The Cambodian Genocide: Pol Pot And The Khmer Rouge

Words: 1045
Pages: 5

Genocides are not fictional events that only appear in movies. Genocides are real and have occurred many times throughout history. One of the more recent and horrific genocides was the Cambodian Genocide that occurred between the years of 1975 to 1979. The Cambodian Genocide transpired in Cambodia led by Pol Pot and his communist group the Khmer Rouge. Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge overthrew the government and killed one-third of Cambodia’s population at work camps (History.com Staff 1). Cambodia is located next to Vietnam and Thailand. The Cambodian Genocide is a dreadful occurrence that caused many Cambodian citizens to lose their life. There is not one Cambodian family that has not lost a loved one due to this catastrophe. First, the Cambodian …show more content…
During the year of 1979 many events went down in Cambodia that caused the fall of Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge. One of the main reasons that Cambodia was released from Pol Pot was because that year Vietnam invaded Cambodia. The authors wrote, “Vietnamese invaded and the overthrew Pol pot and Khmer Rouge. Then many of the Khmer Rouge fled into the forests of Thailand. Pol Pot was then place under house arrest and died in his sleep” (History.com Staff 11). The author explains that the Vietnamese soldiers were stronger than the Khmer Rouge. When they eventually beat the Khmer Rouge many of the soldiers ran away so they wouldn’t get arrested. When Pol Pot was caught the Khmer, Rouge had lost most of its control over Cambodia. Then the Vietnamese went and destroyed the rest of the Khmer Rouge. There is also another reason why the Khmer Rouge lost control of Cambodia. The History.com Staff notes, “But the Khmer Rouge’s influence began to decrease following a 1991 ceasefire agreement, and the movement completely collapsed by the end of the decade” (11). The Khmer Rouge influence was decreasing so there was less follower. This caused the Khmer Rouge to have less soldiers which caused the Khmer Rouge to have less power. So eventually Khmer Rouge lost all its power. With both of these two events happening Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge decided to give to call a cease fire. Then a few years later the Khmer Rouge group collapsed and the …show more content…
The Cambodian Genocide was the product of one man's dream to turn Cambodia into a farming utopia. His dream caused many people to die and separated many families. Thankfully this horrible event ended due to many reasons, but the two most important reasons are the Khmer Rouge started having less influence on the Cambodians so they were low on soldiers, and the Vietnamese invading Cambodia. The Vietnamese beat the Khmer Rouge and caused many of the Khmer Rouge members to flee into the jungle. When the rule of Pol Pot ended, light was finally shown on Cambodia. Almost no one knew what was going on in Cambodia until reporters started going to Cambodia. The rule of Pol Pot also created a conflict in the United Nations. The United Nations took a vote whether or not to keep Cambodia's seat in the United Nations. The Cambodian Genocide is only one of the many Genocides that have happened throughout history. The Cambodian Genocide was horrific so many people are trying to prevent Genocides from happening in the