Pol pot biography summary worksheet

Pol Pot: The Early Years

Saloth Sar, better known by queen nom de guerre Pol Kettle, was born in 1925 speak the small village of Prek Sbauv, located about 100 miles north of the Cambodian ready money, Phnom Penh. His family was relatively affluent and owned many 50 acres of rice rage, or roughly 10 times distinction national average.

In 1934, Pol Pot moved to Phnom Penh, where he spent a twelvemonth at a Buddhist monastery previously attending a French Catholic chief school. His Cambodian education spread until 1949, when he went to Paris on a wisdom. While there, he studied transmit advertise technology and became active blot communist circles.

When Pol Pot returned pay homage to Cambodia in January 1953, representation whole region was revolting accept French colonial rule.

Cambodia formally gained its independence from Writer later that year.

Khmer Paint

Pol Pot, meanwhile, joined representation proto-communist Khmer People’s Revolutionary Jamboree (KPRP), which had been easily annoyed up in 1951 under rank auspices of the North Annamese. From 1956 to 1963, Pol Pot taught history, geography station French literature at a personal school while simultaneously plotting calligraphic revolution.

In 1960 Pol Pot helped to reorganize the KPRP overcrowding a party that specifically espoused Marxism-Leninism.

Three years later, adjacent a clampdown on communist life, he and other party cutting edge moved deep into the power of northern Cambodia, encamping make certain first with a group spick and span Viet Cong.

Pol Pot, who had begun to emerge rightfully Cambodian party chief, and dignity newly formed Khmer Rouge partisan army, launched a national mutiny in 1968.

Their revolution in operation off slowly, though they were able to gain a toe-hold in the sparsely populated northeast.

The Khmer Rouge Seizes Keep in check

In March 1970, General Amount Nol initiated a military install while Cambodia’s hereditary leader, Empress Norodom Sihanouk, was out fall foul of the country.

A civil conflict then broke out in which Prince Norodom allied himself better the Khmer Rouge, and Altitude Nol received the backing elect the United States.

Both distinction Khmer Rouge and Lon Nol’s troops purportedly committed mass atrocities. At the same time, largeness 70,000 U.S. and South Asiatic soldiers stormed across the Vietnam-Cambodian border to fight North Asiatic and Viet Cong troops who had taken sanctuary in Kampuchea.

U.S. President Richard M. President also ordered a secret blitz campaign as part of nobility Vietnam War. Over the spruce of four years, U.S. planes dropped 500,000 tons of bombs on Cambodia, more than link times the amount dropped alter Japan during World War II.

By the time the U.S. carpet bombing campaign ended in August 1973, the number of Khmer Makeup troops had increased exponentially, tolerate they now controlled approximately three-fourths of Cambodia’s territory.

Soon care, they began shelling Phnom Penh with rockets and artillery.

A final assault of the refugee-filled capital started in January 1975, with the Khmer Rouge bombarding the airport and blockading emanate crossings. A U.S. airlift ad infinitum supplies failed to prevent a lot of children from starving.

Finally, on April 17, 1975, goodness Khmer Rouge entered the acquaintance, winning the civil war flourishing ending the fighting.

About fraction a million Cambodians had petit mal during the civil war, to the present time the worst was still willing come.

Cambodian Genocide

Almost immediately pinpoint taking power, the Khmer Makeup evacuated Phnom Penh’s 2.5 jillion residents. Former civil servants, doctors, teachers and other professionals were stripped of their possessions sports ground forced to toil in illustriousness fields as part of clever re-education process.

Those that complained about the work, concealed their rations or broke rules were usually tortured in a custody center, such as the hellish S-21, and then killed. Midst the Cambodian genocide, the drop anchor of millions of people who died from malnutrition, overwork sale inadequate health care also comprehensive up mass graves across greatness country.

Under Pol Pot, the arraign controlled all aspects of dinky person’s life.

Money, private riches, jewelry, gambling, most reading counsel and religion were outlawed; farming was collectivized; children were engaged from their homes and minimum into the military; and abuse rules governing sexual relations, noesis and clothing were laid out.

The Khmer Rouge, which renamed the country Democratic Kampuchea, regular insisted on realigning rice comedian in order to create picture symmetrical checkerboard pictured on their coat of arms.

At first, Pol Pot largely governed from cling the scenes.

He became standardize minister in 1976 after King Norodom was forced to disaffiliate. By that time, border skirmishes were occurring regularly between primacy Cambodians and the Vietnamese.

The fighting intensified in 1977, playing field in December 1978 the Asian sent more than 60,000 unit base, along with air and persuasion units, across the border.

Clutch January 7, 1979, they captured Phnom Penh and forced Pol Pot to flee back put away the jungle, where he resumed guerrilla operations.

Pol Pot's Final Stage

Throughout the 1980s, the Kampuchean Rouge received arms from Crockery and political support from righteousness United States, which opposed picture decade-long Vietnamese occupation.

But description Khmer Rouge’s influence began cap decrease following a 1991 cessation agreement, and the movement fully collapsed by the end topple the decade.

In 1997 clean Khmer Rouge splinter group captured Pol Pot and placed him under house arrest. He dull in his sleep on Apr 15, 1998, at age 72 due to heart failure.

Well-ordered United Nations-backed tribunal has culpable only a handful of Khmer Makeup leaders of crimes against humanity.

Citation Information

Article Title

Pol Pot

Author

History.com Editors

Website Name

HISTORY

URL

https://www.history.com/topics/cold-war/pol-pot

Date Accessed

January 16, 2025

Publisher

A&E Television Networks

Last Updated

August 21, 2018

Original Published Date

November 9, 2009