USInvasion Of Cambodia Essay

The Cambodian Genocide took place from 1975 to 1979 in the Southeastern Asian country of Cambodia. The genocide was a brutal massacre that killed 1.4 to 2.2 million people, about 21% of Cambodia’s population. This essay, will discuss the history of the Cambodian genocide, specifically, what happened, the victims and the perpetrators and the world’s response to the genocide.

Cambodia officially once known as the Khmer Empire is a country located in the southern section of peninsula in the Southeast Asia. It is bordered by the neighboring countries like Thailand to northwest and Vietnam to the east, with a current population of 15 Million +, making the 69th on the most populous country in the world. The current most practiced religion is Buddhism conceiving 95 percent of the population. The capital and largest city of Cambodia is Phnom Penh, the political, economic, and cultural center of this country occur. Most decisions regarding political and economic factors occur in this capital. Its governing methods make it questionable factor for this nation, where the current head of government Hun Sen, who is currently the longest serving non-royal leader in South East Asian and has governed and obstructed this country for 25 years. Its extensive history and background of this nation has poverties it for its people and its current individual economical service, forcing some individual to resolute into trafficking and disruption of its younger generation to other nations by illegal means. By demonstrating the current and previous events that have transcended this nation and its people into using illegal means of disruption of humans for economic value, we can analyze current and future means of stopping this disgusting act constantly occurring in this area. This analysis focuses on the globalization context of this event and through the demands,

This project will allow me to provide insight into the tragedy that has taken place in Cambodia during the

Cambodia holds an affluent and alluring history. Throughout this paper the writer will discuss different topics impacting Cambodia’s history, positive and negative impact of colonization, economic, political, cultural and social legacies, and to answer if western countries or colonizer are responsible to help solve some of the lasting problems of colonization.

In 1953 Cambodia gained independence after nearly a century of French rule. The country was ruled by a monarch, Prince Sihanouk. In 1970, Sihanouk was deposed in a coup while in a foreign country. General Lon Nol, gained power. He announced the plan of the Khmer Republic and sent the Army to fight the North Vietnamese in Cambodia. Sihanouk formed a small independent group with Cambodian Communists. The Khmer Rouge was lead by Pol Pot from 1962. During the early 1970s, the Cambodian Army faced two enemies: the North Vietnamese and Communist Khmer Rouge guerrillas.

Cambodia experienced mass death, approximately 1.7 million lives, during the Cambodian genocide of 1975 through 1979. The Khmer Rouge regime dominated the Cambodian government and attempted to purge the population of intellectuals, professionals and supporters of the original government. In an attempt to better the country’s economic standing at a horrendously rapid rate, the country instead experienced mass destruction. The purpose of this paper is to explore the various ways devastation was brought upon Cambodia and how it affected the populace. In the 1950’s the country was engulfed by the civil war north and south Vietnam was waging after gaining independence from France. The battlefield of the war overflowed into Cambodia and caused physical

The act of genocide is an extremity that accompanies the ever modernizing world, a reality that is increasingly discovered as the twentieth century inched toward the twenty-first. Cambodia, a country located in southeast Asia, is unlucky enough to have fallen under the terror of their own personalized war on humanity. A purpose whose plans took root in the quest for an egalitarian system, and thus purposefully began attacking its own economy. All the while destroying any constructs the Pol Pot regime felt may lead to a type of variety among the people, for there is safety in homogeneity. And so this culture suffered through extermination, whether that be in religion, music, or even in common family and friend relationships. Cambodia has been stripped of its individuality through each and every citizen for the sake of uniformity. When such a conflict as this, has finally come to an end it is undeniable that the process of rebuilding must commence. That reconstruction aimed toward all that has been destroyed: the economy, all types of infrastructure, a sense of community among the people. It is the responsibility of the country, as well as the developed outside world, to distribute aid toward this process. Far too often foreigners invade with their own objectives disguised as good will. Post-genocide Cambodia has for years received aid that was either, unable to meet it’s needs or not established long enough to make a significant or lasting difference. What is necessary is a

The Cambodian Genocide (1975-1979) was a period of complete chaos and destruction. In The Killing Fields, Eyewitness Accounts The Cambodian Genocide, and The Endurance of the Cambodian Family Under the Khmer Rouge Regime: An Oral History, Cambodia became controlled by the Khmer Rouge. The Khmer Rouge entered Cambodia on April 17, 1975 in preparation for a nationwide “liberation campaign” (Mam, 119). The Khmer Rouge’s goals were to create a communist revolution that would place power in the hands of the peasants to benefit the state. They wanted to increase agricultural production and transform the Cambodian society (Mam, 119). Before the Khmer Rouge rose to power, Cambodian class, family, and religion played a huge role in Cambodian identity. The family tried to remain strong through resistance, making it difficult for the KR to implement their harsh plans. However, the Khmer Rouge did implement horrific policies that caused many Cambodians to endure suffering that lasted until the Vietnamese forces liberated Cambodia in 1979.

The workings of the Khmer Rouge regime, including many of the facets touched upon by Sambath within the confines of this film, have had, and continue to have, a significant influence on the development of Cambodia. As with any act of genocide, the mass killings executed between 1975 and 1979 deeply scarred both the economic and socio-political fabric of Cambodia, profoundly affecting the operations of the state, and detrimentally impacting the lives of its citizenry.

The history of Cambodia is something quite remarkable. This country has somehow seemed to prevail through their most difficult time ever, the Cambodian Genocide.

In April 1975, Cambodia history would be changed forever. This was the start of Cambodia genocide. Pol Pot, the leader of the Khmer Rouge, became the ruler of Cambodia. He did not like the idea of them influenced by other countries. Khmer Rouge persecuted all the educated citizens. They persecuted doctors, lawyers, police, and former military. They even prosecuted Buddhists, Christians and Muslims. Khmer Rouge then put all the citizens in living arrangements according to their trust. The “old citizens” were the most trust worthy. Then, the pro-west and city dwellers were called “new citizens”. The last groups were the “candidates” and “full right citizens”. Anybody that refused re-education were killed in the fields or at the prison camp Tuol Sleng Centre. Khmer Rouge killed over 1.7 million people. In January 1979, Khmer Rouge was removed from power by Vietnam communist. Ever since the genocide, Cambodia became one of the least developed countries in the world. According to United Nations Inter-Agency Project on Human Trafficking,” Poverty, lack of education, and employment opportunities have left many Cambodians, particularly women and children, in extremely vulnerable situations”. This would cause people to find many different ways to make money. Families would sell their daughters to brothels to pay off debts. Girls who are forced to work in brothels endure rape, abuse and torture.

Pol Pot, a man who valued Mao’s Chinese communist way of living, saw the cities as the heart of capitalism and therefore it had to be eliminated (“The Khmer Rouge and Pol Pot Regime”). With the help of the Khmer Rouge guerrilla Army, the survivors of the Cambodian Genocide are left to deal with their traumatic past and seek hope for a better future.

The investigation assesses “Was the main reason for the genocide in Cambodia political or economic?”. In order to classify the main cause of the genocide as political or economic, the investigation will look at the events leading up to or causes of the Cambodian genocide. The forming of a Communist peasant farming society, the U.S. involvement due to the military coup, and the joining of Prince Sihanouk with Pol Pot. Speeches and survivor accounts of the Cambodian genocide are used to decided upon the classification for the main cause of the genocide. Two sources that are used, “Cambodian Genocide: World Without Genocide”and “Origins-Anatomy of a Genocide: Cambodia”are assessed for their origins, purposes, values, and limitations.

He was chairman of the Comintern which gave him a lot of power within the party.

Some say that Pol Pot was responsible for the power and control of Cambodia because “Pol Pot cut Cambodia off from the world. He banned foreign and minority languages and attacked the neighboring countries of Laos, Vietnam, and Thailand in an attempt to regain ancient ‘lost territory’” (The life of Pol Pot- Cambodia 4). This statement is true because the Khmer Rouge did gain part of their power by isolating the country, but Pol Pot is not fully responsible for that. There were other people involved, like Nuon Chea, Ieng Sary, Son Sen and Khieu Samphan all of these people were also leaders in the Khmer Rouge. Nuon Chea was the second leader in the Khmer Rouge he is known as “The evil genius of the movement” (Chandler 1), because he is the one who was in charge of the prison system. He was one of the one’s with a heartless mind, planning tortures and executing innocent people.