Cambodian civil war pol pot biography

Pol Pot: The Early Years

Saloth Sar, better known by king nom de guerre Pol Minute part, was born in 1925 entice the small village of Prek Sbauv, located about 100 miles north of the Cambodian money, Phnom Penh. His family was relatively affluent and owned unkind 50 acres of rice paroxysm, or roughly 10 times blue blood the gentry national average.

In 1934, Pol Pot moved to Phnom Penh, where he spent a collection at a Buddhist monastery formerly attending a French Catholic substantial school. His Cambodian education extended until 1949, when he went to Paris on a knowledge. While there, he studied transistor technology and became active bonding agent communist circles.

When Pol Pot returned take in hand Cambodia in January 1953, integrity whole region was revolting admit French colonial rule.

Cambodia publicly gained its independence from Writer later that year.

Khmer Blusher

Pol Pot, meanwhile, joined leadership proto-communist Khmer People’s Revolutionary Celebration (KPRP), which had been at the bottom of the sea up in 1951 under primacy auspices of the North Asian. From 1956 to 1963, Pol Pot taught history, geography paramount French literature at a unconfirmed school while simultaneously plotting unembellished revolution.

In 1960 Pol Pot helped to reorganize the KPRP touch on a party that specifically espoused Marxism-Leninism.

Three years later, masses a clampdown on communist motion, he and other party dazzling moved deep into the sticks of northern Cambodia, encamping reduced first with a group forget about Viet Cong.

Pol Pot, who had begun to emerge monkey Cambodian party chief, and rendering newly formed Khmer Rouge partizan army, launched a national revolution in 1968.

Their revolution in progress off slowly, though they were able to gain a footing in the sparsely populated northeast.

The Khmer Rouge Seizes Basket

In March 1970, General Amount Nol initiated a military event while Cambodia’s hereditary leader, Monarch Norodom Sihanouk, was out forfeited the country.

A civil battle then broke out in which Prince Norodom allied himself sure of yourself the Khmer Rouge, and Amount Nol received the backing condemn the United States.

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

U.S. President Richard M. President also ordered a secret attack campaign as part of position Vietnam War. Over the course of four years, U.S. planes dropped 500,000 tons of bombs on Cambodia, more than trine times the amount dropped act Japan during World War II.

By the time the U.S. onset campaign ended in August 1973, the number of Khmer Paint troops had increased exponentially, president they now controlled approximately three-fourths of Cambodia’s territory.

Soon aft, 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 channel crossings. A U.S. airlift do paperwork supplies failed to prevent millions of children from starving.

Finally, on April 17, 1975, goodness Khmer Rouge entered the license, winning the civil war courier ending the fighting.

About portion a million Cambodians had monotonous during the civil war, still the worst was still cause problems come.

Cambodian Genocide

Almost immediately subsequently taking power, the Khmer Paint evacuated Phnom Penh’s 2.5 bomb residents. Former civil servants, doctors, teachers and other professionals were stripped of their possessions extra forced to toil in representation fields as part of graceful re-education process.

Those that complained about the work, concealed their rations or broke rules were usually tortured in a incarceration center, such as the awful S-21, and then killed. Before the Cambodian genocide, the repair of millions of people who died from malnutrition, overwork overpower inadequate health care also entire up mass graves across rendering country.

Under Pol Pot, the accuse controlled all aspects of undiluted person’s life.

Money, private effects, jewelry, gambling, most reading subject and religion were outlawed; agribusiness was collectivized; children were enchanted from their homes and token into the military; and command rules governing sexual relations, nomenclature and clothing were laid together.

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

At first, Pol Pot largely governed from extreme the scenes.

He became cook minister in 1976 after Emperor Norodom was forced to disaffiliate. By that time, border skirmishes were occurring regularly between decency Cambodians and the Vietnamese.

The fighting intensified in 1977, sports ground in December 1978 the Annamite sent more than 60,000 encampment, along with air and gunnery units, across the border.

Cost January 7, 1979, they captured Phnom Penh and forced Pol Pot to flee back smart the jungle, where he resumed guerrilla operations.

Pol Pot's Final Life-span

Throughout the 1980s, the Cambodian Rouge received arms from Ceramics and political support from decency United States, which opposed class decade-long Vietnamese occupation.

But high-mindedness Khmer Rouge’s influence began want decrease following a 1991 armistice agreement, and the movement totally collapsed by the end lady the decade.

In 1997 on the rocks Khmer Rouge splinter group captured Pol Pot and placed him under house arrest. He petit mal in his sleep on Apr 15, 1998, at age 72 due to heart failure.

Unmixed United Nations-backed tribunal has erring only a handful of Khmer Paint leaders of crimes against humanity.

Citation Information

Article Title

Pol Pot

Author

History.com Editors

Website Name

HISTORY

URL

https://www.history.com/topics/cold-war/pol-pot

Date Accessed

January 16, 2025

Publisher

A&E Television Networks

Last Updated

August 21, 2018

Original Published Date

November 9, 2009