The Ideology of Total Revolution
The Ideology of Total Revolution
The Khmer Rouge, after capturing Phnom Penh in 1975, initiated a period marked by extreme loss of life. The international community condemned the atrocities, seeking to understand the causes beyond blaming American policy or individual leaders like Pol Pot.
While American bombing contributed to the rage within Kampuchea, it doesn't fully explain why the revolution turned against its own people, targeting specific groups for elimination. The killings were a systematic program that intensified over the four-year reign. The Khmer Rouge's goals, mirroring radical Maoist thinking, were far from insane and require examination to understand the events in Democratic Kampuchea.
Four Interrelated Themes
The revolution’s ideology was based on four themes:
Total independence and self-reliance.
Preservation of the dictatorship of the proletariat.
Total and immediate economic revolution.
Complete transformation of Khmer social values.
Total Sovereignty and Self-Reliance
The Khmer Rouge prioritized national sovereignty, aiming to expel foreign influences. Pol Pot viewed the pre-1954 era as a period of foreign exploitation, advocating for total control of Cambodia's affairs. This concept was rooted in Maoist doctrines.
The Khmer Rouge propagated the myth of total self-reliance, downplaying Vietnamese assistance during the civil war. They emphasized revolutionary morale over modern materials, directing this theme at any state interacting with Kampuchea.
Anti-Vietnamese sentiment was prevalent due to historical Vietnamese encroachment on Cambodian sovereignty. The Khmer Rouge feared colonization by Vietnam after the expulsion of the United States, leading to a rejection of a “special relationship” with Vietnam.
Kampuchean Concerns
The Kampuchean communist elite believed the problems stemmed from subordination in the international system. Khieu Samphan's dissertation argued that international integration caused underdevelopment by destroying national crafts and creating unproductive urban areas.
He advocated for limited autarky, state control over exports, and reduced consumer goods imports. Radio Phnom Penh echoed these sentiments, stressing economic self-reliance and criticizing foreign aid.
The Khmer Rouge elite also felt cultural imperialism, rejecting Western influences and values. This alienation motivated their actions upon capturing Phnom Penh.
Establishing Total Sovereignty
The Khmer Rouge applied these principles with extreme literalism, disregarding the costs. The outside world reacted with shock as cities were emptied, Western goods destroyed, and diplomatic relations severed.
Application of self-reliance led to diplomatic isolation, border skirmishes, and the liquidation of Khmer communist cadres trained by the Vietnamese.
City Evacuation
The forced evacuation of Phnom Penh was driven by the goals of self-reliance. The cities were centers of foreign domination and opposition to the revolution. Evacuation was meant to disorganize opposition and implement nationalization.
Pol Pot cited national security as the reason, aiming to crush “enemy spy organizations.” Evacuation also dealt a blow to international commerce and promoted the rebirth of local crafts.
Rejection of Foreign Aid
The Khmer Rouge spurned foreign aid, promoting local medicines and self-reliance in rice production. This led to significant loss of life due to famine and disease. The elite viewed accepting international assistance as a sign of weakness.
In culture, the central bank was destroyed, and the Roman Catholic cathedral was disassembled. The announcement of the Kampuchean Communist Party was delayed, potentially due to fear of dependency on imported ideology.
Achievement of Total Independence
Despite the immense suffering, Pol Pot characterized this period as the greatest in two thousand years because Kampuchea had achieved total independence and self-reliance.
Preservation of the Dictatorship of the Proletariat
Two Stages of Khmer Rouge Development
The Khmer Rouge development is split into two key phases: the national front stage (March 1970 - April 1975) & the power consolidation stage (April 1975 - January 1979).
The Khmer Rouge initially divided Cambodian society into five classes but, after capturing Phnom Penh in April 1975, adopted an exclusive definition of loyal Cambodians, leading to executions. By April 1976, "the people" only included workers, peasants, and the revolutionary army.
The Khmer Rouge planned to exterminate social categories and institutions of pre-1970 Cambodian society. All city evacuees were classified to determine individual treatment harshness.
Rather than using existing personnel, the Khmer Rouge used terror to eliminate competitors, instituting a Maoist state for the benefit of poor peasants.
Groups Targeted for Liquidation
Targeted for liquidation:
Officers & soldiers of Lon Nol’s army.
Bureaucrats
Royalty
Landowners
Those in commerce
Skilled laborers
Western-educated professionals
Khmer Moslems
Buddhist monks.
Social Categories
Democratic Kampuchea's population was divided into those with full rights, candidates for full rights, and those with no rights.
Privileged group -> joined early, poorest & uneducated rural population (full food rations & party/army membership).
Candidate status -> rural population and some city members (second in line for rations & minor political offices).
Lowest category -> no rights; landowners, officers, bureaucrats, teachers, merchants, urban residents (near-starvation diet & exhaustion).
Despite wealth transfer limitations, the regime rewarded poor farmers' children in the revolutionary organization. The army was the main organization until September 1977, protecting security and supervising economic recovery.
Local Khmer Rouge had power over individuals, rewarding service to Angkar. Eradication was driven by a desire for an egalitarian revolution, stemming from outrage over urban inequality.
Elimination of Inequalities
The Khmer Rouge eliminated inequalities by exterminating those of middle or high status, abolishing money and markets, and enforcing class struggle. Enemies were considered counterrevolutionaries unfit to live in Cambodia.
Violence scope & duration were driven by revolutionaries' perception of constant threats, leading to revolution by eradication to prevent betrayal and maintain domination.
This vision of constant jeopardy was not entirely fanciful, given external threats and the Khmer Rouge's limited strength to dominate the country without drastic measures to reorganize it and eliminate any old elites.
Total and Immediate Social and Economic Revolution
The Khmer Rouge aimed for rapid modernization by combining Maoism with terror. They sought simultaneous increases in rice production, irrigation, and cottage industry.
The army was central to energizing this modernization, exemplifying revolutionary virtues. The army's victory was seen as proof of heroism and correct ideology over material obstacles.
Rice was critical for Kampuchean modernizers. Increased production was to be achieved through large communes and labor surpluses, with two crops per year.
The structure was designed to elevate the poor, eliminate private property, and foster devotion to communal goals.
Limited autarky was expected to revive local crafts, with communes developing local production and handicrafts. The leadership was hubristic, rejecting Soviet and Vietnamese models and aiming for pure communism despite warnings from experienced Chinese leaders.
Haste was derived from revolutionary optimism, creating a spiral of rhetoric. Labor was diverted from rice cultivation, and extravagant claims were made about achievements, despite food shortages.
Rejection of Foreign Aid
The elite believed in self-sufficient communes and dismissed accurate statistics. The communes had defeated the Americans and would be an economic panacea during peacetime. The inflated claims prevented retrenchment, even when confronted with desperately short grain.
The claim was that the existing American food in Cambodia helped cushion people. All together this produces a hoax of plenty in the presence of famine.
Revolution in Social Values
Revolutions are meant to alter international relations, elevate new groups to power, and change important economic aspects of life. Adding to those qualities, the Khmer revolution altered the Cambodian social life:
Language.
Religion.
Family Life.
Work Habits.
The Khmer Rouge aimed for iron discipline, devotion to the lowly, an egalitarian society, and an intrusive revolutionary organization, instituting a new moral code, disestablishing Buddhism, romanticizing struggle, and emphasizing ideological militancy and heroic labor.
Rejection of the Socially Negative
The Khmer Rouge, being extreme moralists, accentuated the negative. This was expressed by enforcing morality and purifying cities. There was also extreme emphasis placed on the army.
Emphasis on Cleaning Up
Cleaning up emphasized not only war clutter but eradicating opposition and depraved personalities: gambling and prostitution.
The cities and society were cleaned to the point where looting and similar activities were abandoned.
By following the twelve-point army moral code, this created a revolutionary understanding within the military members, which promoted:
Service to the people.
Love for Labour.
Rejection of Corruption.
No drinking or gambling.
The Khmer Rouge were the forefront of revolutions because they destroyed social norms while being dedicated to new forms of living.
Disregard for Marriage
The Khmer Rouge saw marriage as a nuisance and families were not seen as something to build. All couples were subject to extreme regulation and those same issues were amplified ten fold when looking at Premarital relations (Punishable by death).
The Abolishment of Buddhism
Before taking power, the Khmer Rouge saw Cambodia as the most Buddhist country throughout south east Asia: "To be Khmer meant being Buddhist".
The country was dotted with buddhist temples as most men reached Monks at some point. Immediately after military victory, the Buddha practices contradicted the new doctrine. The search towards Nirvana was a negative and Buddhist monks as a whole were a drain on society.
The Khmer Rouge also defiled countless temples. All were forced to follow certain practices and follow religious intolerance or were dealt with via violence.
Revolution Via Blood
Under the Khmer authority, all capital punishment was quick to be utilized on anyone who did not follow revolutionist beliefs. It glorified violence because this was seen as a means for independence and liberation. It also mirrored the radical violence of Maoism.