Context and Ideology

On April 17, 1975, the Khmer Rouge, a communist guerrilla movement led by Pol Pot, seized Phnom Penh, ending Cambodia’s civil war. Declaring “Year Zero,” they sought to erase history, culture, and social structures to create a radical agrarian society. Influenced by Maoist China and Stalinist purges, their ideology vilified intellectuals, urbanites, and perceived “enemies” of the revolution. The term “Year Zero” symbolized a complete societal reset, rejecting capitalism, religion, and Western influence (Chandler, 1991).

Forced Evacuations and Urban Destruction

Within days of capturing Phnom Penh, the Khmer Rouge forcibly evacuated cities, claiming it was to protect citizens from American bombing—a lie. Over two million people, including hospital patients, were marched into rural areas under brutal conditions. Urban life was deemed bourgeois; cities were left to decay. This act alone caused thousands of deaths from starvation, exhaustion, or execution of dissenters (Kiernan, 2008).

Agrarian Collectivization and Forced Labor

The regime abolished private property, currency, and markets, forcing Cambodians into collective farms. Families were separated, and individuals were assigned grueling labor in rice fields or infrastructure projects, such as irrigation canals, with minimal food—often 200-300 calories daily (Ponchaud, 1978). Failure to meet quotas or minor infractions led to execution. The goal was self-sufficiency, but mismanagement and paranoia led to widespread famine.

Genocide and Mass Killings

The Khmer Rouge targeted “class enemies”—intellectuals, monks, ethnic minorities (Cham, Vietnamese, Chinese), and anyone suspected of disloyalty. Wearing glasses or speaking a foreign language could mark one for death. The Tuol Sleng prison (S-21) saw 12,000-20,000 tortured and executed, with only a handful surviving (Chandler, 1999). Mass graves, known as the “Killing Fields,” dotted the countryside. Estimates suggest 1.7 to 2.2 million deaths—nearly a quarter of Cambodia’s population—from execution, starvation, or disease (Kiernan, 2008).

Cultural Eradication

Year Zero aimed to obliterate Cambodian culture. Temples, libraries, and schools were destroyed or repurposed. Buddhism, practiced by 95% of Cambodians, was outlawed; monks were defrocked or killed. Traditional music, art, and even family ties were deemed counterrevolutionary. This cultural vandalism left Cambodia’s heritage in tatters (Becker, 1998).

Collapse and Legacy

The regime’s paranoia extended inward, with purges of its own ranks. By 1979, internal dissent and Vietnamese invasion toppled the Khmer Rouge. Pol Pot fled, but the regime’s legacy—trauma, fractured society, and economic ruin—persisted. The 1991 Paris Peace Accords and UN interventions aided recovery, but justice was slow. The Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC), established in 2003, convicted key leaders like Nuon Chea and Khieu Samphan for genocide (ECCC, 2018).

References

• Becker, E. (1998). When the War Was Over: Cambodia and the Khmer Rouge Revolution. PublicAffairs.
• Chandler, D. P. (1991). The Tragedy of Cambodian History: Politics, War, and Revolution Since 1945. Yale University Press.
• Chandler, D. P. (1999). Voices from S-21: Terror and History in Pol Pot’s Secret Prison. University of California Press.
• Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC). (2018). Case 002/02 Judgement. Retrieved from https://www.eccc.gov.kh/en.
• Kiernan, B. (2008). The Pol Pot Regime: Race, Power, and Genocide in Cambodia under the Khmer Rouge, 1975-79. Yale University Press.
• Ponchaud, F. (1978). Cambodia: Year Zero. Holt, Rinehart and Winston.