Democratic Kampuchea

Democratic Kampuchea កម្ពុជាប្រជាធិបតេយ្យ
1975–1979
Flag (1976–1979) Emblem (1976–1979)
Anthem: ដប់ប្រាំពីរមេសាមហាជោគជ័យ "Victorious Seventeenth of April" (1976–1979)
Location of Democratic Kampuchea
Capital and largest city	Phnom Penh
Common languages	Khmer
Religion	State atheism
Mode of production	Socialism
Government	Unitary one-party Marxist–Leninist socialist republic
CPK General Secretary
• 1975–1979	Pol Pot
Head of state
• 1975–1976	Norodom Sihanouk
• 1976–1979	Khieu Samphan
Prime Minister
• 1975–1976	Penn Nouth
• 1976	Khieu Samphan (acting)
• 1976	Pol Pot
• 1976	Nuon Chea (acting)
• 1976–1979	Pol Pot
Legislature	People's Representative Assembly
History
• Khmer Rouge capture of Phnom Penh	17 April 1975
• Constitution established	5 January 1976
• Start of Vietnamese invasion	21 December 1978
• Vietnamese capture of Phnom Penh	7 January 1979
• CGDK established	22 June 1982

Democratic Kampuchea was a socialist state in modern Cambodia which existed between 1975 to 1979. The government which ruled the country is often known in the West as the Khmer Rouge. The state was led by the Communist Party of Kampuchea headed by Pol Pot.

The socialist government of Kampuchea initiated several large-scale, albeit failed, programs to build a communist society and repair the damages caused by United States bombings, including the evacuation of most urban centers, abolition of currency, and agrarian collectivization. Democratic Kampuchea aligned with the People's Republic of China against the revisionist Soviet Union and maintained relations with other countries such as North Korea. The state, however, continued to support China into its revisionist period and would also implement various chauvinistic policies domestically. The state would collapse in 1979 with an invasion by the Soviet-backed government of Vietnam and would continue as an insurgency until 1999.

Left-wing critics have accused Democratic Kampuchea as being a detachment from Marxism and a Western-backed regime installed the counter the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and its interests. Some have even alleged the state to have committed genocide.

History

Background

The land that would become Democratic Kampuchea was the location of several monarchic states in pre-modern times, most notably the Khmer Empire (802–1431). In 1863, the French Colonialists installed a protectorate in Cambodia along with the rest of Indochina. French colonial rule would be briefly interrupted during the Second World War with an invasion by the Empire of Japan, which would establish a puppet monarchy in Cambodia in 1945 until being defeated that same year by the Allied powers.

Rise of the Communist Party of Kampuchea

In 1953, an independent monarchy would established and would last until 1970, when it was overthrown in a military putsch and the Khmer Republic established. Kampuchea at this time was in a civil war between Western-sponsored capitalists and communists led by the Communist Party of Kampuchea. With large popular support in the countryside, the capital Phnom Penh finally fell on 17 April 1975 to the CPK, beginning the period of Democratic Kampuchea.

Socialist construction

In April 1975, the newly-established Democratic Kampuchea government would enforce an evacuation from major cities into the country-side. This was done as the cities had become overcrowded with refugees fleeing United States bombings which had destroyed a large part of the countryside, and were running low on food supplies due to an ongoing famine.

Four-year plan

Main article: Four-year plan (Democratic Kampuchea)

Between July 21 and August 2, 1976 the first four-year plan would be conceived of by the standing committee of the CPK and implemented starting 1977. The four-year plan was inspired by the Great Leap Forward in China many years prior. This plan sought to introduce far-reaching collectivization of all private ownership and placed high national priority on the cultivation of rice. After national defense, collectivization was the most important policy of Democratic Kampuchea. The four-year plan aimed at achieving an average national yield of three tons of rice per hectare.

The four-year plan also included arrangements to plant other crops and other resources. The leaders of Democratic Kampuchea sought to achieve complete self-reliance in both economic and social sphere from external powers and turn Cambodia from an undeveloped agrarian country to a modern agricultural country.

Vietnamese invasion and fall

Main article: Vietnamese invasion of Kampuchea

Immediately following the Khmer Rouge victory in 1975, there were skirmishes between their troops and Vietnamese forces. After a series of failed negotiations over the course of several years, the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, backed by the Soviet Union, invaded Democratic Kampuchea in December 1978. Although Kampuchean resistance was firm, the capital city of Phnom Penh would be captured on January 7, 1979. The Vietnamese would establish a revisionist puppet government known as the People's Republic of Kampuchea. However, the remains of Democratic Kampuchea would fight on in an insurgency until 1999.

Politics

Constitution

Territorial divisions of Democratic Kampuchea.

The constitution of Democratic Kampuchea mandated the creation of a state which was independent, unified, peaceful, neutral, non-aligned, sovereign, and democratic. The constitution also mandated the creation of the Kampuchean People's Representative Assembly as a legislative organ. This assembly was made up of a total of 250 members elected by popular vote — 150 peasants, 50 proletarians, and 50 representatives of the revolutionary army.

Society

Education and literacy

Education and literacy were considered large priorities for the government of Democratic Kampuchea. A considerable part of the four-year plan hoped to reshape Kampuchean society by increasing literacy and otherwise developing the educational system. In Democratic Kampuchea, there existed primary school in addition to secondary and tertiary education. In secondary education, topics which were disseminated included reading and writing, arithmetic, revolutionary history, geography, politics, and natural sciences.

Healthcare

In Democratic Kampuchea, there was a hospital or clinic for every 100 families, which handled diseases which were previously neglected such as malaria. Doctors were well-educated and entire facilitates for medicine production were established. Peasants had free access to these hospitals with basic medicine or care. By the end of the Khmer Rouge government, malaria was completely eradicated.

Ethnic minorities

In Democratic Kampuchea, treatment of ethnic minorities was generally poor. Within five months of the regime's rise to power, the Vietnamese minority, numbering over 150,000, were accused of collaboration with the Vietnamese government and expelled to Vietnam. Other ethnic minorities had their languages and customs repressed in cooperatives and forced to adopt Khmer ways.

Economy

Collectivization

Private ownership was abolished and employment ensured as per the constitution of Democratic Kampuchea, but property for personal use was allowed. Commodity production and currency were abolished as well and the entire bourgeoisie was expropriated. Most of the land was owned under peasant cooperatives and, for the first time in centuries, peasants were able to keep a portion of their yields.

In the socialist Kampuchean economy, there existed both high-level and low-level cooperatives. Low-level cooperatives were where land and agricultural implements were lent by peasants to the community but remained their private property. High-level cooperatives were ones in which private property was abolished and the harvest became the collective property of the peasants.

Self-sufficiency

The Kampuchean economy was, for the most part, self-sufficient and free from exploitation by imperialist and other foreign powers.

Legacy

Cambodian "genocide"

Main article: Cambodian genocide

The government of Democratic Kampuchea is often accused in anti-communist and revisionist circles of being responsible for a genocide or "classicide" targeting multiple demographics. While excesses did happen, they did not result in the 2 to 3 million deaths figure often associated with the Khmer Rouge. Many of the deaths which happened under the government were the direct or indirect results of American bombings and famine which the government actively sought to remedy. According to statistics from the Cambodian government, around 300,000 people were either executed or punished.

See also

• Communist Party of Kampuchea
• People's Republic of Kampuchea