The Khmer Empire: Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam

Beginning in the 5th century, Buddhism became a very popular form of religion throughout Asia. Because this was such a diverse and widely followed religion, it introduced many different architectural and innovational developments that had influence from Buddhism, but depending on the region, the styles changed. Also, High officials, like Ashoka, whose’ primary influence came from Buddhism, created practices for his people to follow and live by to bring peace to his kingdom. As this religion was gaining popularity throughout Asia, the transformation that it took was very diverse and long term.

The Khmer Empire ran from 802 to 1431 AD and was the largest empire at the time. During this time, Medieval Europe (590-1455 AD) was referred to as the dark ages. These societies shared both similarities and differences. There were many differences such as treatment of women. On the other hand, there were similarities in crime and punishment as they both were very cruel in punishing suspects.

Throughout history, instances of genocide, mass murder, and extreme acts of violence are widespread and pervade through every culture and society. As demonstrated by Panh, Lifton, and O’Brien, similar examples of excessive violence can occur in widely different situations. In order for such violence to occur, there first must exist certain systematic factors. In this paper, I will argue that conditions of instability within a country allow for changes in belief and perception, and these changed perceptions leads to dehumanization and the loss of human rights. The Holocaust, the Cambodian genocide and the Vietnam War, all follow this pattern to some extent. First, I will compare and contrast the ways in which the Holocaust and Cambodian genocide follow this pattern, as well as explore the separate factors within each and possible solutions to these factors. Next, I will discuss the dramatically different Vietnam War, compare and contrast it to the other two, and explore how the uniqueness of the Vietnam War impacts the possible solutions for the loss of human rights within this situation.

By 1260, the Mongol Empire extended from the Siberian forests to the Yellow Sea and the Eastern Mediterranean coast. The vast expanse of land the Mongols ruled over made it difficult for leaders to quickly relay orders to troops making advances on several fronts and to communicate other information, edicts, and laws. To combat the inefficient communication, the Yam system was developed under Chinggis Khan’s rule and was officially established under Ogodei Khan. The network included post houses located every few miles, between which messengers would ride their horses pass off the messages to each other. When Marco Polo traveled in the Mongol Empire in the thirteenth century, he claimed that the Mongols maintained up to 10,000 relay stations and 200,000 horses in the Yam (Strayer 347). Each messenger was considered an official representative of the Great Khan, and was eventually issued a tablet called a paiza. The paizas were used to distinguish messengers carrying out orders from unauthorized merchants and traders who were not granted the use of the stations. Through this simple yet massive communication system, messages that normally required weeks to transport now took only a few days to cross thousands of miles. By speeding up communication, the Great Khan could give orders and receive reports rapidly, increasing the efficiency and accuracy of their military attacks and the rate of implementing new government structures in conquered territories. By connecting the far

A genocide that is still currently happening is the one in Laos which is the result of the Vietnam War. It was a war against the communist North and the democratic South with the help of the U.S. The U.S got involved because they want to prevent the spread of communism, which is known as the “domino theory” where if a surrounding country falls into the ideology of … then the rest will fall with it. The leader of North Vietnam was Ho Chi Minh, a strong dictator that managed to get support of his people. He states that the South was being used as a puppet state by the American. A lot of American dislikes this war and many oppose it, however many Americans don’t know that there was actually another war going on known as the Secret War.

The Assyrians were very successful as empire-builders. Although the Sea People destroyed their domain a couple of times, the Assyrians still managed to revive creating the “Neo-Assyrian Empire,” in which their realm expanded especially in the Middle East and took control over Egypt. During the Neo-Assyrian Empire, the Assyrians were able to master the skill at using chariots and the proficiency of iron smelting. They developed iron weapons and the first true cavalry force that gave them a huge advantage over their neighbors who still used copper and tin weapons. Consequently, the Assyrians became an unrivaled power over the ancient Near East and began exploring artworks and ways they could adorn their cities. The Assyrians were also famous for building great roads that allowed them to move quickly from place to place. Likewise, they built amazing cities with fortified walls, canals,

Cambodian is one of the newest influxes of immigrants from Southeast Asia. The beauty and the darkness of Cambodia imprinted in history. Cambodia, a country of fertile land and dotted rice fields, of famous and breath taking monuments and ancient temples, of arts and crafts, cultural attractions, and most definitely a history like no other. This is the country that exhibits one of the seven wonders of the world- that is the famous Angkor Wat. Angkor Wat, the largest religious monument that had ever built, significantly in Cambodia. This ancient ruin attracts millions of tourist from all over the world.

There exists a country in Southern Asia, known as Cambodia. This is a small and poor country that experienced dramatic changes in the past century. The Cambodian, or Khmer, society was a very capitalistic country consisted a small population of the rich and a large majority of the poor. The wealth gap between the rich and the poor proved to be fatal. This unreliable economic system soon became the cause of the Khmer Civil War in 1967. This civil war was started by the Communist Party of Kampuchea (CPK), who later renamed themselves to Khmer Rouge. Led by Pol Pot, this Kampuchea party was made up of mainly the lower and middle class who greatly despised the rich, who they believed shared a narcissistic view and an extreme corruption. The Khmer Rouge was able to defeat the Khmer Republic and took over

Overall, this project feels fully resolved, but there are minor choices that could be made to better it as a design. The cut out area near the children’s thumbs could be neater; the craft on them seems rushed. They also are pixelized on the edges, and making them crisp would make them pop even more. The biggest problem I have is the words inside the bubbles, I understand because know the subtitle of the book is “Growing up under the Khmer Rouge,” but others who have not read the book may not know to read it this way. The viewer only sees “Khmer Rogue” and “Chanrithy Him” on the front bubbles, so this could confuse people by presenting the two words with the same hierarchy. Putting the other two bubbles on the back and the last one on the

The international affairs and the involvement of America during the Vietnam War was one of the greatest involvements in American history. Not only was America involved with Vietnamese affairs, but the U.S. was also involved in Cambodian affairs as well. The historical relevance of Cambodia is often overlooked when discussing the war as a whole. The events in Cambodia were events marked in history as side effects of the Vietnam War; however, Cambodia is more that just a side effect of the war. The secret bombings, the great Pol Pot genocide, the killing fields and the strict communist society that developed should not be marked as a mere side effect of Vietnam War history. The documentation and the reportings

The Khmer Rouge use the techniques of starvation to weaken the Cambodian people. This scene takes place in the labor camps that the Ung family travels to. The camps give incredibly small rations to the workers. These people live off of small rations, and are still expected to work just as hard. Hunger pains are common and people are becoming weak, causing work to become harder, and making surviving more difficult. "Our food ration has been steadily reduced to the point that the cooks are now only getting a small twelve-ounce can of rice for every ten people. (Ung 81)" The people are given incredibly small amounts of food, as quoted; "12 ounce cans of rice for every 10 people." This would limit their work load and weaken the people. The amount

At least every Asian country with a Buddhist community has experience some sort of civil war, foreign invasion, or systematic poverty and tyranny. During the Khmer Rouge era, Buddhism was nearly destroyed. Monks were tortured, killed and forced into lay life. Buddhist temples were destroyed and used as a prison area. After the defeat of the Khmer Rouge, Buddhism remained repressed within Cambodia. Some Buddhist monks or leaders responded with forms of social engagement. That being said, Maha Ghosananda is one the monks who played a key role in rebuilding Buddhism in Cambodia after the fall of the Khmer Rouge. His work, Dhammayietras was the first program to set up for peace and non-violence in Cambodia. The Dhammayietras consisted of peace

The domestic policy of Cambodia under Khmer Rouge rule was the advancement of agriculture only, they were to rebuild the nation using agriculture as a base and with revenues from that section use it to build industry and the industry would serve the development of agriculture. According to the “Four Year Plan”, Cambodians were expected to produce three tons of rice per hectare. Pol Pot along with Leng wanted to transform into a classless society without exploitation. Under this regime, many things were taken away from the people, it was like by taking away class, Pol Pot also wanted to take away their essence of humanity and culture. People were not allowed to practice a religion; , or show affection towards each other even to a family member. Muslims were forced to eat pork, Christian clergymen and Monks were executed. There were no

Cambodia is still underdeveloped. Cambodia was totally destroyed by the Pol Pot regime, Khmer Rouge, in between 1975 to 1979. Four million people were killed, most educated people, and the entire country was covered by dead bodies and empty houses. People were not allowed to live in their house, and they were not allowed to own any property. In fact, everything they had belonged to the regime, and they were forced to live and work so hard in the rice field without providing enough food. Because that regime had killed so many intelligent people, until today Cambodia is still struggling with human recourse issue. Even the Cambodian top leader, prime minister, is not educated enough. He was the first prime minister after the Pol Pot regime finished

First, one must examine further how Cambodia evolved into its current state of governance. Cambodia first came under Khmer rule about 600 B.C., when the region was at the center of a vast empire that