Cambodia

A detailed Summary of Cambodia

"The worst blow fell in 1975, when the Khmer Rouge (red Khmer) guerrillas under the leadership of Pol Pot overthrew the Khmer Republic and established Democratic Kampuchea."

The Khmer Rouge were, at least partially, a reaction to the loss of political power and the social disorder brought on by the regional wars of the 1960s and 1970s, as well as an extreme and localized response to the growing question of Khmer identity in a region dominated and fought over by world powers.

Shortly after its independence in 1954, Cambodia felt the pull of the superpowers. The U.S., China, and Vietnam already had significant interests in the country, but Sihanouk, Cambodia's king, maintained control and declared neutrality. China was one of the first countries to send military aid in 1963. China supported Sihanouk publicly throughout his reign as king and president, but radical parties in the government supported the inner circle of the Communist Party of Kampuchea.

From the 1950s to the mid 1960s, Cambodia prospered. Modernization, development, and substantial foreign aid flowed in under Sihanouk's rule. As in the past, this success was dependent on the behavior of Cambodia's neighbors and on the policies of m

As the religion of over 90% of the population, Buddhism is extremely important in Khmer society. Khmer Buddhism is marked by anti-individualism and egalitarianism, as well as stress on internal self-purification, self-denial and anti-materialism. The wide spread belief in reincarnation may also have brought such a devaluation of life, which may explain the historically high levels of rural violence in Cambodia.

All city residents were forced to march into the countryside to work on government farms; leaving factories, schools, and hospitals abandoned. The country was transformed into an immense work camp. Uneducated peasants were called "Old People" and made up most of the DK government, while educated Cambodians who were called "New People" were executed or posed as ignorant farmers in order to survive. People under the DK lived in fear of the angkar (the system). The extreme communalism went as far as to abolish most personal possessions, enforce communal eating, and require that everyone wear black peasant clothing. Public executions were carried out daily, prisons and torture centers were filled, and families were separated on farms. The government eliminated schools, postal services, and forbade the use of money, trade, and modern medicine.

Pol Pot planned to turn Cambodia into a self-sufficient agricultural nation modeled after the old Khmer Empire, in which the peasants worked to produce wealth for the government.

By mid 1978, Vietnam and Cambodia were engaged in heavy combat. Later that year a new Cambodian government was formed in Vietnam. Before the government could be enforced, in early 1979, Vietnam invaded and captured Phnom Penh. The Khmer Rouge and DK fled toward the Thai border. A puppet government controlled by Vietnam was established in Phnom Penh, and the nation was renamed the People's Republic of Kampuchea. The PRK had opposition, and in 1991, the UN gained control of Cambodia, providing them with their first free elections. The election's result was a multiparty

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Approximate Word count = 1352
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: History