Khmer Rouge and Killing Fields

The Khmer Rouge was the ruling communist party that was responsible for the deaths of over 1/5 (or 1.5 million) of Cambodia’s population during their reign in the 1970’s by means of torture, starvation and labor. Cambodia has always been under invasion by its neighboring countries and had never been independent. Because of this, the leader of the Khmer Rouge, Pol Pot decided to have a fresh start – this meant no use of money, nobody would work their same jobs and just start with forcing people to evacuate their capital, Phnom Penh and force the former residents into the country and modeled the lifestyle of 11th century. Since Cambodia’s brutal history, the country is rebuilding itself with the help of their rising tourist industry.