The Khmer Rouge: Causes

of a Genocide

Cambodia is a small country west of

Vietnam, in Southeast Asia

Chin
a
India

Cambodia is a small country west of

Vietnam, in Southeast Asia

Chin
a
India

Cambodia is a small country west of

Vietnam, in Southeast Asia

India

Chin
a

Vietna
m

Cambodian History

Hinduism and
Buddhism spread to
Cambodia from India
and the Pacific Islands,
but most of the people
are Buddhists
Khmer Empire
from the 800s to the
1400s, Cambodia
ruled most of
Indochina

Foreign Control of
Cambodia
1500s- 1800s: Siam (Thailand) and

Vietnam fought over controlling parts

of Cambodia.
1867: France convinced the king of
Cambodia to form an alliance for their
protection, but really Cambodia
became a French colony
1953: France gave Cambodia
independence, but French imperialism
made them suspicious of the West.
During the Cold War, they didnt trust

The Rise of the Khmer

Rouge

In the Vietnam War (1960s/70s),

North Vietnamese soldiers traveled
through Cambodia to attack US
soldiers in South Vietnam
So the USA started bombing
Cambodia in 1970
A group of Cambodian Communists
called the Khmer Rouge led by Pol
Pot used anti-American feelings to
gain followers

Khmer Rouge bombed Phnom Penh

(capital)

Then the Khmer Rouge invaded Phnom Penh

The Khmer Rouge told city residents

that the US was going to bomb
them, so they had to evacuate all
cities immediately

The Khmer Rouge moved people to

work camps to dig canals, build
dams, and farm

Anyone who was Vietnamese was

killed.
Educated and wealthy people were
tortured and usually killed.
If you disobeyed the Khmer Rouge,
you would be tortured and killed.
And due to all the new people being
moved into rural areas, there was
not enough food, and hundreds of
thousands starved to death.

Everyone killed was photographed first

The Khmer Rouges labor camps became

known as the Killing Fields

After 4 years, Vietnam invaded to stop

the killing. Mass graves were
discovered, and the bones have been
saved to remind us of what happened.