Developments 

Introduction:

While the fall of Saigon in 1975 may have ended the Vietnam War, the struggle for peace in Southeast Asia was far from over. In the years following the conflict in Vietnam, the governments of Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia sought to quell political unrest by seeking revenge against members of the former pro-Western regimes. In this lesson, students will learn about the unsafe post-war environment and why that may have motivated those people to seek refuge overseas.

Historical Context:

After almost 19 years and six months of brutal conflict, the deaths of an estimated three million civilians and soldiers, and more than 7.5 million tons of bombs dropped in Southeast Asia, the fall of Saigon—the capital of South Vietnam—on April 30, 1975 officially signaled the end of the Vietnam War, one of the most controversial conflicts in international history. That day, over 7,000 American personnel and “at-risk” South Vietnamese citizens were able to escape the city via helicopter airlift as part of Operation Frequent Wind. 

As perhaps the most famous proxy war of the Cold War era, the collapse of the capitalist, Western-aligned South Vietnamese government marked the beginning of communist governments coming into power in Southeast Asia: the reunification of Vietnam under the North Vietnamese government, Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge overthrowing the Khmer Republic, and the Pathet Lao, or the Lao People's Liberation Army, coming into power in Laos. 

Those Left Behind:

The first wave of Indo-Chinese refugees who were able to leave in the weeks following the fall of Saigon were relatively well off and educated. They feared retribution from the North Vietnamese government because of their connections with the American or South Vietnamese government and military; when they did make it out of Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia, governments such as the United States’ allowed—and in some case even assisted—the resettlement of these refugees in their countries.

But the others were not so lucky. The South Vietnamese citizens left behind—specifically the former civil servants and soldiers of the Republic of Vietnam, as well as anti-communist politicians, journalists, and poets—were forced to attend “re-education camps” inspired by the Soviet Union’s gulags and China’s forced labor camps. About 150,000 citizens were accused of betraying their countries as war criminals and subsequently detained without any trial or evidence. While these programs claimed to last between three days to one month, many were forced into manual labor for upwards of three years, transferring among the estimated 100 re-education centers stationed around the country. 

First hand reports from prisoners revealed that they were starved, denied medical treatment, kept in unsanitary conditions, and suffered from inhumane psychological torture. Inmates were forced to discuss the “crimes” they committed with each other, study the history of communism, and rewrite their life stories multiple times while incorporating pro-communist elements—and endure physical violence from the guards, who were able to discipline the prisoners however they wanted. These punishments included humiliating and killing those who attempted to escape. These prisoners were also often made to work on digging canals and collecting wood to earn enough money to feed themselves—but even then, they were forced to resort to eating any animals that they could catch off of the ground.

Similarly, in Cambodia, the Khmer Rouge began to expel journalists from its country, massacre former anti-communist government officials, and impose forced collective labor upon intellectuals—who were also terrorized daily and in some cases executed for minor in fractions—in an attempt to seize power and establish an agrarian society. When the Pathet Lao gained power, they intended to capture and kill the Hmong, an ethnic group spread out across China and Southeastern Asia, for their efforts to aid the American military during the Vietnam War. 

END OF UNIT EXERCISES

Short Answer (5 points each):

Choose ONE of the following questions and write a short answer for each with 1-2 paragraphs:

1. Describe the conditions under which South Vietnamese prisoners were kept. Provide specific details about what their experience at these re-education camps may entail.

2. Why did the government of Vietnam and the Khmer Rouge specifically target intellectuals (i.e. scholars and journalists) for re-education and forced labor?

3. What was the effect of these re-education camps on the South Vietnamese prisoners?

Essay (10 points each):

Choose ONE of the following questions and write a well-developed essay response:

1. Why do you think these governments were able to imprison so many of its own citizens without trial or evidence?

2. Countries such as the United States were willing to accept the first wave of Indo-Chinese refugees, who were usually financially stable and well-educated. Why do you think there was public support in favor of these refugees and how might the public support change when presented with the “boat people?”