History Flashcards
What year did the Khmer Rouge come to power?
1975
What was the origin of the Khmer Rouge?
The Khmer Rouge had its origins in the 1960s, as the armed wing of the Communist Party of Kampuchea - the name the Communists used for Cambodia.
What were some of the key policies of the Khmer Rouge?
- wanted to create an “agrarian utopia”
- emptied the cities, abolishing money, private property and religion, and setting up rural collectives
- Anyone thought to be an intellectual of any sort was killed. Often people were condemned for wearing glasses or knowing a foreign language.
How many people died under the Khmer Rouge?
Estimations vary but at least 1.7m died from execution, disease, starvation and overwork
What year did Pol Pot die?
1998
When were the Khmer Rouge over thrown?
January 7, 1979: The Vietnamese take Phnom Penh, beginning 11 years of Vietnamese occupation. The Khmer Rouge move west. Some Cambodians celebrate January 7 as a liberation day from the Khmer Rouge, while others mark it as the start of Vietnamese occupation
What was the “four year plan”?
called for the collectivization of all private property and placed high national priority on the cultivation of rice. All Cambodians were required to bring their private possessions to be used collectively. Cambodian families were split up and people were assigned to work groups. The goal of the Four-Year plan was to achieve an average national yield of three tons of rice per hectare throughout the country. To achieve that goal, most Cambodians were forced to work harvesting rice more than 12 hours a day without rest or adequate food.
Who was the head of S-21/Tuol Sleng Prison?
Comrade Duch
What was Tuol Sleng prison originally?
Tuol Svay Pray High School
What are the “killing fields” at Cheung Ek?
15 southwest of Phnom Penh, Where prisoners of S-21 were taken to be killed.
How were prisoners killed at Cheung Ek?
A variety of methods were used. Often prisoners were made to kneel before their graves and beaten to death with an iron club.
What are some of the torture methods used by the Khmer Rouge?
Beating with fists, feet, sticks or electric wire; burning with cigarettes; electric shocks; being forced to eat faeces; jabbing with needles; ripping out fingernails; suffocation with plastic bags; waterboarding; and being covered with angry centipedes and scorpions.
What were lots of the prisoners accused of?
Being spies for the KGB or CIA
What was Cambodia renamed under the Khmer Rouge?
Democratic Kampuchea
How were the US critical in the Khmer Rouge coming to power?
The secret and illegal bombing of Cambodia by Nixon and Henry Kissinger between 1969 and 1973 caused so much death and destruction it was a critical piece of propaganda in Pol Pot’s rise to power.
