How Did Cambodia Contribute To The Rise Of The Khmer Rouge

The Khmer Rouge took control over Cambodia on April 17, 1975. Their existence was kept a secret until 1977, and the leaders were kept a secret. They stayed in power until January of 1979. During the reign of the Khmer Rouge, there were many policies put into place that oppressed citizens and around two million Cambodians were murdered, including members and high officials of the Khmer Rouge. Cambodia fell victim to the Khmer Rouge for many different reasons, including the feeling of separation within the country. In the 1940s, Cambodia struggled against the French’s attempt of colonization. This caused the emergence of communistic ideas in Cambodia. The movement was then fueled by the first Indochina War in the 1950s and continued to grow.

While in power, they made sure to keep their citizens uneducated and ill prepared. They would murder those that had been doctors, lawyers, politicians, etc. before the Khmer Rouge took power. They would also kill those that knew many other languages or that wrote about things they saw, such as journalists. Children were taught from a young age to be brutal killers, and they were raised to have no mercy. This way, there was little fear of a revolt from those held captive. They also had little to no personal possessions, and nothing of

France was trying to gain control over Cambodia for colonization, and as a result, the communistic party was created. Once the party gained recognition, and started to fight for power, they were backed by Vietnam, and continued to be allies until Vietnam withdrew troops, allowing the Khmer Rouge to fight by themselves. However, the United States decided to ally with Lon Nol’s side, and they brought bombs and troops to Cambodia. But, the bombs ended up doing little good as they killed many people, and then encouraged the loved ones of the deceased to join the Khmer Rouge movement. Other countries attempted to help provide aid to the growing number of refugees, but they number just kept getting higher and higher. So, although the Khmer Rouge was in Cambodia, many other countries felt the effects and were involved. Journalists from many different countries came to Cambodia as an attempt to document what was really going on, but many were evacuated early. Also, they were not allowed to photograph in front of certain people, photograph certain things, or at certain times. If they did, their cameras may have been taken away by troops, or worse may have occurred. Because of these issues, there weren’t many journalists that came back with the full story to