export_khmer rouge Flashcards
Norodom Sihanouk
Prince of Cambodia and ruler during the time of Pol Pot. Gave Cambodia a high degree of political independence.
Pol Pot
Leader of Communist Cambodia- he was crazy. He was super secretive of his identity also about his plans for the new communist regime. Came from literate middle class family studied in France where he and others came in contact with communism. He was the leader of a pretty brutal regime which caused the deaths of many Cambodians and other ethnicities in an attempt to create a communist utopia in Cambodia. He was paranoid and had a lot of people killed. He was not a good dude.
Indochinese Communist Party
Transnational communist party that included Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos, but was dominated by the Vietnamese. The Cambodians did not like how the Vietnamese acted like the Big Brother so they split off and formed their own party which became a bit more radical than the Vietnamese party.
Cambodian Communist Party
Split from ICP; it was a maximalist communist regime under Pol Pot it came to power in 1975. Implemented maximalist regime that wanted egalitarian, prosperous and autarkic state and tried to implement reforms faster than USSR Mao. Result lots of death
Lon Nol
Top General appointed by Sihanouk. He is installed as a weak military dictator by the US after Sihanouk is overthrown. He was corrupt and did not do anything to stop the US bombing campaign which was a major regime. As a result Sihanouk threw his support behind the Khmer because he sees the benefit of allying with them. Helped them gain power. Also Lon Nol supporters became targets of mass repression in cambodia
Phnom Penh
The capital of Cambodia, which was taken over by the Khmer Rouge on 4/17/75. This fall of the capital signified the beginning of the revolution.
US bombing campaign
The US shelling of Vietnam from ~1965-1975 (and consequently Cambodia). This shelling was done in conjunction with fighting a gruesome land war and in fear of fierce opposition.
4/17/75
Date Phnom Penh fell to the Khmer Rouge. Also considered Day One aka they restarted the whole calendar thing. They wanted to remake everything even calendars! Start of the genocidal/democidal regime. Also their desire to remake the entire society and wanted to start from scratch by starting from Day One
Santebel
The secret police under the Khmer Rouge which had extra-judicial powers. They were a radical faction that were meant to combat counter-revolutionary. They were a tool of repression and helped the regime arrest people who would suffer and most likely die in Khmer prisons.
Tuol Sleng/S21
A prison which was the apex of the Khmer prison system. Being sent there was basically a death sentence with a less than 1% survival rate. Example of the extreme nature of the regime. People were tortured and killed and forced to write confessions.
