Pol Pot And The Khmer Rouge Cambodia Summary

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The ending of ‘independence regimes’: Cambodia, Burma and the Philippines
Cambodia: Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge According Biography.com (2016), Saloth Sar or known as Pol Pot came from a wealthy family in Kompong Thong province in central Cambodia. Since the Cambodia was a French protectorate during his time, he was able to win a scholarship to study in Paris where he formed his communist philosophy. Returning from France, he became one of the heads of the communist party known as the ‘Khmer Rouge’. In 1975, the Khmer Rouge under the leadership of Pol Pot seized control over the capital of Cambodia, Phnom Penh. The communists party forced the people of the cities Phnom Pehn and Battambang to leave their settlements and work in the rural areas. Murphey (1992) states that the population of the rural areas where demanded to work in the urban areas. (Murphey, 1992). Additionally, when Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge took control of the capital, he announced the reset of the calendar to ‘Year Zero’ and tried to transform Cambodia into a rural society, where farming is the center of activity. …show more content…

In effect, the already educated people including the Buddhist monks, former government officials, merchants, professionals and former soldiers were executed for he believed that these people represented the “old society.” Also, the non-natives of Cambodia like the Chinese, Muslims and Vietnamese are also killed. (Biography.com, 2016) Foreign connections and influences were also cut off from the country, except for China. Even cars, libraries, and other so-called “alien” symbols were ruined, for they symbolized intellectualism and modernization (Murphey,

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