Dictators of the world: POL POT 1) Pol pot was was a Cambodian who led the Khmer rouge from 1963 until 1998. He was the general secretary for the communist party before coming to power. When he came to power as a dictator he enforced agrarian socialism, which was forcing city people to go to the countryside to work in collective farms and forced labor projects. The combination of forced labor, no medical care and lack of food and execution ended up in the death of over 25% of the population, between 2-3 million out of 8 million.
Saloth sar Pol Pot was born in May of 1925. He had 8 siblings. For most of his childhood and teen years he lives with his cousin, a member of the royal ballet. Because of his cousin’s influence and his friends of royalty he got a scholarship to study in France but failed multiple times and was sent home. 2) 3) After returning to Cambodia, pol pot acted as a liaison between the leftist parties and the underground communist party. While the government was trying to hunt down the communist party they killed the leader allowing Pol Pot to act as the leader. After Pol Pot was put on a list revealing him a communist leader, he fled to the North Vietnamese borders and pleaded for help. The Vietnamese helped the Cambodian communists set up a base camp. The party emphasized self-reliance and arms struggle and over time the Khmer rouge ideology was developed. The Khmer rouge took advantage of the unrest between the peasants and the government saying the farmers were the true working class and must rise up. Vietnam stopped helping the Cambodian communists because they didn’t want to help an uprising. After several raids that captured weapons for the Khmer rouge, pol pot had transformed from a party leader, to the absolute ruler of the Khmer rouge. Outsiders were no longer aloud to see him and had to be summoned to his presence. After the king of Cambodia rallied his people to destroy the Vietnamese embassies, Vietnam resumed assisting the Khmer rouge and fought the Cambodian army which had been proving far to strong for pol pot and his rebels. As war raged on and pol pot and his Khmer rouge slithered their way to the top of power in Cambodia and after a few years pol pot was the king of Cambodia.
4) Tool of dictatorship.. Use of Force: Pol Pots Khmer rouge which acted as military and police. They also executed many people who resisted or committed crime. Indoctrination:
Controlled participation: People were forced to work on farms, or assigned specific jobs. If they did not comply they died.
Authoritarian Rule: Pol Pot was the king and supreme ruler and made every decision for the country and the people’s lives. There were no votes and political opponents were executed
Limited Dissent: Pol Pot provided tons of work and little food for the people. If anyone was able to stand up and resist, they were executed. Pol Pot executed tens of
