Pol Pot, born Saloth Sar in 1925, was the Prime Minister of Cambodia from 1976 to 1978. He founded the Khmer Rouge movement, which aimed to create a socialist society in Cambodia. The movement broke from its communist roots to embrace Cambodian nationalism and Therewada Buddhism. Pol Pot came to power in 1975 and executed his plan to eliminate capitalism, resulting in the execution of two million people. Vietnam’s invasion of Cambodia in 1978 forced Pol Pot to flee to Thailand, where he spent the remaining 20 years of his life. He died in 1998 from Hodgkins disease and cancer, with questions remaining as to whether his death was due to heart failure or suicide.
Born May 19, 1925 as Saloth Sar, Pol Pot served as Prime Minister of Cambodia from 1976 to 1978. While in power, Cambodia was known as Democratic Kempuchea and underwent a series of experiments to become a socialist society. Sar was born in the Kampung Thrum province of Cambodia to a wealthy family. He knew the royal family, as his sister was a king’s concubine.
After attending college and technical schools in Cambodia, Pol Pot also studied in France and volunteered with the International Labor Brigade to build roads in Yugoslavia in 1950. While abroad, he became involved in the communist anti-colonialist movement French (PCF), which supported the Vietnam War against France. Pol Pot joined a secret communist cell known as the Cercle Marxiste that had taken over the Khmer Student Association (AER) that year, 1951.
Failed exams forced him to return to Cambodia in 1953. While teaching French literature and history, he became the liaison between established political parties such as the Democrats and Pracheachon and the underground communist movement. In the 1960s, as the Cambodian government arrested Pracheachon members, Pol Pot quickly rose through the ranks to become Communist Party secretary.
His involvement with communism eventually caused him to flee to Vietnam, where he founded the Khmer Rouge movement. Emphasizing self-reliance, the movement broke from its communist roots to embrace Cambodian nationalism. Elements of Therewada Buddhism also helped enable the party to move away from communist ideology.
In the late 1960s and early 1970s, as North Vietnam continued to withhold support, Pol Pot organized the Khmer Rouge movement into a legitimate political party, the Cambodian Kampuchea Party (CPK), who led the riots against the Cambodian government. One of the main principles of the party was that the proletarians should be defined as peasants of the working class, and the improvement of their livelihood was the aim of the movement. Gathering momentum among students and teachers, the Khmer Rouge movement, by 1974, was recognized by 63 countries. The United Nations voted whether to recognize the movement or the then-current government as the legitimate government of Cambodia. The Khmer Rouge movement lost by two votes.
Pol Pot came to power when Cambodia’s capital Phnom Penh fell in 1975. The party began executing its plan to eliminate capitalism. This included evacuating cities and sending large numbers of people to the countryside. The currency has been rendered useless. Food and education were conducted through communal life.
Anyone who posed a threat was ruthlessly eliminated. Out of a population of eight million in 1975, two million were executed. The economic failure has induced a hunger crisis across the country; however, outside aid was not accepted, because self-sufficiency continued to be the foundation of the Khmer Rouge.
In 1978, Vietnam’s invasion of Cambodia forced Pol Pot to flee to Thailand. Subsequently, he spent the remaining 20 years of his life in the forests of Cambodia and Thailand, although he still retained some power within the Khmer Rouge. On April 15, 1998, he heard on the Voice of America radio show that the party he founded was turning him over to US authorities. The same day, suffering from Hodgkins disease and cancer and paralyzed by a stroke, he died in his sleep. Questions remain as to whether his death was due to heart failure or suicide.
Protect your devices with Threat Protection by NordVPN
