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Khmer Rouge
Facts for kids
The following fact
sheet contains interesting facts and information on Khmer Rouge
Khmer Rouge
Facts for kids
Khmer Rouge
Facts - 1: On April 30, 1970,
President Richard Nixon, fearing a humiliating defeat in
the Vietnam War, escalated the conflict in Indochina by
ordering the U.S. invasion of Cambodia.
Khmer Rouge
Facts -
2: The U.S. invasion
of Cambodia was supported by the Cambodian military
government. This alliance resulted in the downfall of
the government and the take over of Cambodia by the
Khmer Rouge led by the brutal dictator, Pol Pot.
Khmer Rouge
Facts - 3: Under the merciless regime of Pol Pot, 1.7
million Cambodians, nearly a quarter of Cambodia's population, would
be put to death.
Khmer Rouge
Facts - 4: What is the meaning of the
term "Khmer Rouge"? The word "Khmer" refers to people in Cambodia
whose ancestors established an empire in the 5th century AD. The
word "Rouge" is taken from the French word meaning red. The 'red'
connection relates to the slang word for Communists.
Khmer Rouge
Facts - 5: The Khmer Rouge were a
guerrilla group driven by communist ideals who held power in
Cambodia under the leadership of Pol Pot from 1975 to 1979.
Khmer Rouge
Facts - 6: In 1970 Marshal
Lon Nol, a Cambodian politician and general, staged a
military coup, forcing Prince Norodom Sihanouk out of
power and began building up a following in the country.
Lon Nol was made president of the 'Khmer Republic' and
leader of the US-backed republican army.
Khmer Rouge
Facts - 7: The Khmer Rouge
was organized by Pol Pot in the Cambodian jungle in the
1960s. In 1970 Pol Pot's force was small but by 1975 had
grown to over 700,000 men. Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge
advocated a radical Communist revolution that would wipe
out Western influences in Cambodia and set up a solely
agrarian (farming) society.
Khmer Rouge
Facts - 8: The US-backed
republican army of Lon Nol was kept busy trying to
suppress not only Vietnamese communists in Cambodia but
also Cambodia's own brand of communists, the Khmer
Rouge.
Khmer Rouge
Facts - 9: On April 17, 1975
the Communist Khmer Rouge guerrillas crushed the army of
Lon Nol, ousted the U.S. backed Khmer Republic and
seized the capital of Cambodia, Phnom Penh, taking over
of the country.
Khmer Rouge
Facts - 10: The term "Year
Zero" was applied to the takeover of Cambodia by the Pol
Pot and the Khmer Rouge. The term "Year Zero" is an
analogy to the Year One of the French Revolutionary
Calendar. The idea behind Year Zero was that all
traditions and culture had to be completely destroyed to
make way for a new revolutionary ideology to replace it,
starting from zero.
Khmer Rouge
Facts - 11: The U.S. embassy
staff headed by John Gunther Dean, the U.S. Ambassador
to Cambodia evacuated the city as the United States
"abandoned Cambodia and handed it over to the butcher."
Khmer Rouge
Facts - 12: The inhabitants of
Phnom Penh were driven into the Cambodian countryside at
gunpoint where they were executed or starved to death.
This pattern was repeated in every city taken over by
the Khmer Rouge and has been called the Killing Fields
or the Cambodian Holocaust.
Continued...
Khmer Rouge
Facts for kids
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Khmer Rouge
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Khmer Rouge
Facts - 13: In May 1975
President Gerald Ford became embroiled in the
problems in Cambodia when an American cargo ship called
the SS Mayaguez was seized by the guerrillas less than a
month after the Khmer Rouge had taken control of the
capital Phnom Penh and ousted the U.S. backed Khmer
Republic.
Khmer Rouge
Facts - 14: The SS Mayaguez,
with a crew of 39, was on its way to the port at
Sattahip, Thailand. The captain of the SS Mayaguez,
Charles T. Miller, ordered the radioman to transmit an
SOS which was relayed to the US embassy.
Khmer Rouge
Facts - 15: The crew of the SS
Mayaguez were captured and President Gerald Ford reacted
by sending in the Marines to rescue them. Some 200 ill
prepared U.S. troops were sent to Koh Tang on a mission
to free the captured crew of the SS Mayaguez. This
resulted in the Battle on Koh Tang. The ill-fated
mission became known as the “Mayaguez Incident” or the
last battle of the Vietnam War.
Khmer Rouge
Facts -
16: The ill-fated
mission became known as the "Mayaguez Incident" or the
last battle of the Vietnam War. The Khmer Rouge released
the SS Mayaguez crew before the US troops arrived, but
went on to inflict casualties on the American force. A
total of 41 Marines and Airmen died, with 50 wounded. 23
Marines killed in a helicopter crash during the
operation.
Khmer Rouge
Facts - 17: The Battle on Koh
Tang in Cambodia was officially the last American battle
of the Vietnam War. It was the only time Americans
battled against the Khmer Rouge.
Khmer Rouge
Facts -
18: After the Battle
of Koh Tang, President Gerald Ford was criticized for
ordering rookie troops into a battle on unfamiliar
territory against the Khmers. Mr. Ford repudiated the
criticism and called the operation to rescue the SS
Mayaguez crew a success.
Khmer Rouge
Facts - 19: After the Khmers
had taken control of Phnom Penh Prince Sihanouk briefly
became head of state and the country was re-named
Kampuchea.
Khmer Rouge
Facts - 20: The Khmer Rouge
regime arrested and executed almost anyone suspected of
connections with the former government or with foreign
governments. Cambodia's ethnic minorities together
with professionals and intellectuals were also targeted
for execution. Religion was banned and Buddhist monks
were executed.
Khmer Rouge
Facts - 21: The mass killings
were referred to as the "purification of the populace"
but is more accurately described as Cambodian genocide.
The “Killing Fields” of Cambodia refer to the genocide
which took place in Cambodia after the takeover of power
by Pol Pot and his Khmer Rouge regime.
Khmer Rouge
Facts - 22: The Killing Fields
of Cambodia was where so many people met their deaths.
20,000 mass graves have been discovered in the areas
known as the Killing Fields. It was common practice for
victims to be forced to dig their own graves before they
were killed. Others were buried alive.
Khmer Rouge
Facts -
23: The form the
executions took were barbaric. In order to save
ammunition, the executions were often carried out using
poison. Spades or sharpened bamboo sticks were an
alternative method. Babies and young children were
brutally murdered by smashing their heads against trees
in the "Killing Fields".
Khmer Rouge
Facts -
24: The Khmer Rouge
continued its policy of de-populating towns and cities.
It was the intention of Pol Pot to forcibly create a
“peasant society” that would represent “the true Khmer
values of Cambodia’s glorious history”. The peasants
were herded into collective farms with communal barracks
and kitchens.
Khmer Rouge
Facts -
25: On April 30, 1977
the Cambodian - Vietnamese War broke out and on January
7, 1979 Vietnamese forces invaded Cambodia and its
capital, Phnom Penh was immediately captured.
Khmer Rouge
Facts -
26: The government
collapsed and Pol Pot and the KR retreated back into the
jungle. The new government passed "Decree Law No, 1",
which allowed for the trial of Pol Pot for the crime of
genocide.
Khmer Rouge
Facts -
27: Pol Pot and the
Khmer Rouge were supported by the People's Republic of
China and Pol Pot ordered continuing guerrilla actions
against the government in Phnom Penh until 1997.
Khmer Rouge
Facts -
28: On 15 April 1998
Pol Pot learned that the Khmer Rouge had agreed to turn
him over to an international tribunal. The same night
Pol Pot died. The official story is that he died of
heart failure. His body was quickly cremated, before his
death could be investigated. No autotopsy was conducted
Khmer Rouge
Facts -
29: The mysterious
death of Pol Pot led to rumors that he committed
suicide, whilst other theories insist that he was
poisoned. However he died, the world was a better place
when it lost the"Butcher" of Cambodia, the man
responsible for deaths of nearly two million innocent
people.
Khmer Rouge
Facts -
30: Out of a Cambodian population of
approximately 7 million, about 1.7 million Cambodians
were systematically exterminated, starved, or worked to
death by the Khmer Rouge government.
Khmer Rouge
Facts for kids
Khmer Rouge - President Gerald Ford Video
The article on the Khmer Rouge provides detailed facts and a summary of one of the important events during his presidential term in office. The following
Gerald Ford video will
give you additional important facts and dates about the political events experienced by the 38th American President whose presidency spanned from August 9, 1974 to January 20, 1977.
Khmer Rouge
●
Interesting Facts about Khmer Rouge for kids and schools
●
Summary of the Khmer Rouge in US history
●
Facts about the Khmer Rouge
●
Gerald Ford Presidency from August 9, 1974 to January 20, 1977
●
Fast, fun, Khmer Rouge
about major events in his presidency
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Foreign & Domestic
policies of President Gerald Ford
● Gerald Ford Presidency and
Khmer Rouge for schools,
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