Almost 3 million dead. 80% of children orphaned. In pursuit of what was seen as the “greater good”, Cambodia’s Khmer Rouge destroyed the country and, in only 30 years, left scars that may never heal. Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge were motivated to commit the Cambodian Genocide because of Pol Pot’s desire to create an anti-individualist communist utopia and because of his government officials' need to preserve their power through any means necessary.
Pol Pot’s Ideology
Pol Pot learned of marxism when he was working in France during the 60’s. He later returned to Cambodia and fought the American backed prime minister with a group of radical communist insurgents called the Khmer Rouge. He became infatuated with their ideas of a communist utopia …show more content…
Relentlessly, he relocated the 2.5 million people of Phnom Penh to the countryside, and doing the same all across the country. (Stock) This resulted in many ill and elderly citizens being removed from the hospital and dying on the way there. The Khmer Rouge demanded every citizen turn their belongings over to the state, and would kill anyone who disobeyed. They also would kill anyone they considered bourgois or elite; politicians, administrators, businessmen, school teachers, and even people who wore glasses. No one was safe. Within a few hours, every citizen in Cambodia was reduced to feudal peasants. The Khmer Rouge believed that modern education was useless, thinking that everything you needed to know in life could be learned in the rice fields. With many of the still living citizens having little to no experience farming, there was immediate …show more content…
If they admitted that, then that would mean that not everyone was the same.) so they chose their leaders based on loyalty to the party, meaning that anyone could be a government leader. In fact, at one point they had a 12 year old girl running a large portion of the country. However, these officials were often held up to an insane amount of scrutiny to be sure that they weren’t breaking any of Pol Pot’s ridiculous laws, and if found guilty they would face death. Due to this, Khmer Rouge officials would do everything they could in order to maintain their power, including torturing civilians to drive out any “disruptors” from influencing the
Pol Pot’s Ideology
Pol Pot learned of marxism when he was working in France during the 60’s. He later returned to Cambodia and fought the American backed prime minister with a group of radical communist insurgents called the Khmer Rouge. He became infatuated with their ideas of a communist utopia …show more content…
Relentlessly, he relocated the 2.5 million people of Phnom Penh to the countryside, and doing the same all across the country. (Stock) This resulted in many ill and elderly citizens being removed from the hospital and dying on the way there. The Khmer Rouge demanded every citizen turn their belongings over to the state, and would kill anyone who disobeyed. They also would kill anyone they considered bourgois or elite; politicians, administrators, businessmen, school teachers, and even people who wore glasses. No one was safe. Within a few hours, every citizen in Cambodia was reduced to feudal peasants. The Khmer Rouge believed that modern education was useless, thinking that everything you needed to know in life could be learned in the rice fields. With many of the still living citizens having little to no experience farming, there was immediate …show more content…
If they admitted that, then that would mean that not everyone was the same.) so they chose their leaders based on loyalty to the party, meaning that anyone could be a government leader. In fact, at one point they had a 12 year old girl running a large portion of the country. However, these officials were often held up to an insane amount of scrutiny to be sure that they weren’t breaking any of Pol Pot’s ridiculous laws, and if found guilty they would face death. Due to this, Khmer Rouge officials would do everything they could in order to maintain their power, including torturing civilians to drive out any “disruptors” from influencing the