Democratic Kampuchea

From Leftypedia
(Redirected from Khmer Rouge)
Jump to navigation Jump to search
Democratic Kampuchea
កម្ពុជាប្រជាធិបតេយ្យ
DemKampuchea Map.png

Map of Democratic Kampuchea
41l5T3Mg0pL. AC SL1500 .jpg KampucheaEmblem.jpg
Flag State Emblem

Democratic Kampuchea (Kampuchea from 1975 to 5 January 1976), was the Cambodian state that existed between 1975 and 1979 under the Khmer Rouge, a popular name for the Communist Party of Kampuchea, whose forces defeated Lon Nol's Khmer Republic, which itself arose in 1970 after a coup against the Kingdom of Cambodia. The Khmer Rouge killed millions of people through various means and for various reasons, ending when Vietnam invaded Cambodia because the Khmer Rouge encroached on its territory and started massacring its civilians. The Khmer Rouge was pushed back and occupied by Vietnam, which installed the People's Republic of Kampuchea and occupied it until its end in 1989. Though the PRK actually controlled Cambodia, Democratic Kampuchea was the only authority recognized over the country by the United Nations, further receiving support from China, the United States, and the United Kingdom.[1][2][3][4] In June 1982 the Khmer Rouge formed the Coalition Government of Democratic Kampuchea with two non-communist guerrilla factions, which retained international recognition.

Economy and society

Supposed Socialism

The government of Pol Pot can hardly be called a socialist, especially in practice. His ideology and actions appeared to be more so ethno-nationalist and primitivist, evidenced by his extreme xenophobia of ethnic minorities such as the Chinese, Vietnamese, Lao, and Cham,[5][6] on top of his de-industrialization and mass-murder of intellectuals, beyond what may be considered reasonable grounds, such as if those intellectuals had supported a counter-revolution to his supposed socialist government. Pol Pot considered the intelligentsia contaminated with Western knowledge, and thus enemies merely for this. In the end, it was a more authentic socialist state, Vietnam, that ended his murderous and reactionary regime and brought upon a more true course for socialism in the successor state of the People's Republic of Kampuchea. Pol Pot's ideology perhaps resembles fascism more than socialism, if anything, as he for instance believed in the importance of racial struggle[7] and “living space” more than things like class-based struggle and such.

Living Standards

Living standards drastically decreased from 1975 onwards. In 1977, the average life expectancy of a Cambodian was around only 18 years old,[8] infant mortality rates had also greatly increased.[9]

There was not even a semblance of food security, with malnourishment being an epidemic that the majority had to bear. Rice rations rarely (if ever) met the 570 gram requirement, instead often ranging from 250 to 500 grams depending on the province.[10] Compounding on the misery, foraging and tending to personal crops was prohibited.

Party officials and soldiers always managed to stay well-fed, justified by a doctrine of economic self-reliance. This characterized the Cambodian military with a unique separation from the proletariat, along with negligence of anybody but the higher-ups. There were alongside this also reports of the military exporting rice to China and stockpiling in case of a war with Vietnam.

Foreign policy

Collaboration with the United States

Pol Pot served more as a force against the socialist world, as he was backed by the CIA and China,[11][12] which teamed up with the United States to oppose the Soviet Union, which had supported Vietnam – which Pol Pot was against. The United States further sponsored the creation and armament of the Coalition Government of Democratic Kampuchea, which included the Khmer Rouge, which itself officially renounced communism in 1981 following the Cambodian-Vietnamese War, turning toward support from the United States from then on.

Ideology

Monarchism

Pol Pot favored the reactionary monarchy and had good relations with them, and rather than seizing and developing the means of production, he had them destroyed as he deemed them to be of “the old ways.” He also pushed for de-urbanization of the country and effectively its ultimate de-industrialization. Religion was suppressed by excessive levels of force, and Pol Pot also pushed far too quickly to abolish money, despite the rest of the world not facilitating such a measure.[13] Children of those considered irredeemable were killed as well, to preempt any revenge, which was excessive as well.

Primitivism

People with glasses were targeted, since primarily only the intelligentsia could afford them, on top of needing them for intellectual work, however merely having glasses was not a death sentence. Generally the same applies for other factors, such as being educated or knowing another language.[14]

Modern medicine was shunned as a type of western cultural imperialism and supremacy. Instead of effective modern medicine, the Khmer Rouge supplied traditional and mystical folk remedies thought to be superior or equivalent by their unaware esoterists. This predictably lead to mass suffering and an excess of easily preventable deaths.[15][16]

A return to traditional feudal village life was implemented. City dwellers were expelled and forced into the unfamiliar Cambodian jungle. The slum dwellers now being put into small wooden huts in what was an aborted attempt to emulate the Down to the Countyside Movement. Many city dwellers were unused to the conditions or couldn't adapt and simply died as a result, with plenty of others dying in the chaotic arduous march into rurality.

Factories were neglected, as there was no need for mass production in the new agriculture based economy. Facilities for military and agricultural production were the only sectors allotted manufacturing capabilities, as well as some simple craft production supplementing the agricultural base. The remaining work was done by masses forced into working the fields and construction of irrigation systems.

Sharp class contrasts accompanied the return to feudal village life. Army officers were known to kill and hold the former urbanites at gunpoint. The already-existing peasantry was held on a higher ideological pedestal, despite still being subordinate to the state in all matters.

References

  1. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2000/jan/09/cambodia
  2. https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/politics/2014/04/how-thatcher-gave-pol-pot-hand
  3. https://www.counterpunch.org/2014/10/16/who-supported-the-khmer-rouge/
  4. https://web.archive.org/web/20210317180134/https://www.trtworld.com/magazine/for-a-change-the-us-will-not-support-military-coups-44734/amp
  5. Helen Fein. Revolutionary and Antirevolutionary Genocides: A Comparison of State Murders in Democratic Kampuchea, 1975 to 1979, and in Indonesia, 1965 to 1966. Comparative Studies in Society and History, Vol. 35, No. 4 (Oct. 1993), pp. 796–823
  6. Department of Press and Information of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Democratic Kampuchea. Black Paper Facts and Evidences of the acts of Aggresion and Annexation of Vietnam against Kampuchea (September 1978) Pages 1 to 17
  7. David Chandler & Ben Kiernan, ed. (1983). Revolution and its Aftermath. New Haven.
  8. https://web.archive.org/web/20200607215804/https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.DYN.LE00.IN?locations=KH
  9. https://web.archive.org/web/20200505163953/https://www.macrotrends.net/countries/KHM/cambodia/infant-mortality-rate
  10. https://web.archive.org/web/20200714234925/https://www.loc.gov/item/89600150/
  11. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger discusses the Khmer Rouge regime with Thailand’s Foreign Minister Chatichai, November 26, 1975 Kissinger: “You should also tell the Cambodians that we will be friends with them. They are murderous thugs, but we won’t let that stand in our way. We are prepared to improve relations with them.”
  12. Jackson, Karl D. Cambodia 1977: gone to Pot – Asian Survey, 1978. p. 81
  13. Final Solutions: Mass Killing and Genocide in the Twentieth Century Cornell University Press, 2004. ISBN 0-8014-3965-5 p. 127 https://web.archive.org/web/20160504104107/https://books.google.com/books?id=LQfeXVU_EvgC&pg=PA133&dq=khmer+rouge+abolish+private+property+emptied+cities&hl=en&ei=J54_TIKyKIL88Abch92ICw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=9&ved=0CFAQ6AEwCA#v=onepage&q&f=false
  14. Did the Khmer Rouge really kill everyone with glasses?
  15. Bandeth Ros, Gillian Lê, Suzanne Fustukian, Barbara McPake. The commercialization of traditional medicine in modern Cambodia. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
  16. Anne Yvonne Guillou. Medicine in Cambodia during the Pol Pot Regime (1975-1979): Foreign and Cambodian Influences. ”East Asian Medicine under Communism: A Symposium”, Graduate Center, City University of New York, Jul 2004, New York, United States. halshs-00327711