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the cambodian genocide essay
cambodia pol pot and the khmer rouge
development of the khmer rouge
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A genocide is “defined as attempting to destroy a national, ethnic, racial or religious group” (Cambodia’s Unpunished Genocide). Throughout history multiple genocides have occurred, however each one happened for a different reason. In each genocide one race or group targets another one, but in the Cambodian Genocide their own people were targeted. The group being targeted is usually chosen out of hatred or jealousy by the genocide leader. “The Khmer Rouge in Cambodia demonstrates that a government can be guilty of genocide against its own people” (The Killing Fields). In the Cambodian genocide the people targeted were those who could not perform labor work and were educated because of the working society Pol Pot desired. Pol Pot, the Cambodian genocide and Khmer Rouge leader, was stopped from continuing on with his horrid acts when he lost control of his army in a battle against the Cambodian government.
Khmer Rouge had a main part in this genocide. Between the years 1975 to 1979 the Khmer Rouge spread “like a virus from the jungles until they controlled the entire country” (The Khmer Rouge). The Khmer Rouge abused the Cambodians by declaring “money, private property, religion, and illegal books and committed massive atrocities” (Cambodia's Killing Fields). Throughout the reign of the Khmer Rouge over a million people were killed mostly in the killing fields. The killing fields a “term for Cambodia’s mass grave sites” (Killing Fields) is where most people were either abused or starved to death.
The Cambodian genocide “emanated from a harsh climate of political and social turmoil” (Cambodian Genocide). In 1962, there was a tremendous amount of conflict between Pol Pot and Prince Sihanouk resulting in Pol Pot to flee into the ju...
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...ry Sources. Ed. Adrienne Lerner, Brenda Lerner, and K. Lee Lerner. Detroit: Gale, 2006. 119-121. Global Issues In Context. Web. 2 May 2014
"Cambodia's Unpunished Genocide.(Editorial Desk)(Editorial)." New York Times 21 May 1987. Global Issues In Context. Web. 2 May 2014.
"Genocide in Cambodia." Genocide in Cambodia. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 May 2014.
"Killing Fields." International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences. Ed. William Darity, Jr. 2nd ed. Vol. 4. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2008. 265-266. Global Issues In Context. Web. 2 May 2014
"The History Place - Genocide in the 20th Century: Pol Pot in Cambodia 1975-1979." The History Place - Genocide in the 20th Century: Pol Pot in Cambodia 1975-1979. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 May 2014
"What the world plans for Cambodia.(Editorial)." Globe & Mail [Toronto, Canada] 13 Jan. 1989: A6. Global Issues In Context. Web. 3 May 2014
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.
"Cambodian Genocide." World without Genocide. William Mitchell College of Law, 2012. Web. 13 Apr. 2014. .
Ung (2000) mentions that the Cambodian genocide is a product of a perfect agrarian vision that can be built by eliminating Western influence. More specifically, the Angkar perceives peasants and farmers as “model citizens” because many have not left the village and were not subjected to Western influence (Ung 2000:57). Moreover, the Khmer Rouge emphasized the ethnic cleansing of individuals from other races who were not considered “true Khmer” and represented a “source of evil, corruption, [and] poison” (Ung 2000:92). Lastly, the ideology centered on obtaining lost territory was based on a “time when Kampuchea was a large empire with territories” (Ung 2000:78). In essence, Ung successfully demonstrates that multiple causes encouraged the Cambodian
Walker, Luke. "Cambodian Genocide." World Without Genocide. William Mitchell College of Law, 2012. Web. 15 Apr. 2014. .
“The Khmer Rouge and Pol Pot’s Regime”. Mtholyoke.edu. 11 May 2005. Web. 7 May 2014.
The Cambodian Genocide occurred between 1975 and 1979. Pol Pot began with isolating Cambodia, and deporting all of the foreigners. The Cambodian Genocide was not only an attack on the people, but Cambodia’s pride, because there was no valid reason for doing this, the amount of people who were killed is ghastly, and how Cambodia looked after the genocide is horrendous.
In 1975, The Khmer Rouge became the ruling political party of Cambodia after overthrowing the Lon Nol government. Following their leader Pol Pot, the Khmer Rouge imposed an extreme form of social engineering on Cambodian society. They wanted to form an anti-modern, anti-Western ideal of a restructured “classless agrarian society'', a radical form of agrarian communism where the whole population had to work in collective farms or forced labor projects. The Khmer Rouge revolutionary army enforced this mostly with extreme violence. The book “First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers”, written by Luong Ung, is the author’s story of growing up during this time period. She was five years old when the Khmer Rouge came into power. As stated in the author’s note, “From 1975 to 1979, through execution, starvation, disease, and forced labor, the Khmer Rouge systematically killed an estimated two million Cambodians, almost a fourth of the country’s population.”
"Pol Pot in Cambodia 1975-1979." The History Place : Genocide in the 20th Century: Pol Pot in Cambodia 1975-1979. The History Place, n.d. Web. 15 Apr. 2014. .
...rible for all of Cambodia. Things that happened in the Khmer Rouge years are still around today. In Cambodia it is common for when parents grow of old age and are unable to take care of themselves, their children will take care of them. Since so many people were killed in the Khmer Rouge, those of the elderly that lived most likely no longer have children to take care of them. Another lasting effect of the Pol Pot regime, is the fact that Pol Pot killed anyone who was educated. He killed the educated people because he was worried that they would threaten his power. So Cambodia will now be struggling on educating the Cambodian people. Pol. Pot also wiped out a lot of ethnicity in Cambodia. An author at Regional Geography writes "Cambodia is the least ethnically diverse country in Southeast Asia because of Pol Pot." Cambodia is improving more and more day by day.
Marks, Stephen P. "Elusive Justice For The Victims Of The Khmer Rouge." Journal Of International Affairs 52.2 (1999): 691. MasterFILE Premier. Web. 19 Dec. 2011. .
Expressions of Cambodia: The Politics of Tradition, Identity, and Change. By Leakthina Chan-Pech Ollier and Tim Winter. London: Routledge, 2006. 86-100. Print.
The Cambodian Genocide was a trial and error of someone trying to make all people equal. Khmer Rouge had approximately 1.7 million people executed attempting to equal everyone out and make the world a “better” place. Although he tried very hard at this, he of course failed and and all of his attempts were, in the end pointless.
The Cambodian Genocide took place from 1975 to 1979 in the Southeastern Asian country of Cambodia. The genocide was a brutal massacre that killed 1.4 to 2.2 million people, about 21% of Cambodia’s population. This essay, will discuss the history of the Cambodian genocide, specifically, what happened, the victims and the perpetrators and the world’s response to the genocide.
The Cambodian genocide and the Holocaust are unique in the areas of by methods of extermination used and why they were killed. The Holocaust had different killing methods than the Cambodian genocide. Before some even made it to the concentration camps, “Einsatzgruppen - armed militias forming mobile killing units - follow the invading SS troops and commit mass slaughter of Jews throughout Eastern Europe” (“Genocide- Holocaust”). The existing camp at Majdanek, and also at Auschwitz (where a second camp equipped with huge crematoria and gas-chambers has been built), are adapted for slaughter (“Genocide”). These were called “Death Camps”. Ma...
Walker, Luke. "Cambodian Genocide." World Without Genocide. William Mitchell College of Law, 2012. Web. 13 Apr. 2014. .