Cambodian–Vietnamese War

The Cambodian–Vietnamese War was an armed conflict between Democratic Kampuchea, controlled by Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge, and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. The war began with repeated attacks by the Liberation Army of Kampuchea on the southwestern border of Vietnam, particularly the Ba Chúc massacre which resulted in the deaths of over 3,000 Vietnamese civilians. On 23 December 1978, 10 out of 19 divisions of Khmer Rouge's military divisions opened fire along the shared Southwestern borderline with Vietnam with the goal of invading the Vietnamese provinces of Đồng Tháp, An Giang and Kiên Giang. On 25 December 1978, Vietnam launched a full-scale invasion of Kampuchea, and subsequently occupied the country in 2 weeks and removed the government of the Communist Party of Kampuchea from power. In doing so, Vietnam put an ultimate stop to the Cambodian Genocide, during which 25% of the Cambodian population (potentially up to 2 million civilians) had already been executed under Pol Pot’s regime.

Not to be confused with the 12th-century Đại Việt–Khmer War, the 19th-century Vietnamese invasions of Cambodia, or the 1970 invasion of Cambodia by South Vietnam.

Cambodian–Vietnamese War
Part of the Third Indochina War, the Cold War in Asia, and the Sino-Soviet split

Vietnamese soldiers entering Phnom Penh in January 1979
Date30 April 1977 – 23 October 1991
(14 years, 5 months, 3 weeks and 2 days)
Location
Cambodia, Southern Vietnam, eastern Thailand
Result

Vietnamese victory

  • Khmer Rouge removed from power and collapse of Democratic Kampuchea
  • End of the Cambodian genocide
  • Establishment, then disestablishment, of the People's Republic of Kampuchea
  • Chinese invasion of Vietnam and continued border skirmishes
  • Vietnamese occupation until 1989
  • Start of CGDK insurgency and Thai border skirmishes
  • Signing of the 1991 Paris Peace Accords agreeing to UN-led transition
Belligerents
 Democratic Kampuchea (1977–1982)  Vietnam
FUNSK (from 1978)

Post-invasion:
 Coalition Government of Democratic Kampuchea (1982–1990)

 China (border conflict)
 Thailand (border clashes)		 Post-invasion:
Until April 1989:
 Vietnam
 People's Republic of Kampuchea
From April 1989:
State of Cambodia
Commanders and leaders
  • Lê Duẩn
  • Trường Chinh
  • Nguyễn Văn Linh Võ Nguyên Giáp
  • Văn Tiến Dũng
  • Lê Đức Anh
  • Heng Samrin
Strength
  • 1979: 73,000
  • 1989: 30,000
  • 150,000–200,000 Vietnamese soldiers
  • 1,000 Lao soldiers (1988)
Casualties and losses
  • 1975–1979:
    c. 15,000 killed
  • 1979–1989: more than 100,000 killed
  • 1975–1979:
    • 10,000 killed
  • 1979–1989:
    • Vietnam:
      • 15,000–25,300 killed
      • 30,000 wounded
    • People's Republic of Kampuchea:
      • Unknown
  • Total: 25,000–52,000 killed
  • 200,000+ Cambodian civilians killed
    (excluding deaths from famine)
  • 30,000+ Vietnamese civilians killed (1975–1978)
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