In the Shadows of Utopia: The Khmer Rouge and the Cambodian Nightmare Lachlan Peters

How does the Communist Party of Kampuchea form? How does Saloth Sar become a married man and teacher? What are the consequences of Sihanouk’s neutral foreign policy?




Time Period Covered 1955-1960




As peace broke out over Cambodia in the wake of the First Indochina War, the fledgling communist movement had to learn to survive in a newly independent country under the rule of Prince Norodom Sihanouk. Numbers dwindling and unable to openly resist the government, the ‘revolutionary organisation’, as they began calling themselves, found an avenue for recruits in the schools of Phnom Penh. The man who would become Pol Pot became a teacher.




Meanwhile, in an attempt to navigate a neutral path for Cambodia in the Cold War era, Sihanouk opens relations with China as well as the United States. This agenda will have consequences, as the CIA begins trying to undermine his government and even seek his removal. The resulting “Bangkok Plot”, a series of conspiracies against him, will be explained.




The Khmer Rouge, as Sihanouk had begun calling the communists in his country, will also meet to discuss a new kind of organisation - the Communist Party of Kampuchea. Saloth Sar, Nuon Chea and Ieng Sary will all find themselves in high-ranking positions as the seeds of their revolution are sewn.

Sources

Philip Short Pol Pot: History of a Nightmare
David Chandler The Tragedy of Cambodian History, Brother Number One
Ben Kiernan How Pol Pot Came to Power
Milton Osbourne Sihanouk
Elizabeth Becker When the War was Over
Norodom Sihanouk My War with the CIA
Peter Froberg Idling Song for an Approaching Storm
Craig Etcheson Overview of Hierarchy of Democratic Kampuchea

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Why was one of the most prominent slogans of the Khmer Rouge about a "super great leap forward"?

What is Maoism and why did the People's Republic of China provide a new ideological source for the world?

Why did the USSR and the PRC split in the 1960s?

Time Period Covered 1949 - 1962

This episode could be considered the third instalment in the history of communist ideology of the series. Lachlan discusses the Chinese Civil War, the People's Republic of China, Mao, Maoism, the circumstances surrounding the Great Leap Forward and it's terrible consequences. This is a brief explanation of the 45 million deaths that occurred in China as a result of government policy. The Chinese communists will provide the Khmer Rouge not only with material and economic aid once they come to power, but also with an ideological framework - a program - that the Cambodians will seek to recapitulate. This is an explanation of that program, as well as another hugely important factor in the coming chaos in Indochina, the ideological schism between the USSR and the PRC known as the Sino-Soviet Split.

Sources

Philip Short Mao
Julia Lovell Maoism: A Global History
Richard Baum The Fall and Rise of China
Frank Dikotter Mao's Great Famine

How did Pol Pot become leader of the Khmer Rouge?
 
What did prominent communists like Khieu Samphan do in Sihanouk’s Cambodia?




Were there limits to Sihanouk’s power and tightrope act?
 
Time Period Covered 1960-1963




We begin with a reflection on how Cambodian history can permeate even seemingly mundane spaces, before looking in on a secret communist seminar led by the new leader of the Khmer Rouge. This episode functions as a revisit of some loose ends left as the Cambodian communists began taking their own steps toward having an independent movement from the Vietnamese, as well as how the roles in that party began taking shape. We learn about the mysterious death of Tuo Samouth, as well as the circumstances that precede the vitally important year of 1963.

Apologies for some audio hiccups, this one was recorded in a different location.
 
 Sources

Philip Short Pol Pot: History of a Nightmare
David Chandler The Tragedy of Cambodian History, Brother Number One, A History of Cambodia
Ben Kiernan How Pol Pot Came to Power
Milton Osbourne Sihanouk
Elizabeth Becker When the War was Over
Norodom Sihanouk My War with the CIA

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What occurred in a divided Vietnam in the aftermath of the Geneva Accords?
 
How did so many die during the North Vietnamese “Land Reform Campaign”?
 
Why was South Vietnam described as an ‘emerging fascist state’?




Time Period Covered 1954 - 1963




In this first part of a kind of mini-series on the origins of the Vietnam War, Lachlan investigates the state building in the divided Vietnam. Exploring the ideology and benefactors of the separate regimes, we touch upon the thousands of those who died during the efforts to revolutionise the North – as well as similarly draconian methods to consolidate power in the hands of one family in the South.

Sources

Christopher Goscha Vietnam: A New History
Ben Kiernan Viet Nam
Edward Miller The Vietnam War
Alec Holcombe Mass Mobilisation in the Democratic Republic of Vietnam

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How did a succession of US administrations become stuck in Vietnam?
 
How did Diem's policies create the conditions for insurgency?
 
What did the early activities of the NLF look like?




Time Period Covered 1954 - 1961




In part two of our exploration of the path to the Second Indochina War, we focus on early American efforts to create a stable regime in South Vietnam. The activities of the CIA and Edward Lansdale in the aftermath of Geneva are used to introduce this relationship, as well as the growing realisation in some quarters that perhaps Diem was not the best person for the job of leading the country. We look at the 'paradox' of Vietnam, why escalation slowly continued in the face of private doubts. NLF operations in the Mekong Delta are discussed from the point of view of those staging these actions, as well as those civilians who were effected by the authoritarianism of Diem and the intimidating tactics of those that wished to overthrow him.

Sources

Christopher Goscha Vietnam: A New History
Fredrick Logevall The Embers of War
Edward Miller The Vietnam War
Neil Sheehan The Pentagon Papers
Geoffrey Warner The United States and Vietnam 1945-1965 (International Affairs October 1972)

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What is Agent Orange and why did the Kennedy Administration decide to use it? 
 
How did Diem's Regime collapse?
 
What was the Buddhist Crisis?




Time Period Covered 1961 - 1963




In the final part of our exploration into the beginnings of the "Vietnam War", we look at the circumstances surrounding the early Kennedy years and how a 'prudent' approach to South Vietnam resulted in a number of problems, both immediate and in the future. We look in depth at Operation Ranch Hand, the decision to use defoliants in South Vietnam, as well as how the Diem Regime becomes a no longer viable partner for the US and their wider strategic interests. We explain the Buddhist Crisis and the self-immolation of Quang Duc and the competing visions of a new South Vietnam. Finally the coup against Diem, Kennedy's assassination as well as the return of Pol Pot to the jungles of Vietnam represents a new chapter in the coming historical hurricane.

Sources

Christopher Goscha Vietnam: A New History
Fredrick Logevall The Embers of War
Edward Miller The Vietnam War & Reinterpreting the Buddhist Crisis (Modern Asian Studies November 2015)
Neil Sheehan The Pentagon Papers
Geoffrey Warner The United States and Vietnam 1945-1965 (International Affairs October 1972)
William Buckingham The US Air Force and Herbicides in Southeast Asia


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