Cambodia: The ‘Sideshow’ of Vietnam The neutral country that becomes an inferno in the 1970s

Gained independence from France in 1953 Led by King Sihanouk, who had widespread support from peasants, from Cambodian Communists form Khmer Rouge in mid 1950s In 1967, when the government attempts to seize the surplus of rice harvest, peasants and Khmer Rouge revolt Khmer Rouge becomes a growing guerilla army in remote mountainous countryside

1960s – Sihanouk allows HCM Trail through Cambodia but in 1968 tells Americans that he was not opposed to “hot pursuit in uninhabited areas which would be liberating us from Viet Cong” Nixon bombs Cambodia without permission; Sihanouk ignores it American bombings push Vietnamese communists further into Cambodia While the bombings had little effect on the Viet Cong, the Khmer Rouge benefited from them by gaining in numbers Read & glue in handouts “American Inferno” and “Holocaust at Neak Luong”

1970 – 1975 Civil War North Vietnamese joins Khmer Rouge (KR) to fight the American-backed government of Lon Nol Lon Nol’s army is ill-trained, with corrupt officers and school children recruited; he recommends magic rituals for safety in battle KR gains support from peasants bombed by Americans KR marches in Phnom Penh 17 April, 1975, winning the civil war – US citizens evacuate

Pol Pot & the Khmer Rouge Regime: Year Zero: a ‘Pure’ Society Emptied the capital city Educated & those with Western contacts murdered Cambodia becomes a vast work camp: people till the soil in countryside from dawn til dusk Money, religion, family life abolished People living in semi-starvation or starved to death Ineffective peasants executed Pol Pot: “Only 1.5 million young Cambodians out of six million will be enough to rebuild a pure society.” Read and glue in handout ‘Peasant Revolution.’

Genocide in Cambodia Torture centres set up (Tuol Sleng, or S-21) 1/5 of population, 2 million, killed in 4 years Land mines still all over the country Pictures and video of Killing Fields and Tuol Sleng