Khmer Rouge Research Paper

The Cambodian Genocide was the result of imperialism, ethnic supremacy, ultra-nationalism, anti-colonialism, a power grab, and religion. It began with the Cambodian people struggling against French colonization and grew in inspiration from Vietnam (end genocide). The French believed that Cambodia was a gateway into China to expand their trade with Southeast Asia. The French occupied southern Vietnam and wanted to expand their territory. There were many civil wars and invasions in Cambodia fought between the Vietnamese and Thai, and it greatly affected Cambodia. While the French did help Cambodia become independent and grew their infrastructure, while exploiting Cambodian labor, they failed to educate Cambodian people and establish a solid and effective judiciary system (Cambodia tribunal). Thus began their feelings of anti-colonialism. During the Vietnam War, the U.S. used Cambodia as a base to regroup, but also bombed the country to kill suspected Viet Cong targets. This began their feelings of imperialism and ultra-nationalism. The Khmer Rouge began feeling great animosity towards the West for their influenced corruption to Cambodian land and its people. Between January and August of 1973, 300,000 Cambodians were killed by American bombers that had joined forces with Lon Nol, head of the Khmer Republic.

4 – Some have argued that the Khmer Rouge's brutality has its roots in the American bombing of

A part of the struggle was trying to stay alive, the Khmer Rouge had documents of jobs of the people, and if you were an intellectual you would be killed. The people had to hide from their former lives, they practically couldn’t talk. If they had glasses, they would have to go without them. Due to all the murder, disease, exhaustion, and starvation well over than 2 million lives were claimed by the Khmer Rouge. An issue was that not many people seemed to do anything about it, the conflict ended when the North Vietnamese invaded the country and took control, using a puppet government that was pro Vietnamese. This showed that countries like America or other countries in Europe did not try to stop the slaughter.

Ever since the actions in Cambodia occurred, it has been debated whether it was an actual genocide. The general definition of genocide is the purposeful and methodical execution of a national, racial, political, or cultural group. The Khmer Rouge in Cambodia demonstrated that a government can be guilty of genocide against its own nation. The radical communist party led by Pol Pot took over Cambodia from 1975 to 1979. After 1979, the Khmer Rouge left a traumatized Cambodian culture that continues to undergo the repercussions of the genocide. People over the age of forty in Cambodia have stories to tell of fear, cruelty, hunger and the loss of family members. However, the Cambodian government is not making an effort to recognize the negative occurrences that have posed itself in the history of their culture.

Who has the Khmer Rouge been targeting? Between the years 1975-1978, The Khmer Rouge targeted citizens who were seen to be potential threats, including educated, urban and professional Cambodians. Pol Pot, the leader of The Khmer Rouge, knew that eliminating those in opposition to the new regime, would help him advance. Untainted by the memory of a bourgeois society, children have been pegged as ideal citizens. Compliant, and pliable, they are viewed as perfect candidates for the first Generation under the Khmer Rouge. Higher level education has been banned, and city life ceases to exist. Hospitals, factories and schools have been shut down. Not only that, but in the time of power of various religions and ethnic groups, The Khmer Rouge was

Time and time again, power corrupts those who receive it, whether or not their intentions were benevolent in the first place. From 1975 to 1979, an attempt by Pol Pot, leader of the Khmer Rouge, to form an egalitarian Communist farming society led to the death of 25% of the country’s population. The Khmer Rouge’s brutal social engineering targeted intellectuals, urban dwellers, civil servants, and religious leaders, among other existing groups occupying a high position in society. By the time the dust settled, Pol Pot’s regime had already became known as one of the most brutal and despotic in world history.

“Why did the Vietnamese invade the Khmer Rouge and liberate the people?” After all the research and analyzation, I have finally solved this question. During this adventure, there were many captivating facts about this conflict. I learned that this war commenced by Khmer Rouge arrogance. Democratic Kampuchea aggravated Vietnam by demanding territory, blaming them for their difficulties, fighting their soldiers, and committing other violations; these factors were the central source which resulted in an invasion. Therefore, I can conclude that Vietnam strived for resistance; however, the Khmer Rouge was essentially asking for foreign intervention. Also, based on international opinion, it seems that Vietnam held invalid reasons for an intervention

These citizens had been recently affected by the American bombings. Dropping countless bombs throughout Cambodia’s countryside, the American government was aiming to eliminate the presence of hidden Vietnamese troops. However, these bombings devastated rural communities by killing thousands of innocent civilians. This caused mistrust and hatred to build up against Lon Nol. Since the rural people preferred Sihanouk over Lon Nol, and he promoted the Khmer Rouge, many joined the regime’s army (Fry).

Within day of the Khmer Rouge coming into power, Cambodia entered into the darkest time of its history. Two million people were forced to evacuate from the cities to the countryside in which they would undertake agriculture work. The Khmer Rouge’s goal was to create a rural, classless society and would force people to work in the fields for more than 12 hours a day without adequate rest or food. The Khmer Rouge placed a ban on family relationships and began an aggressive campaign to brainwash children and encourage them to spy on their parents. The children were taught to report their parents to authorities and turn in their parents as enemies of the state. Following their coming into power and the evacuations of the citizens, the Khmer Rouge turned its sights on the people in its own organization.

The Khmer Rouge is a tragic event of torture, separation and death for all who had resided in Cambodia at the time, during the Khmer Rouge lives of millions, has been lost through many different horrible ways. This is all due for the sake of “equality” where communism has risen in the area and took control, king overthrown, has now begun the start of a revolution of classlessness. The Khmer Rouge was the rising of the infamous dictator Pol Pot, and his primitive ways. Pot did anything to make his goal finalized, even if it meant killing his own people everyone had to be equal no matter what the cause was. (http://www.cambodiatribunal.org/history/cambodian-history/khmer-rouge-history/)

The Khmer Rouge was the name given to the people of the Communist Party of Kampuchea, in Cambodia. It was formed in 1968 and was also known as the "Vietnam People 's Army". It was the ruling party of Cambodia from 1975 to 1979, It was lead by a ruler named pol pot who was ruthless and did not care what the people said. Some of Pol pots comrade 's icluded, Nuon Chea, Ieng Sary, Son Sen, and Khieu, These men worked together to help rule Cambodia.Its offical name was called the Democratic Kampuchua. Through there ruling the Khmer Rouge made freinds with North Vietnam, the Viet Cong, and Pathet Lao during the Vietnam War against the anti-Communist.(www.cambodiatribunal.org/history/cambodian.../khmer-rouge-history/) This political party had been responisble for what is now known as the Cambodian Genocide. This was a result of its social engineering and policies. Cambodia had failed at trying to reform its agricultural stability it once had but it never succeeded, This failed attempt led to the widespread hunger in Cambodia . Cambodia had a supply of medicine and they miscalculated the amount of medicine a person needs and the medicine supply was not enough to supply all of cambodia leading to millions dying from diesese. A random act of executions and torture had been put on the innocent people of Cambodia. The party 's aim was to establish a classless state based on rural agricultural

Cambodia was, to a great extent, orientated toward a Communist upheaval due to the historical milieu. There are three solid reasons to support this theory. Firstly, that centuries of foreign intervention pushed Cambodia to hunger for independence and revolt, secondly, that Cambodian ideologies were influenced and heightened by a global insurgency of Marxism and finally, that

Despite of all these dreadful atrocities, the Khmer Rouge never reached their aspiration to increase the agricultural productivity to a treble in order to being able to export agricultural products. The ones responsible for this was the system itself. When they destroyed the majority of the economic infrastructure, they did not think about the lack of work tools that was a result of this action (Rohde 1999).

This preparation stage helps setting the layout and is instrumental in bringing about the actual execution of the extermination.(5) The Khmer Rouge wanted to rebuild their society. Religion and all foreigners were to be extinguished. Embassies were shut down, and the use of foreign languages was to be banned. Sources of media and news were no longer allowed and communication through mail or phone would be limited. All businesses were to be closed, education stopped, health care disappeared, and parental authority annulled. Any foreign economic or medical assistance would be rejected. (1) From the start the Khmer Rouge had a fixed and hidden agenda that involved the eradication of Vietnamese Communists in Cambodia, yet they relied on them as allies. In preparation the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia secretly began to eradicate Cambodians that had been trained by the North Vietnamese

By the time the Khmer Rouge regime was ousted from power in 1979, the United Nations Human Rights Commission had already received a 995-page report of testimonies on massive human rights violations in Democratic Kampuchea . The gravity of the crimes perpetrated was so great that the need for a judicial instance to render justice seemed evident. According to Francis Deron, the proposal for a Khmer Rouge Tribunal had significant historical importance as it was the first authentic trial of a communist regime. Never before had officials pertaining directly or indirectly to this type of ideology had to answer for their actions before impartial judges, but also, to their people and their contemporaries . However, the road leading up to its creation would prove to be long and arduous.