S2 Ep8: Rolling Thunder in Vietnam, Clouds Over Cambodia

In March 1965, American aircraft began a sustained bombing campaign against North Vietnam that would run for three and a half years. In the same period, Pol Pot walked out of the jungle to Hanoi and Beijing, and came back with a different idea of what Cambodian communism was for.Time Period Covered: 1964 to 1967How does the 'Vietnam War' begin? How did the Communist Party of Kampuchea get its name? Why did Sihanouk start making so many movies in the 1960s?In this episode, Lachlan revisits Vietnam as LBJ wages war upon the North and the Viet Cong. Pol Pot leaves the jungle to visit Hanoi and Beijing, and changes the direction of Khmer communism. Meanwhile, in Cambodia, Sihanouk begins losing his magic touch as various quarters become less enamoured with his policies. The Cambodian Civil War approaches, as the war in Vietnam begins to spread.SourcesPhilip Short Pol Pot: History of a NightmareDavid Chandler The Tragedy of Cambodian History & Brother Number OneBen Kiernan How Pol Pot Came to PowerMilton Osbourne SihanoukSteve Heder Cambodian Communism and the Vietnamese ModelEdward Miller The Vietnam WarMark Atwood Lawrence A Concise History of the Vietnam WarDemocratic Kampuchea Livre Noir