2020 IB Extended Essays

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and as their main form of propaganda 32 . Cambodian civilians, who otherwise never would

have been drawn to the Khmer Rouge, began to accept the party’s radical beliefs and tactics

after witnessing and experiencing such atrocity and pain. One Cambodian inhabitant of a

destroyed village stated, “People in our village were furious with the Americans; they did

not know why the Americans had bombed them. Seventy people from Chalong joined the

fight against Lon Nol after the bombing.” As news correspondent Richard Durman

explained, “The peasants were turning to the fighters [the Khmer Rouge] as their best

friends.” 33

The Americans actions in the lead up to the Cambodian Genocide were a major deciding

factor in the rise to power of the Khmer rouge. Americas bombings forced many Cambodian

citizens to revise their policy of neutrality and ended up with both the King and Lon Nol

losing supporters. Citizens were drawn to the Khmer Rouge who protested the bombings

and opposed the government. The bombings also had the negative side effect of allowing

Khmer rouge forces to make their way deeper and deeper into Cambodia.

Political Unrest and Power Struggle Prior and during the Vietnam war, King Sihanouk’s primary objective was to maintain the

integrity of Cambodia — a task that proved enormously difficult, as American, Chinese, and

Vietnamese interests, as well as various left- and right-wing factions within Cambodia, were

all pulling Sihanouk in different directions. Cambodia attempted to remain neutral, and not

get involved but were unsuccessful. The US attempted to use aerial bombardment of North

32 Widyono, B 2007, The Spectre of the Khmer Rouge over Cambodia, United Nations, viewed 11 April 2020, < https://www.un.org/en/chronicle/article/spectre-khmer-rouge-over-cambodia > 33 Morris, B 2015, Nixon and the Cambodian Genocide, Jacobin, viewed 10 May 2020, < https://www.jacobinmag.com/2015/04/khmer-rouge-cambodian-genocide-united-states/ >