Modern Conflict:Southeast Asia

Japan & WWII•(1905) Japanese victory in Russo-Japanese War leads to hope

•Japan began to invade SE Asian f/ China in the 1930’s

•At first, Japanese were welcomed over the Europeans

•Eventually, locals resisted Japanese oppression and were armed by European colonists

•Philippines, Malaysia, Burma, Indonesia, Laos, and Cambodia gained independence following WWIIIRONIC???

Japanese Reliance Upon US Scrap-Metal

Year Percentage

1936 70.0

1937 70.0

1938 55.3

1939 75.0

Japan's Dependence on Oil Import in 1940

Country From Amount Percentage

United States 3,820 - 4,366 kilotons 80

Dutch East India

(Indonesia)621 - 709 kilotons 13

War on the Horizon•Ho Chi Minh- Vietnamese nationalist who wanted a communist state free of the French

•After battling Japanese in WWII, Ho Chi Minh wrote the Vietnamese “Declaration of Independence”

•Domino Theory- American thought that if one nation became communist, neighboring nations would fall too

•French fought Vietnamese but surrendered at Dienbienphu in 1954

“The last time the Chinese came, they stayed a thousand years. The French are foreigners. They are weak. Colonialism is dying. The white man is finished in Asia.

But if the Chinese stay now, they will never go. As for me, I prefer to sniff

French [expletive] for five years than to eat Chinese [expletive] for the rest of my

life.”

— Ho Chi Minh, 1946

War in Vietnam•Vietnam was divided at 17th parallel

•Viet Cong- Communist army of South Vietnam supported by China, USSR, North Vietnam

•Gulf of Tonkin Resolution- Declared by Pres. Johnson after American Naval ships being attacked in 1964 to take “all means necessary”

•Laos supported North Vietnamese after bombings of Ho Chi Minh Trial by US

•Cambodia supported North Vietnamese after bombing of bases

Outcomes•US began withdrawing troops in 1969 and by 1973 had signed a peace treaty

•In 1975, Saigon fell to North Vietnamese and became Ho Chi Minh City

•Forced South Vietnamese to be “re-educated”

•US trade ban lifted in 1994

“If the tiger ever stands still, the elephant will crush him with his mighty tusks. But the tiger does not stand still…He

will leap upon the back of the elephant, tearing huge chunks from his hide, and then the tiger will leap back into the dark jungle. And slowly the elephant will bleed to death. That will

be the war of Indochina.”-Ho Chi Minh

1946

1. Who is the “tiger?”2. Who is the “elephant?”

3. Do you agree or disagree with Ho Chi Minh?

Napalm

AGENT ORANGE VICTIM

AGENT ORANGE VICTIM

AGENT ORANGE VICTIMS

Khmer Rouge•Khmer Rouge- Cambodian rebel group that came to power under its leader Pol Pot in 1975

•Opposed foreign influence and evacuated cities to create an “agrarian utopia”

•Closed all schools, eliminated private property and currency, killed intellectuals and skilled workers

•Killed people who…spoke another language, wore glasses, wore a watch, used modern technology

•Led to 2 million deaths out of a 7 million person population