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Cambodian Genocide: The Cause And Effects Of The Cambodian Genocide

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Cambodian Genocide
Webster Dictionary defines the word genocide as; the deliberate and systematic destruction of a racial, political, or cultural group. Cambodia was a mostly peaceful, small country in South Asia with a population of about 7 million.
Imagined being brutally ripped from your family and never seeing them again, being ran out of your home, and never knowing what will happen next. In 1975, Cambodia hit all 8 stages of a genocide, being one of the deadliest genocides.The genocide began after The genocide first began after the Cambodian war with the Khmer Rouge taking over Phnom Phen with the help of U.S bombings. About 2 million people died during the genocide because of Khmer Rouge.
Pol Pot, the leader of the Khmer Rouge, claimed that this would help return them to their basic times creating a utopia, even though he went in the other direction. Khmer Rouge was the group of cambodian communist that took control. Him and his followers, killed 25 percent of their population by murdering, overworking and starving them to death. They mainly targeted doctors, teachers, monks, journalists, the rich, artists, and/or anyone with an education. They also targeted various religious and ethnic groups during the genocide like, religious enthusiasts, Buddhists, …show more content…

The Vietnamese only intervened in the genocide because Khmer Rouge forces began to launch attacks on Vietnam’s borders (8 Stages of Genocide Cambodia). The reign of the Khmer Rouge finally ended in the year of 2000. After the genocide the country of Cambodia was left in ruins. “Since production began five years ago, the television show, "It's Not A Dream," has reunited members of 54 Cambodian families shattered by the genocide” states CNN in 2015. This is just one example of the many ways in which Cambodia's traumatized society is beginning to undertake the fraught, painful business of reckoning with their history

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