Difficult Struggles in SE Asia After WWII, growing nationalistic feelings

spread through Indochina and other parts of SE Asia

SE Asians fought against foreign imperialist powers to gain their freedom

They also fought against themselves in bloody civil wars

Vietnam Vietnam had been ruled by the French

since the mid-1800s

During WWII, the Vietminh, an alliance of nationalist and communist groups, fought the occupying Japanese

After the war the French hoped to

regain Vietnam

Instead, Ho Chi Minh, the Vietminh

leader, declared Vietnam free

Defeated by the Vietminh, the French

abandoned Vietnam

1954, conference in Geneva led to division of Vietnam into communist north and a noncommunist south

The Vietnam War Elections were suppose to be held in 1956 to

unite Vietnam

Ho Chi Minh, leader of Communist N Vietnam, supported the Vietcong-group of communist rebels who were trying to overthrow Ngo Dinh Diem (South Vietnam)

The US sent troops to support S. Vietnamese gov led by Diem.

The war lasted from 1959-1975

The South Vietnam forces couldn’t defeat the communist forces

Growing anti-war sentiment in the US forced Pres. Nixon to w/draw American forces

1975, Saigon, the capital of the South fell

The country was reunited under communist control

Cambodia

Served as a supply route for the Vietcong/ N Vietnamese forces

1969, American forces destroyed that routeAfter the Americans left, Cambodian

communist known as the Khmer Rouge, took control

Pol Pot, leader of Khmer Rouge, began a reign of terror to remove all western influences from Cambodia

More than a million Cambodians were slaughtered in the “Killing Fields”

1979, Vietnamese forces invaded Cambodia and occupied the country

In the early 1990s, a settlement was negotiated to end the civil war

Myanmar (Formally known as Burma)

Was a British possession in the 1800s

In the mid-1900s, it gained independence, but it was plagued w/ ethnic tensions and ruled by a repressive military

Very poor country and living conditions, to this day, have not improved

Opposition party led by Aung San Suu Kyi, won an electorial victory

The military rejected the elections results and put Suu Kyi under house arrest

2011, a new President, U Thein Sein freed her and she soon won a 2012 parliamentary election

Foreign policy changes have allowed improved relations w/ US and other countries