The Broken Kingdom: A History of the Khmer Rouge Era and Cambodia's Journey to Rebirth

The Broken Kingdom: A History of the Khmer Rouge Era and Cambodia's Journey to Rebirth

Chapter One: The Seeds of Darkness: The Rise of the Khmer Rouge and the Ideology of Year Zero The fall of Phnom Penh on April 17, 1975, was not initially met with universal terror. For many Cambodians, exhausted by years of brutal civil war, corruption, and devastating American bombing, the arrival of the disciplined, black-clad soldiers of the Khmer Rouge signaled an end to the conflict and the promise of a new beginning. But this was a false dawn. The victorious army was not merely a political faction; they were the instruments of a radical and uncompromising ideology, an organization known only as "Angkar" (The Organization). Within hours, they would begin to implement a fanatical vision that would transform the entire country into a vast, borderless concentration camp, leading to the death of nearly a quarter of the population in one of the most horrific genocides of the 20th century. The rise of the Khmer Rouge was not a sudden event. It was a "perfect storm" th…