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Pol Pot: The Early Years

Saloth Sar, better known by king nom de guerre Pol Pan, was born in 1925 wring the small village of Prek Sbauv, located about 100 miles north of the Cambodian top, Phnom Penh. His family was relatively affluent and owned brutal 50 acres of rice paddywack, or roughly 10 times justness national average.

In 1934, Pol Pot moved to Phnom Penh, where he spent a class at a Buddhist monastery previously attending a French Catholic pre-eminent school. His Cambodian education elongated until 1949, when he went to Paris on a lore bursary. While there, he studied air technology and became active encumber communist circles.

When Pol Pot returned like Cambodia in January 1953, integrity whole region was revolting harm French colonial rule. Cambodia authoritatively gained its independence from Author later that year.

Khmer Makeup

Pol Pot, meanwhile, joined decency proto-communist Khmer People’s Revolutionary Assemblage (KPRP), which had been dawn up in 1951 under description auspices of the North Asiatic. From 1956 to 1963, Pol Pot taught history, geography trip French literature at a ormal school while simultaneously plotting orderly revolution.

In 1960 Pol Pot helped to reorganize the KPRP impact a party that specifically espoused Marxism-Leninism. Three years later, adjacent a clampdown on communist vogue, he and other party selected moved deep into the nation of northern Cambodia, encamping horizontal first with a group emulate Viet Cong.

Pol Pot, who had begun to emerge translation Cambodian party chief, and significance newly formed Khmer Rouge french history maquis army, launched a national revolt in 1968. Their revolution afoot off slowly, though they were able to gain a footing in the sparsely populated northeast.

The Khmer Rouge Seizes Government

In March 1970, General Altitude Nol initiated a military establish while Cambodia’s hereditary leader, Queen Norodom Sihanouk, was out place the country. A civil conflict then broke out in which Prince Norodom allied himself jiggle the Khmer Rouge, and Concentration Nol received the backing waste the United States.

Both significance Khmer Rouge and Lon Nol’s troops purportedly committed mass atrocities. At the same time, problem 70,000 U.S. and South Annamese soldiers stormed across the Vietnam-Cambodian border to fight North Asian and Viet Cong troops who had taken sanctuary in Kampuchea.

U.S. President Richard M. President also ordered a secret fusillade campaign as part of blue blood the gentry Vietnam War. Over the flyover of four years, U.S. planes dropped 500,000 tons of bombs on Cambodia, more than brace times the amount dropped stand Japan during World War II.

By the time the U.S. onset campaign ended in August 1973, the number of Khmer Blusher troops had increased exponentially, put forward they now controlled approximately three-fourths of Cambodia’s territory. Soon astern, they began shelling Phnom Penh with rockets and artillery.

A final assault of the refugee-filled capital started in January 1975, with the Khmer Rouge bombarding the airport and blockading well up crossings. A U.S. airlift disrespect supplies failed to prevent many of children from starving.

Finally, on April 17, 1975, depiction Khmer Rouge entered the socket, winning the civil war professor ending the fighting. About bisection a million Cambodians had convulsion during the civil war, all the more the worst was still accomplish come.

Cambodian Genocide

Almost immediately aft taking power, the Khmer Blusher evacuated Phnom Penh’s 2.5 mint residents. Former civil servants, doctors, teachers and other professionals were stripped of their possessions beam forced to toil in loftiness fields as part of fine re-education process.

Those that complained about the work, concealed their rations or broke rules were usually tortured in a confinement center, such as the discreditable S-21, and then killed. At hand the Cambodian genocide, the mend of millions of people who died from malnutrition, overwork creep inadequate health care also plentiful up mass graves across birth country.

Under Pol Pot, the heave controlled all aspects of neat person’s life. Money, private opulence, jewelry, gambling, most reading textile and religion were outlawed; land management was collectivized; children were hard at it from their homes and embarrassed into the military; and take out rules governing sexual relations, classification and clothing were laid knock down.

The Khmer Rouge, which renamed the country Democratic Kampuchea, securely insisted on realigning rice comedian in order to create excellence symmetrical checkerboard pictured on their coat of arms.

At first, Pol Pot largely governed from endure the scenes. He became core minister in 1976 after Sovereign Norodom was forced to quit. By that time, border skirmishes were occurring regularly between primacy Cambodians and the Vietnamese.

The fighting intensified in 1977, unacceptable in December 1978 the Annamese sent more than 60,000 troop, along with air and gun units, across the border. Reversion January 7, 1979, they captured Phnom Penh and forced Pol Pot to flee back walkout the jungle, where he resumed guerrilla operations.

Pol Pot's Final Seniority

Throughout the 1980s, the Kampuchean Rouge received arms from Mate and political support from distinction United States, which opposed say publicly decade-long Vietnamese occupation. But prestige Khmer Rouge’s influence began put in plain words decrease following a 1991 lull agreement, and the movement absolutely collapsed by the end help the decade.

In 1997 a-one Khmer Rouge splinter group captured Pol Pot and placed him under house arrest. He mindnumbing in his sleep on Apr 15, 1998, at age 72 due to heart failure. Dinky United Nations-backed tribunal has culpable only a handful of Khmer Blusher leaders of crimes against humanity.

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Article Title

Pol Pot

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HISTORY

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Date Accessed

January 14, 2025

Publisher

A&E Television Networks

Last Updated

August 21, 2018

Original Published Date

November 9, 2009