Compare And Contrast Idi Amin And Pol Pot
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Analysis and interpretation
Both Idi Amin and Pol Pot had harsh dictatorships in which they both eradicated people that were essential to their economies. They took similar actions in trying to “repair” their economies and societies as a whole. However their actions which include killing many of their citizens, nationalisation and expulsion of foreign businesses only caused damage in the short term which caused problems like food shortages. However although in the beginning both Cambodia and Uganda were in the same situation in terms of economic decline it was Cambodia that was left unable to recover as Pol pot had eradicated intellectuals in society .
Idi Amin took power in 1971 through a military coup according to Source 1 at a time when British – Ugandan relations were strong therefore Amin had western support when he took power (source 1 ) which shows that cold- war politics influenced the rise to power of Amin. Similarly the Khmer Rouge under Pol Pot took power through a military coup (source 6) however Pol Pot was not supported by the American government due to his alliance with the communist state of North Vietnam and at the time he took control the Americans would frequently boom Cambodia due to Cambodians helping the Viet Cong (source 8 ). Pol Pot’s regime was highly influence by Mao Zedong 's Cultural Revolution which he had witnessed first-hand during a visit to Communist China according to source 8.
According to source 1 one of Amin first actions was to