Kmer Rouge Flashcards
(3 cards)
What was the Khmer Rouge?
The Khmer Rouge was a radical communist movement that ruled Cambodia from 1975 to 1979. This period is known as the Cambodian Genocide, during which an estimated 1.7 to 3 million Cambodians died due to execution, starvation, disease, and overwork
Example of possible enduring issues document for Essay
. . .This time, the fears proved correct. The Khmer Rouge immediately ordered everyone to leave major cities, even persons in hospital beds. They killed anyone who hesitated. About 2.5 million men, women, and children were marched into the countryside to create
an entirely new society. One million died of starvation, beatings, overwork, or from being buried alive. The Khmer Rouge did not shoot many people because they wanted to save
ammunition. . . . It appears today that the Khmer Rouge leader, Pol Pot, believed his country would not
work properly until he stamped out all foreign influence. That meant killing Cambodians who spoke French or wore western clothes and wiping out villagers whose ancestors were Vietnamese. Refugees began to arrive in Thailand during the summer of 1975. Their stories
were so terrible that at first no one believed them. . . .
possible document that could be a choice for your enduring issues essay.
The civil war from 1970 to 1975, the Khmer Rouge regime from 1975 to
1979, and the Cambodia-Vietnam War from 1978 to 1979 virtually destroyed
Cambodia’s economy. Although rice is Cambodia’s most important crop
and a staple of the Khmer diet, by 1974, under wartime conditions, rice had
to be imported, and production of Cambodia’s most profi table export crop,
rubber, fell off sharply. Between 1976 and 1978, hundreds of thousands of
people died from malnutrition, overwork, and mistreated or misdiagnosed diseases. . . .
Both sides in the Cambodian civil war, the Government and the Khmer
Rouge, used timber to fund their war efforts. Global Witness estimated
the value of the Thai-Cambodian cross-border timber trade to the Khmer
Rouge was approximately $10-$20 million per month in 1995. Confl ict
over timber resources has led to mass torture, exploitation, and forced
displacement in Cambodia. In addition, timber exploitation has wreaked
havoc on the environment and local economies. Extensive deforestation
has had severe repercussions for indigenous populations, exacerbating
[aggravating] the grievances which lead to rebellion and confl ict. . . .
