Communism in Asia Why Communism? Communism offered a method of organizing a state under independent rule which proved to be a powerful rallying call to the Asian people. Alternatives included a return to the rigid hierarchies of the past or authoritarian rule.

Karl Marx Karl Marx is considered to be the founder of Communism and he is the co-author of the Communist Manifesto. Marx believed Communism would only work if there was some sort of revolution, and reactionaries of the revolution were “dealt with”.

Korea Firm believers in freedom of choice, America feared the “Domino Effect” of Communism in Southeast Asia. America believed that if one country fell to Communism they would all fall to Communism.

Korea Japan was ousted from Korea after WWII By 1950 a civil war ensued The Soviet Union and China sided with the North The United States sided with the South

Korea Kim Jong-un is the leader of North Korea, a communist state and one-man dictatorship Park Geun-hye was the leader of South Korea, a republic. Hwang Kyo-ahn is a South Korean lawyer and the acting President of South Korea, following the impeachment and removal of President Park Geun- hye by the Constitutional Court of Korea on March 10, 2017. 

Vietnam United States and the British supported the French. Russia and China supported the Communists.

Vietnam Large economic problems today as they are in heavy debt Vietnam War – Couldn’t identify the enemy.

Cambodia

Cambodia Khmer Rouge, which means "Red Khmers" was given to a left-wing Cambodian faction in the 1950s Led by Pol Pot, it gained control of Cambodia in 1975 Then began one of the century's worst massacres and an attempted genocide

Cambodia Pol Pot declared "Year Zero" and began a radical program to create an idealized agrarian communist society He crushed social institutions such as banking and religion and emptied cities of their inhabitants Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge attempted genocide of the Cambodian people

Cambodia Intellectuals and anyone seen as standing in the way of the new social order were mercilessly killed Among the first evidence of the horror was a "killing field“ uncovered in 1980 The death toll: Certainly more than a million, Perhaps two million

Cambodia The Khmer Rouge was ousted from power by a Vietnamese invasion in 1979

Afghanistan In 1979, The Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan The United States supported native Afghan rebels and Middle Eastern supporters and was successful in supplying weapons to the rebels By 1989 the Soviets pulled out of Afghanistan

Afghanistan With the Soviets gone, a power vacuum was left to be filled The Taliban, and extreme form of Islam took over in 1996 The Taliban was backed by Pakistan and funded by Saudi Arabia