Pol Pot Research Paper

All around the world there have been times where a certain country's economy have just collapsed. The majority of the time this is caused by who is in charge for running the country. For our term paper we have chosen two men who were

communists and caused the downfall of their country's economy. This includes the increase of poverty along with the increase of death rates. The two dictators we chose were Pol Pot, dictator of Cambodia and Idi Amin Dada the president of Uganda. Both were different ,but much alike in certain ways.

Pol Pot (Saloth Sar)

Pol pot (aka Saloth Sar) was a Cambodian revolutionary who led the Khmer Rouge from 1963 to 1997. From 1963 to 1981, he served as the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Kampuchea. As such, he became the leader of Cambodia on April 17, 1975, when his forces Phnom Penh. From 1976 to 1979, he also served as the prime minister of Democratic Kampuchea.

In
1935, Saloth Sar left Prek Sbauv to attend the Ecole Miche, a Catholic school in Phnom Penh. He lived with his cousin, a woman called Meak, and a member of the Royal Ballet. After switching to a technical school at Russey Keo, north of Phnom Penh, Saloth sar qualified for a scholarship for technical studies in France. He studied radio electronics at the EFR in Paris from 1949 to 1953. He also participated in an international labour brigade buildings roads in Zagreb in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in 1950. After the Soviet Union recognized the Viet Minh as the government of Vietnam in 1950, French Communists (PCF) took up the cause of Vietnam’s Independent. The PCF’s anti-colonialism views attracted many young Cambodians, including Sar. In 1951, he joined a communist cell in a secret organization known as Cercle Marxiste, which had taken control Khmer Student’s Association (AER) that same year. Within a few months, Sar joined the PCF.Due to failing his exams in three successive years, Sar was forced to return to Cambodia in January 1953. He was the first member of the Cercle Marxiste to return to Cambodia. He was given the task of evaluating the the various groups rebelling against the government. He recommended the Khmer Viet Minh, and in August 1954, Sar, along with Rath Samoeun, travelled to the Viet Minh Easter Zone headquarters in the village of Krabao in the Kampong Cham Province/Prey Veng Province near the border of Cambodia. Saloth learned that the Khmer People’s Revolutionary Party was a little more than a Vietnamese front organization. Due to the 1954 Geneva peace accord requiring all Viet Minh forces and insurgents be expelled, a group of Cambodians.

-what pol pot did:

Pol Pot had the idea that the economy of Cambodia would be better if everyone was treated as regular rice farmers rather than being lawyers, doctors and any other big job you can get in the city.
While hiding along the woods in between Vietnam and Cambodia he was in a secret group called the Khmer Rouge. Pol Pot along with his group of followers took advantage of the war between Vietnam and Cambodia and while Cambodia was at their worst came in and took power of the country. During the time Pol Pot was in office he killed, starved and controlled everyone that was in Cambodia. Pol Pot ordered for any modern day technology such as television and phones to be destroyed. No one had any type of individuality even who they married was chosen for them. Any who opposed what was said to be done was punished. Women were raped, killed and forced into marriages. Men were taken into killing grounds and everyone was forced to work on fields. People who were close to Pol Pot were interrogated this includes people apart of the Khmer Rouge. Pol Pot ruled from
1963-1981.

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Idi Amin Dada

Idi Amin birth name was Idi Amin Dada. He was born in 1925 in Koboko, Uganda. He was raised by his mother after his father “abandoned” the family. Amin was a member of a “ Kakwa ethnic group of Northwestern Uganda.” In 1946 he joined the “King’s African Rifles of the British Colonial Army”. He was an assistant cook. From 1951-1960, Amin was a heavy- weight boxing champion and a swimmer reaching the height of 6’4. Amin Dada became the highest rank for a black African in the British Army. Amin Dada then served in the British Army against the Mau Mau revolt that took place in Kenya from 1952 to 1956.

In 1971, Idi Amin took control of the government, taking of Milton Obote out of power. Idi amin Dada started of with good intentions of helping his people and the nation. As the ruler of Uganda now he was very unpredictable and no one thought of him as a bad person or fiend because of his goofy demeanor. Soon he began abusing his power and started targeting many groups like the Israelis, the British, and the Asian. The expulsion of 50,000 Asians in 1972 soon caused destruction in the economy which was prosperous. Idi Amin ended up killing from 300,000 to 500,000 people in Uganda, most of these people were usually innocent of anything wrong. Idi Amin soon struggled to maintain his regime cause him to resort to more violence, he soon fled to Saudi Arabia where he lived for the rest of his life until his death in 2003.

In conclusion, both men caused great damage to their society. They were similar and different in different ways as listed in our paper.

www.history.org

http://www.history.com/topics/pol-pot

https://www.mtholyoke.edu/~amamendo/KhmerRouge.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/the-legacy-of-the-khmer-rouge-on-trial_us_58014ffde4b0162c043c2405