Khmer Rouge

The Khmer Rouge was a Cambodian communist movement that ruled Democratic Kampuchea from 1975 to 1979. Its regime carried out mass executions, forced labor, and policies that caused widespread starvation.

Year Zero: A Khmer Rouge idea of restarting Cambodian society by erasing its existing institutions and social structures. It framed the regime’s effort to dismantle established life and begin society anew.
Cambodian Civil War: The 1970–1975 conflict between the Cambodian government and communist insurgents, including the Khmer Rouge. The civil war enabled the movement to expand and seize power.
Pol Pot: The Cambodian communist leader who headed the Khmer Rouge regime from 1975 until its fall in 1979. As the regime’s principal leader, he drove its revolutionary policies and purges.
Cambodian genocide: The mass killing, forced labor, and persecution carried out in Cambodia under Democratic Kampuchea from 1975 to 1979. This broader historical term encompasses the regime’s mass atrocities and their victims.
Maoism: A form of Marxism-Leninism associated with Mao Zedong, emphasizing peasant revolution and continuing class struggle. The Khmer Rouge drew on Maoist ideas but adapted them to Cambodia’s rural revolution.
Forced evacuation of Phnom Penh: The Khmer Rouge’s mass removal of Phnom Penh’s residents to rural areas in April 1975. The capital’s emptying inaugurated the regime’s sweeping population transfers.
Communist Party of Kampuchea: The clandestine party that led the Khmer Rouge and governed Cambodia as Democratic Kampuchea. It was the movement’s organizational core and ruling party.
Nuon Chea: A senior Khmer Rouge leader and the Communist Party of Kampuchea’s deputy secretary. His senior party role made him a central figure in the regime’s decision-making.
Cambodian refugee crisis: The displacement of Cambodians who fled violence, famine, and upheaval, especially after Vietnam invaded in 1978. The regime’s rule and the ensuing conflict drove many Cambodians into flight.
Democratic Kampuchea: The official name of Cambodia under Khmer Rouge rule from 1975 to 1979. It names the state governed by the movement, distinct from the movement itself.

Linked from 42 pages