The Cambodian Genocide: Pol Pot And The Khmer Rouge

The Cambodian Genocide took place because a man named Pol Pot made an army called the Khmer Rouge and set out to create the perfect society. However, his method of creating this society involved millions of innocent people dying. He killed people to try and eliminate the old society. Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge used the fear of others to shape their identity by making them feel safe, committing mass killings, and deprivation.

In 1954 Cambodia became independent, after being ruled by the French. Prince Norodom Sihanouk took power, but a man named Pol Pot did not agree with him, and made his own army to take him out. His army was called the Khmer Rouge (Red Cambodians). However, before he could attack, the U.S. removed the prince from power by a military coup (soldiers who act without know which political actions will be achieved because of their actions), The prince joined forces with Pol Pot to go against the new military Cambodian government. The U.S. then invaded North Vietnamese border camps, which made the North Vietnamese join Khmer Rouge. For the next 4 years, the U.S. bombed North Vietnamese, which made the peasants flee to Cambodia’s capital city. In 1975 the U.S. left Vietnam, leaving behind an incompetent government. Pol Pot seized this opportunity and took the Khmer Rouge, which was mostly made of teenage boys, and gained control of Cambodia’s capital city, and then Cambodia.
His goal was to eliminate Capitalism, western culture, city life, religion and all foreign influences, Anyone who was foreign was killed and anything foreign, including language, was banned. Anyone who was educated was killed, including, doctors, lawyers, military, police, Christians, Muslims, and Buddhists, Lots of people were killed to “eliminate the old society”. Anyone who was thought to be disloyal to Pol Pot was