Pol Pot Significance

The rise to power of Pol Pot’s regime was made possible due to a significant factor being the consequence of the spread of the Vietnam War to Cambodia. Had this not of happened, Pol Pot’s Communist Party of Kampuchea, Khmer Rouge, would have had fewer chances of coming to power. The first Indochina War started in 1946 but it wasn’t until 1955 when the US became involved and like adding fuel to a fire, Cambodia gradually was dragged into the conflict between North Vietnam and the US who supported the South.
The spread of the Vietnam War to Cambodia was mainly the consequence of the US bombing campaign and their involvement in Cambodia during the Vietnam War which fuelled Pol Pot’s regime. Prince Norodom Sihanouk, the leader of Cambodia, promoted ideologies of nationalism and was determined to maintain his country’s independence …show more content…
In 1966, the US used artillery strikes and air patrol to cut off infiltration into Vietnam along this trail where the spread of the Vietnam War to Cambodia gradually begins as the American’s attacks closer into Cambodia. In addition, communist ideologies and influences were strengthened when the North Vietnamese began supplying weapons and advice to rebellious Cambodian hill tribes people. However, Sihanouk grew wary of the increasing amount of Vietnamese involvement in the jungles of Cambodia as he was a strong believer of nationalistic ideologies much like the Americans. Thus the spread of the Vietnam War further continued as in 1968, Sihanouk restored diplomatic relations with the US and allowed them to bomb Viet Cong hiding in places on the Cambodian border which destabilised the Cambodian society and was the catalyst of a civil