After the war, the Dutch, with British help, tried to hold onto their Indonesian colonies with so-called police actions, which went on for more than four years before Indonesia finally won its independence in 1950. Over in the French colonies of Indochina, so-called because they were neither Indian nor Chinese, things were even more violent. The end of colonization was disastrous in Cambodia, where the 17-year reign of Norodom Sihanouk gave way to the rise of the Khmer Rouge, which massacred a stunning 21% of Cambodia's population between 1975 and 1979. In Vietnam, the French fought communist-led nationalists, especially Ho Chi Minh, from almost the moment World War II ended until 1954, when the French were defeated. And then the Americans heard that there was a land war available in Asia, so they quickly took over from the French, and communists did not fully control Vietnam until 1975. Despite still being ostensibly communist, Vietnam now manufactures all kinds of stuff that we like in America, especially sneakers. More about that next week, too.