Cambodian–Vietnamese War

The Cambodian–Vietnamese War was a war fought between Kampuchea (present-day Cambodia) and Vietnam.^[1] The war had started because of repeated attacks by the Khmer Rouge guerillas into Vietnamese territory, which often caused the massacre of entire villages. On 21 December 1978, after the Khmer Rouge had raided a village on the border, perpetrating the Ba Chúc massacre, murdering almost all 3,000 Vietnamese civilians, Vietnam decided to launch a full-scale invasion of Kampuchea, which the aim of overthrowing the Khmer Rouge forces of Pol Pot. Less than 2 weeks later, the Vietnamese army entered Phnom Penh, establishing a new government made up of Khmer Rouge defectors. In response to the overthrow of the Khmer Rouge, China invaded Vietnam. As a response to the overthrow of the Khmer Rouge, Vietnam managed to stop the Cambodian genocide, which caused the deaths of between 1.5 million and 3 million people, approximately 25 percent of the country's population.

Cambodian - Vietnamese War
Part of the Third Indochina War, Cold War and the Sino-Soviet split
Vietnamese soldiers entering Phnom Penh in January 1979
Date 21 December 1978 - 23 October 1991 (14 years, 5 months, 3 weeks and 2 days) Location Cambodia, southern Vietnam and eastern Thailand Result Vietnamese/PRK victory Removal of the Khmer Rouge from power End of the Cambodian genocide Disestablishment of Democratic Kampuchea Creation, then disestablishment of the People's Republic of Kampuchea Creation of the State of Cambodia and a UN-led transitional government Chinese invasion of Vietnam and border clashes Signing of Paris Peace Agreements in 1991, restoring the House of Norodom. Start of CGDK insurgency in Thailand and Vietnamese border raids in Thailand Re-establishment of the Kingdom of Cambodia
Belligerents
Democratic Kampuchea (1978 - 82) Coalition Government of Democratic Kampuchea (1982 - 91) Khmer Rouge KPNLF FUNCINPEC  Thailand  China  United States	Vietnam People's Republic of Kampuchea (1979 - 89) State of Cambodia (1989 - 91)
Commanders and leaders
Pol Pot Khieu Samphan Ieng Sary Nuon Chea Ta Mok Son Sen Norodom Sihanouk Norodom Ranariddh Son Sann Dien Del Ronald Reagan Bhumibol Adulyadej Prem Tinsulanonda Chavalit Yongchaiyudh Deng Xiaoping	Lê Duẩn Trường Chinh Nguyễn Văn Linh Võ Nguyên Giáp Heng Samrin Hun Sen Pen Sovan Chan Sy Chea Sim
Strength
1979: 73,000 1989: 30,000	150,000 - 200,000 Vietnamese soldiers
Casualties and losses
1975–1979: c. 15,000 killed[2] 1979–1989: more than 100,000 killed	1975–1979: 10,000 killed[2] 1979–1989: Vietnam: 15,000[3]–25,300[4] killed 30,000 wounded[3] People's Republic of Kampuchea: Unknown Total: 25,000–52,000 killed[5]
200,000+ Cambodian civilians killed

References

1. "Vietnam's Invasion of Cambodia, Revisited". thediplomat.com. Retrieved 2022-12-11.
2. Khoo, p. 127
3. Vietnamese sources generally offer contradictory figures, but Vietnamese General Tran Cong Man stated that at "least 15,000 soldiers died and another 30,000 were wounded in the ten-year long Cambodian campaign"—so the figures do not include the casualties from the period between 1975 and 1979. Thayer, 10
4. SIPRI Yearbook: Stockholm International Peace Research Institute
5. Clodfelter, p. 627.