-
The Nationalists Escape to Taiwan
In 1949 Mao's troops took control of China's major cities. The Nationalists, led by Jiang, fled south. Mao took control of China and named it the People's Republic of China. Jiang and the Nationalists fled to the island of Taiwan, and established the Republic of China. -
Great Leap Forward
Mao hoped to expand on the success of the first "Five Year Plan" by proclaiming the Great Leap Forward in 1958. Through this, he established larger collective farms called communes. Peasants lived and worked together on these farms, and owned nothing. They had little incentive to work hard, and there were crop failures as a result. -
Cultural Revolution
The goal of the Cultureal Revolution was to support Mao's China by glorifying the peasnt and uneducated worker. The Red Army shut down colleges and schools, and they imprisoned or executed people who were intellectual or artistic. These people were considered dangerous. Books and art also were destroyed. -
Fall of Saigon
In 1975, the U.S. evacuated the embassy in Saigon, and the North Vietnamese overran South Vietnam. The war ended, but more than 1.5 million Vietnamese and 58,000 Americans had died. Saigon was renamed Ho Chi Minh City. People in South Vietnam were sent to "reeducation camps" for training in communist thought. -
Khmer Rouge
In 1970s Cambodia, communist rebels overthrew the government and established a new regime under the leadership of Pol Pot. They were brutal. Under Pol Pot, almost 2 million Cambodians were slaughtered because they were believed to be against the Khmer Rouge. This was about 1/4 of the population. The Vietnamese invaded and ousted the Khmer Rouge from government in 1978 but fighting continued. In 1989 the Vietnamese withdrew and in 1993 Cambodia adopted a constitution and held elections.
