Overview
Cambodia is a small country in the middle of Thailand, Laos and, Vietnam. . The start of the
Cambodian Genocide was around April 1795. This was due to the conflicts between
the U.S and Vietnam. This allowed the Khmer Rouge to take control of the
majority of Cambodia’s population. Approximately 1.7 million
people lost their (about 21% of the population).
Then the Khmer Rouge lasted for about three
years after being taken down by the Vietnamese in 1798. Although the genocide
didn't end until 1979, many people say that this was destined for
Cambodia since the early 1950s. During this time the French had decolonized
Cambodia, so without any political structure the pull towards communism grew
greater and greater over the years. Now the Khmer Rouge, (fully it would be
the Khmer Rouge guerrilla movement) they were led by Pol Pot, he wanted to
deconstruct Cambodia into a primitive “Year Zero”. This meant that all citizens
would participate in rural work projects, and any Western innovations would be
removed. Soon after In this all
Cambodians had to work as laborers in one huge collective federation of farms.
Then he eliminated those who were potential oppositions, including, but
were not limited to, intellectuals, educated people, professionals, Muslims,
Christians, Buddhists, monks, religious enthusiasts, Vietnamese, Thai, Chinese,
and any Cambodians with any ancestry of those named. Also those who were unable
to work (e.g. elderly, children, and handicapped) received some of the highest
casualties. There were those that even got shot for things like speaking another
language, wearing glasses, or even smiling or laughing.
After about 3 years of all these genocidal acts the Khmer Rouge was finally stopped and the genocide was put to an end.