Cambodian Genocide and Fall of Phnom Penh

The Khmer Rouge and the Cambodian Genocide

• The Khmer Rouge, led by Pol Pot, took power in Cambodia in 1975 after a civil war that killed around 500,000 people.
• The Khmer Rouge evacuated Phnom Penh's 2.5 million residents, forcing them to work in fields as part of a reeducation process.
• Those who disobeyed were tortured in detention centers, such as S-21, and then killed.
• During the Cambodian genocide, millions died from malnutrition, overwork, or inadequate healthcare, filling mass graves across the country.

Pol Pot's Rise to Power

• Pol Pot began his rise to power in 1968, launching a national uprising with the Khmer Rouge guerilla army.
• The Khmer Rouge gained a foothold in the sparsely populated northeast and eventually allied with Prince Norodom Sihanouk against General Lon Nol.

U.S. Involvement and the Vietnam War

• The United States backed General Lon Nol's troops in the civil war, while also conducting a secret bombing campaign in Cambodia as part of the Vietnam War.
• U.S. planes dropped 500,000 tons of bombs on Cambodia between 1969 and 1973, more than three times the amount dropped on Japan during World War II.
• The U.S. bombing campaign ended in August 1973, but the Khmer Rouge's control over Cambodia's territory had increased exponentially by then.

Khmer Rouge Regime

• The Khmer Rouge abolished money, private property, jewelry, gambling, most reading material, and religion.
• Agriculture was collectivized, children were forced into the military, and strict rules governed sexual relations, vocabulary, and clothing.
• Pol Pot became prime minister in 1976 after Prince Norodom was forced to resign.

Conflict with Vietnam and Pol Pot's Later Years

• Border skirmishes between Cambodia and Vietnam intensified in 1977, leading to a full-scale war in 1978.
• Vietnamese forces captured Phnom Penh in 1979, forcing Pol Pot to flee and resume guerrilla operations.
• The Khmer Rouge received arms from China and political support from the United States throughout the 1980s.
• Pol Pot was captured by a Khmer Rouge splinter group in 1997 and died in 1998 due to heart failure at the age of 72.

Learn about the final assault on the refugee-filled capital of Phnom Penh in January 1975, leading to the victory of the Khmer Rouge and the start of the Cambodian Genocide. Discover the events that unfolded, including the blockading of river crossings, a failed U.S. airlift, and the tragic consequences for the Cambodian population.