The Khmer Rouge: Cambodian Genocide

1348 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Involvement of the US in the Vietnam war

The Khmer Rouge was a communist party that was created out of the struggle against French colonization and influenced by the Vietnamese War that had spilled into Cambodia over prior years. During the war, the United States used Cambodia as a regrouping zone and bombed parts of the country to rid of any suspected Viet Cong targets. This laid the foundation for animosity toward the West. The country was ruled by Marshal Lon Nol after Prince Sihanouk was removed from his position as head of state. When the leader of the Khmer Rouge, Pol Pot, allied with Sihanouk it was clear that a civil war was on the rise. With help from Vietnamese forces, the Khmer Rouge was able to overthrow the efforts from Lon Nol. This further disenchanted Cambodia from …show more content…

Even if someone was seen as being on the “right side” of the Khmer Rouge, that could change within a day. It was noted that many members of the Khmer Rouge were killed during purges. Evidence was not necessary to convict someone and send them to prison. Many would fabricate confessions of various crimes as they believed it would put an end to the torture they were forced to endure. However, these people were executed once they had given a new list of people to arrest. As more people began flooding the prisons, it was clear to the Khmer Rouge that starvation was no longer an effective tool to rid of the population. Executions became more prominent as killing fields were established throughout the country. Survival was determined by one’s ability to do work in the labor camps and since the handicapped and elderly could not handle harsh labor, they were often killed. Once a person could no longer work, confessed to an alleged crime, or were not seen as useful anymore, they were to be taken to the killing fields. It is estimated that over one million Cambodian citizens were killed at these sites and buried in mass …show more content…

Vietnamese troops were able to overthrow the Khmer Rouge and they installed a socialist regime and most of the remaining members of the Khmer Rouge fled west into the jungles along the border of Thailand where they continued to carry out guerrilla attacks against Vietnamese forces. Surprisingly, the Khmer Rouge was given aid from Western countries after fleeing from Cambodia. The United States did not condone their actions, but they wanted to show their disapproval of Vietnam so they voted in favor Cambodia to keeping their seat at the United Nations. This is just one example of how the Cold War was able to influence decision making during this time period.

The Khmer Rouge continued to fight against the government Vietnam had created in Cambodia with help from both China and the Soviet Union. Finally, Vietnam withdrew its troops in 1989 after a decade. The Khmer Rouge was led as an insurgency by Pol Pot until 1997 when he was arrested and placed on house arrest. However, the organization continued to exist for two more years until 1999 when it officially broke apart. Most members had either defected, been arrested, or

Show More
Related

  • The U.S. Contained Communism In Vietnam

    1513 Words  | 4 Pages

    In 1949, Mao Zedong led the Peoples Revolution, which established a Communist State in China. Communism has now been introduced to Asia. In this period, after World War II, Communism was a popular ideology being introduced throughout the world. Vietnam was one of the many countries under the threat of Communism. At this time, Vietnam was a French Colony. As time went on tension started to come between the French and the Vietnamese people. As tension increased so did the fighting between the French and The Vietnamese. Finally in 1954, The French decided that they could no longer withstand the revolts of the Vietnamese. The Vietnamese were now free of French rule. However, many problems still remained in Vietnam. After the war there was a conference to discuss the troubles in Vietnam and all of the other troubles in Asia. That conference was called the Geneva Conference. Vietnam sent two delegations to the conference. One of the delegations represented Viet Minh (which was Communist in their leanings) and the other represented Bao Dia's government, which was backed by the United States. Both claimed to represent all of Vietnam. At the conference there was a discussion about dividing Vietnam at the 17th parallel to solve the troubles between the two delegations. Now there were two Vietnams. One, in the north, was under Communist rule and the other, in the south, was not. While the Geneva Conference was being held, the United States was already concerned about Communism being spread. The United States then decided that the only way to solve the problems would be to contain Communism including in Vietnam.

    Read More

  • Ngo Dinh Diem

    3589 Words  | 8 Pages

    As the Cold War escalated in the United States, Eisenhower and Washington would make their anti-communist policies felt by stopping Ho Chi Minh from realizing his goal of reunification of Vietnam. The Americans would erect a new non-communist government in Nam, or south, and put at its helm, Ngo Dinh Diem.

    Read More

  • French Colonial Strategies in Indochina

    545 Words  | 2 Pages

    Between 1975 and 1979, Pol Pot-the leader of the Khmer Rouge followed Maoist communism, which they thought they could create an agrarian utopia. Agrarian means that the society was based on agriculture. They wanted all members of society to be rural agricultural workers and killed intellectuals, who had been depraved by western capitalist ideas. A utopia means a perfect society. This idea went to extremes when The Khmer Rouge resumed that only pure people were qualified to build the revolution. They killed Cambodians without reasons by uncivilized actions such as: cutting heads, burying alive… There were about 1.7 million people killed by the Khmer Rouge.

    Read More

  • Holocaust vs. Cambodian Genocide

    711 Words  | 2 Pages

    This genocide took place all throughout Europe. It started in Germany and spread all the way to Great Britain. (“Some of the things that are not). The Cambodian Genocide was an attempt by the Khmer Rouge to take over and centralize all Cambodian farmers (“Cambodian”). This genocide lasted from 1975 to 1978 when the Khmer Rouge was finally overthrown by the Vietnamese (“Cambodian”).

    Read More

  • Comparison of the Practices and Strategies Utilized in the Korean and Vietnam Wars

    914 Words  | 2 Pages

    Similarly, the Vietcong started a revolution in Vietnam by trying to take over all of the country without addressing the issue publicly. As a reaction to this, the U.S. answered by interfering in both instances. In Korea, the U.S. sent several troops along with U.N. forces in order to take back South Korea and to establish "peace" once again. In Vietnam, the U.S. sent its troops to fight the Vietcong's attempt to take over all of the country and kept on introducing more of its forces until defeat was eminent. In both cases, the U.S. forces failed to achieve their goal since both the North Koreans and the Vietcong received priceless aid from their supporters, the communist, which were mainly integrated by China and Russia.

    Read More

  • Khmer Rouge Regime: Repression of Intellectuals 1975-1979

    1122 Words  | 3 Pages

    Some Cambodians were shot. Others were hit over the head with hammers. Some Cambodians were executed by having their heads and other body parts cut off. At the end of the Cambodian Genocide (i.e. 1975-1979) over 2,400,000 innocent people were killed by the Khmer Rouge.

    Read More

  • Two Similar but Different Genocides: The Holocaust and Cambodian Genocide

    1100 Words  | 3 Pages

    It’s hard to imagine that people would support and act upon plans to kill millions of innocent human beings. The Holocaust and Cambodian genocide were two of the most horrific genocides in the history of civilization. The Holocaust and Cambodian genocide has not only similarities but also differences. How they treated their victims, USA involvement, and that they both killed millions of people are some things they share. Differences they include are the people they targeted, how the two leaders took office and lastly where these to genocides took place.

    Read More

  • The War Of The Vietnam War

    1809 Words  | 4 Pages

    ​President Harry Truman authorized economic and military aid to the French who were fighting to regain control of Laos and Cambodia along with Vietnam. The United States refused to accept the agreement the French had made to the creation of communist Vietnam North and South. President Eisenhower dispatched military advisors to train South Vietnamese Army and the CIA to conduct psychological warfare against the North.

    Read More

  • The Tibetan Genocide

    4115 Words  | 9 Pages

    The Chinese have repeatedly tortured, imprisoned, and murdered Tibetans all for what they claim is national unity. While the oppression of the Tibetan people began in the 1950’s with the invasion of China, it continues just as strongly today. From religious oppression and unfair trials to the torture of nuns and monks, the Chinese abuse even the most reverent aspects of Tibetan culture. Political prisoners, whether they are monks, nuns or lay people, are tortured with utter disregard for human rights. Chinese laws have also been established to eradicate the Tibetan people entirely. Women often must endure forced abortions and sterilization due to Chinese birth policies. Through all of these crimes against humanity, China repeatedly commits acts of genocide as established by the United Nations.

    Read More

  • Causes of the Civil War

    664 Words  | 2 Pages

    With the high demand for cotton, Southern plantation owners needed more cheap labor, hence the need for slaves.... ... middle of paper ... ... United States forces joined in the fighting and some believe helped the Khmer Rouge to come out victorious and form the Democratic Kampuchea.

    Read More

  • genocide research project

    604 Words  | 2 Pages

    When 1937 arrived, Japanese soldiers raided China’s capital of Nanking and began to mass murder citizens. A sole leader of the Japanese Imperial Army was non-existent. There were many of people in power such as generals who allowed these behaviors to occur. Baron Koki Hirota, Foreign minister at the time, proceeded to do nothing while being well aware of the Japanese’s persecution of the Chinese. These unsympathetic murders of those who were thought to be Chinese soldiers as well as woman, children and elderly. This massacre lasted between the 1937 and 1938. Within this time 300,000 Chinese citizens were viciously killed. This genocide is called Rape of Nanking because of raping the woman before killing them. Most likely this group was selected because the second world war happened in Asia. This was significant because a country was able to kill half the population of another. I believe the reason of this Genocide was for Japan to take advantage of China while expand Japan. Most likely the Japanese wished to exterminate China’s entire population.

    Read More

  • The Cambodian Genocide

    985 Words  | 2 Pages

    Cambodia would become a battle ground for American troops fighting in Vietnam for four years; the war would kill up to 750,000 Cambodians through U.S. efforts to destroy suspected North Vietnamese supply lines. This devastation would take its toll on the Cambodian peoples’ morale and would later help to contribute to the conflicts that caused the Cambodian genocide. In the 1970’s the Khmer Rouge guerrilla movement would form. The leader of the Khmer Rouge, Pol Pot, was educated in France and believed in Maoist Communism. These communist ideas would become important foundations for the ideas of the genocide, and which groups would be persecuted.

    Read More

  • Pol Pot, The Khmer Rouge, and Cambodian Genocide

    1133 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Communist Party of Kampuchea, also known as the Khmer Rouge, took control of Cambodia on April 17, 1975, which lasted until January 1979. For their three-year, eight-month, and twenty-one day rule of Cambodia, the Khmer Rouge committed some of the most heinous crimes in current history. The main leader who orchestrated these crimes was a man named Pol Pot. In 1962, Pol Pot had become the coordinator of the Cambodian Communist Party. The Prince of Cambodia, Norodom Sihanouk, did not approve of the Party and forced Pol Pot to flee to exile in the jungle. There, Pol formed a fortified resistance movement, which became known as the Khmer Rouge, and pursued a guerrilla war against Sihanouk’s government. As Pol Pot began to accumulate power, he ruthlessly imposed an extremist system to restructure Cambodia. Populations of Cambodia's inner-city districts were vacated from their homes and forced to walk into rural areas to work. All intellectuals and educated people were eradicated and together with all un-communist aspects of traditional Cambodian society. The remaining citizens were made to work as laborers in various concentration camps made up of collective farms. On these farms, people would harvest the crops to feed their camps. For every man, woman, and child it was mandatory to labor in the fields for twelve to fifteen hours each day. An estimated two million people, or twenty-one percent of Cambodia's population, lost their lives and many of these victims were brutally executed. Countless more of them died of malnourishment, fatigue, and disease. Ethnic groups such as the Vietnamese, Chinese, and Cham Muslims were attacked, along with twenty other smaller groups. Fifty percent of the estimated 425,000 Chinese living in Cambod...

    Read More

  • Cambodia

    702 Words  | 2 Pages

    Settled in the end of the fifth century, two groups established themselves in what is now present day Cambodia. The Champa controlled the central and southern part of Vietnam and the Funan is the southernmost part Vietnam and present-day Cambodia. Influences from both China and India were obvious as dance and music spread throughout the area. Ruling on its own till 1864 when the French absorbed it into French Indochina Along with Laos and Vietnam. For nearly a century, the French exploited Cambodia commercially, and demanded power over politics, economics, and social life. It was not until a leader Norodom Sihanouk proclaimed Cambodia's independence in 1949 which was later granted in 1953. Cambodia fell into chaos during the 1970’s as General Lon Nol and his connections to the Khmer Rouge brought Cambodia into a genocidal age. For a decade Cambodia was surrounded by despair and carnage until the reign of the Khmer Rouge ended in 1979. Slowly rebuilding of the nation began as outside countries and organization such as the United Nation helped to get Cambodia back on its feet. Plans were made for general elections by 1993 which lead to the constitutional monarchy that the country has today. With its cyclical and oppressive history, Cambodia future is optimistic with the economy growing rapidly due to industries such as tourism, textiles, oil and the traditional farming. Slowly the nation reaches to find its place among the other powerhouses in Southeast Asia and around the world.

    Read More

  • The Cold War and Decolonization

    1661 Words  | 4 Pages

    ...ng the democratic election. Once the Vietnamese people chose their president, the country will be unified again. Although many of the Vietnamese people loved Ho Chi Minh since he freed them from colonial oppression. The United States refused to allow Vietnam to reunify under a communist regime since the national policy was containment. Also, President Eisenhower felt that the countries in Southeast Asia would participate in the domino theory, which was if one country in Vietnam became communist than the rest of Southeast Asia would also become communist. Prime Minister Diem canceled the election process which was influenced by the United States in order to stop the spread of communism and not allow Ho Chi Minh from becoming the leader of Vietnam. Since this was the time period for the Cold War, the United States, the USSR, and the PRC began the Second Indochina War.

    Read More

More about The Khmer Rouge: Cambodian Genocide

Open Document