Pol Pot was the leader of a communist party in Cambodia known as Khmer Rouge. As leader of that party, he managed to take power in the country and, for four years, impose a dictatorial regime that decimated at least 1.5 million people in forced labor camps. The dictatorship instituted by Pol Pot was one of the most cruel of the 20th century.
Youth of Pol Pot
Pol Pot (his real name was salothsar) was born on May 19, 1925 in a fishing village called Prek Sbauk, in the then IndochinaFrench (now Cambodia). He belonged to a wealthy family that had important connections with the Cambodian royal family. His sister, Saloth Roueng, was a concubine of Cambodian king Sisovath Monivong, and one of his brothers worked as a bailiff in the Cambodian capital.
In 1934, under the influence of his brothers, Pol Pot moved to the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh, where he studied for a time, first in a Buddhist monastery and then in a school Catholic. Finally, from his family connection with the Cambodian court, he got a scholarship to study radio-electronics in Paris, France.
In Paris, Pol Pot had contact with student groups with a Marxist orientation and joined a clandestine group called circleMarxist, which was a circle of Cambodian Marxists installed in Paris. He was forced to return to Cambodia in 1953 after failing his annual course exams. After his return to his native country, Pol Pot joined the KhmerVietnammy, a leftist revolutionary group led by Vietnamese that advocated the end of French rule over Indochina.
Pol Pot ahead of Khmer Rouge
In the five years following Cambodia's independence, Pol Pot operated clandestinely in left-wing revolutionary groups while he was affiliated with the BrokenRevolutionaryofPeopleofKampuchea. At the same time, he became a professor in the Cambodian capital where he taught French literature and history.
In 1960, Pol Pot assumed the leadership of the party after the persecution imposed by the Prime Minister and Prince, Norodom Sihanouk, on the senior leaders of the left groups present in Cambodia. This allowed younger party members to rise to leadership positions and led Pol Pot to the party leadership. In 1966, the party changed its name to BrokenCommunistinKampuchea and was commonly known as the Khmer Rouge.
During the 1960s, Pol Pot went into hiding in Cambodia with members of the Khmer Rouge, and the party then took on characteristics of the MarxismMaoist (Chinese Marxism based on the teachings of Mao Zedong) and focused on the rural worker as the basis of the revolution.
From there, Pol Pot sought help from Vietnam and China (both communist countries) to lead a struggle against Cambodia's monarchical government. He did not get the support he had hoped for, but he nevertheless started the fight against the Cambodian government of Norodom Sihanouk in 1968.
The fight against Sihanouk continued without great results until 1970, when a coupinstate, led by a general called lonNol, stripped Sihanouk from power. The Cambodian prince, who was in China, remained in exile from the country and then secretly supported the Khmer Rouge in fighting Lon Nol. With that, the strength of the Khmer Rouge grew considerably, and a warcivilwas started in Cambodia.
Do not stop now... There's more after the advertising ;)
Cambodian Genocide
The civil war allowed the Khmer Rouge to take full control of the country in 1975, after the capital, Phnom Penh, was conquered by Pol Pot's armies. With the country in his hands, the communist leader began a period of tyranny and carried out profound changes in Cambodia, such as:
It forced the entire population of the capital Phnom Penh to move to the interior of the country;
It instituted year zero as a milestone for a cultural revolution in Cambodia;
Abolished any religion in the country;
It prohibited the different ethnic groups existing in Cambodia from maintaining their customs, even prohibiting them from speaking their typical languages;
It instituted intense persecution against anyone who manifested any kind of influence of Western culture or who was even minimally intellectualized, etc.
While in power in Cambodia from April 1975 to January 1979, Pol Pot imposed, in addition to these tyrannical measures, others, such as instituting forced labor farms known as “death camps”, where thousands of people were forced to work exhaustively, in working hours that reached 18 hours a day.
As the population's access to food was extremely limited, and physical violence was common and work was intense, during Pol Pot's period of power, at least 1.5 million people were put to death in these labor camps. forced. Some historians suggest that this number may have reached the range of 2.5 million dead.
Pol Pot felling
Pol Pot was ousted from power in 1979 when Cambodia was invaded by the Vietnamese army. This invasion came as a result of attacks ordered by the Cambodian leader against the Vietnamese population living on the Vietnamese border with Cambodia. Pol Pot led a resistance against Vietnam until 1985, at which time he abandoned the Khmer Rouge leadership but remained affiliated with the party.
Pol Pot lived in isolation inside Cambodia until his death. In 1997, he was accused of having his wife and his entire family murdered because he believed she was negotiating a peace deal with the Cambodian government. Pol Pot was sentenced to life in prison by members of the Khmer Rouge. The former tyrant died on April 15, 1998, allegedly after suffering a heart attack.
Pol Pot's body was cremated, so an exhumation to prove his causes of death became impossible. Khmer Rouge leaders, responsible for committing crimes against humanity between 1975 and 1979, were tried by the UN at the request of the Cambodian government and sentenced to life imprisonment.
* Image credits: Akturer and Shutterstock
By Daniel Neves
Graduated in History
