Modern States of Mainland Southeast Asia: Map & History

Archaeological evidence shows that Homo erectus lived in the region now known as Myanmar as early as 750,000 years ago, with no more erectus finds after 75,000 years ago. The first evidence of Homo sapiens is dated to about 25,000 BP with discoveries of stone tools in central Myanmar. Evidence of Neolithic age domestication of plants and animals and the use of polished stone tools dating to sometime between 10,000 and 6,000 BCE has been discovered in the form of cave paintings in Padah-Lin Caves.

From Wikipedia: Myanmar · History: Prehistory (CC BY-SA 4.0)

There is consensus that the former military regime in Myanmar (1962–2010) was one of the world's most repressive and abusive regimes. In November 2012, Samantha Power, Barack Obama's Special Assistant to the President on Human Rights, wrote on the White House blog that "Serious human rights abuses against civilians in several regions continue, including against women and children." Members of the United Nations and major international human rights organisations have issued repeated and consistent reports of widespread and systematic human rights violations in Myanmar.

From Wikipedia: Myanmar · Government and politics: Human rights and internal conflicts (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Myanmar's economy is one of the fastest growing economies in the world, with a nominal GDP of US$76.09 billion in 2019 and an estimated purchasing power-adjusted GDP of US$327.629 billion in 2017 according to the World Bank. Foreigners can legally lease but not own property. In December 2014, Myanmar set up its first stock exchange, the Yangon Stock Exchange.

From Wikipedia: Myanmar · Economy (CC BY-SA 4.0)

On 2 March 1962, the military led by General Ne Win took control of Burma through a coup d'état, and the government has been under direct or indirect control by the military since then. Between 1962 and 1974, Myanmar was ruled by a revolutionary council headed by the general. Almost all aspects of society (business, media, production) were nationalised or brought under government control under the Burmese Way to Socialism, which combined Soviet-style nationalisation and central planning.

From Wikipedia: Myanmar · History: Military rule (1962–2011) (CC BY-SA 4.0)

A diverse range of indigenous cultures exists in Myanmar, with the majority culture primarily Buddhist and Bamar. Bamar culture has been influenced by the cultures of neighbouring countries, manifested in its language, cuisine, music, dance, and theatre. The arts, particularly literature, have historically been influenced by the local form of Theravada Buddhism. Considered the national epic of Myanmar, the Yama Zatdaw, an adaptation of India's Ramayana, has been influenced greatly by Thai, Mon, and Indian versions of the play. Buddhism is practised along with nat worship, which involves elaborate rituals to propitiate one from a pantheon of 37 nats.

From Wikipedia: Myanmar · Culture (CC BY-SA 4.0)

For decades, the French government argued that the French Republic had been dismantled when Philippe Pétain instituted a new French State during the war and that the Republic had been reestablished when the war was over. It was not for the Republic, therefore, to apologise for events that happened while it had not existed and that had been carried out by a State it did not recognize. For example, former President François Mitterrand had maintained that the Vichy Government, not France's Republic, was responsible. This position was more recently reiterated by Marine Le Pen, leader of the National Front Party, during the 2017 election campaign.

From Wikipedia: Vichy France · Collaboration with Nazi Germany: Government responsibility (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Vichy rhetoric exalted the skilled labourer and small businessman. In practice, the needs of artisans for raw materials were neglected in favour of big businesses. The General Committee for the Organization of Commerce (CGOC) was a national program to modernise and professionalise small business. In 1941 it also instituted the mobilisation of non-ferrous metals under the cover of supporting French agriculture but in fact to support flagging German armament production.

From Wikipedia: Vichy France · Social and economic history: Economy (CC BY-SA 4.0)

In June 1940, the Fall of France made the French hold on Indochina tenuous. The isolated colonial administration was cut off from outside help and from outside supplies. After negotiations with Japan, the French allowed the Japanese to set up military bases in Indochina. That seemingly-subservient behaviour convinced Major-General Plaek Pibulsonggram, the prime minister of the Kingdom of Thailand, that Vichy France would not seriously resist a campaign by the Thai military to recover parts of Cambodia and Laos that had been taken from Thailand by France in the early 20th century. In October 1940, the military forces of Thailand attacked across the border with Indochina and launched the Franco-Thai War.

From Wikipedia: Vichy France · Foreign relations: French Indochina, Japan and Franco-Thai War (CC BY-SA 4.0)

On 10 July 1940, the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate gathered in joint session in the quiet spa town of Vichy, their provisional capital in central France. Lyon, France's second-largest city, would have been a more logical choice but Mayor Édouard Herriot was too associated with the Third Republic. Marseille had a reputation as an organized crime hub. Toulouse was too remote and had a left-wing reputation. Vichy was centrally located and had many hotels for ministers to use.

From Wikipedia: Vichy France · Fall of France and establishment of the Vichy government: 10 July 1940 vote of full powers (CC BY-SA 4.0)

North Vietnam established a system of autonomous regions (Vietnamese: Khu tự trị) similar to (and based on) the autonomous regions of China. In recognising the traditional separatism of tribal minorities, this policy of accommodationism gave them self-government in exchange for acceptance of Hanoi's control. These regions existed from 1955 but following the merger of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam and the Republic of South Vietnam the system of autonomous regions was not continued and were fully abolished by 1978.

From Wikipedia: North Vietnam · Government and politics: Autonomous regions (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The land reform program was a success in terms of distributing much land to poor and landless peasants and reducing or eliminating the land holdings of landlords (địa chủ) and rich peasants. By 1960, there were 40,000 cooperatives spanning nearly nine-tenths of all farmland. The program, proceeded by a Three Year Plan (1957–1960), lifted agricultural production to 5.4 million tonnes or over double pre-Indochina War levels.

From Wikipedia: North Vietnam · Economy: Results (CC BY-SA 4.0)

In the wake of the Hai Phong incident and the deterioration of the Fontainebleau Agreements, the French reoccupied Hanoi and the First Indochina War (1946–54) followed, during which many urban areas fell under French control. Following the Chinese Communist Revolution (1946–50), Chinese communist forces arrived on the border in 1949. Chinese aid revived the fortunes of the Viet Minh and transformed it from a guerrilla militia into a standing army. The outbreak of the Korean War in June 1950 transformed what had been an anti-colonial struggle into a Cold War battleground, with the U.S. providing financial support to the French.

From Wikipedia: North Vietnam · History: First Indochina War (CC BY-SA 4.0)

There exists evidence for a Pleistocene human occupation of what later is Cambodia, which includes quartz and quartzite pebble tools found in terraces along the Mekong River, in Stung Treng and Kratié provinces, and in Kampot province. Some archaeological evidence shows communities of hunter-gatherers inhabited the region during the Holocene: the most ancient archaeological discovery site in Cambodia is considered to be the cave of Laang Spean, which belongs to the Hoabinhian period. Excavations in its lower layers produced a series of radiocarbon dates around 6000 BC. Upper layers in the same site gave evidence of transition to Neolithic, containing the earliest dated earthenware ceramics in Cambodia.

From Wikipedia: Cambodia · History: Prehistory (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Cambodia is a constitutional monarchy with a unitary structure and a parliamentary form of government. The king is officially the head of state and is the symbol of unity and "perpetuity" of the nation, as defined by Cambodia's constitution. Legislative powers are shared by the executive and the bicameral Parliament of Cambodia (សភាតំណាងរាស្ត្រ, sâphéa tâmnang réastrâ), which consists of a lower house, the National Assembly (រដ្ឋសភា, rôdthâsâphéa) and an upper house, the Senate (ព្រឹទ្ធសភា, prœ̆tthôsâphéa). Members of the 125-seat National Assembly are elected through a system of proportional representation and serve for a maximum term of five years. The Senate has 62 seats, two of which are appointed by the king and two others by the National Assembly, and the rest are elected by the commune councillors from the 24 provinces of Cambodia. Senators serve six-year terms.

From Wikipedia: Cambodia · Politics (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Cambodia has two rail lines, totalling about 612 km (380 mi) of single, 1 m (3 ft 3 in) gauge track. The lines run from the capital to Sihanoukville on the southern coast. Trains are again running to and from the Cambodian capital and destinations in the south. After 14 years, regular rail services between the two cities restarted – offering a safer option than road for travellers. Trains run from Phnom Penh to Sisophon (trains often run only as far as Battambang). As of 1987, only one passenger train per week operated between Phnom Penh and Battambang and a US$141 million project, funded mostly by the Asian Development Bank, has been started to revitalise the languishing rail system that will "(interlink) Cambodia with major industrial and logistics centres in Bangkok and Ho Chi Minh City".

From Wikipedia: Cambodia · Economy: Transport (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Rice is the staple grain, as in other Southeast Asian countries. Fish from the Mekong and Tonlé Sap rivers is a part of the diet. The supply of fish and fish products for food and trade as of 2000 was 20 kg (44 lb) per person or 2 ounces per day per person.

From Wikipedia: Cambodia · Culture: Cuisine (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Following the Franco-Lao Treaty of 1953, which gave Laos independence, the Royal Lao Government took control of the country. This treaty established a constitutional monarchy, with Sisavang Vong as King and Prince Souvanna Phouma as Prime Minister.

From Wikipedia: Kingdom of Laos · Government (CC BY-SA 4.0)

In 1960, amidst a series of rebellions, fighting broke out between the Royal Lao Army and the Soviet Union-backed, communist Pathet Lao, a second Provisional Government of National Unity formed by Prince Souvanna Phouma in 1962 proved to be unsuccessful, and the situation steadily deteriorated thereafter as the conflict in Laos became a focus for superpower rivalry. During the North Vietnamese invasion of Laos, the Pathet Lao were backed militarily by the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) and Vietcong.

From Wikipedia: Kingdom of Laos · North Vietnamese invasion of Laos and civil war (CC BY-SA 4.0)

A ceasefire was finally attained in February 1973, following the Paris Peace Accords between the United States and North Vietnam. In April 1974, another Provisional Government of National Unity was established, with Prince Souvanna Phouma as Prime Minister. However, by this time, Pathet Lao forces controlled large areas of the country, and following the fall of Saigon and Phnom Penh to communist forces in April 1975, removed any chances of a coalition government forming in Laos. Following the communist victories in both countries, they advanced on to Vientiane.

From Wikipedia: Kingdom of Laos · Fall of the government (CC BY-SA 4.0)

South Vietnam, as a unitary and centralized state, went through many political changes during its existence. Domestic politics in the Republic of Vietnam underwent a turbulent wartime evolution, shifting from authoritarianism under the ideology of personalism (1955–1963) to fractious military juntas (1963–1967) and eventually to the dynamic Second Republic (1967–1975). Described by K. W. Taylor as "a relatively stable experiment in parliamentary democracy" in an introduction to the essays by South Vietnamese officials, the Second Republic was a hybrid regime that was more democratic than previous governments. Its diverse socio-political groups were characterized by "a deep yearning for peace, a sense of civic responsibility, the pursuit of intellectual and artistic freedom, and an overall critical attitude toward the government".

From Wikipedia: South Vietnam · Government, politics, and civil society (CC BY-SA 4.0)

South Vietnam maintained a capitalist free-market economy with ties to the West. The economy was greatly assisted by American aid and the presence of large numbers of Americans in the country between 1961 and 1973 during Vietnam War. In 1951, South Vietnam established the airline Air Vietnam. Electrical production increased fourteen-fold between 1954 and 1973 while industrial output increase by an average of 6.9 percent annually. During the same period, rice output increased by 203 percent and the number of students in university increased from 2,000 to 90,000. US aid peaked at $2.3 billion in 1973, but dropped to $1.1 billion in 1974. Inflation rose to 200 percent as the country suffered economic shock due to the decrease of American aid as well as the oil price shock of October 1973.

From Wikipedia: South Vietnam · Economy (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The Diệm government lost support among the populace, and from the Kennedy administration, due to its mishandling of Buddhist activists and military defeats by the Viet Cong. Notably, the Huế Phật Đản shootings of 8 May 1963 led to the Buddhist crisis, provoking protests and civil resistance. The situation came to a head when the Special Forces were sent to raid Buddhist temples across the country, leaving a death toll estimated to be in the hundreds. Diệm was overthrown in a coup on 1 November 1963 with the tacit approval of the US.

From Wikipedia: South Vietnam · History: Military juntas (1963–1967) (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The educational system of the Republic of Vietnam was diverse, encompassing private and state institutions, as well as schools affiliated with ethnic communities and religious denominations. The Congress of Education in 1958 defined three main principles of education: humanism (nhân bản), nation (dân tộc), and liberalism (khai phóng).

From Wikipedia: South Vietnam · Culture: Education (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Morale was low in South Vietnam as the PAVN advanced. A last-ditch defense was made by the ARVN 18th Division at the Battle of Xuân Lộc from 9–21 April. Thiệu resigned on 21 April 1975, and fled to Taiwan. He nominated his Vice President Trần Văn Hương as his successor. After only one week in office, the South Vietnamese national assembly voted to hand over the presidency to General Dương Văn Minh. Minh was seen as a more conciliatory figure toward the North, and it was hoped he might be able to negotiate a more favourable settlement to end the war. The North, however, was not interested in negotiations, and its forces captured Saigon. Minh unconditionally surrendered Saigon and the rest of South Vietnam to North Vietnam on 30 April 1975.

From Wikipedia: South Vietnam · History: Fall of Saigon: April 1975 (CC BY-SA 4.0)

In 2009, an anatomically modern human skull was recovered from Tam Pa Ling Cave in the Annamite Mountains. At least 46,000 years old, the skull was the oldest modern human fossil discovered in Southeast Asia at the time. Stone artifacts, including Hoabinhian types, have also been found at Pleistocene sites in northern Laos.

From Wikipedia: Laos · History: Prehistory (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The National Assembly of Laos is the supreme state organ of power and formally holds the unified powers of the state. It is the only state organ that can adopt or amend the communist state constitution, which was adopted on 14 August 1991. The National Assembly is officially considered the embodiment of popular sovereignty since it is elected through elections in which candidates are vetted by the National Election Committee. The LPRP, state organs, the Lao Front for National Development, the largest transmission-belt mass organization in the country, and other transmission-belt mass organizations are allowed to nominate candidates to the National Election Committee, which can either approve or reject them.

From Wikipedia: Laos · Politics: National Assembly (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Pakse has experienced growth based on cross-border trade with Thailand and Vietnam. In 2009, the Obama administration in the US declared Laos was no longer a communist state and lifted bans on Lao companies receiving financing from the US Export-Import Bank. In 2016, China was the biggest foreign investor in the Lao economy, having invested US$5.395 billion since 1989, according to the Laos Ministry of Planning and Investment's 1989–2014 report. Thailand (invested US$4.489 billion) and Vietnam (invested US$3.108 billion) are the second and third largest investors respectively.

From Wikipedia: Laos · Economy (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The first feature-length film made after the monarchy was abolished is Gun Voice from the Plain of Jars directed by Somchith Pholsena in 1983, and its release was prevented by a censorship board. A commercial feature-length film was Sabaidee Luang Prabang, made in 2008. The 2017 documentary feature film Blood Road was predominantly shot and produced in Laos with assistance from the government. It was recognised with a News and Documentary Emmy Award in 2018.

From Wikipedia: Laos · Culture: Cinema (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The history of the communist movement in Cambodia can be divided into six phases, namely the emergence before World War II of the Indochinese Communist Party (ICP), whose members were almost exclusively Vietnamese; the 10-year struggle for independence from the French, when a separate Cambodian communist party, the Kampuchean People's Revolutionary Party (KPRP), was established under Vietnamese auspices; the period following the Second Party Congress of the KPRP in 1960, when Saloth Sar gained control of its apparatus; the revolutionary struggle from the initiation of the Khmer Rouge insurgency in 1967–1968 to the fall of the Lon Nol government in April 1975; the Democratic Kampuchea regime from April 1975 to January 1979; and the period following the Third Party Congress of the KPRP in January 1979, when Hanoi effectively assumed control over Cambodia's government and communist party.

From Wikipedia: Khmer Rouge · History: Early history (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Democratic Kampuchea was an atheist state, although its constitution stated that everyone had freedom of religion, or freedom not to practice a religion. However, it specified that what it termed "reactionary religion" would not be permitted. While in practice religious activity was not tolerated, the relationship of the CPK to the majority Cambodian Theravada Buddhism was complex; several key figures in its history, such as Tou Samouth and Ta Mok, were former monks, along with many lower level cadres, who often proved to be some of the strictest disciplinarians. While there was extreme harassment of Buddhist institutions, the CPK regime had a tendency to internalise and reconfigure the symbolism and language of Cambodian Buddhism so that many revolutionary slogans mimicked the formulae which were learned by young monks during their training.

From Wikipedia: Khmer Rouge · Ideology: Relationship to religion (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The goal of Khmer Rouge was to create a communist society through the complete and immediate abolition of money, trade and private property. The new society was to be perfectly egalitarian, which required homogeneity, which Khmer Rouge sought to achieve through the destruction of existing social structures and the uniformisation of the newly emerging socialist society. To this end, the creation of a "new society" that would completely break with the existing traditions and cultural heritage of Cambodia was also considered necessary. One of the Khmer Rouge activists stated: "We must burn the old grass so that new grass can grow."

From Wikipedia: Khmer Rouge · Ideology: Economy (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Fearing that Vietnam would attack Cambodia, Pol Pot ordered a pre-emptive invasion of Vietnam on 18 April 1978. His Khmer Rouge forces crossed the border and looted nearby villages, mostly in the border town of Ba Chúc. Of the 3,157 civilians who had lived in Ba Chúc, only two survived the massacre. These Khmer Rouge forces were repelled by the Vietnamese.

From Wikipedia: Khmer Rouge · History: War with Vietnam (CC BY-SA 4.0)

It is often concluded that the Khmer Rouge regime promoted functional illiteracy. This statement is not completely incorrect, but it is quite inaccurate. The Khmer Rouge wanted to "eliminate all traces of Cambodia's imperialist past", and its previous culture was one of them. The Khmer Rouge did not want the Cambodian people to be completely ignorant, and primary education was provided to them. Nevertheless, the Khmer Rouge's policies dramatically reduced the Cambodian population's cultural inflow as well as its knowledge and creativity. The Khmer Rouge's goal was to gain full control of all of the information that the Cambodian people received and spread revolutionary culture among the masses.

From Wikipedia: Khmer Rouge · History: Education (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The movement's ideology was shaped by a power struggle during 1976 in which the so-called Party Centre, which was led by Pol Pot, the general secretary of the Communist Party of Kampuchea, defeated other regional elements of its leadership. The Party Centre's ideology combined elements of communism with a strongly xenophobic form of Khmer nationalism. Partly because of its secrecy and partly because of changes in how it presented itself, academic interpretations of its political position vary widely, ranging from interpreting it as the "purest" Marxist–Leninist movement to characterising it as an anti-Marxist "peasant revolution". The first interpretation has been criticized by historian Ben Kiernan, who asserts that it comes from a "convenient anti-communist perspective".

From Wikipedia: Khmer Rouge · Ideology: Influence of Communist thought (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Initially, communist North Vietnam was a strong ally of the Khmer Rouge while it was fighting against Lon Nol's Khmer Republic during the 1970–1975 civil war. Only after the Khmer Rouge took power did the Vietnamese opinion of Kampuchea become negative, when on 1 May 1975 (the day after Saigon fell), Khmer Rouge soldiers raided the islands of Phu Quoc and Tho Chau, killing more than five hundred Vietnamese civilians; following the attack, the islands were swiftly recaptured by Vietnam. Even then, the first reactions of the Vietnamese were ambiguous, and it took Vietnam a long time to react with force, for the first impulse was to arrange matters diplomatically "within the family sphere".

From Wikipedia: People's Republic of Kampuchea · Historical background: Khmer Rouge directs its hostility against Vietnam (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The regular armed forces of the People's Republic of Kampuchea were the Kampuchean People's Revolutionary Armed Forces (KPRAF). These were needed to project internationally the image of the new pro-Hanoi administration in Phnom Penh as a legitimate sovereign state. Raising such an indigenous force was not too difficult for the Vietnamese occupiers at the time, because the Vietnamese already had experience training and co-ordinating the army in neighbouring Laos.

From Wikipedia: People's Republic of Kampuchea · Government structure: Military (CC BY-SA 4.0)

This protracted civil war would bleed Cambodia's energies throughout the 1980s. Vietnam's occupation army of as many as 200,000 troops controlled the major population centres and most of the countryside from 1979 to September 1989, but Heng Samrin's 30,000 KPRAF troops were plagued by poor morale and widespread desertion owing to low pay and poverty. Men were directly needed in their family farms as they were being rebuilt and there was much work to do.

From Wikipedia: People's Republic of Kampuchea · History: Civil war (CC BY-SA 4.0)

One of the main official acts of the PRK was a partial restoration of Buddhism as the state religion of Cambodia and temples were gradually reopened to accommodate the monks and to resume a certain measure of traditional religious life. In September 1979 seven old monks were officially reordained at Wat Unnalom in Phnom Penh, and these monks gradually reestablished the Cambodian sangha between 1979 and 1981. They began rebuilding the community of monks in Phnom Penh and later in the provinces, reordaining prestigious monks who had been formerly senior monks. They were not allowed, however, to ordain young novices. Repair works were started in about 700 Buddhist temples and monasteries, of the roughly 3,600 that had been destroyed or badly damaged by the Khmer Rouge. By mid-1980 traditional Buddhist festivals began to be celebrated.

From Wikipedia: People's Republic of Kampuchea · History: Restoration of cultural and religious life (CC BY-SA 4.0)