Event/Conflict

The need for political prominence has always been needed in the Cambodian society. Having been a great power hundreds of years ago and slowly digressing to the point of falling behind the curve you can see the desire for the Cambodian people to want strength. The previous 20 years helps set the scene to how the political conflict started within the country.

King Sinhanouk, began ruling Cambodia starting in 1955 after taking the throne from his still living father. Seeing a need for greater solidarity within the nation Sinhanouk put orders in place to bring the nation together. The implementation of these practices required citizens to learn the historic past, respect to monarchy and the theory of working as a nation. These practices brought success to the nation and united them for the majority of the king’s reign. Amidst the Vietnam War, citizens grew tired of the punishment their country was taking and chose to allow a new form a leadership to take over.

The Lon Nol government spent its time battling the war and trying to maintain control of the country. Bloodshed persisted and the people grew angry leading to riots throughout the country. Because of the instability in the region Cambodia was able to enlist the support of the United States military to control the situation. Secret bombing missions were used to try and scare the citizens into relying on the government. 

After failed efforts on June 30^th 1974 the U.S. decided to withdraw its services and leave Cambodia to take care of itself. This left the country dismantled leaving the majority of their forces in big cities that only held about roughly half of the countryside.

Again war broke out but this time it was a civil war from within the country. Two governments faced off against each other, Lon Nol and Khmer Rouge. On April 17^th 1975 the Khmer Rouge, a communist party, won the battle therefore winning control of the government. The new victors brought a sense of opportunity and rejuvenation to a Cambodian country trying to recover from the effects of the Vietnam War. This excitement was brought on from the platform that the Khmer Rouge government promised upon takeover, one of “peace, neutrality, nonalignment, sovereignty, democracy, and prosperity for the Cambodian people” (Ngor 1987: 91)

This new revolution turned out to be different than promised. When the regime publically declared that “blood avenges blood” they realized they were in for a change not previously predicted. It took only a few years for the Khmer party to deplete the population from a 7.3 million to an estimated 5 million, killing off nearly 31% of its population. Starting with the elderly and wise the Khmer Rouge began to torture the citizens by various acts, from manual labor to execution. The theory of killing off the educated led to the belief that the Khmer Rouge could control an excluded society that was self-sufficient without worldly influences.

The story of the killing fields is a historical account of Sydney Schanberg and Dith Pran's accounts from this point forward. As history is analyzed we hope to be able to convey the facts and messages that happened during this time frame.