The Cambodian Campaign is the common name for a series of military operations conducted by the American and South Vietnamese armies in the spring and summer of 1970 , one of the largest events in the Vietnam War . During the fighting in Cambodia , the Allied forces achieved certain successes, the significance of which, however, remains debatable. At the same time , the operation in the United States was perceived very ambiguously and caused massive student protests.
Content
Background
According to the 1954 Geneva Accords , Cambodia was a neutral state. However, during the Vietnam War, which unfolded in the late 1950s, the ruler of the country, Prince Norodom Sihanouk, discovered that because of its geographical position, Cambodia would inevitably be drawn into this armed conflict. In 1965, Sihanouk broke off diplomatic relations with the United States, and soon signed an agreement with North Vietnam , according to which the North Vietnamese army, secretly participating in the fighting in South Vietnam , received the right to use the eastern regions of Cambodia for their own purposes, which contradicted the neutral status of the country, although By this time, South Vietnamese partisans already had base camps here. Since Cambodia formally remained neutral, US President Lyndon Johnson banned the US Army from conducting any military operations on its territory. Taking advantage of this, the units of the NFED and the North Vietnamese army crossed the border, carried out the combat missions assigned to them in South Vietnam, and then retreated back to make up for losses and rest, knowing that the enemy would not pursue them.
By 1970, there was a civil war in Cambodia. The partisans of the local communist movement, known as the Khmer Rouge , fought against the central government. This forced Prince Sihanouk to come closer to the United States and to tacitly consent to conduct covert air raids on the eastern regions of the country ( Operation Menu ). In March 1970 , when Sihanouk was on vacation in France, a military coup took place in Cambodia, as a result of which the pro-American Prime Minister (and concurrently Secretary of Defense) General Lon Nol came to power. Almost immediately after coming to power, Lon Nol forbade the partisans of the NFED to use the sea port of Sihanoukville to transport weapons and supplies, and demanded that the North Vietnamese army leave the country. In response, the North Vietnamese launched a major offensive against government forces. By mid-April, the Cambodian army was in a difficult situation, and it was about the life or death of the Lon Nol government.
Meanwhile, a debate broke out in the US administration about whether military assistance should be provided to Lon Nol, and if so, in what form. The dominant idea was a ground invasion. Not all members of the administration supported it (in particular, Secretary of Defense Melvin Laird opposed it ), but President Richard Nixon approved the operation on April 26 .
The invasion of Cambodia pursued a number of goals, including:
- Support the government forces of Lon Nol;
- to destroy the base camps of the NFLW and the North Vietnamese army in the eastern part of the country;
- demonstrate to North Vietnam that the US administration, continuing the peace talks in Paris , is ready, if necessary, to take decisive action on the battlefield;
- to check how much the fighting efficiency of the South Vietnamese army has improved as a result of the “ Vietnamese ” program;
- to find and destroy the Central Administration of South Vietnam , the main headquarters of the communist forces in the South (this goal was formally proclaimed by Nixon among the main ones, but in fact it was secondary).
Invasion
The invasion of Cambodia was carried out by the forces of the American and South Vietnamese armies and was a series of 13 separate operations, in which from 80 to 100 thousand military personnel took part. The South Vietnamese army has already made several reconnaissance attacks in Cambodia during March-April. She began the bulk of the invasion on April 30 in the Parrot Beak area west of Saigon . The next day, the combined US-Vietnamese forces launched an offensive in the Fishing Hook area [1] . The scale of the operation is evidenced by the fact that, from the American side, parts and divisions of five divisions were involved in it. Contrary to expectations, the attackers did not meet with serious resistance. The main part of the North Vietnamese troops at that time fought on the western front against the government army of Cambodia, and the units guarding the base camps conducted only distracting actions against the invading forces. For example, two brigades of the American 4th Infantry Division met strong opposition from the enemy during helicopter landings, but in the next ten days in Cambodia they had only one serious fire contact.
Continuing to delve into the territory of Cambodia, American and South Vietnamese troops found huge stockpiles of weapons, supplies and base camps of the enemy. So, the camp, called "The City" ( The City ), consisted of 400 residential buildings, had a car repair shop, a hospital, 18 dining rooms and even a swimming pool. The trophies captured during the operation were the largest in the entire war.
Reaction
The invasion of Cambodia caused the most violent student protests in the United States for the entire Vietnam War. Many believed that Nixon, who won the presidential election with promises of an “honorable peace” in Indochina , had drawn the country into a new war in the region. Demonstrators burned 30 buildings of the Reserve Officer Training Service across the country. In 16 states, local authorities called the National Guard to maintain public order. The tense situation led to tragedies: on May 4, at the University of Kent, soldiers of the National Guard opened fire on the crowd for an unknown reason, killing four people. This event received a huge response. Two people died at Jackson University. However, if the student invasion caused unanimous protest, then American society as a whole did not take the operation in Cambodia so clearly. Surveys showed that 50% of Americans support Nixon’s actions. A 100,000-strong demonstration in support of an operation in Cambodia took place in New York .
In the face of mass protests, Nixon set the line for moving US units deeper into Cambodia and announced that US troops would leave the country on June 30 , which was done. The South Vietnamese army, not bound by any political restrictions, remained in Cambodia for some time and provided direct support to Lon Nol's troops.
Summary
The results of the Cambodian campaign continue to be controversial. During the invasion, more than 400 American and about 800 South Vietnamese soldiers died. The losses of the North Vietnamese are estimated at 13 thousand people killed and captured. It is believed that the operation significantly delayed the next major offensive by the North Vietnamese troops in South Vietnam, giving the United States additional time to carry out programs of "Vietnamese" and pacification of rural areas. The captured trophies were significant (1800 tons of ammunition alone).
Contrary to some claims [2] , the 1970 invasion is not the beginning of the civil war in Cambodia. The fighting in the country went from 1967 - 1968 , and a significant escalation occurred in March 1970, that is, even before the invasion. From that moment, however, the United States began to provide active military and financial assistance to the Lon Nol regime. American aviation supported the Cambodian army, and South Vietnamese troops several times invaded the border areas.
The relatively successful operations of the South Vietnamese army in Cambodia were perceived by the American administration as a great achievement of "Vietnamese". This played a role in deciding the invasion of Laos in 1971 . However, the fact that in Cambodia the South Vietnamese army interacted with the American ground forces, and the enemy’s resistance was relatively weak, was not taken into account. On the Lao front, in completely different conditions, the South Vietnamese were defeated.
Notes
- ↑ These areas got their names for their distinctive shape on the map. There were also areas of "Angel Wing" and "Dog Face", where offensive operations were also carried out.
- ↑ See, for example, the history of Cambodia during this period in the electronic encyclopedia "The World ."
Literature
- Davidson F. B. War in Vietnam (1946-1975) = Vietnam at War: The History 1946-1975. - M .: Izografus, Eksmo, 2002 .-- S. 816.
- Gordienko A.N. Wars of the second half of the 20th century. Mn., 1998. ISBN 985-437-507-2