1954 White Cartoon Original Art, Communism in Southeast Asia

A c. 1954 original manuscript political cartoon by George White for the Tampa Morning Tribune. It highlights the influence of 'Red China' in Southeast Asia, most noticeably in Vietnam, from which Communist influence spread throughout the region.

A Closer Look

This cartoon depicts the People's Republic of China as a human face taking a 'bite' out of Southeast Asia, and more specifically North Vietnam, which itself is dripping into Laos. At bottom-left the text 'the story in the map' likely refers to a news article accompanying the illustration. Several annotations appear, including areas that are 'whited out' and perhaps an earlier title erased and replaced with the present one, reflecting the tentative nature of the drawing at this stage.

Historical Context

When Mao Zedong's armies took over southern China in the closing months of 1949, they immediately began ferrying supplies and personnel to the Viet Minh in northern Vietnam. Additionally, Vietnamese insurgents could now take refuge across the border when attacked by French forces. The added support tilted the fighting in Vietnam in favor of the rebels, culminating in their resounding defeat of the French at Dien Bien Phu in the spring of 1954.

Even before the establishment of North Vietnam that year, Viet Minh influence extended well into Laos, with the local Pathet Lao rebels being nearly an extension of the Vietnamese fighting force, and to a much lesser extent in Cambodia. Communist insurgencies later aligned with China were also active in Burma, Thailand, and Indonesia. Therefore, the logic behind the 'domino theory' of geopolitics can be seen: the success of Communist rebels in China led to the success of Communist rebels in Vietnam, and thereon in Cambodia and Laos.

Publication History and Census

This is the original manuscript draft of George White's cartoon for the Tampa Morning Tribune. It is undated, but the inclusion of North Vietnam indicates a date no earlier than 1954, when that state was created by the Geneva Accords.