The Revolutionary Army of Kampuchea ( Khmer : កងទ័ពរំដោះកម្ពុជា , RAK ) was the military of Democratic Kampuchea .
94-687: During the Democratic Kampuchea days, the 68,000-member Khmer Rouge -dominated KPNLAF ( Khmer People's National Liberation Armed Forces ) force, which completed its conquest of Phnom Penh , capital of Cambodia in April 1975, was renamed the RAK (Revolutionary Army of Kampuchea). This name dated back to the peasant uprising that broke out in the Samlout District of Battambang province in 1967. Under its long-time commander and then Minister of Defense Son Sen ,
188-607: A backbone force of 17 American-made Swift class patrol boats (seven of which were sunk in May 1975 by U.S. air attack during the Mayaguez incident ). Additionally the Navy also possessed 2 submarine chasers E311 and E312 ( PC-461-class ), 3 LCUs and 1 LCM and a number of small river boats. The Air Force of the Revolutionary Army of Kampuchea ( Khmer : កងទ័ពអាកាសនៃកងទ័ពរំដោះកម្ពុជា , AFLAK)
282-421: A concentration camp. Despite the ideological commitment to radical equality, CPK members, local-level leaders of poor peasant backgrounds who collaborated with Angkar, and the armed forces constituted a clearly recognizable elite. They had a higher standard of living and received special privileges not enjoyed by the rest of the population. Refugees agree that, even during times of severe food shortages, members of
376-503: A contributing factor in hardening the population against such violence and simultaneously increasing their tolerance and hunger for it. Early explanations for the Khmer Rouge brutality suggest that the Khmer Rouge had been radicalised during the war years and later turned this radical understanding of society and violence onto their countrymen. This backdrop of violence and brutality arguably also affected everyday Cambodians, priming them for
470-491: A growing number of terrorist attacks in the capital, one of which was directed at Son Ngoc Thanh. Thanh – whose last political act was to ban Sirik Matak's newspaper – was then forced to resign, going back into South Vietnamese exile, and was replaced by the moderate leftist Hang Thun Hak . While the Khmer Republic's government was being weakened by infighting, North Vietnamese forces – who had previously carried out much of
564-485: A large proportion of the Khmer Rouge's peasant soldiers), failed to materialise. On 1 April 1975, Lon Nol resigned and fled the country into exile: the FANK almost immediately disintegrated. While Sirik Matak, Long Boret , Lon Non and several other politicians remained in the capital in an attempt to negotiate a ceasefire, Phnom Penh fell to the Khmer Rouge on 17 April. Within a few days they had executed many representatives of
658-488: A means to dissolve the government, with the probable encouragement of his brother Lon Non (a figure of considerable influence, especially with the military). After much political squabbling, a new cabinet was formed, though Sirik Matak continued as acting premier with the title of "Prime Minister-Delegate". On 16 October 1971, Lon Nol took action to strip the National Assembly of legislative power, and ordered it to write
752-426: A military court; his mother, Queen Kossamak – the symbolic representative of the monarchy under Sihanouk's regime – was placed under house arrest, and his wife Monique was sentenced to life imprisonment. The new regime simultaneously declared the Khmer Republic, and a new constitution was eventually to be adopted in 1972. Sihanouk, in the meantime, had formed GRUNK , a Beijing -based government-in-exile incorporating
846-448: A new constitution, claiming that these actions were necessary to prevent anarchy; this provoked a protest by In Tam and 400 Buddhist monks. By 18 March 1972, Lon Nol and his brother had managed to drive Sirik Matak from power. After Sirik Matak had sacked Keo An , a dissident academic, Lon Non organised a series of vocal student demonstrations against him calling for his removal. Sirik Matak resigned, and (ostensibly for his 'protection')
940-470: A result. Another important factor was the dire state of the Cambodian economy, an indirect result of Sihanouk's policies of pursuing neutrality. With the removal of Sihanouk, the existing Kingdom of Cambodia became a republic , officially removing Sisowath Kossamak . The character of the new regime was far-right and militaristic ; most significantly, it ended Sihanouk's period of covert co-operation with
1034-730: A seemingly coherent pattern. Villages were also subdivided into 'groups' ( ក្រុម krŏm ) of 15–20 households who were led by a group leader ( មេក្រុម mé krŏm ). The Khmer Rouge dismantled the legal and judicial structures of the Khmer Republic. There were no courts, judges, laws or trials in Democratic Kampuchea. The "people’s courts" stipulated in Article 9 of the constitution were never established. The old legal structures were replaced by re-education, interrogation and security centres where former Khmer Republic officials and supporters as well as others were detained and executed. After
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#17328481227241128-521: A temporary respite from the civil war; Lon Nol declared a unilateral ceasefire, despite the FANK's very weak position on the ground. There were in fact a few contacts between some of the more moderate elements of the Khmer Rouge communists – notably Hou Yuon – and the Republic. The North Vietnamese pressured the Cambodian communists to accept the terms of the peace accords; their interests lay more in keeping
1222-510: A three-person committee. The committee chairman was selected by the CPK. This grassroots leadership was required to note the social origin of each family under its jurisdiction and to report it to persons higher up in the Angkar hierarchy. The number of "new people" may initially have been as high as 2.5 million. The "new people" were treated as forced labourers. They were constantly moved, were forced to do
1316-552: Is absolutely no unemployment in Democratic Kampuchea" rings true in light of the regime's massive use of force. The constitution defined Democratic Kampuchea's foreign policy principles in Article 21, the document's longest, in terms of "independence, peace, neutrality, and nonalignment ." It pledged the country's support to anti-imperialist struggles in the Third World . In light of the regime's aggressive attacks against Vietnamese , Thai , and Lao territory during 1977 and 1978,
1410-629: Is likely that In Tam would have won. The affair prompted In Tam to suggest that the Americans could now "stew in Lon Nol's juice". The political situation continued to unravel throughout 1972: both opposition parties (In Tam's Democratic Party and Sirik Matak's Republican Party ) refused to contest the elections to the National Assembly held in September, leading to a sweeping victory for Lon Non's Socio-Republican Party ( Sangkum Sathéaranak Râth ). There were
1504-513: The khum , assumed local government responsibilities in some areas. In January 1976, the Communist Party of Kampuchea (CPK) promulgated the Constitution of Democratic Kampuchea. The constitution provided for a Kampuchean People's Representative Assembly (KPRA) to be elected by secret ballot in direct general elections and a State Praesidium to be selected and appointed every five years by
1598-629: The Cambodian state from 1976 to 1979, under the totalitarian dictatorship of Pol Pot and the Communist Party of Kampuchea (CPK), commonly known as the Khmer Rouge . The Khmer Rouge's capture of the capital Phnom Penh in 1975 effectively ended the United States-backed Khmer Republic of Lon Nol . From 1975 to 1979, the Khmer Rouge's one-party regime killed millions of its own people through mass executions, forced labour, and starvation, in an event which has come to be known as
1692-593: The Cambodian genocide . The killings ended when the Khmer Rouge were ousted from Phnom Penh by the Vietnamese army . The Khmer Rouge subsequently established a government-in-exile in neighbouring Thailand and retained Kampuchea's seat at the United Nations (UN). In response, Vietnamese-backed communists created a rival government, the People's Republic of Kampuchea , but failed to gain international recognition. In 1982,
1786-487: The Great Leap Forward . Khieu Samphan and Khieu Thirith "just smiled an incredulous and superior smile." Khieu Samphan and Son Sen later boasted to Sihanouk that "we will be the first nation to create a completely communist society without wasting time on intermediate steps." Although conditions varied from region to region, a situation that was, in part, a reflection of factional divisions that still existed within
1880-631: The Khmer National Armed Forces ( Forces armées nationales khmères , or FANK) were poorly trained and unable to defeat either the CPNLAF or the Vietnamese forces of the PAVN and NLF. The Republic eventually fell on 17 April 1975, when the Khmer Rouge took Phnom Penh and briefly restored the Kingdom of Cambodia before renaming itself Democratic Kampuchea on 5 January 1976. Sihanouk himself claimed that
1974-578: The Kirirom Plateau , the majority of its generals had little military experience or ability. The large-scale FANK offensives against the Vietnamese, Operations Chenla I and II , ended in heavy defeat despite the conspicuous bravery of the individual Cambodian infantrymen. As well as fighting the Cambodian Civil War against the pro-Sihanouk and communist insurgents and the North Vietnamese,
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#17328481227242068-631: The United States -backed military dictatorship of Marshal Lon Nol from 1970 to 1975. Its establishment was formally declared on 9 October 1970, following the 18 March 1970 coup d'état which saw the overthrow of Norodom Sihanouk 's government and the abolition of the Cambodian monarchy . The main cause of the coup was Norodom Sihanouk's tolerance of North Vietnamese military activity within Cambodia's borders; Vietnamese communist forces had gained de facto control over vast areas of eastern Cambodia as
2162-410: The "Unconditional Divisions", were a privileged group within the military. The Khmer Rouge regime was also characterized by "totalitarian puritanism" with any sex before marriage being punishable by death in many cooperatives and zones. Khmer Republic The Khmer Republic ( Khmer : សាធារណរដ្ឋខ្មែរ , Sathéarônârôdth Khmêr ; French : République khmère ) was a Cambodian state under
2256-409: The CPK during the 1970s, the testimony of refugees reveals that the most salient social division was between the politically suspect " new people ", those driven out of the towns after the communist victory, and the more reliable "old people", the peasants who had remained in the countryside. The working class was a negligible factor because of the evacuation of the urban areas and the idling of most of
2350-434: The CPK's existence. It was also around that time that it was confirmed that Pol Pot was the same person as Saloth Sar, who had long been cited as the CPK's general secretary. The Khmer Rouge government did away with all former Cambodian traditional administrative divisions. Instead of provinces, Democratic Kampuchea was divided into geographic zones, derived from divisions established by the Khmer Rouge when they fought against
2444-580: The CPNLAF advancing in many areas of the country. In response, the US finally threatened to cut off all aid unless Lon Nol acted to broaden the power base and support of the government – specifically, to reinstate the US ally Sirik Matak – and reduce the influence of his brother Lon Non. Accordingly, on 24 April, Lon Nol announced that the National Assembly would be suspended, and that a Political Council formed of himself, Sirik Matak, Cheng Heng, and In Tam, would effectively rule by decree. The CPNLAF advance on Phnom Penh
2538-745: The Central Zone, there seem to have been more executions than there were victims of starvation. Little reliable information emerged on conditions in the Northeastern Zone, one of the most isolated parts of Cambodia. On the surface, society in Democratic Kampuchea was strictly egalitarian . The Khmer language , like many in Southeast Asia, has a complex system of usages to define speakers' rank and social status. These usages were abandoned, and people were forbidden to speak any language other than Khmer . Neologisms were introduced, and everyday vocabulary
2632-485: The FANK to over 200,000 men, despite concerns at the severe negative effect this would have on Cambodia's economy, while the Military Equipment Delivery Team, led by General Theodore C. Mataxis, demanded the 'Americanisation' of the army's French-influenced internal structures, in spite of the chaos this caused in the supply chain. Despite the US aid, the FANK (commanded by General Sosthène Fernandez )
2726-537: The Head of State: he initially may merely have wanted Sihanouk to apply more pressure to the North Vietnamese. He initially refused to commit to the plan; to convince him, Sirik Matak – who appears to have had a coup in mind from the start – played him a tape-recorded press conference from Paris , in which Sihanouk threatened to execute them both on his return to Phnom Penh. However, the Prime Minister remained uncertain, with
2820-654: The KPRA. The KPRA met only once, a three-day session in April 1976. However, members of the KPRA were never elected, as the Central Committee of the CPK appointed the chairman and other high officials both to it and to the State Praesidium. Plans for elections of members were discussed, but the 250 members of the KPRA were in fact appointed by the upper echelon of CPK. All power belonged to the Standing Committee of CPK,
2914-466: The Khmer Republic faced considerable internal problems. Sihanouk's domination of political life during the 1950s and 60s meant that there were few confident or experienced Cambodian politicians. Almost from the start, the Republic was plagued by many of the same political divisions and infighting that had marked Sihanouk's regime; primary among these was a damaging power struggle between Lon Nol and Sirik Matak. Sirik Matak had been acting Prime Minister during
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3008-721: The Khmer Rouge abolished the old provinces ( ខេត្ត khet ) and replaced them with seven zones ( ភូមិភាគ phoumipheak ); the Northern Zone, Northeastern Zone, Northwestern Zone, Central Zone, Eastern Zone, Western Zone, and Southwestern Zone. There were also two other regional-level units: the Kracheh Special Region Number 505 and, until 1977, the Siemreab Special Region Number 106. The zones were divided into regions ( តំបន់ damban ) that were given numbers. Number One, appropriately, encompassed
3102-598: The Khmer Rouge established the Coalition Government of Democratic Kampuchea (CGDK) with two non-communist guerrilla factions, broadening the exiled government of Democratic Kampuchea. The exiled government renamed itself the National Government of Cambodia in 1990, in the run-up to the UN-sponsored 1991 Paris Peace Agreements . In 1970, Premier Lon Nol and the National Assembly deposed Norodom Sihanouk as
3196-532: The Khmer Rouge, and cadres administered it with strict discipline, random executions were relatively rare, and "new people" were not persecuted if they had a cooperative attitude. In the Western Zone and in the Northwestern Zone, conditions were harsh. Starvation was general in the latter zone because cadres sent rice to Phnom Penh rather than distributing it to the local population. In the Northern Zone and in
3290-505: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Industry, were controlled and exploited by powerful Khmer Rouge families. Administering the diplomatic corps was regarded as an especially profitable fiefdom. According to Craig Etcheson, an authority on Democratic Kampuchea, members of the revolutionary army lived in self-contained colonies, and they had a "distinctive warrior-caste ethos." Armed forces units personally loyal to Pol Pot, known as
3384-516: The North Vietnamese regime and the Viet Cong , and aligned Cambodia with South Vietnam in the ongoing Second Indochina War . The Khmer Republic was opposed within the Cambodian borders by the National United Front of Kampuchea ( Front uni national de Kampuchéa , FUNK), a relatively broad alliance between Sihanouk, his supporters, and the Communist Party of Kampuchea . The insurgency itself
3478-399: The RAK had 230 battalions in 35 to 40 regiments and in 12 to 14 brigades. The command structure in units was based on three-person committees in which the political commissar ranked higher than the military commander and his deputy. Cambodia was divided into zones and special sectors by the RAK, the boundaries of which changed slightly over the years. Within these areas, the RAK's first task
3572-401: The RAK had 230 battalions in 35 to 40 regiments and in 12 to 14 brigades. The command structure in units was based on three-person committees in which the political commissar ranked higher than the military commander and his deputy. Cambodia was divided into zones and special sectors by the RAK, the boundaries of which changed slightly over the years. Within these areas, the RAK's first task was
3666-465: The Republic's first year, when Lon Nol's health had been extremely poor, but had engendered considerable resentment due to his administrative style and royal connections; there was also growing frustration amongst young, urban Cambodians at the continued corruption and inefficiency of the regime. On Lon Nol's return from hospital in Hawaii in April 1971, he instigated a cabinet crisis by resigning, providing
3760-475: The Republic's fragile government remained essential. Later that year, Lon Nol announced he would hold presidential elections , and was surprised when In Tam and Keo An – the latter a reputed Sihanoukist – not only announced that they would run, but then refused to withdraw. The elections, despite an inevitable victory for Lon Nol, revealed considerable dissatisfaction with the government even though they had been rigged in Lon Nol's favour: had they been fair, it
3854-458: The Samlot region of the Northwestern Zone (including Battambang Province), where the insurrection against Sihanouk had erupted in early 1967. With this exception, the damban appear to have been numbered arbitrarily. The damban were divided into districts ( ស្រុក srok ), communes ( ឃុំ khum ), and villages ( ភូមិ phum ), the latter usually containing several hundred people. This pattern
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3948-516: The US military establishment – notably the Army Special Forces – may have had some involvement in terms of offering support and training to the plotters after being approached by Lon Nol. While Sihanouk was out of the country on a trip to France, anti-Vietnamese rioting took place in Phnom Penh, during which the North Vietnamese and NLF embassies were sacked. It seems likely that this rioting
4042-483: The aged and the disabled, and they set up stockpiles of food outside the city for the refugees; however, the supplies were inadequate to sustain the hundreds of thousands of people on the road. Even seriously injured hospital patients, many without any means of conveyance, were summarily forced to leave regardless of their condition. The foreign community, about 800 people, was quarantined in the French embassy compound, and by
4136-432: The armed forces; and fifty, for worker and other representatives. The legislature was to be popularly elected for a five-year term. Its first and only election was held on 20 March 1976. " New People " apparently were not allowed to participate. The executive branch of government also was chosen by the KPRA. It consisted of a state presidium "responsible for representing the state of Democratic Kampuchea inside and outside
4230-464: The capital, whose population had been vastly increased by refugees from the fighting; Lon Nol, who was extremely superstitious, ordered that consecrated sand be spread around the city from helicopters to protect it. Though the FANK was by this time fighting with extreme tenacity, and the Khmer Rouge soldiers were suffering from poor morale, malaria , and even higher rates of casualties than the FANK, fresh supplies of arms and ammunition from China gave them
4324-523: The city were clogged with evacuees. Similar evacuations occurred throughout the nation. The conditions of the evacuation and the treatment of the people involved often depended on which military units and commanders were conducting the specific operations. Pol Pot's brother – Chhay , who worked as a Republican journalist in the capital – was reported to have died during the evacuation of Phnom Penh . Even Phnom Penh's hospitals were emptied of their patients. The Khmer Rouge provided transportation for some of
4418-500: The communist party. The Khmer Rouge abolished the Royal Government of National Union of Kampuchea ( GRUNK , established in 1970) and promulgated the Constitution of Democratic Kampuchea on 5 January 1976. The Khmer Rouge continued to use Sihanouk as a figurehead for the government until 2 April 1976 when Sihanouk resigned as head of state. Sihanouk remained under comfortable, but insecure, house arrest in Phnom Penh, until late in
4512-428: The communists and dedicated to the Republic's overthrow; he declared Lon Nol to be a "complete idiot" and characterised Sirik Matak as "nasty, perfidious, a lousy bastard". The relatively small Royal Khmer Armed Forces (FARK), which at the time of the coup had around 35,000 troops (in accordance with Sihanouk's stated policy of neutrality), was greatly expanded. Reorganising as the Khmer National Armed Forces (FANK),
4606-470: The corruption and "parasitism" of city life would be completely uprooted. In addition, Pol Pot wanted to break up the "enemy spy organisations" that allegedly were based in the urban areas. Finally, it seems that Pol Pot and his hard-line associates on the CPK Political Bureau used the forced evacuations to gain control of the city's population and to weaken the position of their factional rivals within
4700-427: The country and displaced Cambodians while making available to the Khmer Rouge the weapons of war. The Khmer Rouge leveraged on the devastation caused by the war to recruit members and used this past violence to justify the similarly, if not more, violent and radical policies of the regime. The birth of Democratic Kampuchea and its propensity for violence must be understood against this backdrop of war that likely played
4794-471: The country's few factories. The one important working class group in pre-revolutionary Cambodia—labourers on large rubber plantations—traditionally had consisted mostly of Vietnamese immigrants and thus was politically suspect. The number of people, including refugees, living in the urban areas on the eve of the communist victory probably was somewhat more than 3 million, out of the total population of roughly 8 million. As mentioned, despite their rural origins,
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#17328481227244888-503: The country. "New people" were subjected to unending political indoctrination and could be executed without trial. The situation of the "old people" under Khmer Rouge rule was more ambiguous. Refugee interviews reveal cases in which villagers were treated as harshly as the "new people", enduring forced labour, indoctrination, the separation of children from parents, and executions; however, they were generally allowed to remain in their native villages. Because of their age-old resentment of
4982-421: The country." It served for a five-year term, and its president was head of state. Khieu Samphan was the only person to serve in this office, which he assumed after Sihanouk's resignation. The judicial system was composed of "people's courts", the judges for which were appointed by the KPRA, as was the executive branch. The constitution did not mention regional or local government institutions. After assuming power,
5076-571: The countryside, the capital Phnom Penh finally fell on 17 April 1975 to the Khmer Rouge. Thus, prior to the Khmer Rouge's takeover of Phnom Penh in 1975 and the start of the Zero Years, Cambodia had already been involved in the Third Indochina War . Tensions between Cambodia and Vietnam were growing due to differences in communist ideology and the incursion of Vietnamese military presence within Cambodian borders. The context of war destabilised
5170-512: The coup was the Cambodian campaign of April–July 1970, in which the South Vietnamese Army (ARVN), backed by US troops, entered eastern Cambodia to attack North Vietnamese and Viet Cong forces operating there. Despite this assault, many of the communist forces escaped westward, deeper into Cambodia, or to the rural areas of the north-east, where they would provide support for the insurgency against Lon Nol. Lon Nol's immediate reaction
5264-465: The coup was the result of an alliance between his longstanding enemies, the exiled right-wing nationalist Son Ngoc Thanh , the politician Prince Sisowath Sirik Matak (depicted by Sihanouk as a disgruntled rival claimant to the Cambodian throne) and the CIA , who wished to install a more US-friendly regime. There is in fact little if any evidence of CIA involvement in the coup, although it seems that sections of
5358-498: The end of 1975. A year after the Khmer Rouge takeover, Sihanouk resigned in mid-April 1976 (made retroactive to 2 April 1976) and was placed under house arrest, where he remained until 1979, and the Khmer Rouge remained in sole control. In deportations that became markers of the beginning of their rule, the Khmer Rouge demanded and then forced the people to leave the cities and live in the countryside. Phnom Penh —populated by 2.5 million people —was soon nearly empty. The roads out of
5452-472: The end of the month the foreigners were taken by truck to the Thai border. Khmer women who were married to foreigners were allowed to accompany their husbands, but Khmer men were not permitted to leave with their foreign wives. Western historians claim that the motives were political, based on deep-rooted resentment of the cities . The Khmer Rouge was determined to turn the country into a nation of peasants in which
5546-460: The establishment of Democratic Kampuchea, the 68,000-member Khmer Rouge-dominated KPNLAF ( Khmer People's National Liberation Armed Forces ) force, which completed its conquest of Phnom Penh, Cambodia in April 1975, was renamed the RAK ( Kampuchea Revolutionary Army ). This name dated back to the peasant uprising that broke out in the Samlout District of Battambang province in 1967. Under its long-time commander and then Minister of Defense Son Sen ,
5640-519: The fighting against the FANK, as in Operation Chenla I and II – gradually and deliberately scaled back their presence within Cambodian borders, leaving mainly logistical and support staff. Their place was taken by native Cambodian communist forces of the CPNLAF, which had been greatly increased when Sihanouk gave his support to the insurgency, rural Cambodians remaining overwhelmingly pro-Sihanouk. The Paris Peace Accords of early 1973 seemed to offer
5734-494: The former royal capital of Oudong in March: they 'evacuated' its population – shooting government officials and teachers – and destroyed or burnt much of the town. There was a brief improvement as the year progressed, however, as the FANK retook Oudong, and was able to secure supply routes through Lake Tonlé Sap . Despite this, the Khmer Republic did not survive the 1975 dry season offensive. The Khmer Rouge had by this point surrounded
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#17328481227245828-504: The grassroots elite had adequate, if not luxurious, supplies of food. One refugee wrote that "pretty new bamboo houses" were built for Khmer Rouge cadres along the river in Phnom Penh. Members of the Central Committee could go to China for medical treatment, and the highest echelons of the party had access to imported luxury products. They also had a tendency to nepotism similar of the Sihanouk-era elite. Pol Pot's wife, Khieu Ponnary ,
5922-553: The hardest physical labour, and worked in the most inhospitable, fever-ridden parts of the country, such as forests, upland areas, and swamps. "New people" were segregated from "old people", enjoyed little or no privacy, and received the smallest rice rations. When the country experienced food shortages in 1977, the "new people" suffered the most. The medical care available to them was primitive or nonexistent. Families often were separated because people were divided into work brigades according to age and sex and sent to different parts of
6016-444: The head of state. Sihanouk, opposing the new government, entered into an alliance with the Khmer Rouge against them. Taking advantage of Vietnamese occupation of eastern Cambodia, massive United States carpet bombing ranging across the country, and Sihanouk's reputation, the Khmer Rouge were able to present themselves as a peace-oriented party in a coalition that represented the majority of the people. Thus, with large popular support in
6110-852: The ill-fated Khmer Republic led by General Lon Nol. There were seven zones, namely the Northwest, the North, the Northeast, the East, the Southwest, the West and the center, plus two Special Regions, i.e. the Kratie Special Region no 505 and (before mid-1977) the Siemreap Special Region no 106. The regions were subdivided into smaller areas or tâmbán . These were known by numbers, which were assigned without
6204-462: The impetus to overrun the Republic's remaining outposts. Proposed peace negotiations repeatedly stalled as Sihanouk refused to deal with Lon Nol directly, requesting his removal as a precondition. A plan proposed by Étienne Manac'h , the French Ambassador to China, in which Sihanouk would return to Cambodia as the head of a national unity government (leading to the likely immediate defection of
6298-474: The membership of which comprised the Secretary and Prime Minister Pol Pot , his Deputy Secretary Nuon Chea and seven others. It was known also as the "Centre", the "Organisation" or " Angkar ", and its daily work was conducted from Office 870 in Phnom Penh. For almost two years after the takeover, the Khmer Rouge continued to refer to itself as simply Angkar. It was only in a March 1977 speech that Pol Pot revealed
6392-690: The peremptory execution of former Khmer National Armed Forces (FANK) officers and of their families, without trial or fanfare to eliminate Khmer Rouge enemies. The RAK's next priority was to consolidate into a national army the separate forces that were operating more or less autonomously in the various zones. The Khmer Rouge units were commanded by zonal secretaries who were simultaneously party and military officers, some of whom were said to have manifested " warlord characteristics". Troops from one zone were frequently sent to another zone to enforce discipline. These efforts to discipline zonal secretaries and their dissident or ideologically impure cadres gave rise to
6486-549: The period of 1975 to 1979, mainly consisting of Khmer Rouge operatives. In 1979 during the Cambodian–Vietnamese War it was reformed into the National Army of Democratic Kampuchea to continue to fight against the People's Army of Vietnam and the new Kampuchean People's Revolutionary Armed Forces . The Revolutionary Navy of Kampuchea ( Khmer : កងទ័ពជើងទឹករំដោះកម្ពុជា , LNK) under the new Khmer Rouge regime had
6580-618: The promise to "maintain close and friendly relations with all countries sharing a common border" bore little resemblance to reality. Governmental institutions were outlined very briefly in the constitution. The legislature, the Kampuchean People's Representative Assembly (KPRA), contained 250 members "representing workers, peasants, and other working people and the Kampuchean Revolutionary army." One hundred and fifty KPRA seats were allocated for peasant representatives; fifty, for
6674-517: The purges that were to decimate RAK ranks, to undermine the morale of the victorious army, and to generate the seeds of rebellion. In this way, the Khmer Rouge used the RAK to sustain and fuel its violent campaign. According to Pol Pot, Cambodia was made up of four classes : peasants , proletariat , bourgeoisie , and feudalists . Post-revolutionary society, as defined by the 1976 constitution of Democratic Kampuchea, consisted of workers, peasants, and "all other Kampuchean working people." No allowance
6768-463: The purges that were to decimate RAK ranks, to undermine the morale of the victorious army, and to generate the seeds of rebellion. In this way, the Khmer Rouge used the LAK to sustain and fuel its violent campaign. The Air Force of the Revolutionary Army of Kampuchea was formed in 1977 and disband in 1979. The Revolutionary Army of Kampuchea was the official name of the army of Democratic Kampuchea during
6862-463: The refugees were considered "new people"—that is, people unsympathetic to Democratic Kampuchea. Some doubtless passed as "old people" after returning to their native villages, but the Khmer Rouge seem to have been extremely vigilant in recording and keeping track of the movements of families and of individuals. The lowest unit of social control, the krom (group), consisted of ten to fifteen nuclear families whose activities were closely supervised by
6956-509: The republican military had grown to around 150,000 men as early as the end of 1970, mainly through voluntary enlistment as Lon Nol sought to capitalise on a wave of anti-Vietnamese sentiment. The US also implemented its programme of structured military aid and assistance in training, and flew in several thousand Khmer Serei and Khmer Kampuchea Krom militia, trained in South Vietnamese bases. The Joint Chiefs insisted on massive expansion of
7050-578: The result that Sirik Matak, accompanied by three army officers, compelled a weeping Lon Nol to sign the necessary documents at gunpoint. A vote was taken in the National Assembly on 18 March under the direction of In Tam , in which Sihanouk was stripped of his power: Lon Nol assumed the powers of the Head of State on an emergency basis. On 28 and 29 March there were large-scale popular demonstrations in favour of Sihanouk in several provincial cities, but Lon Nol's forces suppressed them with great brutality, causing several hundred deaths. Lon Nol's brother Lon Nil
7144-511: The urban and rural elites, many of the poorest peasants probably were sympathetic to Khmer Rouge's goals. In the early 1980s, visiting Western journalists found that the issue of peasant support for the Khmer Rouge was an extremely sensitive subject that officials of the People's Republic of Kampuchea were not inclined to discuss. Although the Southwestern Zone was one original centre of power of
7238-508: The violence that they themselves perpetrated under the Khmer Rouge regime. Phnom Penh fell on 17 April 1975. Sihanouk was given the symbolic position of Head of State for the new government of Democratic Kampuchea and, in September 1975, returned to Phnom Penh from exile in Beijing. After a trip abroad, during which he visited several communist countries and recommended the recognition of Democratic Kampuchea, Sihanouk returned again to Cambodia at
7332-466: The war active at a low level (tying down South Vietnamese troops in the process) than in an outright victory for the Khmer Rouge. The Khmer Rouge leadership, however, remained intransigent. The fighting resumed on the night of 7 February 1973, when communist forces attacked the FANK perimeter around the besieged city of Kampong Thom . By April, the Republic regime was in general disarray, with FANK troops refusing to fight and looting their own capital, and
7426-655: The war with Vietnam he departed for the United States where he made Democratic Kampuchea's case before the Security Council. He eventually relocated to China. The "rights and duties of the individual" were briefly defined in Article 12. They included none of what are commonly regarded as guarantees of political human rights except the statement that "men and women are equal in every respect." The document declared, however, that "all workers" and "all peasants" were "masters" of their factories and fields. An assertion that "there
7520-544: Was altered to encourage a more collectivist mentality. People were encouraged to call each other "friend", or "comrade" (in Khmer, មតដ mitt ), and to avoid traditional signs of deference such as bowing or folding the hands in salutation. They were also encouraged to talk about themselves in the plural "we" rather than the singular "I". Aspects of life from the Khmer Republic such as art, television, mail, books, movies, music, and personal vehicles were prohibited. The language
7614-413: Was among a number of government officials who were murdered by demonstrators. Foreign regimes were initially uncertain as to the level of support to give to the new government. The North Vietnamese continued to hold talks with Lon Nol regarding the reinstatement of the cancelled trade agreement, though subsequent events meant that these were soon to come to an end. The most significant immediate effect of
7708-501: Was appointed head of the Calmette Hospital although she had not graduated from secondary school. A niece of Ieng Sary was given a job as English translator for Radio Phnom Penh although her fluency in the language was relative. Family ties were important, both because of the culture and because of the leadership's intense secretiveness and distrust of outsiders, especially of pro-Vietnamese communists. Different ministries, such as
7802-668: Was at least tolerated, and possibly actively organised, by Lon Nol, the Prime Minister, and his deputy Prince Sirik Matak. On 12 March, the prime minister closed the port of Sihanoukville – through which weapons were being smuggled to the NLF – to the North Vietnamese and issued an impossible ultimatum to them. All PAVN/NLF forces were to withdraw from Cambodian soil within 72 hours (on 15 March) or face military action. Despite these actions, which directly contradicted Sihanouk's policy of partial tolerance of North Vietnamese activity, it appears that Lon Nol himself had great personal reluctance to depose
7896-534: Was conducted by the CPNLAF, the Cambodian People's National Liberation Armed Forces: they were backed by both the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) and the National Liberation Front (NLF, better known as the Viet Cong ), who occupied parts of Cambodia as part of their ongoing war with the South Vietnamese government. Despite the large quantities of military and financial aid from the United States ,
7990-554: Was eventually halted by American bombing, which caused horrific casualty levels amongst the communist troops. Some commentators state that the experience is likely to have contributed to the brutality shown by the Khmer Rouge cadres in later events. By early 1974, the Political Council had been sidelined, and Lon Nol was once again ruling alone. The military situation, in the meantime, was deteriorating further. Communist forces came within shelling distance of Phnom Penh, and captured
8084-499: Was head of the Association of Democratic Khmer Women and her younger sister, Khieu Thirith , served as minister of social action. These two women were considered among the half-dozen most powerful personalities in Democratic Kampuchea. Son Sen's wife, Yun Yat , served as minister for culture, education and learning. Several of Pol Pot's nephews and nieces were given jobs in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. One of Ieng Sary 's daughters
8178-415: Was made for a transitional stage such as China's New Democracy in which "patriotic" landlord or bourgeois elements were permitted to play a role in socialist construction. Sihanouk writes that in 1975 he, Khieu Samphan , and Khieu Thirith went to visit Zhou Enlai , who was gravely ill. Zhou warned them not to attempt to achieve communism in a single step, as China had attempted in the late 1950s with
8272-402: Was mainly defunct for the time that Democratic Kampuchea existed. Many aircraft were captured from Khmer Air Force including many western types. During the Mayaguez incident 5 T-28 Trojan aircraft were destroyed. All aircraft were destroyed or captured in 1979 during the Vietnamese invasion of Cambodia. • Democratic Kampuchea Democratic Kampuchea was the official name of
8366-552: Was placed under effective house arrest. Lon Nol used the crisis to oust the Head of State, Cheng Heng , and took over the role himself, appointing the veteran anti-Sihanouk nationalist Son Ngoc Thanh as Prime Minister. Thanh, leader of the Khmer Serei , had recruited FANK reinforcements amongst the Khmer Krom of southern Vietnam, and the loyalty he commanded amongst these comparatively elite, US-trained troops meant that his support for
8460-543: Was roughly similar to that which existed under Sihanouk and the Khmer Republic, but inhabitants of the villages were organized into groups ( ក្រុម krom ) composed of ten to fifteen families. On each level, administration was directed by a three-person committee ( kanak , or kena ). CPK members occupied committee posts at the higher levels. Subdistrict and village committees were often staffed by local poor peasants, and, very rarely, by "new people." Cooperatives ( សហករណ៍ sahakor ), similar in jurisdictional area to
8554-405: Was seriously handicapped by corruption, particularly by officers claiming salaries for non-existent troops, and military incompetence. Although one of the FANK commanders – the former rebel Prince Norodom Chantaraingsey , who was coaxed out of military retirement by Lon Nol to raise the FANK's 13th Brigade – was to have considerable success in 'pacifying' the area around the strategic Highway 4 and
8648-695: Was the peremptory execution of former Khmer National Armed Forces (FANK) officers and of their families, without trial or fanfare to eliminate Khmer Rouge enemies. The RAK's next priority was to consolidate into a national army the separate forces that were operating more or less autonomously in the various zones. The Khmer Rouge units were commanded by zonal secretaries who were simultaneously party and military officers, some of whom were said to have manifested " warlord characteristics". Troops from one zone frequently were sent to another zone to enforce discipline. These efforts to discipline zonal secretaries and their dissident or ideologically impure cadres gave rise to
8742-496: Was to condemn the action as a violation of Cambodian territory. He later informed Alexander Haig that his country had been placed in serious danger as a result. When Haig told him that American ground forces would not be used to assist the Cambodian army, and that (in accordance with the Nixon Doctrine ) a programme of aid would be given instead, Lon Nol openly wept. On 9 October Sihanouk was condemned to death in absentia by
8836-479: Was transformed in other ways. The Khmer Rouge invented new terms. People were told they must "forge" ( លត់ដំ lot dam ) a new revolutionary character, that they were the "instruments" ( ឧបករណ៍ opokar ) of the Angkar, and that nostalgia for pre-revolutionary times ( ឈឺសតិអារម្មណ៍ chheu satek arom , or "memory sickness") could result in their receiving Angkar's "invitation" to be deindustrialised and to live in
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