The Third Indochina War, 1978-1991
H2 History - syllabus 9174, 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.
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.