General pol pot biography
- Pol Pot, leader of the Khmer Rouge's totalitarian regime (1975–79) in Cambodia responsible for the deaths of more than one million.
- Pol Pot was a Cambodian politician and revolutionary who was the dictator of communist Cambodia from 1976 until his overthrow in 1979.
- Pol Pot was a political leader whose communist Khmer Rouge government led Cambodia from 1975 to 1979.
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Pol Pot (1925-1998)
Pol Pot, near the end of his life ©Pol Pot was leader of the Khmer Rouge, a communist regime that ruled Cambodia between 1975 and 1979, and caused the deaths of more than one million people.
Pol Pot was born Saloth Sar on 19 May 1925 in Kompong Thong province in central Cambodia. The country was then a French protectorate and Pol Pot, whose family were relatively prosperous, was educated in a series of French-speaking schools. In 1949, he won a scholarship to study in Paris where he became involved in communist politics.
He returned to Cambodia in 1953 and became one of the leaders of an underground communist movement, the 'Khmer Rouge'. In 1963, the Khmer Rouge set up guerrilla bases in remote regions of the country to fight the government of Prince Sihanouk. In 1970, Sihanouk was overthrown by General Lon Nol. Civil war broke out between Lon Nol's army and the Khmer Rouge.
In April 1975, the Khmer Rouge captured the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh. Led by Pol Pot, they reset the calendar to 'Year Zero' and attempted to transform Cambodia into their
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Khmer Rouge History
Khmer (pdf)
Significant portions of the following historical overview were contributed by DC-Cam from Khamboly Dy’s “A History of Democratic Kampuchea (1975-1979).”
Overview
The Communist Party of Kampuchea (CPK), otherwise known as the Khmer Rouge, took control of Cambodia on April 17, 1975. The CPK created the state of Democratic Kampuchea in 1976 and ruled the country until January 1979. The party’s existence was kept secret until 1977, and no one outside the CPK knew who its leaders were (the leaders called themselves “Angkar Padevat”).
While the Khmer Rouge was in power, they set up policies that disregarded human life and produced repression and massacres on a massive scale. They turned the country into a huge detention center, which later became a graveyard for nearly two million people, including their own members and even some senior leaders.
The Rise of the Khmer Rouge
The Cambodian communist movement emerged from the country’s struggle against French colonization 1940s, and was influenced by the Viet
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Pol Pot
Cambodian communist leader (1925–1998)
In this Cambodian name, the surname is Pol. In accordance with Cambodian custom, this person should be referred to by the given name, Pot.
Pol Pot | |
|---|---|
| In office 22 February 1963 – 6 December 1981 | |
| Deputy | Nuon Chea |
| Preceded by | Tou Samouth (1962) |
| Succeeded by | Position abolished (party dissolved) |
| In office 25 October 1976 – 7 January 1979 | |
| President | Khieu Samphan |
| Deputy | |
| Preceded by | Khieu Samphan (acting) |
| Succeeded by | Nuon Chea (1981) |
| In office 14 April 1976 – 27 September 1976 | |
| President | Khieu Samphan |
| Deputy | |
| Preceded by | Khieu Samphan (acting) |
| Succeeded by | Nuon Chea (acting) |
| In office 1977–1979 | |
| In office 1981–1985 | |
| Preceded by | Himself (as General Secretary of the Communist Party of Kampuchea) |
| Succeeded by | Khieu Samphan |
| Born | Saloth Sâr (1925-05-25)25 May 1925 Prek Sbauv, Kampong Thom Province, Cambodia, French Indochina |
| Died | 15 April 1998(1998-04-15) (aged 72) Choam, Trapeang Prei [km], Anlong V Copyright ©cafebee.pages.dev 2025 |