Question:
How did the conflict in Cambodia and Laos affect civilians?
Introduction
conflict of war in cambodia and laos affected civilians determining their lives, political freedom and quality of living
Paragraph 1
Point human life- viet conflict → cambodia compromised protected lives & freedom of civilians /
State the main point/argument in US bombing destroyed lives & farms in cambodia
the topic sentence
Explanation operation mena meant that lives could be taken without retribution → continued bombing of
Explain the point in more detail. ho chi minh trail → more civilian lives lost | lon nol coup against sihanouk (1970) established
authoritative military regime → civil liberties threatened ..
Evidence operation mena 1969 → 100 000 tonnes of bombs dropped on cambodia (breakfast, lunch
Use evidence and examples to dinner snack) | 2 mil civilians killed → means conflict would impact at least 3 gens of
support the point being made. cambodia & laos civilians
Link the US-vietnam conflict caused significant implications that caused major loss of civilian life
Link the point to the argument. in cambodia & laos. conflict also impacted political freedom of civilians
Lead into the next paragraph.
Paragraph 2
Point political freedom- death & political oppression cause by US involvement in vietnam war
State the main point/argument in destabilising politics in laos → pressure on rural peasants → rise of laotian communist party
the topic sentence
Explanation peace for civilians on laos impossible due to US intervention & north viet through ho chi minh
Explain the point in more detail. trail | communists taking power dec 1975 → compromise civil liberties & many deaths
Evidence 1962 geneva agreement → ceasefire in laos “proved that many other problems can be
Use evidence and examples to solved” (khan dan) | up to 25% of laos population become refugees | conflict jeopardised
support the point being made. cambodian politics → compromise citizen right for democratic election
Link jeopardisation of political freedom in laos after US attempted to combat in a country not
Link the point to the argument. directly involved in conflict. war conflict & the khmer rouge regime also impacted quality of
Lead into the next paragraph. living
Paragraph 3
Point khmer rouge in cambodia (1975-1979) led to by US-vietnam conflict continued to famine
State the main point/argument in civilians & negatively affect their quality of living
the topic sentence
Explanation ‘year zero’ 1975 (democratic kampuchea) → evacuation of phnom penh → western
Explain the point in more detail. medicine banned → diseases (malaria) become rampant | conflict of viet war → famine in
kampuchea | use of child soldiers (inspo china's 1966 cultural revolution)
Evidence evacuation of phnom penh → death of 400 000 civilians & 20 000 patients wheeled out of
Use evidence and examples to hospitals | 2 mil civilians died (29% of population) due to famine & disease (long lasting
support the point being made. impact) | khmer rouge → split families apart/soldiers having to kill their parents as ‘internal
enemies’
Link viet conflict → democratic kampuchea → destroyed lives of over quarter of population,
Link the point to the argument. terrorised/destroyed families, physically & psychologically scarring generations of civilians
Lead into the next paragraph.
Conclusion
Vietnam war conflict led to loss of civilian life in cambodia and laos, adopted rise of communist regimes → negative impact if
civilians. US involvement caused major jeopardisation of civilian lives and freedom & worsened conditions of economy
The conflict of the Vietnam War and civil war in Cambodia greatly affected the citizens of Cambodia and Laos, compromising their
lives, political freedom and quality of living. The first part of this essay will discuss the impact on civilians in Laos caused by US
involvement. The second part of this essay will similarly examine the effect of the Vietnam War on Cambodian citizens. The third
part of this essay will discuss the effect of the civil war and the Khmer Rouge regime on civilians, a regime that was only able to
gain power due to the Vietnam conflict. Thus, this essay will conclude that the conflict in Indochina greatly uprooted civilian
livelihood and devastated economies, producing an impact on the Indochina region that afflicted the civilians of Cambodia and
Laos beyond the end of the conflict.
US involvement in the Vietnam War aided the political destabilisation of Laos which then subjected citizens to death and political
oppression. Although the three-faction political climate of Laos was consistently unstable, US intervention, as well as North
Vietnam’s through the Ho Chi Minh Trail, ensured peace in Laos for civilians was impossible. The 1962 Geneva agreement which
called for a ceasefire in Laos “proved that many other problems could be solved” (Khan Dan 1962) in a similar way. However, the
US and NVA/VC continued to use Laos as “more or less willing proxies” (Harpur) through bombing and the Ho Chi Minh Trail
respectively. This ensured that Laotian civilian lives would be lost in the Vietnamese conflict and that political freedom and peace
were jeopardised for civilians. Lam Son 719 in 1971, an incursion into Laos, further showed this jeopardisation of Laotian peace as
the US and ARVN attempted to combat the NVA/VC in a country not directly involved in the conflict. This put pressure on the rural
peasants, who had their farms destroyed from incursions and carpet bombing, which then contributed to the rise of the Laotian
Communist Party. THe success of North Vietnam in the Vietnam conflict also assisted this emergence, with the Communists taking
power in December 1975. Thus, the conflict in Vietnam allowed for the rise of an oppressive Communist regime which would
compromise civil liberties, whilst also leading to deaths of many, causing up to 25% of the population of Laos to become refugees.
Furthermore, the conflict in Vietnam led to the compromisation of Cambodia, neutrality which protected the lives and freedoms of
civilians and US bombing similarly destroyed lives and Cambodian farms. Operation Mena in 1969 led to 100,000 tonnes of bombs
being dropped on Cambodia in secret missions codenamed, ‘Breakfast,’ ‘Lunch,’ ‘Dinner,’ and ‘Snack.’ The secrecy of this
operation meant that civilian lives in Cambodia could be taken without retribution, and this enabled the continued bombing of the
Ho Chi Minh Trail, thus continuing to take civilian lives. The Lon Nol Coup against Sihanouk in 1970, backed by the US,
established an authoritative military regime which threatened the civil liberties of Cambodia’s citizens. The continued foreign aid
from the US to Cambodia during the period of the Khmer Republic established a dependency upon the US economy which would
lead to famine after US withdrawal of funding, thus leading to death and malnutrition of citizens. The 2 million civilians killed during
the Vietnam conflict reveals the sheer extent of conflict on civilians, causing loss of life that would impact at least 3 generations of
civilians, both in Cambodia and Laos. Thus, the US-Vietnam conflict jeopardised Cambodian politics, compromising a citizen’s right
for democratic election, and caused major loss of civilian life.
Finally, the US-Vietnam conflict directly led to the establishment of the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia in the period from 1975 to 1979,
who would cause even more loss of life, continued famine and impose a lack of political freedom on civilians. Democratic
Kampuchea declared 1975 ‘year zero,’ implementing a radical Agrarian- Marxism model. Pol Pot claimed “we are building
socialism without a model” in 1978, showing the experimental nature of the regime and thus the need for terror to maintain control
and compensate for instability, thus greatly affecting civilians. The evacuation of Phnom Penh led to the death of 400,000 civilians
and wheeled 20,000 patients out of hospitals. In addition, Western medicine was banned, which meant that diseases such as
Malaria, which were previously controlled, became rampant. The implementation of 7 agricultural regions and elimination of classes
jeopardised individual civilian freedom, however, the conflict of the Vietnam War caused the famine experienced in Democratic
Kampuchea, and thus this lack of freedom was a response to the need to produce rice. However, nearly 2 million Cambodians died
by 1975, up to 29% of its population, mostly due to famine and disease, showing the long-lasting impact of the Vietnam War on
Cambodian civilians. Furthermore, the use of child soldiers, inspired by China’s 1966 Cultural Revolution exposed civilian youth to
conflict due to youth disillusionment towards the Sihanouk regime due to the US’ involvement in national affairs and the dependent
economy. Furthermore, the rise of the Khmer Rouge due to the Vietnam conflict enabled families to be split apart, with some
soldiers having to kill their parents as ‘internal enemies’ to pressure the Khmer Rouge’s rule. Thus, the Vietnam conflict led to Pol
Pot’s Democratic Kampuchea which subsequently destroyed the lives of a quarter of the population, revoked the freedom of
civilians, installed terror and destroyed families, psychologically and physically scarring the Cambodian civilian population for
generations
