Khmer Rouge
This video talks about the Khmer Rouge soldiers and the goals and actions of the Khmer Rouge. ("Khmer Rouge-Army", 2014)
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This video describes who the Khmer Rouge were and what they did.
("(1) Who Were", 2013) |
Leaders
During WWII, Cambodia was taken from the French by the Japanese. It was during Cambodia's struggle for independence that the future leaders of the Khmer Rouge went to Paris and encountered Marxism for the first time. Marxism became the basis of the future leader's goals.
("(1) Who Were", 2013) |
Goal
The Khmer Rouge wanted Cambodia to be completely self-reliant. To achieve this, they created an extremist plan to set Cambodia back to "year zero" in which it would thrive as a self-sustaining communistic farming society where all men were equal. ("(1) Who Were", 2013) The leaders of the Khmer Rouge believed that cities were "the heart of capitalism" while the countryside was viewed as "simple, uneducated, hard-working, and not prone to exploiting others". The Khmer Rouge referred to the citizens living in cities as "new people" and thought they were "the root of all capitalist evil". The peasants residing in the countryside were viewed as "old people" and were thought to be "the ideal communists for the new Cambodian state". Because of these beliefs, the Khmer Rouge immediately condemned the city-dwellers to death and began relocating people to the countryside to be reeducated and turned into hard working, communistic peasants. These beliefs are the basis of the Khmer Rouge goal and founded their need for the mass "cleansing". (Amendola, 2005) |
Rise In the mid 1950's, the future leaders returned to Cambodia. In 1970, the Cambodian leader, King Sihanouk lost power and the Khmer Rouge took control. There were three big ways that the Khmer Rouge gained support from the people of Cambodia. The Khmer Rouge gained public support from people who were angry with the government when King Sihanouk was removed from power. They also gained public support when the United States helped the Khmer Rouge to bomb the Vietnamese troops stationed in Cambodia. The third big way they gained support was forming an alliance with Sihanouk (the former leader). This alliance helped them to gain the support of the peasants. ("(1) Who Were", 2013) With support from the Cambodian people, the Khmer Rouge was able to expand its forces. Many of the soldiers who fought for the Khmer Rouge were young peasants. These soldiers were trained using Chinese training tactics and the troops were backed by Viet Cong. The Khmer Rouge were able to gather around 72,000 regular troops to fight for their cause. ("Cambodian Genocide," N.D.) On April 17, 1975, The Khmer Rouge triumphantly entered Phnom Penh and seized control over Cambodia. They began to enforce their new policies that would lead to the death of about 25 percent of the Cambodian population. |
This video shows Khmer Rouge forces entering Phnom Penh on April 17, 1975 ("Khmer Rouge song", 2010)
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This video shows the leaders of the Khmer Rouge being sentenced. ("Cambodia Convicts", 2014)
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Fall
In the end, the Khmer Rouge's foreign policy was was ed to their downfall. The Vietnamese grew tired of the endless border attacks from the Khmer Rouge and finally declared war on December 22, 1978. The Vietnamese fought alongside the Cambodians that managed to escape the grueling torture of the Khmer Rouge. Together, they took over Phnom Penh on January 7, 1979. The leaders of the Khmer Rouge were tried and found guilty of genocide. They were sentenced to death in absentia. What was left of the Khmer Rouge continued to fight against the government until 1998 when it finally fell apart. ("(1) Who Were", 2013) |