Khmer Rouge | |
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The flag of Democratic Kampuchea. The design was used by Khmer guerrillas since the 1950s with the building design varying.
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Active | 1968–1999 |
Ideology |
Agrarian socialism Left-wing nationalism Khmer nationalism Communism |
Leader | Pol Pot |
Headquarters | Phnom Penh |
The Khmer Rouge (/kəˈmɛər ˈruːʒ/), French: [kmɛʁ ʁuʒ], "Red Khmers"; Khmer: ខ្មែរក្រហម Khmer Kraham) was the name given to the followers of the Communist Party of Kampuchea in Cambodia. It was formed in 1968 as an offshoot of the Vietnam People's Army from North Vietnam, and allied with North Vietnam, the Viet Cong, and the Pathet Lao during the Vietnam War against the anti-communist forces from 1968 to 1975. The Khmer Rouge emerged victorious in the Cambodian Civil War, overthrew the military dictatorship of the Khmer Republic and installed their own government Democratic Kampuchea in 1975, led by Pol Pot, Nuon Chea, Ieng Sary, Son Sen, and Khieu Samphan. This was followed by the Cambodian genocide from 1975 until 1979, when the Khmer Rouge was finally removed from power by Vietnam in the Cambodian–Vietnamese War. The military power of the Khmer Rouge organization was not broken however, and a long era of guerrilla warfare involving large swaths of the Cambodian countryside began. Many different military factions were involved in the guerrilla war era and it ended around 1994.