Cambodian Conflict (1979–1998)
1979-1998 Armed Conflict in Cambodia. / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Cambodian Conflict or Khmer Rouge Insurgency,[5] was an armed conflict that initiated in the Cambodian-Vietnamese War, Vietnam which provoked the deposition of Democratic Kampuchea, between the new Cambodian government (supported by Vietnam and Soviet Union) and an anti-government coalition led by the Khmer Rouge.[6]
Cambodian Conflict | |||||||
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Part of Third Indochina War and Cambodian–Vietnamese War and Cold War in Asia | |||||||
Resistance bases within the borders of Cambodia with Thailand | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Coalition Government of Democratic Kampuchea
Thailand (until 1991) China (until 1991) United States (until 1991) United Kingdom (until 1991) |
People's Republic of Kampuchea (1979–1989) Supported by: State of Cambodia (1989–1991) Second Kingdom of Cambodia (from 1993) | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Pol Pot Son Sen Ta Mok Son Sann (until 1991) Norodom Sihanouk (until 1991) Norodom Ranariddh (until 1991) |
Heng Samrin Hun Sen Norodom Sihanouk (from 1993) Norodom Ranariddh (1993–1997) | ||||||
Units involved | |||||||
20–30,000 CGDK Men |
150,000 to 220,000 Vietnamese soldiers around 30,000 Cambodian soldiers |
After the fall of Pol Pot's regime, Cambodia came under Vietnamese military occupation[7] and a pro-Hanoi, pro-Soviet government, the People's Republic of Kampuchea, led by the Kampuchean United Front for National Salvation, a group of leftists Cambodians discontented with Khmer Rouge, was established.[8] The conflict was fought during the 1980s between the People's Republic of Kampuchea against the Coalition Government of Democratic Kampuchea, a government in exile formed in 1981 and composed of three Cambodian political factions: the royalist FUNCINPEC party led by Prince Norodom Sihanouk, the Party of Democratic Kampuchea (often referred to as the Khmer Rouge) and the Khmer People's National Liberation Front (KPNLF). The Khmer Rouge representative at the UN, Thiounn Prasith, was Maintained.[9]
Throughout the 1980s, the Khmer Rouge, supported by China, Thailand, the United States and the United Kingdom,[10] continued to control large part of the country and attacked territory that was not under its control. This conflict led to economic sanctions on Cambodia by the United States and its allies, which made reconstruction practically impossible and left the country extremely poor.[11]
Peace efforts intensified between 1989 and 1991, with two international conferences in Paris, and a UN peacekeeping mission helped maintain a ceasefire. The UN was given a mandate known as the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (APRONUC) to enforce a ceasefire and deal with the issue of refugees and disarmament.[12][13]
As part of the peace effort, UN-sponsored elections were held in 1993 which helped restore some semblance of normality as well as the gradual decline of the Khmer Rouge. However, a low-intensity conflict continued between the Cambodian government army and Khmer Rouge guerrillas until 1998.[5] Norodom Sihanouk was restored as the king of Cambodia,[13] but the conflict situation would intensify by the 1997 Cambodia Crisis. A coalition government, formed after national elections in 1998, brought political stability and renewed the surrender of the remaining Khmer Rouge forces that year.