??? In the south of China, the ASEAN countries have always been familiar to us, and historically, there has never been a unified area, not even a larger country. From the perspective of ancient history, here is also influenced by Chinese culture, such as Vietnam, Myanmar and other countries, have intersected with China, like the Kokang region of Myanmar, with Chinese people's currency, speak Mandarin, the network or China Mobile Telecom, this region and China have not changed, the only difference is that he belongs to Myanmar, just across the border line with China.
The geography of the Indochina peninsula countries
The countries of the Indochina Peninsula have always been linked to China in ancient times, and China's overseas trade will pass through Siam (present-day Thailand), Vietnam, etc., especially during the Ming Dynasty's Zheng He's voyage to the West. But we found that there was no unified country here, so why can't the Indochina Peninsula be unified? This requires an understanding of the geographical location of the Indochina Peninsula.
First of all, the Indochina Peninsula is located in southern China, belongs to the tropical monsoon climate, the mountains are high and densely forested, and the cavalry here is not as good as the elephant soldiers, so the advantages of the cavalry cannot be effectively played. Therefore, if you want to advance quickly, it is difficult, especially in ancient times, and the factor of inconvenient transportation. The Yuan Dynasty invaded the Indochina Peninsula, but all failed, and the cavalry was unable to exert effective power. The northern part of the Indochina Peninsula is a plateau, and the eastern, southern and western terrain is more flat, suitable for unification. However, these places have many water networks and trees, and certain factors limit large-scale battles, especially the play of some formations.
The Indochina Peninsula can be divided into 1: Red River Delta, 2: Mekong Great Plain, 3: Irrawaddy River Plain, 4: Northern Plateau, which is also the commanding height of the Indochina Peninsula. These places were separated by mountains, including the Choi Son Mountains, which were important to Vietnam, limiting the expansion of ancient Vietnam and blocking the eastward expansion of the Khmer State. After being divided into several major plates, it is a tropical rain forest, unification will be relatively difficult, can not be compared with China, as long as the north is unified, meet the wise monarch, the south will also be annexed, and finally form a situation of great unification, of course, there are many reasons for this.
The influence of civilization
In the Indochina Peninsula, the only unified state was the Angkor Dynasty, founded by the Khmers, which is the ancient state of present-day Cambodia, which reached its peak when the Angkor Dynasty reached its peak and occupied most of what is now Cambodia, Thailand and Laos, as well as the southern part of Vietnam and Burma, which is the most powerful empire in the Indochina Peninsula recorded in history. But the Angkor dynasty ruled the country with theocracy, Buddhism was the main religion, and too much focus on theocracy led to the culture not spreading well, and other ideas were also limited.
During the Angkor Dynasty, more than 600 temples were built in Angkor City, scattered across 40 square kilometers of land. The formation of the later famous Angkor Wat, the great unification of the Angkor Dynasty, had a deep influence on the Indochina Peninsula, unified the writing and religion in the places where it ruled, and should have the idea of unifying the world, but it did not, why is this? This is related to the fact that the Angkor Dynasty at that time was a religious country, the Angkor Dynasty believed in Buddhism, under the premise that the whole people believed in religion, they only had religion in their hearts, as long as the country believed in Buddhism, it did not matter who controlled it.
It can be seen that ancient religious countries will have the idea of a family, and which country they go to, as long as they have the same faith, they will become good neighbors, which is the charm of religion. Centralized power is more appropriate in China than in a country like China that is not theocratic. In ancient China, you could believe in religion, but not religion to govern the country. The existence of Confucianism makes governing the country another means.
It can be seen that after the demise of the most powerful Angkor Dynasty, the Indochina Peninsula entered a state of fragmentation, unable to be unified again, lacking an effective idea of great unification, limited by geography, without a centralized system, and difficult to unify under various factors. Later countries also thought about reunification, but they lacked various conditions and could not achieve it. The Angkor Dynasty ended in 1431, during the Ming Dynasty.
Take the opportunity to unify
In recent history, Vietnam once wanted to unify the Indochina Peninsula, and almost had a chance, it was an opportunity, not a success. At that time, after the Retreat of the United States, north Vietnam quickly destroyed South Vietnam and unified Vietnam. When France colonized The Indochina Peninsula, it included Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia, and belonged to French Indochina. After the reunification of Vietnam, it also wanted to restore this area, which was supported by the Soviet Union at that time, and if Vietnam unified the original French colonial sphere of influence, with the support of the Soviet Union, Thailand and then the British colony of Burma, so that Vietnam would become the largest country in the Indochina Peninsula.
If Vietnam succeeds, for China, this is a major hidden danger, the formation of a two-sided attack on China's situation, but a little expansion of Vietnam, provoked incidents on the Chinese border, and finally in February 1979, China launched a self-defense counterattack war against Vietnam, completely ending the pace of Vietnam's expansion, in the face of the great powers in the north, Vietnam can not have the heart to move west again, unify the Indochina Peninsula, because the north, the capital will be destroyed at any time, the main force is still placed in the north. China has also succeeded in dragging down Vietnam's dream of being a great power.
Is There still a chance for Vietnam to unify the Indochina Peninsula? Certainly not, because the current international situation does not allow and will not allow Vietnam to launch a war of reunification. The most promising period is when Vietnam was just reunified, and if she did not harass China, she might still have a chance to try, but it forgot the size of a small country and could not achieve its strategic goals by perseverance alone.