The Pol Pot Regime in Cambodia:when, How and Why?

paper used at Beloit college, prof. Rapp. Was presented to the entire college. Thought you might wanna know.

Cambodia, a Southeast Asian country that shares borders with Thailand, Vietnam and Laos, was under the French rule from 1863 until 1953. This long period of time affected people who fell into apathy demonstrated through their lack of political interest and desire for change. However, during this period of time, a small communist group started to emerge. They saw the future Cambodia as an independent and socialist country with satisfied citizens. Their main inspiration came from Saloth Sar, a Cambodian revolutionary first introduced to communism during his studies in France. The Cambodian Communist Party grew mainly under Saloth’s charisma and eventually did come to power. It is important to understand the sources of the Cambodian revolution, as well as the reasons why it was initially successful. A significant role was played by the Vietnam War and the United States bombardments of Viet Cong bases in Cambodia. What characterized the Khmer Regime is its great violence and the auto genocide that occurred during this period. Pol Pot’s obsession with enemies coming from Vietnam was one of the reasons for so many deaths. Communism in Cambodia was a form of extreme Maoism. It was more Maoist then in China itself. What led to the creation of Maoism, how it developed and grew, and why did it collapsed are the questions.

No one knows how old are the Khmer people, society and culture. However, modern archeology suggests that these people, who later proudly called themselves “Khmer,” may have begun to build their strong society and rich culture around 4200 B.C. or even earlier.1 Over the centuries the country grew into one of the world’s greatest civilizations, comparable with other, better known Asian civilizations and ancient European societies, and the Khmer still look back with pride on their rich heritage. The “Angkorian period,” as it was called after its capital, is believed to have begun around A.D. 802 and ended in A.D. 1431, according to some scholars and historians.2 Both Thailand and Vietnam invaded Cambodis, and these attacks cumulated in the downfall of the civilization and the abandonment of Angkor, a city of over a million people that became ghostly overnight.3 Little is known about this period except that it was marked by invasions and attacks by Cambodia’s neighbors: the Burmese, Thai and Cham.4

Pre-revolutionary Cambodia was 80 percent peasant, 80 percent Khmer and 80 percent Buddhist, a very homogeneous country with an overwhelmingly rural economy.5 The French established a protectorate over Cambodia in 1863, and Cambodia was no longer in charge of its own fate and destiny until 1953, when it finally gained independence.6 During this time, as a result of French colonial policy, Cambodia acquired substantial minority populations of Vietnamese, Chinese, Lao and Thai, and although its residents were 80 percent Khmer, Chinese and Vietnamese dominated the cities.7 Prince Norodom Sihanouk, who was installed on the throne in 1941 as a French puppet, now found himself as the head of the state.8 In February 1950, encouraged by the recent Communist victory in China, the Indochina Communist party called for the construction of independent Lao and Cambodian armies. This decision enabled the early formation of the Communist party in both countries, and the Cambodian Communist party was formally constituted in 1951.9 It was controlled by the Indochina Communist party whose leaders were all Vietnamese.

From the 1950s to the mid-1960s, Cambodia prospered. Modernization, development, and foreign aid flowed in under Sihanouk’s rule. The prosperity depended greatly on the behavior of surrounding countries and Sihanouk tried to diplomatically keep the country out of the Vietnamese war and at a neutral stance.10 However, from the mid-1960s on, Cambodia became more and more involved in the war. By the early 1970s, as the Cambodian Communist party gained strength and control over big areas of the countryside, “the war had swallowed Cambodia.”11 In the letter to the UN in 1970, the Cambodian government complained that between 1962 and 1969, American South Vietnamese and Thai troops “had violated Cambodian boarders 1364 times by land and 5149 times by air.”12 Sihanouk wanted to keep Cambodia neutral and independed, but he also wanted to stay in power and keep Cambodians from being killed. A secret alliance with North Vietnamese seemed a good way to accomplish all the goals.13

“Under the alliance, the North Vietnamese were allowed to station troops in Cambodian territory and to receive weapons smuggled to them from China and North Vietnam via the Cambodian port of Sihanoukville. In exchange, they recognized Cambodia’s frontiers, left Cambodian civilians alone, and avoided contact with the Cambodian army.”14

The direct consequence of the alliance was the lost of the U.S. aid which, in combination with overall difficult situation in the economy, brought the already existent unsatisfaction with Sihanouk’s rule to a new level. The Communist party guerilla attacks became more frequent, and by late 1969, high-ranking conservative officials, led by Sihanouk’s cousin Matak, started planning Sihanouk’s overthrow. Finally, Sihanouk’s reign ended with the coup of 1970 led by Matak.15

Saloth Sar, better known as Pol Pot and Brother Number One of the revolution, first encountered Communist ideas in France where he studied from 1949 to 1953. At one point during this period he visited Yugoslavia and was impressed by what he saw. The country was at an exciting stage in its development, as Josip Broz Tito engaged people in mass construction projects: the factories, road, railways and hydraulic centers were being built and Saloth saw people working very hard an as a team.16 This caused Saloth to become more interested in communism as a set of techniques that would enable party members to gain independence for their country.17 He went back to Cambodia in 1953, and joined the Indochina Communist party, while working at the same time as a professor on a Cambodian university. In 1963, after Saloth and the majority of former Paris students became dissatisfied with the party policies, they took over the leadership of the Cambodian Communist party. Saloth Sar, now known as Pol Pot, emerged as leader, and the party went underground preparing the rebellion against Sihanouk.18 In 1954 the Cambodian Communist party had been largely rural, Buddhist, and pro-Vietnamese, but by 1970, its leadership was urban, French educated, radical and anti-Vietnamese.19

When