The Third Indochina War, 1978-1991
H1 History - syllabus 8838, 2027
Historical animosities and Cold War alignments, the Khmer Rouge and the border war, Vietnam's invasion of Cambodia, China's punitive war, and the settlement of 1989-1991.
- Old fears: Vietnam, Cambodia and China
Centuries of rivalry made Cambodians fear Vietnamese domination and Vietnamese resent Chinese pressure.
- Democratic Kampuchea and the border war, 1975-1978
The Khmer Rouge regime attacked Vietnamese border areas, and Vietnam decided to remove it.
- Cold War alignments: Moscow, Hanoi, Beijing and Phnom Penh
By 1978 Indochina had split into camps, with the USSR backing Vietnam and China backing Democratic Kampuchea.
- Vietnam invades Cambodia, December 1978
Vietnam overthrew the Khmer Rouge in two weeks and installed a friendly government, starting a decade of occupation.
- China's punitive war, February-March 1979
China attacked Vietnam to "teach it a lesson", showing the limits of Soviet support but at heavy cost.
- Stalemate and settlement, 1979-1991
A long stalemate ended when Soviet support faded, Vietnam withdrew in 1989, and the Paris Agreements were signed in 1991.
- Put it together: Who drove the Third Indochina War?
Choose an actor and weigh its role.
What you will be able to do
I can judge which factors shaped the Second and Third Indochina Wars.
Syllabus 8838, Theme III, Learning Outcomes. evaluate the factors that shaped the development of Cold War conflicts in Southeast Asia
Taught in Old fears: Vietnam, Cambodia and China, Democratic Kampuchea and the border war, 1975-1978, Cold War alignments: Moscow, Hanoi, Beijing and Phnom Penh, Vietnam invades Cambodia, December 1978, China's punitive war, February-March 1979, Stalemate and settlement, 1979-1991
Sources and context
Background reading for this chapter.
- A CIA assessment of the conflict
Paraphrase of the key judgments of an Interagency Intelligence Memorandum, "Sino-Soviet Competition in Indochina", prepared in the CIA, 14 November 1978.
- A State Department analysis of Vietnam's motives
Paraphrase of a briefing memorandum from the Acting Director of the Bureau of Intelligence and Research to Secretary of State Vance, 8 January 1979, the day after Phnom Penh fell.
- Thailand watches the Vietnamese advance
Paraphrase of a telegram from the US embassy in Bangkok to the State Department, 4 January 1979.
- China prepares to attack
Paraphrase of the minutes of a US National Security Council meeting on the Sino-Vietnamese conflict, 16 February 1979.
- Lee Kuan Yew writes to Carter
Paraphrase of a letter from Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew to President Carter, 1 March 1979.
- a Vietnamese diplomat explains the Soviet treaty, November 1978
Extract from the US record of a meeting in New York, 30 November 1978, between US official Robert Oakley and the Vietnamese representative (named "Co" in the record) in talks on normalising US-Vietnamese relations, four weeks after Vietnam signed its treaty with the USSR. Secret. Foreign Relations of the United States, 1977-1980, volume XXII, document 33. A US government document in the public domain.
- Deng Xiaoping briefs President Carter, 29 January 1979
Extract from the US memorandum of conversation of a meeting between President Carter, Vice Premier Deng Xiaoping and their senior advisers, Washington, 29 January 1979, a month after Vietnam invaded Cambodia. Foreign Relations of the United States, 1977-1980, volume XIII, document 205. A US government document in the public domain.
- Carter reports Deng's private message, 30 January 1979
Extract from a US memorandum of conversation, Washington, 30 January 1979, in which President Carter reported to his advisers on his private talk with Deng Xiaoping. China attacked Vietnam on 17 February 1979. Foreign Relations of the United States, 1977-1980, volume XIII, document 207. A US government document in the public domain.
- the UN General Assembly on Kampuchea, November 1979
Extract from United Nations General Assembly Resolution 34/22, "The situation in Kampuchea", adopted at the 67th plenary meeting, 14 November 1979, on a draft sponsored by the ASEAN states. A UN record.
- a cartoon about the conflict, 1979
An original cartoon drawn for these notes in the style of a Southeast Asian newspaper cartoon of 1979, after the Vietnamese invasion of Cambodia and the Chinese attack on Vietnam. It is not a copy of a real cartoon.