Communist Rouge : The Khmer Rouge

The killing of so many Cambodian people fueled the Khmer Rouge to begin a power grab, where they staged a coup to take control of the government. They succeeded and

From the dawn of time up to current day, genocides have been happening throughout history. Some earlier genocides have not even been recorded or documented. Most genocides also share similar reasons for occurring. Genocides happen because one group wants complete control and absolute power over another. For instance, people can be killed for having different ideas or not being similar to to the opposing group. It is clear that genocides only end with senseless and brutal discrimination which results in many deaths. From 1975 to 1979, Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge carried out a genocide in Cambodia killing all people who seemed to oppose them and their communist government (“The Cambodian Genocide”).

In 1975 in Cambodia, Asia a warlord named Pol Pot with his party named Khmer Rouge took control of Cambodia. You may asked what their plans were there plan was to change the country into a communist agrarian utopia. If you are asking what is Agrarian utopia this means perfect society. So to complete this goal he evaluate millions of people in the city of Cambodia. Then the Khmer Rouge took the citizen of Cambodia to labor camps where they were starved, tortured, and abused. Doctor, Teachers, Monks, Rich people, and other educated people where the people who were mostly tortured and killed. This genocide had a humongous death toll of 1.7 to 2 million Cambodians that died in the four years of the Khmer Rouge rain. With little to no help from

The Khmer Rouge carried out one of the most horrific genocides in the twentieth century. The nation of Cambodia was in a near-decade civil war between the Communist (Khmer Rouge) and the monarchy and then the Khmer Republic. The Khmer Rouge won the civil war and controlled all of Cambodia from 1975 to 1979. During this time, they committed horrific crimes against their own people. This genocidal regime was one of the worst events in the later years of the 1900s, and it is not well talked about in schools. The Khmer Rouge movement started back in the 1940s when Cambodia was fighting for freedom from the French government. Over the years, the Northern Vietnamese influenced much of the group's practices and beliefs. They gained so much members during the Lon Nol era because many Cambodian people lost family from the American bombings (whom Lon Nol was allied with). Through fear and threats, the Khmer Rouge scared the people into moving into the countryside. They abolished all things that have to do with capitalism. They brainwashed people into starving the population, torturing the “accused”, and murdering any who oppose the Khmer Rouge way of life and leadership. This led to widespread poverty of Cambodia, and the people learned to love and respect everyone because of the hate shown to them during this horrific event. Many, til this day, still do not share their stories of what happened during this time because they are scared to be reminded of what was committed against them. That is why the country is still corrupt today because the two-decade old prime minister Hun Sen was an ex-Khmer Rouge Soldier.

From the time humans began to exist in this world, hatred seemed to be a superior attribute that one comes accustomed to. This inevitable emotion has the ability to provoke people to engage in acts without thinking; but it is the acts that are premeditated that should be be classified as evil and brutal. This appalling endeavor is known as genocide, the deliberate destruction of a particular national, racial or religious group. Between the years of 1975 and 1979, the Khmer Rouge party leader, Pol Pot seized power of Cambodia and forced civilians of urban regions into rural lands for labor in order to build his own agrarian utopia. Over the course of these four years, the Cambodians and other minor ethnic groups suffered through labor camps, starvation, and torture which all led up to their demise. As a result of these mass killings, the country 's population depleted by over 20 percent in just a few years. The country went through hardship during and even before the genocide began including wars, torment, and considerable numbers of deaths.

1 - In your opinion, how important are the years of the Khmer Rouge for modern Cambodia? Does their history still play a role in the counry's politics?

Defined in the Oxford English Dictionary, the term genocide is “the deliberate killing of a large group of people, especially those of a particular nation or ethnic group” [1]. The tragic events that occurred in the nation of Cambodia in 1975 is an example of genocide due to the mass killings that took place. Khmer Rouge, an authoritative organization, was the main source towards the genocide that occurred due to their opinions on mass production, which led to the deaths of thousands of Cambodian citizens. The passion between Khmer Rouges ideas behind mass production was very resilient which led to controlled actions and intentions causing the genocide to take place. Scared Sacred by Velcrow Ripper stated that the Khmer Rouge group directed the younger generations to partake in the involvement of mass killings. Furthermore, Ripper also said that any refusal of these killings would lead to an immediate execution [2]. These acts by the Khemer Rouge are exemplified in Extraordinary Evil written by Barbara Coloroso, as she said that the “bully chooses the target because of the targets real or perceived race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, or ethnicity, and which, when legitimized, institutionalized, and politicized, can progress to Genocide”[3]. This statement by Coloroso is related to the Khmer Rouge because as stated previously, the Khmere Rouge

The Khmer rouge cleared individuals into a rustic in which there were no rich individuals, no needy individuals and misuse. To accomplish this, they canceled cash, schools, private property, religious practices and conventional Khmer government structures were closed or some transform into penitentiaries, revised instruction camp and silos. Also, individuals all through the nation needed to were dark outfits which were their conventional progressive garments. Amid this time, individuals need to comply with their tenets. Individuals can't go outside their agreeable and have talks. In the event that they did or talk as a gathering of individuals, they could be captured or executed. Throughout the following 3 years, they executed countless intelligent people, city occupants, Cham, Vietnames and Chinese who blamed for being double crosser.

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,

Pol Pot largely governed from behind the scenes because he was one of the founders behind the Khmer Rouge. He became the Prime Minister which gave him the power to control. Under Pol Pot, the state took control and majorly changed everyone's aspect of life. Many were put to work and during the Cambodian genocide and scholorists were especially targeted , the bones of millions of people who died from malnutrition, overwork, or inadequate health care filled mass graves across the country.

During the Pol Pot Regime, 25 percent of Cambodia’s population was killed due to executions, starvation, and overwork. Pol Pot wanted to form a communist farming society which resulted in the death of 2,000,000 people during 1975-1979. This genocide started because of a man named Pol Pot and the Communist group (Khmer Rouge) in Cambodia.

“To spare you is no profit, to destroy you is no loss.” These are the words the leader of the Khmer Rouge, Pol Pot. His plan to convert Cambodia’s capitalistic economy to a communist economy failure is what inevitably led to the cause of the Cambodian Genocide. Pol Pot is responsible for the deaths of 1.5 million Cambodians during his reign between 1975-1979.

The worst famine in recorded history combined with mass killings of innocent people occurred in Cambodia as the result of the Khmer Rouge’s reign. Stripping their citizens of all modern technologies and practices, as well as killing all ethnic minorities and intellectuals destroyed Cambodian culture. Innocent people were killed on the basis that they may possibly be enemies of the state, although rarely was there evidence proving these millions of Cambodians were enemies at all. From 1975 to 1979 the Khmer Rouge was in power in Cambodia, and in that time around twenty percent of Cambodians died in their extreme communist society. Before the Khmer Rouge, Cambodia was becoming increasingly unstable after suffering war and an unstable

Life under the Khmer Rouge was equally as traumatic for ordinary families. Policies implemented include forced migration, family separation and the abolishment of traditional rituals. Families were forced to leave all possessions behind and travel barefoot to enter labour camps where they were classified as low-class citizens. Gradually, everyone was forced to abandon and forget their relationship with their family members and friends, to avoid forming an alliance, and were only to consider Angkar as both their only mother and father.

There are many genocides that people are not aware of. One of them is the attempted genocide carried out by the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia. The Khmer Rouge was able to gain power and remain in control of Cambodia for years without interference because they isolated the country from any foreign influence. Other countries had no idea what was happening inside Cambodia until years later. The Khmer Rouge and Pol Pot, wanted to create their own ideal communist society. So how did The Khmer Rouge gain so much power and control? Some argue that Pol Pot was the only one responsible for the power and control gained by the Khmer Rouge. On the other hand, others say that the notion of social hierarchy was