Pol Pot Research Paper
On April 17, 1975, Communist dictator Pol Pot led the Khmer Rouge into the the capital city of Phnom Penh, Cambodia. As people fled the capital, the Khmer Rouge took control of the Cambodian government, establishing their rule shrouded in blood and murder. Their goal: turn the country of Cambodia into a communist agrarian utopia. Although the Khmer Rouge only held power for four years, it was an incredibly brutal time. The Khmer Rouge murdered between 1.7 to 2.2 million people in an attempt to create their perfect society. People were starved, beaten, imprisoned, and executed by the Khmer Rouge. By examining the history of their conflict, the casualty count, and the ensuing fallout, it is clear that the mass murder at the hands of the Khmer Rouge was the
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worst genocide of the latter 20th century.
The origins of the Khmer Rouge trace back almost a decade before it’s creation.
During the first Indochina War in the 1950s, Communist guerillas formed the loosely based Communist Party of Kampuchea (“Cambodian Genocide”). In the following decade of the 1960’s, the Party gained more support and grew more powerful. Marxist leader Pol Pot eventually became the leader of the Communist Party. In the years leading up to the Khmer Rouge’s regime, the neighboring Vietnam War spilled over into Cambodia. Pol Pot led the Khmer Rouge on a powertrip into Cambodia in April 1975. On April 17th the Khmer Rouge invaded the Cambodian capital city of Phnom Penh (“Cambodian Genocide”). Thousands of civilians fled the city in an attempt to escape the horrors that were sure to ensue. That same day, the Khmer Rouge seized control of the Cambodian government. Cambodia became known as the Democratic Republic of Kampuchea. Pol Pot declared the year zero and began to “purify” society (Amendola). The ideology of the Khmer Rouge combined elements of Marxism, Khmer nationalism, and xenophobia. All traces of western society, such as capitalism and city life, were expelled. This was the beginning of Pol Pot’s dreamed communist agrarian
society.
Within a matter of days, every city in Cambodia was forcibly evacuated. “Over 2 million civilians alone were evacuated out of Phnom Penh while held at gunpoint. It is estimated that around 20,000 people died along the way towards the work fields” (Amendola). Millions of Cambodian citizens were forced into manual slave work in rural areas. The regime then began destroying all remnants of previous society. Currency, free markets, religious practice, schooling, private property, and foreign clothing was abolished. According to Amendola, those who lived in the cities were seen as “new people” and were considered “the root of all capitalist evil” by the Khmer Rouge. New people were deemed loyal to capitalism, therefore being an opponent to communism.
Great purges began against those who were enemies of the state. No matter their profession, hundreds of thousands of Cambodians who lived in the city were rounded up, tortured, beaten, and murdered. “Those seen as intellectuals or potential resistance leaders were executed” (“Khmer Rouge”). Many were executed for merely appearing intellectual, by wearing glasses or speaking a different language. “Slave workers on rural farms began suffering from the effects of exhaustion and lack of food. Hundreds of thousands died from disease, starvation, or bodily damage sustained during back-breaking work” (“Khmer Rouge”). Elderly, handicapped, children, the ill, and anyone else deemed too weak to work were sent to the “killing fields” (“Cambodian Genocide”). The infamous killing fields became the site of thousands of executions, murders, and mass graves. Those sent to the fields were required to dig their own graves, many of which were too weak to do so. Men, women, children, and infants were executed in the most horrifying and barbaric ways. Due to a scarcity of bullets in Cambodia, the Khmer Rouge resorted to alternate methods of execution. Metal pipes, sharpened bamboo sticks, pickaxes, rocks, and wooden clubs were used to brutally execute prisoners. Often times prisoners were buried alive in mass graves, suffocating to death under a mound of dirt. Child soldiers also became an effective mode of execution. Children captured by the Khmer Rouge were used as soldiers, since they “were easy to control” and “would follow orders without hesitation” (“Cambodian Genocide”). The Khmer Rouge often forced children to execute their own parents. Those who weren’t executed in the fields were sent to prisons throughout Cambodia.
On the outskirts of Phnom Penh, the Khmer Rouge converted Tuol Svay Pray High School into the most notorious prison within Cambodia. The school was renamed as “S-21,” also known as Tuol Sleng Prison (“Cambodian Genocide”). Of the estimated 20,000 people who entered Tuol Sleng, only a dozen ever came out alive (Ritter). The Khmer Rouge kept detailed files and testimonies of every prisoner who entered Tuol Sleng. In an attempt to seek out enemies of the state, harsh interrogations were carried out against all prisoners. These interrogations often consisted of hours and days of torture and questioning. According to Ritter, “torture came in a variety of forms: beating with fists, feet, sticks, or electric wire; burning with cigarettes; electric shocks; being forced to eat feces; jabbing with needles; ripping out fingernails; suffocation with plastic bags; waterboarding; and being covered with centipedes and scorpions.” After interrogation, prisoners were executed or beaten to death. Even prison guards within Tuol Sleng were not safe from execution, often due to minute conduct violations. “According to S-21 records, 563 guards and prison staff were killed between 1976 and 1979” (Ritter).
“During the spring of 1978, Vietnam amassed thousands of troops along the Cambodian border” (Carvin). Khmer Rouge forces fought small skirmishes against Vietnamese troops, further raising tension between the two nations. According to Carvin, “on Christmas Day 1978, 100,000 Vietnamese troops poured across the Cambodian border, gaining a foothold in the northeast. The Vietnamese intended to create a buffer between Khmer Rouge forces and Vietnam. The encroachment went so well that the Vietnamese soon realized that they could seize Phnom Penh within a matter of weeks”, finally knocking the Khmer Rouge out of power. By January 7, 1979, “Vietnamese troops successfully occupied Phnom Penh, sending the Khmer Rouge fleeing into the wilderness” (Carvin). Pol Pot escaped via helicopter as the city fell to the Vietnamese. Soon after, Vietnam established a new Cambodian government known as The People’s Republic of Kampuchea. As the government was re-established, hundreds of thousands of freed Cambodians left work camps began the long journey back home. Many hoped to find lost relatives or pieces of their former lives. Most Cambodians returned home to find nothing of their former lives- no homes, no possessions, and no relatives (Carvin).
Occupying Vietnamese troops soon discovered the horrors left behind by the Khmer Rouge. Mass graves, containing thousands of bodies were discovered all across the Cambodian countryside. In the following decade, the Khmer Rouge continued fighting Vietnamese forces with support from China and the Soviet Union (“Cambodian Genocide”). Pol Pot continued leading the Khmer Rouge as an insurgency up until his arrest and house arrest in 1997. The Khmer Rouge existed up until 1999, by then most members had either defected, been arrested, or died (“Cambodian Genocide”). Pol Pot was put on trial in 1997; however, the trial was “seen as mostly for show” (“Khmer Rouge”). Pol Pot was never brought to justice, as he died while under house arrest the following year.
Life after the Khmer Rouge was extremely difficult. Though Cambodia had a newly established government, almost all of it’s infrastructure had been wiped out by the Khmer Rouge. It was not until years later that the truth of the Khmer Rouge reached around the world, delaying much needed foreign aid. “PTSD was prevalent among survivors, going largely untreated throughout the 1990’s due to the lack of healthcare professionals in the country” (“Cambodian Genocide”). Typical silence surrounding the atrocities prevented other nations from helping Cambodia until many years later. The destruction cause the by the Khmer Rouge has greatly contributed to the poverty levels still relevant in Cambodia today. In 2003, Cambodia agreed to establish a UN-backed tribunal to prosecute former members of the Khmer Rouge for the atrocities they committed (“Cambodian Genocide”). However, many top-level Khmer Rouge members had either fled the country or died, making prosecution impossible. Since 2003, only 5 indictments and one conviction have been sentenced against former Khmer Rouge members (“Cambodian Genocide”).
Even today, Cambodia is still recovering from the destruction caused by the Khmer Rouge. Millions of Vietnam - era landmines still scatter the country, contributing annually to hundreds deaths and accidents (“Cambodian Genocide”). Many families separated by the Khmer Rouge still haven’t found each other almost 40 years later. Though the exact number is debated, many researchers believe that between 1.7 to 2.2 million Cambodians were exterminated by the Khmer Rouge (“Cambodian Genocide”). The pure brutality and horror of the Cambodian Genocide cements it as the worst genocide of the latter 20th century. Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge came close to completing their goal of creating a classless agrarian society. Millions of innocent civilians had been murdered, entire families were ripped apart, and the whole country of Cambodia was left in shambles for almost 30 years. The slow and meager world outreach to the Cambodians after the genocide serves as an example to all nations of how better actions need to be taken to help foreign countries recover from major catastrophes.
worst genocide of the latter 20th century.
The origins of the Khmer Rouge trace back almost a decade before it’s creation.
During the first Indochina War in the 1950s, Communist guerillas formed the loosely based Communist Party of Kampuchea (“Cambodian Genocide”). In the following decade of the 1960’s, the Party gained more support and grew more powerful. Marxist leader Pol Pot eventually became the leader of the Communist Party. In the years leading up to the Khmer Rouge’s regime, the neighboring Vietnam War spilled over into Cambodia. Pol Pot led the Khmer Rouge on a powertrip into Cambodia in April 1975. On April 17th the Khmer Rouge invaded the Cambodian capital city of Phnom Penh (“Cambodian Genocide”). Thousands of civilians fled the city in an attempt to escape the horrors that were sure to ensue. That same day, the Khmer Rouge seized control of the Cambodian government. Cambodia became known as the Democratic Republic of Kampuchea. Pol Pot declared the year zero and began to “purify” society (Amendola). The ideology of the Khmer Rouge combined elements of Marxism, Khmer nationalism, and xenophobia. All traces of western society, such as capitalism and city life, were expelled. This was the beginning of Pol Pot’s dreamed communist agrarian
society.
Within a matter of days, every city in Cambodia was forcibly evacuated. “Over 2 million civilians alone were evacuated out of Phnom Penh while held at gunpoint. It is estimated that around 20,000 people died along the way towards the work fields” (Amendola). Millions of Cambodian citizens were forced into manual slave work in rural areas. The regime then began destroying all remnants of previous society. Currency, free markets, religious practice, schooling, private property, and foreign clothing was abolished. According to Amendola, those who lived in the cities were seen as “new people” and were considered “the root of all capitalist evil” by the Khmer Rouge. New people were deemed loyal to capitalism, therefore being an opponent to communism.
Great purges began against those who were enemies of the state. No matter their profession, hundreds of thousands of Cambodians who lived in the city were rounded up, tortured, beaten, and murdered. “Those seen as intellectuals or potential resistance leaders were executed” (“Khmer Rouge”). Many were executed for merely appearing intellectual, by wearing glasses or speaking a different language. “Slave workers on rural farms began suffering from the effects of exhaustion and lack of food. Hundreds of thousands died from disease, starvation, or bodily damage sustained during back-breaking work” (“Khmer Rouge”). Elderly, handicapped, children, the ill, and anyone else deemed too weak to work were sent to the “killing fields” (“Cambodian Genocide”). The infamous killing fields became the site of thousands of executions, murders, and mass graves. Those sent to the fields were required to dig their own graves, many of which were too weak to do so. Men, women, children, and infants were executed in the most horrifying and barbaric ways. Due to a scarcity of bullets in Cambodia, the Khmer Rouge resorted to alternate methods of execution. Metal pipes, sharpened bamboo sticks, pickaxes, rocks, and wooden clubs were used to brutally execute prisoners. Often times prisoners were buried alive in mass graves, suffocating to death under a mound of dirt. Child soldiers also became an effective mode of execution. Children captured by the Khmer Rouge were used as soldiers, since they “were easy to control” and “would follow orders without hesitation” (“Cambodian Genocide”). The Khmer Rouge often forced children to execute their own parents. Those who weren’t executed in the fields were sent to prisons throughout Cambodia.
On the outskirts of Phnom Penh, the Khmer Rouge converted Tuol Svay Pray High School into the most notorious prison within Cambodia. The school was renamed as “S-21,” also known as Tuol Sleng Prison (“Cambodian Genocide”). Of the estimated 20,000 people who entered Tuol Sleng, only a dozen ever came out alive (Ritter). The Khmer Rouge kept detailed files and testimonies of every prisoner who entered Tuol Sleng. In an attempt to seek out enemies of the state, harsh interrogations were carried out against all prisoners. These interrogations often consisted of hours and days of torture and questioning. According to Ritter, “torture came in a variety of forms: beating with fists, feet, sticks, or electric wire; burning with cigarettes; electric shocks; being forced to eat feces; jabbing with needles; ripping out fingernails; suffocation with plastic bags; waterboarding; and being covered with centipedes and scorpions.” After interrogation, prisoners were executed or beaten to death. Even prison guards within Tuol Sleng were not safe from execution, often due to minute conduct violations. “According to S-21 records, 563 guards and prison staff were killed between 1976 and 1979” (Ritter).
“During the spring of 1978, Vietnam amassed thousands of troops along the Cambodian border” (Carvin). Khmer Rouge forces fought small skirmishes against Vietnamese troops, further raising tension between the two nations. According to Carvin, “on Christmas Day 1978, 100,000 Vietnamese troops poured across the Cambodian border, gaining a foothold in the northeast. The Vietnamese intended to create a buffer between Khmer Rouge forces and Vietnam. The encroachment went so well that the Vietnamese soon realized that they could seize Phnom Penh within a matter of weeks”, finally knocking the Khmer Rouge out of power. By January 7, 1979, “Vietnamese troops successfully occupied Phnom Penh, sending the Khmer Rouge fleeing into the wilderness” (Carvin). Pol Pot escaped via helicopter as the city fell to the Vietnamese. Soon after, Vietnam established a new Cambodian government known as The People’s Republic of Kampuchea. As the government was re-established, hundreds of thousands of freed Cambodians left work camps began the long journey back home. Many hoped to find lost relatives or pieces of their former lives. Most Cambodians returned home to find nothing of their former lives- no homes, no possessions, and no relatives (Carvin).
Occupying Vietnamese troops soon discovered the horrors left behind by the Khmer Rouge. Mass graves, containing thousands of bodies were discovered all across the Cambodian countryside. In the following decade, the Khmer Rouge continued fighting Vietnamese forces with support from China and the Soviet Union (“Cambodian Genocide”). Pol Pot continued leading the Khmer Rouge as an insurgency up until his arrest and house arrest in 1997. The Khmer Rouge existed up until 1999, by then most members had either defected, been arrested, or died (“Cambodian Genocide”). Pol Pot was put on trial in 1997; however, the trial was “seen as mostly for show” (“Khmer Rouge”). Pol Pot was never brought to justice, as he died while under house arrest the following year.
Life after the Khmer Rouge was extremely difficult. Though Cambodia had a newly established government, almost all of it’s infrastructure had been wiped out by the Khmer Rouge. It was not until years later that the truth of the Khmer Rouge reached around the world, delaying much needed foreign aid. “PTSD was prevalent among survivors, going largely untreated throughout the 1990’s due to the lack of healthcare professionals in the country” (“Cambodian Genocide”). Typical silence surrounding the atrocities prevented other nations from helping Cambodia until many years later. The destruction cause the by the Khmer Rouge has greatly contributed to the poverty levels still relevant in Cambodia today. In 2003, Cambodia agreed to establish a UN-backed tribunal to prosecute former members of the Khmer Rouge for the atrocities they committed (“Cambodian Genocide”). However, many top-level Khmer Rouge members had either fled the country or died, making prosecution impossible. Since 2003, only 5 indictments and one conviction have been sentenced against former Khmer Rouge members (“Cambodian Genocide”).
Even today, Cambodia is still recovering from the destruction caused by the Khmer Rouge. Millions of Vietnam - era landmines still scatter the country, contributing annually to hundreds deaths and accidents (“Cambodian Genocide”). Many families separated by the Khmer Rouge still haven’t found each other almost 40 years later. Though the exact number is debated, many researchers believe that between 1.7 to 2.2 million Cambodians were exterminated by the Khmer Rouge (“Cambodian Genocide”). The pure brutality and horror of the Cambodian Genocide cements it as the worst genocide of the latter 20th century. Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge came close to completing their goal of creating a classless agrarian society. Millions of innocent civilians had been murdered, entire families were ripped apart, and the whole country of Cambodia was left in shambles for almost 30 years. The slow and meager world outreach to the Cambodians after the genocide serves as an example to all nations of how better actions need to be taken to help foreign countries recover from major catastrophes.