Khmer Rouge overthrown - January 7, 1979

On this day in 1979, Vietnamese troops occupied Phnom Penh and overthrew Pol Pot's regime. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
This Day in History Class is a production of I
Heart Radio. Hey everyone, I'm Eves and welcome back to
This Day in History Class, a podcast where we unwrap
a piece of history candy. Every day. Today is January seven.

(00:24):
The day was January seventh. Nineteen seventy nine, Vietnamese troops
occupied Pnom Pin, the capital of Cambodia, and overthrew Pole
Pot's regime. Under pole pots administration, millions of Cambodians died
through forced labor or genocide. The communist movement in Cambodia
emerged in nineteen thirty when Cambodia was a French protectorate

(00:47):
and part of French Indo China. The Indo Chinese Communist
Party was active across French Indo China and in Cambodia.
In nineteen fifty one, the party set up the Camere
People's Revolutionary Party or kp r P. Leaders of the
Khmer Rock or the Anti colonial Resistance movement helped found

(01:09):
the KPRP. Cambodia gained independence in nineteen fifty three. In
nineteen sixty the KPRP was renamed the Workers Party of Campuchea,
and six years later it was renamed the Communist Party
of Campuchea. Nuancea and sell Off Sar later known as
pol Pot emerged as leaders in the party. Followers of

(01:33):
the party became known as a Khmer Rouge, a term
coined by the Prince of Cambodia, Nara dam Suke. Driven
by communist ideals, the Khmer Rouge army operated mainly in remote,
jungle and mountain areas in northeast Cambodia. They advocated for
an agrarian society, one party rule, and abolition of private property.

(01:56):
They also rejected urban and western influences and encourage nationalism.
The camer Rouge led resistance efforts against Sianuke, whose authoritarian
rule inspired some opposition, but Sianuke also had plenty of
supporters and was popular among people in the countryside, and
the camer Rouge initially made little headway in their insurgent efforts.

(02:20):
At the time, Vietnam, one of Cambodia's neighboring countries, was
embroiled in war, an influence in Cambodia was sought after
by the communists and anti communist powers. Cambodia was officially
non aligned regarding the Vietnam War, but in the nineteen sixties,
Sienu cut ties with the US and the North Vietnamese Army,

(02:42):
and South Vietnamese insurgents operated from Cambodian border areas and
the port of Sianukeville. At this point, the pretense of
Cambodia neutrality clearly dissolved. The US ordered a bunch of
bombing attacks in Cambodia in the late nineteen sixties, targeting
the Vietcong and the North Vietnamese Army. In nineteen seventy,

(03:05):
pro American Cambodian politician Lawnnall and Sien Nukes other opponents
had the prince deposed as head of state. The US
back Camere Republic, led by Lawnall, was proclaimed later that year.
Siennu aligned with the Camere Rouge, and support for the
Camere Rouge began to pick up. War broke out in Cambodia.

(03:28):
US air strikes continued throughout the early nineteen seventies, killing
combatants and civilians alike, while Vietnamese communists aided the Cahmeer
Rouge and capturing the countryside. The US stopped the aerial
attacks in nineteen seventy three, but continued aiding law Noll's government.
Civil war between the Camere Rouge and government forces continued

(03:49):
until nineteen seventy five, when the Camere Rouge entered Panompin
and over threw the pro Us military regime. Pol Pot
became the government's prime minister. As soon as the Khmer
Rouge took power, they evacuated cities and forced people into
the countryside to start agricultural work. Whole Pot admired the

(04:11):
way the tribes on the outskirts of Cambodia's jungles lived,
and he set about a brutal overhaul of Cambodian society.
The country was renamed Democratic Campuchea. The Khmer Rouge shut
down banks and abolished the national currency and free markets.
Buddhism and other religions were denounced. Artwork was destroyed, Families

(04:34):
were broken up, Foreigners were expelled. People who worked in
the rural farming communes forced to cultivate rice died from disease, starvation,
and abuse. Intellectuals, people in the middle class, people associated
with the previous government, and ethnic and national minorities were killed.
Lack of food, drugs, and medical care in the country

(04:57):
led to more deaths. It's estimated that the Khmer Rouge
killed between one and two million people during their rule.
The Khmer Route also launched incursions into Vietnam, Thailand, and Laos.
On January seventh, nineteen seventy nine, Vietnamese troops responded by
capturing Panompin, toppling Pol Pot's regime and establishing a moderate

(05:21):
communist government. The Camere Rouge fled, but re established forces
in Thai territory. Survivors of the Camere Rouge called for
reparations in justice, but war and turmoil continued in Cambodia.
Vietnamese troops withdrew from Cambodia in nineteen eighty nine. Pol
Pot continued to leave the Camere Rouge as an insurgent

(05:43):
movement until nineteen. After he died in the movement crumbled.
Some of the movements other leaders were convicted of war crimes,
crimes against humanity, and genocide in trials by the Camere
Route Tribunal. I'm Eves jeffco and hopefully you know a
little more about history today than you did it yesterday.

(06:06):
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(06:36):
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