In January 1975 the Khmer Rouge, as the China-backed revolutionaries came to be called, launched a major offensive against the Vietnamese faction and the Lon Nol government. The Khmer Rouge, led by Pol Pot, occupied Phnom Penh in April. A new constitution legalized the Communist government and program and renamed the country Democratic Kampuchea. The Khmer Rouge turned all cultivated land into cooperatives and sent city people to rural areas to clear cropland; Phnom Penh became a ghost town. More than 1 million people died or were killed during brutal purges of opposing factions, former government officials, and the educated and middle classes. Thousands of people fled the country seeking refuge in neighboring countries, such as Thailand.
In December 1978 Vietnam invaded Kampuchea. The Vietnamese government said it wanted to save Kampuchea from further harshness and purges by the Khmer Rouge; its support went to the Soviet-Vietnamese Communist faction. By April 1979 the Vietnamese had taken Phnom Penh, installed a new government under Heng Samrin, and changed the name of the country to the People's Democratic Republic of Kampuchea. The Vietnamese army occupied the country and waged anti-Khmer Rouge campaigns in the western border areas. POL POT (also called Tol Saut)(borned 1928),Cambodian Politician
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In January 1975 the Khmer Rouge, as the China-backed revolutionaries came to be called, launched a major offensive against the Vietnamese faction and the Lon Nol government. The Khmer Rouge, led by Pol Pot, occupied Phnom Penh in April. A new constitution legalized the Communist government and program and renamed the country Democratic Kampuchea. The Khmer Rouge turned all cultivated land into cooperatives and sent city people to rural areas to clear cropland; Phnom Penh became a ghost town. More than 1 million people died or were killed during brutal purges of opposing factions, former government officials, and the educated and middle classes. Thousands of people fled the country seeking refuge in neighboring countries, such as Thailand.