Fall of Phnom Penh (1979)

End of the Vietnam War, 30 April 1975

For other uses, see Fall of Phnom Penh (disambiguation).

Fall of Phnom Penh (1979)

Part of the Cambodian-Vietnamese War
| Date| 7 January 1979; 46 years ago (1979-01-07)

|

Location|

Phnom Penh, Kampuchea

Result|

Vietnamese \- FUNSK victory

* Establishment of Revolutionary People's Council and People's Republic of Kampuchea
* End of the Cambodian genocide
* Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge to retreat back into the jungle near the border with Thailand[1][2]

Belligerents
Vietnam
Kampuchean United Front for National Salvation|  Democratic Kampuchea
Commanders and leaders
Trần Ngọc Giao[3]
Nguyễn Kim Tuấn [vi]
Heng Samrin
Chea Sim|  Pol Pot
Khieu Samphan
Ieng Sary
Son Sen
Ta Mok

Fall of Phnom Penh (1979) was the capture of Phnom Penh, the capital of totalitarian dictatorship state (Democratic Kampuchea) of the CPK, by Vietnam on 7 January 1979. The event marked the end of the Cambodian genocide and the foundation of People's Republic of Kampuchea, beginning of Vietnamese occupation of Kampuchea until 1989.

## Background

[edit]

The Khmer Rouge, organized by Pol Pot in the Cambodian jungle in the 1960s, advocated a radical Communist revolution that would wipe out Western influences in Cambodia and set up a solely agrarian society. In 1970, aided by North Vietnamese and Viet Cong troops, Khmer Rouge guerrillas began a large-scale insurgency against Cambodian government forces, soon gaining control of nearly a third of the country.

By 1973, secret U.S. bombings of Cambodian territory controlled by the Vietnamese Communists forced the Vietnamese out of the country, creating a power vacuum that was soon filled by Pol Pot’s rapidly growing Khmer Rouge movement. In 17 April 1975, the Khmer Rouge captured Phnom Penh, the Cambodian capital, overthrew the pro-U.S. regime, and established a new government, the Democratic Kampuchea. Between 1975 and 1978, an estimated two million Cambodians died by execution, forced labor, and famine. [4]

### Build-up to war

[edit]

When the pro-Chinese Pol Pot and his brother-in-law Ieng Sary resigned from their respective positions as premier and foreign minister in September 1976, Vietnamese Prime Minister Phạm Văn Đồng and General Secretary of the Communist Party Lê Duẩn were optimistic that Vietnam could exercise greater influence on the Kampucheans. In a private meeting with the Soviet ambassador to Vietnam on 16 November 1976, Lê Duẩn dismissed both Ieng Sary and Pol Pot as "bad people" for their pro-Chinese policies.[5] Le Duan then asserted that Nuon Chea, who had ascended to the position of Premier of Democratic Kampuchea as Pol Pot's replacement, was a person of pro-Vietnamese orientation, so Vietnam could exercise its influence through him. However, the events which developed over the next few months would prove Lê Duẩn had been mistaken in his assessment of Nuon Chea.[5]

Meanwhile, in Phnom Penh, the Kampuchean leadership had developed a fear and hatred of the Vietnamese leadership as a result of Vietnam's historical dominance over their country. From the Kampuchean perspective, the Vietnamese strategy to dominate Indochina involved infiltrating the communist parties of Kampuchea and Laos with Vietnamese-trained cadres.[6] For that reason, when the first group of North Vietnamese-trained Khmer Rouge personnel returned to the country, they were immediately purged from the KCP. During the months following the defeat of the Lon Nol government, Pol Pot continued to purge the KCP and the Government of Democratic Kampuchea of those who he believed to be Soviet and Vietnamese agents. Then, in the context of the triumphalism that prevailed among the Khmer Rouge leadership—they claimed they had single-handedly defeated the "American imperialists"—Democratic Kampuchea began preparing for war against Vietnam.[7]

### Conflicts (1977-1978)

[edit]

Despite a number of diplomatic exchanges, Khmer Rouge leaders continued to be wary of what they perceived as Vietnamese expansionism. On 30 April 1977, Democratic Kampuchea launched another major military attack in An Giang and Châu Đốc province, killing hundreds of Vietnamese civilians. With the Khmer Rouge unwilling to engage in serious negotiations to settle the issue, Vietnam retaliated by attacking Svay Rieng in December 1977, which they took easily.

In the meantime, Sino-Cambodian relations had only grown stronger, while Vietnam’s relationship with China had deteriorated. With the political and military support the Khmer Rouge received from China during the Cambodian Civil War and the subsequent dominance of the Maoist Khmer Rouge regime over Democratic Kampuchea, Vietnam viewed their strengthening alliance as being pro-Chinese and too hostile towards Vietnam. This at a time when Vietnam increasingly allied itself with the Soviet Union’s ideologies of communism and socialism.[8]

## Invasion

[edit]

On 25 September 1978, the People’s Army of Vietnam (PAVN) launched a full-scale invasion of Democratic Kampuchea. Although Vietnam had been engaged in sporadic armed conflicts with Democratic Kampuchea along land and maritime boundaries from as early as 1975, the division-sized invasion in 1978 was the first large-scale military operation that spelt the beginning of the Cambodian-Vietnamese War. Vietnam using 13 divisions, estimated at 150,000 soldiers well-supported by heavy artillery and air power.

## Vietnamese seize Phnom Penh

[edit]

On January 6, Vietnam's 4th Corps and 3rd Corps, consisting of 9 divisions, formed two pincers and entered Phnom Penh from the Southeast via the Neak Luong ferry and from the North via Kampong Cham.

On January 7, Vietnamese troops seized Kampong Chhnang airport and captured ten A-37s, three C-123Ks, six C-47s, three Alouette IIIs and a few of T-28s. Also, the Khmer Rouge also left behind hundreds of tanks and armored vehicles, a lot of ammunition and strategic food reserves that they did not have time to bring.

The Khmer Rouge leadership, with much of its political and military structures shattered by the Vietnamese invasion, was forced to take refuge in Thailand. The Thai government under Kriangsak Chamanan accommodated the Khmer Rouge refugees, in exchange for a promise by Deng Xiaoping to end material support to Thailand's insurgent communists. Despite the overwhelming economic challenges brought by the Khmer Rouge and the accompanying refugees, the Thai Government sheltered and protected the Khmer Rouge at Khao Larn camp in Trat Province.

## Aftermath

[edit]

On the following day after captured Phnom Penh, of Revolutionary People's Council of the People's Republic of Kampuchea was established with Heng Samrin as Chairman.

The new Kampuchean government tried to rebuild the country's economic and social life, which was largely destroyed by decades of political upheavals and constant warfare. However, efforts to rebuild the country were severely hampered by the lack of educated and qualified personnel, as most educated people had either fled the country or had been murdered by the Khmer Rouge government during the previous four years. By the end of the year, the new government's attempts at nation-building were further challenged by several anti-Vietnamese resistance groups operating in the western regions of the country.[9]

## References

[edit]

## See also

[edit]

* Ba Chúc massacre
* Nam Tiến
* Cambodian campaign
* Sino-Vietnamese War

## Further reading

[edit]

* Ben Kiernan (2004). How Pol Pot Came to Power: Colonialism, Nationalism, and Communism in Cambodia, 1930-1975. p. 430\. ISBN 0300102623.

1. ^ "UCLA demographer produces best estimate yet of Cambodia's death toll under Pol Pot". UCLA. Retrieved 2024-05-20.
2. ^ Locard, Henri (March 2005). "State Violence in Democratic Kampuchea (1975–1979) and Retribution (1979–2004)". European Review of History: Revue européenne d'histoire. 12 (1): 121–143\. doi:10.1080/13507480500047811. ISSN 1350-7486.121-143&rft.date=2005-03&rft_id=info:doi/10.1080/13507480500047811&rft.issn=1350-7486&rft.aulast=Locard&rft.aufirst=Henri&rft_id=http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13507480500047811&rfr_id=info:sid/en.wikipedia.org:Fall+of+Phnom+Penh+(1979)" class="Z3988">
3. ^ https://tuoitre.vn/40-nam-giai-cuu-campuchia-ky-1-tien-vao-phnom-penh-2019010210181857.htm
4. ^ "Pol Pot overthrown". history.com.
5. ^ a b Morris, p.96
6. ^ Morris, p.97
7. ^ Morris, p. 98
8. ^ "25 December 1978: Vietnam Invades Cambodia". vietnamtheartofwar.com.
9. ^ Swann, p. 99