Khmer Rouge Revolution

From 1975 to 1979 the Khmer Rouge under Pol Pot transformed Cambodia into a radical agrarian state at the cost of roughly a quarter of the population.

Overview

The Khmer Rouge grew from the 1960s insurgency and was strengthened by civil war after the 1970 coup and American bombing of the countryside. When their forces took Phnom Penh on 17 April 1975, they immediately emptied the cities, abolished money, schools, and religion, and forced the entire population into labor teams in the countryside. The regime targeted intellectuals, minorities, and perceived enemies in a system of torture centers of which S-21 became emblematic. An estimated 1.5 to 2 million people died from execution, starvation, and disease before Vietnamese forces overthrew the regime in January 1979. A United Nations-backed tribunal later convicted senior leaders for genocide and crimes against humanity.