The Khmer Rouge: The Cambodian Genocide

The Cambodian genocide took place from 1975 to 1979; it is estimated that some two million Cambodians were systematically murdered by the Khmer Rouge and its followers (Power 90). In Alexander Hinton’s article, “A Head for an Eye” he recounts in details the experience of Gen, a survivor of the Cambodian Genocide. After the Lon Nol government was overthrown by the Khmer Rouge, the Communists began their witch-hunt in an attempt to identify and kill anyone who was associated with the former regime, as well as the educated, the Vietnamese, the Muslim Cham, the Buddhist monks, and other “bourgeois elements” (Power 101). During the investigation, it was revealed that Gen’s father was a teacher–this fact alone was

In 1944, a Polish-Jewish lawyer came up with the word, “genocide.” However, even seventy-five years later, many people still debate what factors go into making a genocide. Of course, there is mass murder, mistreatment of large groups of people, and difficult life conditions. Take the Cambodian Genocide, for example. People were tortured and killed so much during this genocide that at one of the death camps, “as few as 12 managed to survive” (Pierpaoli). People were robbed, killed, forced to evacuate their homes, and mistreated in many other ways during the Cambodian Genocide. These people had to live in terrible conditions. The same thing goes for what the reader sees of the Holocaust in Elie Wiesel’s Night. Throughout the book, the reader

The Khmer Rouge has taken over Cambodia. This is much like what is happening in the Soviet Union. It may look different but the mass murdering and cruelty has lead both countries into a state which is not looked at kindly. Each country was in the same situation from the standpoint of the citizens. Rights were taken away, torture and cruel deaths occurred, and the death of many was looked at by the powerful as a worthy cause to the country as a whole. These are some of the key similarities of the two countries in their states of distress. But, the biggest point of similarity between the two would be the leaders and how they view the country they are leading. Both Cambodia and the Soviet Union are run by murderous people/groups which have a particular trait in common. They both have vision. Vision for a better country, but neither know how to create better country’s through the growth of their country, both believe that unity and equality is vital among the average person. This creates strife and tension from leader to citizen, unfortunately the result is death to the weaker. We see this outcome in both countries. Cambodia’s Khmer Rouge was responsible

Imagine all your human right’s strip away from you within a second. Throughout history governments have denied human right to a certain group of people by adopting new polices and/or violence. A government using violence against it people to get them to agree or even do what they want is still seen today. Throughout history countries like Cambodia and Rwanda are places where the government look away their people’s human rights.

The Cambodian Genocide was a tragic event that took place in 1975 and lasted until about 1979. The genocide was led by Pol Pot and the communist party Kampuchea, also knowns as the Khmer Rouge. Millions of people were killed during this catastrophe.

“We are in the presence of a crime without a name,” said British Prime Minister Winston Churchill. The Nazis were always remembered for the killing of over six million European Jews, but at the time, there was no name for this wicked act. After the war, many of these Nazi war criminals were convicted of an act called genocide, a word that did not exist before 1944. Genocide is the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial, or religious group. Genocide occurs because of many factors that trigger this cruelty. Although there are many reasons that can be considered to result in genocide, the three main reasons that result to this mass slaughter, are caused by: the authority that leads them, the ethnic tension between

Thousands of people have heard about the Cambodian and Armenian Genocide, but have not known about the harsh methods that Pol Pot and his communist, Khmer Rouge have done to the Cambodian people. People around the world are also ignorant to how the Turks had their way in murdering 1.5 million Armenians. People are sometimes confused by why the Turks and Pol Pot wanted to harm these innocent families. But, many survivors lived to tell their stories about how awful they have been treated and tortured. They all had the courage to explain to these people of the horrible deaths they have lived to witness. The Armenian and Cambodian Genocide align politically in their similarities but differ in their techniques used

The Holocaust and Darfur genocides are both huge turning points in history and we learn a lot from them. Both the genocides left millions of people dead for no reason. The cause of the Holocaust was the rise of the Nazis hatred and anti-Semitism. One cause of the Darfur genocide was the Black Arabs being discriminated against. Also Hitler and the Nazis convinced the people the Jews were responsible for the bad economic state. The way they convinced the people this is because Hitler had a way of speaking which people always agreed with. Darfur was caused because of the desire to extinguish the African Tribes. There was poverty and a famine and the Janjaweed people were going around killing people in the villages.

The Vietnam War started when French invaded Vietnamese territory and took it as their colony in 1887. Later in 1954, Vietnam was officially split into North(communist) and South(capitalist) Vietnam. The Viet Minh was the communist group who wanted to declare independence from France. The U.S did not want communism to be spread and that was the reason why they joined the war and supported the South. For the United States, a communist Vietnam meant the spread of the Soviet Union influence abroad the Asia’s territory (domino theory). However, later on most Americans changed their minds and the war became unfavorable at home. Then, President Gerald Ford officially ended the Vietnam War in 1975. The Vietnam War expanded divisions between the American

Genocide is an awful thing that continues to repeat itself throughout our history, and yet is still not considered a “big issue” because most genocides are quickly forgotten by the world despite the lasting impact that they have. The Dzungar genocide was left behind by the world and by history itself but was in no way forgotten by Western Mongolia; this caused strong disdain and prejudice towards the Chinese. The genocide was the mass extermination of the Mongol Buddhist

In this and the last century our Human Rights issues, no matter the issue, all follow the same pattern. As these go throughout time, with racial and gender equality in the past showing similarities, and issues of today following suit. Also, the many genocides throughout time also follow a pattern, too.

Pol Pot 's strategy of purging Cambodia of intellectuals and professionals enabled him to temporarily silence opponents to his brutal regime and achieve a fleeting ‘communist ideal’, however the resilience and memory of the Cambodian people did not enable him to abolish history. The 17th of April 1975 gave rise to the Khmer Rouge for four years who infiltrated the capital city of Phnom Penh in Cambodia. The government introduced a communist regime, ruled by Pol Pot, with a seemingly impossible goal to create an agrarian utopia. Pot’s ideology involved the abolishment of history through the targeting of intellectuals and professionals, influenced by the likes of Marxist ideology. Pot’s ideology was enforced upon the nation after the Khmer Rouge

During World War II, Japan had invaded Vietnam. The Viet Minh was created by Ho Chi Minh in order to combat against Japan and French colonial administration. While Japan pulled back their forces in 1945, the French were still in control of Vietnam. In the 1950s, the United States became involved due to fear that the Vietnamese rebellion would lead to a spread in global Communism. This domino effect theory was the belief that if a country became communist, surrounding countries would follow suit. Eventually, the French were defeated and the United States continued to get involved with Vietnam. Thousands of troops were sent to Vietnam and millions of Vietnamese were killed as well as the poisoning of entire regions. The war had essentially destroyed both North and South Vietnam. The Vietnam War is very infamous and it has had many consequences on the U.S society and Asian Americans for years to come.

The genocides of Cambodia and the Holocaust were two major genocides that have changed the history of the world forever. The Cambodian genocide started when the Khmer Rouge attempted to nationalize and centralize the peasant farming society of Cambodia (Quinn 63). These ideas came from the Chinese Communist agricultural model. Cambodia had a population of just over 7 million people and almost all of them were buddhists. The genocide started from a harsh climate of political and social turmoil (Krkljes). The Cambodian genocide had taken the lives of many innocent people just as the Holocaust had taken the lives of Elie Wiesel’s loved ones in the book Night right

The Cambodian Genocide is considered to be one of the worst human tragedies in the last century.  The Genocide in Cambodia should be more recognized around the world for its severity and intensity.  Khmer Rouge, a communist group led by Pol Pot, seized control of the Cambodian government from Lon Nol in April of 1975.  He then renamed it the Democratic Kampuchea. The Cambodian Genocide lasted until Khmer Rouge was overthrown by the Vietnamese in 1978. It only lasted three years, but over 1.7 million people were killed by means of torture, starvation or being overworked.  It left lasting impacts on many of the countries around the world.