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The Khmer Rouge, the name given to the Cambodian Communists, began a large-scale insurgency against government forces in 1970, quickly gaining control over more than two thirds of the country. The strength of the Khmer Rouge rose dramatically from around 3,000 in 1970 to more than 30,000 in 1973, enabling most of the North Vietnamese and Viet Cong troops to withdraw from Cambodia. In 1975 the movement, led by Pol Pot , overthrew the Cambodian government, establishing Democratic Kampuchea. The new government carried out a radical program of evacuating cities, closing schools and factories, and herding the population into collective farms. Intellectuals and skilled workers were assassinated, and a total of perhaps as many as 1.5 million died, inclusive of starvation and forced marches.
Pol Pot began a radical experiment to create an agrarian utopia inspired in part by Mao Zedong's Cultural Revolution, which he had witnessed, first-hand during a visit to Communist China. Mao's "Great Leap Forward" economic program included forced evacuations of Chinese cities and the purging of "class enemies." Pol Pot would now attempt his own Super Great Leap Forward in Cambodia, which he renamed the Democratic Republic of Kampuchea.
Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge
Above is a video on the Cambodian Genocide.
By: Colin, Danielle and Colleen
