The Cambodian Genocide

Background

• The United States left Vietnam in 1975
• Cambodia was left weak
• Communist group, Khmer Rouge, hated how Cambodia became westernized
• Threw the government and forced the people to live in communes

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Background cont.

• The severity of each commune was based on how educated you were
• The more educated the worse commune you stayed in

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The Beginning

• Khmer Rouge believed that Cambodia was becoming too modernized
• Re-educated them or killed them if they did not follow the new proccess

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Almost the end

• Vietnam began fighting the Khmer Rouge to stop killing
• United Nations and the United States backed the Cambodian forces

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Fallout

• Cambodian's economy decreases due to lack of educated people
• U.N begins to end the genocide, forcing the Khmer Rouge out of power

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What makes it a Genocide

• Khmer Rouge intended to wipe away the westernized civilization
• Khmer Rouge is an extremist communist group
• Forced educated people into communes
• Believed in a society where there is no competition
• Dehumanized them by Re-educating them

Not so Fun Facts

• 1975-1979 1.5-2 million people died in communes
• 25% of the population died
• 45 out of 450 doctors survived
• Approximately 300 people with a college education survived

Not so Fun Facts cont.

• One detention center, S-21, was so notorious that only seven of the roughly 20,000 people imprisoned there are known to have survived