Khmer Rouge was the communist party that ruled Cambodia after overthrowing the Cambodian government. It is a brutal, disastrous rule that changed the country forever and shocked the world.
The Khmer Rouge had thousands of followers and an insurgency had begun against the government in the year’70. With the aid of the Viet Cong troops and the North Vietnamese, the Khmer Rouge gained control over a large part of Cambodia. It grew very popular in a short time and increased from 3,000 to 30,000 in strength in just three years, from’70 to’73, sending back the Viet Cong troops and Vietnamese whose help was no longer needed.
Under the leadership of Pol Pot, in’75, “Democratic Kampuchea” came into existence after the government was brought down. Everything changed for the Cambodian people and all the peace and quiet vanished overnight, and the monstrous rule of the Khmer Rouge took over. They started demolishing everything that was held dear by the people of Cambodia. They evacuated full cities, destroyed property, closed factories and schools and made thousands of workers turn to farming. The worst part was the assassinations of millions of people. Later it was revealed that the death toll was more than 2 million people.
By the year’79, tensions with Vietnam increased and Vietnamese troops invaded, helping the rival Communists factions in deposing the new Khmer Rouge government. But the Khmer Rouge continued to have a huge army of 30,000 near the Thai border and was also recognized by the United Nations as the official Cambodian government.
In’82, this government entered into a coalition with former premier Norodom Sihanouk and Son Sann, who was a non-Communist leader. Leadership also changed hands from Pol Pot to Khieu Samphan, although it was widely believed that the real leader was still Pol Pot. In’91, all the Cambodian factions signed a treaty asking for UN-supervised elections and in’92; the UN assumed the administrative functions of the government. It was at this time that the Khmer Rouge disconnected itself from the peace process and started fighting. It also rejected the results of the UN-run elections that saw the beginning of a coalition government in Cambodia.
As is wont to happen, in’97, due to factional fighting within themselves, Pol Pot was oustered and imprisoned by the Khmer Rouge and he died in’98. That was the end of the Khmer Rouge, as most of the members were either captured, had surrendered or defected by’99.
The extent of the mass assassinations in Cambodia was not known to the world until’79, when Vietnam overthrew the Khmer Rouge. It was only then that the actual atrocities came to light.
Khmer Rouge is considered to be the deadliest and most shocking reigns of the modern era. The death toll is not an indication of the brutalities that Cambodians had to suffer in the hands of unscrupulous elements that formed the government. It created such an impact on the world that there never was another revolution that was worse than the one in Cambodia.
Learn more about khmer culture and the people of Cambodia at KhmerArticles.com
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