An
Introduction to Cambodia |
Between the years of 1975 and 1978, the nation of Cambodia was
occupied by the Khmer Rouge. The Khmer Rouge was under control of a man named Pol Pot.
During their occupation of Cambodia it is estimated that approximately one seventh of its
population died. How did all these people die? What was this Khmer Rouge and how did it
come into power?
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In order to try and grasp the Cambodian
situation, we must understand how the old government worked. The old government of
Cambodia (Post-Colonialist) was based on the belief that not everyone was equal. The
society was based on a hierarchical system in which the citizens knew their place in
society and didn’t question it (Karma). Cambodia was led by Prince Sihanouk who was
overthrown in 1970 by Lon Nol who staged a coup d’etat in Phnom Penh while Prince
Sihanouk was in Moscow. Lon Nol declared Cambodia a republic and Sihanouk lived in Peking
as an exile. Lon Nol’s |
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| government only lasted for five years though. On
April 17th, 1975 Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge overthrew the city of Phnom Penh, and the
rest is history. |
| The Khmer Rouge had a very simple and twisted ideology.
They believed that all men were equal and that anything which caused man to believe that
inequality was okay, was to be demolished. "The cardinal assumption is that man is
inherently good and only become[s] evil through contact with the institutions of a corrupt
society; singled out as most reprehensible are the marketplace, technology, the division
of labor, and resulting distinction of birth, wealth, and social class. Perfection is to
be attained by destroying the existing order" (Cambodia 1975-1978 pg 9). So the Khmer
Rouge decided that the only people who were ‘good’ people were the peasant |
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FROM:
Beyond the Killing Fields p112 |
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workers. Anyone who was not a peasant was evil, because they had been
tainted by the evils of modern society. Thus the horror of Pol Pot’s reign began.
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