1973,
January. Accord between U.S. and Vietnam. End of bombing in
Vietnam. The beginning of bombing in Cambodia. 6 months. Vietnamese
pull out of Cambodia.
Saloth
Sar. Three military campaigns against Pnom Penh. #1. Sent
about 2 million refugees into the capital. Communists destroyed
by American bombing. 10,000 Communist deaths.
#2. Attack
on a provincial capital near Vietnam. Repulsed by Cambodian
troops. More refugees.
#3. Attack
on the capital. Help from Chinese. April 19th. Capital was
taken.
Democratic
Kampuchea.
Domestic
policies:
-
Removal
of urban population
-
Abolish
money, markets, newspapers, reading materials.
-
All
dress in black
-
Erasure
of names
-
No
humor. Modeled on the Cultural Revolution and Kim Il-sung's
reign.
-
Loyalty
to the central govt.
-
Year
Zero.
-
Hard
labor. Communalization. Raise population.
-
Wipe
out enemies. Defined by class, ethnicity, educational level,
and failure to produce.
-
Self-sufficiency.
Re-writing of Khmer history.
Diplomatic
policies:
-
Keep
up relations with Sihanouk as long as he is supported by
the Chinese. After a year, Sihanouk is placed under house
arrest.
-
Close
relations with China and North Korea.
-
Belief
in the spread of anti-Vietnamese [communist] states in So.
East Asia and Africa. Sponsored by China and N. Korea.
-
1978.
Fear of Vietnamese invasion. Invitation to Dudman, Becker,
and Caldwell. Talks with Pol Pot. Murder of Caldwell. Two
weeks later, Vietnam invades Cambodia.
International real politick.
China:
Reserved support of North Vietnam. 1954. Geneva Accords. Split
with U.S.S.R.. 1965. Pol Pot visits Beijing. Support. 1973.
Deng supports Pol Pot.
Beijing
sends troops to invade (teach a lesson to) Vietnam in January
of 79. 15,000 deaths. Retreats. China sets up base camps in
Thailand and Western Cambodia to provide economic and military
aid to Pol Pot. China is strongest supporter of Pol Pot.
Thailand:
Military and financial support. Timber, and minerals. Refugee
camps controlled by Pol Pot. Keeps revolution out of Thailand.
U.S.
Pol Pot is not considered as a Marxist. He did not commit
genocide. He is a significant factor in the Cold War and in
keeping Vietnam in isolation. C.I.A. has a base camp to provide
aid. Great debate in U.S. Congress over aid.
Boat
people vs. displaced people; Vietnamese vs. Cambodians. The
plight of the Hmong.
The Vietnamese
controlled Cambodia could not receive any UN or International
Aid. All aid, very paltry, was from the USSR.
1988-9:
Great international changes. A new Prime Minister in Thailand,
Chatichai, met with Hun Sen. Changed Thailand's policies.
A banker. Economic development of Camb.
Vietnam
would leave in '89. This created a crisis. Who would rule
Cambodia.
P-5 Work
out new government. Three of the five were China scholars-Solomon
for the U.S. and Martin for France. Even the Russian rep.
was a China scholar. and , of course, the rep. from China
was biased to China. No one represented the Cambodians or
the Vietnamese. The Americans and Chinese wanted Pol Pot to
be included in the new government. Fear was that Vietnam would
control the new govt. by proxy. . An arrangement finally made
which did not allow Pol Pot to be in the government, but did
allow some of his influence. America makes the elections the
pre-requisite for recognizing Vietnam. Hanoi needs Western
support. Can't do much about Cambodian politics.
UN takes
over. Prepares for elections. 2 Billion dollars. Ethnic violence.
Vietnamese laborers. Inflation. No military. Political killings
and banditry.
The UN
runs the country in preparation for elections. Sihanouk was
brought back from exile in China and North Korea. His son
ran for the office of P.M. But he was kicked out by Hun Sen
who controlled the Arm. Hun Sen kills opposition members.
Gives immunity to Pol Pot's main advisors. They surrender
and bring troops over to Hun Sen.
Pol Pot
"discovered" in 1997 by Nate Thayer. Dies of "natural"
causes in 1998. Body is burned.
Current
situation:
-
Battle
over the investigation of the Killing Fields. Ben Kiernan
and the Republican Congress.
-
International
War Crimes Tribunal: U.S. vs. Cambodia over jurisdiction.
-
Autobiographies,
journals, analysis.
-
What
have we learned?
-
The
causes of genocide?
-
The
role of international agencies and organizations?
-
The
role of states?
-
The
nature of terror and killing?
-
How
to describe an event like the Killing Fields?
A
Brief Chronology
9th
Century to 14th Century: The Angkor era in Cambodia. The
Khmer kingdom.
1863-1864:
King Norodom signs treaties beginning the era of the French
protectorate over Cambodia, which lasts until 1953.
1925:
Birth of "Pol Pot"
1930:
Ho Chi Minh founds the Indochinese Communist Party with responsibility
over Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos.
1941:
The Japanese march into Phnom Penh.
Sihanouk is crowned king by the Vichy french.
1945:.
The Japanese remove the vichy French in Cambodia in a coup
de force and grant Cambodia its "independence" under
Sihanouk.
WWII
ends: Sihanouk invites the French back.
1949:
Pol Pot (Saloth Sar) travels to Paris for studies and stays
until 1963 when he returns to Cambodia as a communist.
1951:
The Khmer People's Revolutionary Party is created out of the
Indochinese Communist Party.
1953:
Sihanouk wins limited independence from France.
1954:
The Geneva Conference gives complete control over an independent
Cambodia.
Many Cambodian Communists flee to Vietnam.
1955:
Cambodia holds an election. Sihanouk abdicates and sweeps
the election.
1960:
Formation of the Communist Party in Phnom Penh.
1963:
Saloth Sar (Pol Pot) becomes head of the party. Party leaders
leave the capital to organize in the countryside-near the
Vietnamese border.
1965:
Sihanouk breaks relations with U.S. and in
1966:
Allows Vietnamese communists to use the Ho Chi Minh trail
in Cambodia.
1967-70:
Sihanouk wages a small scale war against Communist insurgents.
1969:
The U.S. mounts secret, illegal bombing campaign against Vietnamese
targets inside Cambodian border area.
1970:
Sihanouk is deposed by Lon Nol.
Sihanouk forms the National United Front of Kampuchea which
includes the Khmer Rouge.
The Khmer Republic is proclaimed in Phnom Penh.
1971:
The North Vietnamese defeat the Cambodian Army. This Army
never fully recovers.
1972:
Lon Nol is elected president of the Khmer Republic.
1973:
The Paris agreement ending the war in Vietnam is signed but
the Cambodian communists refuse to negotiate. The Vietnamese
Army returns to Vietnam, leaving the Khmer Rouge to fight
on its own.
1974:
Lass full year of the war. The Khmer Rouge begin purges.
1975
: April 17. Khmer Rouge march into Phnom Penh. Evacuation
begins.
1976:
Establishment of Democratic Kampuchea. Pol Pot is PM. Mao
Tse-tung dies and Pol Pot temporarily leaves office. Purges
of all those with ties to Vietnam, and those in the northern
zone.
1977:
Purges within the party. Border clashes with Thailand and
Vietnam.
Because Vietnam signs a friendship agreement with Laos, Cambodia
declares Vietnam to be an enemy.
Pol Pot finally declares publicly that his country is communist.
He proceeds to China and North Korea revealing he is really
Saloth Sar.
Border war with Vietnam. On Dec. 31, Cambodia suspends relations
with Vietnam.
1978:
Cambodia declares victory over Vietnamese agents and soldiers
in Cambodia.
Vietnam decides to invade Cambodia.
Purge of the Eastern Zone.
Malcolm Caldwell is murdered.
1979.
January 7: The Vietnamese capture Phnom Penh.
Vietnam establishes a puppet government.
Pol Pot and his followers flee to Thai border. Establish a guerrilla
base in Pailin.
Receive support from China. Also sell minerals and timber (est.
millions of dollars per month) to Thailand.
1981:
The UN only recognizes Pol Pot's government.
1982:
Sihanouk and former Premier Son Sann join the Khmer Rouge
in a new Coalition Government of Democratic Kampuchea. The
Association of Southeast Asian States is the official sponsor.
1985:
After four years of fighting, the Vietnamese Army consolidates
its hold on all of Cambodia except for the Pailin area.
1986:
Gorbachev seeks a peaceful resolution to the Cambodian crisis.
1987:
Sihanouk and P.M. Hun Sen meet for the first time to discuss
a peace settlement.
1988:
January. Second meeting. No results.
-
May:
Vietnam announces that it will withdraw 50% of its troops
by December.
Sihanouk
resigns from Pol Pot's government claiming that the Khmer
Rouge are killing his followers.
Thailand's
Prime Minister, Chatichai announces plan to transform Indochina
from "a battlefield into a market place."
1989:
International meetings to agree on a peace in Cambodia, and
to a unified government. Vietnamese troops will leave at the
end of the year.
-
September
21: Vietnam pulls out its last troops. Announces that
53,500 soldiers died since 1978. Almost as many as American
soldiers who died in the Vietnam war.
-
November
8: 6 weeks after Vietnam's announcement, the West-through
the British Foreign Secretary-finally announces the pull
out.
1990:
The P-5 ( the five permanent members of the Security Council)
meet in Paris to discuss a settlement of the Cambodian crisis.
They agree to discuss the Australian plan that would rely heavily
on the U.N.
-
March:
proposal for UNTAC-The United Nations Transition Authority
in Cambodia.
More talks. Khmer Rouge boycotts some.
-
July
18: U.S. Secretary of State James Baker drops support
for Pol Pot's UN membership. For the first time will sponsor
a dialogue with Vietnam on Cambodia to bring a settlement
and prevent the Khmer Rouge from returning to power.
-
August
22: The Chinese force the Khmer rouge to agree to the
P-5 formula. The new Supreme National Council is awarded
the UN seat.
1991:
The war with Iraq takes pressure off the Khmer rouge. 2/23.
The Thai military stage a coup d'etat against P.M. Chatichai.
Sihanouk chairs the Supreme National Council and Hun Sen is
vice hair. Sihanouk returns to Phnom Penh for the first time
since he fled in January 1979.
Diplomatic relations are forged between Vietnam and China,
Cambodia and Vietnam,
Sihanouk addresses the U.N.
1992:
The UN sets up shop in Cambodia. Yasushi Akashi is civilian
head.
Khmer Rouge charges the UN with favoring Hun Sen. They announce
that the UN cannot enter their territory or oversee their
disarmament.
UN oversees return of 370,000 refugees. Registers 4.8 million
voters.
1993:
Khmer Rouge does not register to participate in elections..
-
May
23: Prince Norodom Ranariddh, son of Prince Sihanouk,
won 45 percent of the vote. Hun Sen won 38 percent despite
its organized intimidation. Hun Sen's forces begin a wave
of terror against the UN and the opposition. The young Prince
agrees to a joint rule with Hun Sen.
-
September:
Sihanouk is crowned the King of Cambodia.
1996:
Ieng Sary, a high Khmer Rouge official, defects to Hun
Sen with 15,000 troops. Ieng is allowed undisputed control
over Pailin.
1997:
Pol Pot orders the brutal murder of his top aide, Son Sen,
because of defections which have eaten up over half of the
Khmer rouge soldiers.
-
July:
Foreign governments cajole the Khmer Rouge to turn over
Pol Pot for trial.
Hun Sen stages a coup against the young Prince claiming
that he is too close to the Khmer Rouge.
-
August:
The Khmer rouge put Pol Pot on trial for treason. This is
to show the West that Pol Pot is no longer in charge and
that the West can negotiate with the Khmer Rouge.
-
October:
The Khmer Rouge allow journalist Nate Thayer to interview
Pol Pot who refuses to acknowledge any wrongdoing.
1998.
April 15: The few remaining Khmer Rouge leaders announce
that Pol Pot has died in his sleep of a heart attack at the
age of 73. Pol Pot is cremated three days later.
1999-2000:
Debates on whether and how to bring Khmer Rouge leaders to
trial.
