S2 Ep25: The Cambodian Civil War Begins - Part Two: A Revolution Waged With Empty Hands

How did the CPK develop their plan to genuinely start a war in Cambodia?

Why did Sihanouk seek rapprochment with the United States?

How did the bombing of Cambodia begin?

Time Period Covered 1967-1968

January 1968 will prove to be a pivotal month for the Vietnamese, Cambodian and American interests in the war. This episode details how the Cambodian communist movement finally began an armed struggle against the Sihanouk government. How the United States negotiated a deal to bomb Cambodia, and how the Vietnamese began a counter attack against the Saigon regime.

Sources

Philip Short Pol Pot: History of a Nightmare
David Chandler The Tragedy of Cambodian History & Brother Number One
Ben Kiernan How Pol Pot Came to Power and Peasants & Politics in Kampuchea
Milton Osbourne Sihanouk
Steve Heder Cambodian Communism and the Vietnamese Model
Elizabeth Becker When the War was Over
Nic Dunlop Lost Executioner
ECCC Case 001 Witness Testimony 2009
Shawcross Sideshow: Kissinger, Nixon, and the Destruction of Cambodia
CIA FOIA