The Anti Sihanouk Coup d'etat in the Context of the Vietnam War

Abstract

The coup d'etat against Cambodian chief of state Norodom Sihanouk in March, 1970 marked a turning point in Cambodian history. This article examines its causes, process, and outcome in the context of the war in Vietnam. Using mainly Vietnamese sources and declassified U. S. materials, the author tries to explain the structural back ground of the coup.After 1965, the Worker's Party of Vietnam (VWP) needed Chinese arms supplies via the Cambodian port of Sihanoukville due to an adequate supply via the Ho Chi Minh route to the southern theaters especially Nam Bo. The VWP tried to maintain good relations with Sihanouk and opposed the armed struggle policy of Pol Pot's Comunist Party of Cambodia (CPK) against Sihanouk regime.United State military intelligence recognized the importance of the Sihanoukville arms route as shown by reconaissance operations into Cambodia, although the Johnson administration rejected any military operations there.The Nixon administration feverd military intelligence angainst State Department and C. I. A.. The American military and diplomatic stalemate led toan aggressive policy towards the Sihanouk regime for its arms transfer to the Vietnamese liberation forces.As late as January 1970, after Sihanouk had left Cambodia for medical treatment, the White House decided to hatch the coup. Sirik Matak, then acting prime minister of the Cambodian Government, and Lon Nol's younger brother Lon Non acted as agents of the White House. Even before the coup, they had closed the Sihanoukville armes route. After the coup, the Cambodian government severed it's relations with the VWP, and despite Chinese efforts to renew arms transfer for the Vietnamese, Lon Nol never changed his mind.Nixon's aim for the coup was realized, but it's effects remained temporary. The VWP moved quickly to form an allignment between Sihanouk and Pol Pot, moving its southern main forces into Cambodia to link up with its logistic forces from Laos.The U. S. failed to gain an advantage either in the battlefields or the negotiation table. As a result the CPK gained wide areas of support both inside and outside Cambodia. The VWP failed to evaluate Pol Pot's nature at that time, the only longterm effect of the U. S. political ambitious initiated coup and the VWP reaction was the unitnentional opportunities it offerd to Pol Pot's.