social science paper

Professor: Chuck Galli

Date: 05/10/2017

Relevant dates

Khmer Rouge also referred to as the Communist Party of Kampuchea was a party that ruled Cambodia from 1975 until 1979. However, the existence of the party was kept in secrecy until 1977. Its leaders were also kept secret until the same period. The four years of the party’s leadership were characterized by massive loss of lives, cultural annihilation as well as high rates of insecurity and stagnation. The actions of the party also affected the political, economic and also social systems. The policies which were used by the leaders during Khmer Rouge disregarded the value of human life (Sonneborn, 2012).

The genesis of the communist movement which is linked to the French Colonization during the 1940s has some great influence in the rise of the Communist Party of Kampuchea. The 1950s Indochina War then fueled it, and it became established in twenty years. In 1970, Marshal Lol Nol staged a coup that was geared towards dethrone the then head of state, Prince Sihanouk. During these years, the Khmer Rouge had acquired some considerable members and had established an alliance with Sihanouk and therefore played a critical role in the civil war. Due to the support that Khmer Rouge got from Vietnamese, it started to succeed in the battlefields. In 1972, it became even more powerful because of the withdrawal of the Vietnamese forces.

In 1973, Khmer Rouge bombed Cambodia causing deaths of approximately 300, 000 deaths with the help of the United States. This led to the growth of the Khmer Rouge since it gained some more members. In 1975, most foreign interventions stopped, and this further led to the strengthening of Khmer Rouge because it took over most cities in Cambodia including Phnom Penh. The Khmer Rouge regime forced people to undertake economic activities some of which were harmful to their wellbeing and also sought to abolish structures that facilitated the formation of social classes in the society. There was a severe deprivation of basic human rights too because the regime scrapped all leisure activities and social services in the country to establish a classless society. Those who tried to go against any of these policies were arrested and locked up and others killed. In 1977, some clashes led to the breaking out of Vietnamese and Cambodia. The fall out led to the coming back of Vietnamese troops into Cambodia and managed to recapture Phnom Penh which had been previously taken by Khmer Rouge in 1978. Khmer Rouge leaders fled leading to weakening and subsequently fall of the party (Cambodia Tribunal Monitor, 2010).

Locations

Cambodia was the main location of the Khmer Rouge movement. The party sought to fight the social structures that had been established by the ruling party. The leaders felt that most Cambodians were suffering due to the social inequalities created by the social classes.

Key actors

Pol Pot

Many leaders held different positions during the Khmer Rouge regime. Pol Pot was one of these key players. Pol Pot was a Cambodian by birth but spent most of his time in France. When he as in France he was a member of the French Communist Party. Upon returning to Cambodia, he was appointed the Secretary to Communist Party of Kampuchea what was later known as the Khmer Rouge. He was appointed the prime minister of the Cambodian national government in 1975. This was after Khmer Rouge has successfully captured Phnom Penh. During his reign, Marxist ideologies were highly propagated, and as a result, approximately 1.5 million citizens lost their lives.

U.S military group

The United States government was also a major actor in the rise of the Khmer Rouge. Being super military power, it assisted the Khmer Republic government to attack its enemies in Cambodia. In 1973, the collaboration between these two parties led to the bombing of Cambodia using a half a million tons of bombs. The estimated number of people who lost their lives was 300,000 (Cambodia Tribunal Monitor, 2010).

Interpretation of events

Many interpretations have been published regarding the events of the Khmer Rouge. According to the BBC News (2009), current generations are been provided with textbooks in schools that cover so much content on the events of this regime. The authors argue that Cambodia was like a broken glass and therefore the young people ought to understand what happened to it so that they can help in repairs. According to a teacher (Sao Sokha) who survived the period, if students do not have the knowledge of what happened during the Khmer Rouge regime, they will never change their attitudes on violence and conflicts. The information on the violence and fighting and its consequences on these generations serve as a lesson on the significance of unity and peace among people (Launey, 2009).

Other people interpret the events of the period as ones that should never be repeated in the face of the earth. Many people lost their lives, and there was massive destruction of personal and public property. The deprivation of basic human rights such as education and freedom of movement is interpreted as the enslavement of the people. Many readers of the materials of published on this topic curse the perpetrators on what they term as inflicted personal suffering. Due to the major suffering witnessed during this time the regime has come to be referred to as the Cambodian genocide since the country killed its people.

Disagreements between authors

Disagreements exist among different authors of different times as far as the subject of Khmer Rouge is concerned. The Cambodia Tribunal Monitor seems to differ with George Chigas and Dmitiri Mosyakov (authors of Literacy and Education under the Khmer Regime). According to the Cambodian Tribunal Monitor, the regime abolished schooling programs, shut down private and public schools as well as universities. The shutting down of these programs meant sure that there were not learners in the institutions of learning. The presence of the schools indicated that the learners would gain knowledge and eventually become intellectuals in the society. This would facilitate upward social movement which would lead to the formation of social classes in the society. The Khmer Rouge regime was aiming at forming a classless society. On the contrary, Chigas and Mosyakov argue that although these institutions were shut down and education policies totally changed, there was still some form of education taking place which in one way or another could still to social movements. They argue that children were still being taught how to read and write and the regime itself was making publications after very three months. The authors provide a notebook that was collected from the Khmer Rouges information and propaganda department as evidence that some form of learning still took place (Chigas, and Mosyakov, 2017).

References

Cambodia Tribuanal Monitor, 2010. Khmer Rouge History. Northwestern University School of

Law Center for International Human Rights and Documentation Center of Cambodia

Chigas, George, and Mosyakov, Dmitri. 2017. Literacy and Education under the Khmer Rouge:

Yale University

Launey,Guy. 2009. ‘Textbook sheds light on Khmer Rouge era.’BBC News, 10th November