Khmer Rouge

A Brief Background of the Khmer Rouge

With the rise of the Soviet Union and communism, communist groups emerged all over the globe. The South East Asian region was no exception either, which even led to one of the most violent wars fought in the latter half of the twentieth century, the Vietnam War. Cambodia also had its share of followers of communism. The followers of the Communist Party in Cambodia were popularly known as Khmer Rouge or the Red Khmers, a term which developed in the 1960s under the leadership of Pol Pot. The group rose to fame worldwide after it took power in Cambodia in 1975, naming the country the Democratic Kampuchea.

Cambodia had been under the influence of French colonists for a long time, and Khmer Rouge movement was developed in the jungles of Cambodia to liberate the country from the corruption and incompetence of the traditional imperial elite and the influence of foreign forces. The origins of the Khmer Rouge were found in the KPRP or the Kampuchean People’s Revolutionary Party, which was the local version of the Indochinese Communist Party, which had a presence in the region even before the World War II.

The famous Pol Pot was one of the leading men behind the organization of the Khmer Rouge, who joined the party in 1953, and after leading the party in the 1960s, restructured and later renamed it to the Kampuchean Communist Party. The followers of the party were called the Khmer Rouge. Pol Pot and his close friend Ieng Sary studied in Paris in the 1950s, where they joined and were inspired by the French Communist Party, which influenced them to develop a Stalinist approach to communism and politics in general.

After the coup that replaced King Sinahouk’s regime with Lon Nol’s pro-American Khmer Republic, the influence of the North Vietnamese communists within the border was almost diminished due to US carpet bombings in the north eastern parts. This created a vacuum of power in these territories, offering the Khmer Rouge a chance to thrive. The North Vietnamese supported the Khmer Rouge and the supporters of King Sihanouk against Lon Nol, but their interests remained confined to regaining their influence within the Cambodian territory.

However, the Khmer Rouge went further in their insurgencies to remove Lon Nol from power and to take control of the entire country. The newly formed Democratic Kampuchea actually ended up straining relations with neighboring Vietnam, which actually led to their fall. Unfortunately, the Khmer Rouge appeared to the people a liberating force revolutionizing the country in theory, but they actually became responsible for a reign of terror that would cost the lives of no less than two million Cambodians.

Pol Pot, the leader of the party came to power in 1975 and became the head of the government in 1976 and established an agrarian society, abolishing money and forcing skilled workers and intellectuals to work in labor camps as farmers. Although the Khmer Rouge claimed to adhere to the ideals of egalitarianism, but they themselves indulged in nepotism and never shared power with anyone who was an outsider to the Khmer Rouge. In fact, anyone seen as a threat to the Khmer Rouge regime was dealt harshly with and people were frequently arrested, tortured and executed. The regime became notorious around the world for its crimes against humanity.

However, the Khmer Rouge was removed from power in 1979 following a Soviet-backed Vietnamese invasion. Even after that, the Khmer Rouge continued to find support from the Western powers due to their opposition to the pro-Vietnam government installed in Cambodia. Pol Pot, who had resigned from the leadership of Khmer Rouge in 1985, was arrested in 1997. He also faced a trial, which critics rejected as a show trial, and was put under a house arrest, during which he died in 1998. Shortly after that, the remaining of the Khmer Rouge leadership surrendered and faced trials, some of which are even being proceeded currently.

Khmer Rouge Page

Khmer Rouge derives from the French word, Khmer + Rouge = Red Khmer, named by the former King Norodom Sihanouk, for the label of Communist Party of Kampuchea (CPK) in 1971. The organization was originally formed as the Revolutionary Army of Kampuchea in January 1968. In 1981, it's later changed to Party of Democratic Kampuchea.

Khmer Rouge seized power in 1975, and in 1976 Khmer Rouge established a new constitution with the new flag under official name, Democratic Kampuchea. As one of the most violent regimes of the 20th century, the Khmer Rouge regime was responsible for the deaths of approximately 1.7 million people by execution, starvation and forced labor. Source: http://www.cambodia.org/khmer_rouge/