They sought to eliminate the basic family structure, individual thought, and “impure” elements of western capitalism, intellectualism, and imperialism, which became a policy of eradication by killing. ![]() They wanted to destroy all that came before and “turn back the clock” and start at “year zero.” This meant turning the country into an egalitarian agrarian “utopia” without material possessions or money. Pol Pot and his Khmer Rouge sought to socially transform Cambodia by changing ideological superstructures, institutions, and political systems, which would reconfigure social relations and daily life. The Khmer Rouge claimed they were “purifying” an entire population by moving them into the countryside to achieve a “Super Great Leap Forward” and turning all Cambodians into peasant farmers. The cadres conducted summary executions for all known former opponents of the Khmer Rouge and those regarded hostile to the regime. In the name of Angkar (The High Organization), the Khmer Rouge entered the cities, forced all residents out of their home and to walk into the countryside. On April 17, 1975, the Khmer Rouge cadres marched into Phnom Penh and began their social revolution. The Khmer Rouge men told the villagers they must rise up against the imperialist government to stop the destruction of Cambodia. They used propaganda claiming the government under Lon Nol was responsible for the bombing of the countryside. intervention in Cambodia, Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge cadres began using the destruction and massacre of peasants in the countryside to recruit new revolutionaries. An estimated 50,000-150,000 Cambodians were killed during the bombing campaign. The bombing caused major destruction to peasant villages and left many casualties. bombarded the Cambodian countryside with half of 540,000 tons of bombs were dropped in six months. The Cambodian government, under the leadership of Lon Nol, into power. ![]() began carpet-bombing the Cambodian countryside. Under the auspices that the Vietnamese communists were seeking shelter in Cambodia, the U.S. ![]() In the late 1960s the conflict between the U.S. Pol Pot, the leader of the Khmer Rouge and the Communist Party of Kampuchea, would never have gained power without the US destabilization of Cambodia. The events that incited the Cambodian genocide were due to difficult living conditions caused by miscalculations of foreign governments.
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