been using the border territory as sanctuaries, but they remained along the border and did not engage the Cambodian population in any way that substantially altered the strategic situation or affected the peasants living in the region. The Nixon administration changed all that by undertaking four actions: 1) initiating a secret bombing campaign in 1969 to disrupt North Vietnamese troops; 2) supporting the overthrow of Prince Sihanouk and his replacement with Lon Nolo in March 1970; 3) authorizing a joint South Vietnamese–US invasion of Cambodia in May–June 1970; and 4) continuing with the bombing of Cambodia until August 1973, many months after the signing of the Paris Peace agreement. The results for Cambodia led to a collapse of the government and the takeover by the Khmer Rouge in April 1975.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Cambridge History of the Vietnam War , pp. 254 - 278Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2024