Khmer Rouge

The Khmer Rouge was a radical communist movement that ruled Cambodia from 1975 to 1979 under leader Pol Pot. Its regime aimed to create an agrarian socialist society, leading to the forced relocation of urban populations to the countryside. During this period, millions of Cambodians suffered through hard labor, starvation, and mass executions, resulting in an estimated 1.7 million deaths, about a quarter of the population. The Khmer Rouge's brutal policies targeted intellectuals, professionals, and ethnic minorities. The regime was eventually overthrown by the Vietnamese in 1979, but its legacy of trauma and loss still impacts Cambodia today.