ABSTRACT
Cambodia first came to the attention of many in the West as a result of US aggression to perpetuate a dubious regime led by General Lon Nol against what seemed to be popular revolutionary forces patronized by Prince Norodom Sihanouk, whom Lon Nol had overthrown in 1970. Political conflict, internal and international, is not new to Cambodia, and in some respects the problems of today mirror those of the past. Cambodia thus has an inherent geographical-economic tendency toward division, which has, in fact, been manifest in many instances throughout its history. Of course neither the outbreak of armed struggle in Cambodia nor the development of the Communist Party may be understood without reference to the war in Vietnam. Democratic Kampuchea attempted to carry out a revolution that, their rhetoric about "Marxism-Leninism," was different from any previous revolution in modern times. China has continued to maintain its support for the tripartite coalition and for the Democratic Kampuchea faction within it.
