Poster Presentation
Class: IS301 Created Time: November 23, 2020 3:43 PM Database: Assignment Database Last Edited Time: June 11, 2021 11:20 AM Status: Done
Topic
Socialism/Communism in Cambodia
1. Context
1.1. Historical Context
This is only a brief understanding of the events of communism in Cambodia as a background to later parts which will go deeper into understanding other aspects of the communist regime in Cambodia.
1.1.1. Communistic Inflow
Cambodia was still a ‘protectorate’ of France before 1945. But in the 1930s, the Vietnamese Communist Party was renamed as the Indochinese Communist Party (ICP) to spread communism in Laos and Cambodia. The Indochina region has a political, economical, and geographical unity against the French imperialism. The Cambodian branches of the ICP and other communistic institutions consisted only of ethnic Vietnamese and Chinese. None of them were Laos or Cambodians. (Editorials, 2007)
1.1.2. Cambodia’s Own Communist Party
In 1951, under the communist Vietnam, Cambodia’s own Communist party was born, named ‘Kampuchean People’s Revolutionary Party’ (KPRP). (CNE, 2019). In 1953, when Sihanouk attained complete independence from France, Viet Minh retreated with all their party members. (Editorials, 2007)
Young Cambodians such as Saloth Sar, Jeng Sary, Khieu Samohan, Hou Youn, and Hu Nim developed their ideas of Marxism and Leninism in France under the Stalinist French communist party. The young communists returned and quickly rise to leadership of the KPRP in the 1950s. (Editorials, 2007)
Name Changes
- Yet in 1960 the party’s name was changed to Kampuchean Workers Party, to conform with the Vietnamese name
1.1.3. Building of the Khmer Rouge
In 1970, Lon Nol overthrew the government and Sihanouk in a coup. Lon Nol’s Cambodia was backed by the US and had many conflicts with the Vietnamese communist party.
In exile, Sihanouk allied with the Khmer Rogue and regained the official name ‘head of state’ under the Khmer Rouge. However all the influential power was with the Cambodian communist party. With the populist King’s support, the communistic forces grew from 6,000 to 50,000. (SandPointReader, 2017).
The Party changed it’s name multiple times to better position the itself. Then in 1966, changed it’s name to Communist Party of Kampuchea, which is effectively Khmer Rouge, and Started it’s insurgency with the help of Vietnam. (Editorials, 2007)
1.1.4. Origin of the Regime
With Lon Nol’s declining government, in 1975, Khmer Rouge captured Phnom Penh city. The Khmer Rouge was inspired by and wanted to copy the on going Cultural Revolution and Great Leap Forward by Mao Zedong. The regime took on an extreme measure of socialism of abolishing western ideas of money, individualism, and private property by establishing country wide collective farming to ensure economic security. (USHMM). The regime was advised and militarily supported by China.
1.1.5. Invasion of Vietnam
With fear of a Vietnamese invasion and the want to capture the once Cambodian ‘Khmer Kroum’ territory, the Khmer Rouge continually attacked the Vietnamese civilians. This lead to the Vietnamese invasion of Cambodia in 1979, which replaced the government with the People’s Republic of Kampuchea (PRK). (KhmerTimesKH, 2014). Even though, the invasion sacrificed sovereignty, the people welcomed the new pro-soviet government. The PRK was still run by communist leaders, but took a more pragmatic approach to socialisms rather than the Khmer Rouge’s radical socialism. (Global Security).
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References
Vietnam and Cambodian Communism
The history of the communist movement in Cambodia can be divided into six phases, namely the emergence before World War II of the Indochinese Communist Party (ICP), whose members were almost exclusively Vietnamese; the 10-year struggle for independence from the French, when a separate Cambodian communist party, the Kampuchean (or Khmer) People’s Revolutionary Party (KPRP), was established under Vietnamese auspices; the period following the Second Party Congress of the KPRP in 1960, when Saloth Sar gained control of its apparatus; the revolutionary struggle from the initiation of the Khmer Rouge insurgency in 1967–1968 to the fall of the Lon Nol government in April 1975; the Democratic Kampuchea regime from April 1975 to January 1979; and the period following the Third Party Congress of the KPRP in January 1979, when Hanoi effectively assumed control over Cambodia’s government and communist party (Wikipedia)
1.2. Political Context
1.3. Social Context
2. Characteristic
2.1. Nature
2.2. Elements
3. Who Adopted It
3.1. Politicians
3.2. Groups/Parties
4. Content Analysis Relevant to Cambodia
4.1. Political Thoughts/Orientation & Ideological Inclination
4.3. Perspectives on Khmer Society of the Time
4.4. The Goals and Results
5. Personal Reflection/Perspectives/Ideas
Meeting: December 7, 2020
Final Draft February 1, 2021 5:00 PM
1930s - Communistic Inflow
1951 - Cambodia’s Own Communist Party
1966 - Building of the Khmer Rouge
Origin of the Regime - Mao Zedong