Khmer Rouge – Communist Party that ruled in Cambodia for four years

Khmer Rouge ruled in Cambodia for only four short years, but its impact on the Cambodian society was disastrous.  Khmer Rouge was led by a man named Pol Pot to begin with and was in power from 1975 to 1979.  In the four years that the Khmer Rouge was in power, over twenty percent of the population was killed, which does not include the affects of after their rule.

Khmer Rouge overworked and starved the Cambodian people to death.  While at the same time chose certain groups to be executed because the government was fearful of their intelligence, groups such as teachers, merchants, and any type of intellectual, including people who simply wore glasses.  The Khmer Rouge was most threatened of the people learning, for they did not want the people to be able to outsmart them, so in addition to killing anyone with intelligence, they burned books, closed schools and hospitals, prohibited religions, eradicated all types of currency, and allowed no type of collaboration of the people without the Khmer Rouge and kept them all in labor farms, allowing them no privacy either.

The population continued to die, not including executions.  Many people on the labor farms died from exhaustion or starvation.  The Khmer Rouge was forcing them to work twelve consecutive hours, without sleep, food, or water.  Due to the closing of hospitals, there were not proper facilities for the sick or dying.  Khmer Rouge refused to use western medicine, so people were forced to use traditional peasant medicine.  This may have been their belief, or it may have been another way to keep out the western culture.  They allowed no influence of other cultures, and they even lied to the people and blamed many of the inconveniences on America, saying that America was going to bomb them.

Khmer Rouge knew what they were doing was wrong, and they were very threatened by, not only intellectuals, but leaders of the former government, foreign governments, and any person who had leadership skills or experience.  They executed anyone who was tied to the former government or foreign governments.  They also executed people of other ethnics, minorities, and people who had been Christians before their rule.  In addition, KCP leaders were executed in an effort to stop people from attempting to kill Pol Pot.

Khmer Rouge was forced out of Cambodia by the Vietnamese in 1979.  While Vietnam and Cambodia normally got along, Pol Pot decided to attack Vietnam in December of 1978 in fear of Vietnam attacking them first.  Pol Pot’s fears were correct because the Vietnamese were getting very impatient with the number of fleeing Cambodians coming into their country.  At the beginning of January Vietnam responded with a counter attack and captured  Phnom Penh.  This eventually led to the Khmer Rouge’s withdrawal from Cambodia in 1979.

Khmer Rouge traveled west and still attempted to take over various areas.  In 1981 Khmer Rouge took on nationalism instead of communism and emphasized their practices on anti-Vietnamese.  Analysis argue that this did not mean that they changed their tactics.  In 1999 Khmer Rouge members were almost all captured or surrendered, and now the group no longer exists.  As of now the trials are still taking place against Khmer Rouge leaders for genocide and crimes against humanity.

Khmerguy owns a website about Khmer music at KhmerPortal.com.