It started when the Cambodian parliament deposed Prince Norodom Sihanouk, who had kept Cambodia neutral during the war in neighbouring South Vietnam. They broke the normal rules, which would have required a referendum for such a major change. read more
Pol Pot was a political leader whose communist Khmer Rouge government led Cambodia from 1975 to 1979. During that time, an estimated 1.5 to 2 million Cambodians died of starvation, execution, disease or overwork. One detention center, S-21, was so notorious that only seven of the roughly 20,000 people imprisoned there are known to have survived. read more
Pol Pot's family had connections to the Cambodian royal household; his cousin Meak was a consort of the king, Sisowath Monivong, and later worked as a ballet teacher. When Pol Pot was six years old, he and an older brother were sent to live with Meak in the capital city of Phnom Penh; informal adoptions by wealthier relatives was a standard practice in Cambodian society at the time. read more