ABSTRACT
A Communist Party known as the Khmer Rouge seized control in Kampuchea in 1975 after waging a prolonged insurgency campaign against the monarchist and military governments. Small groups of Kampuchean Communists and nationalists were active in the Viet Minh and Khmer Issarak movements during the 1940s. On the eve of the Communist takeover in April 1975 approximately 90% of the 8 million population of Kampuchea were ethnic Khmers or Cambodians; the remainder included Viets, Chinese, Cham-Malays, Laotians, Thais, and tribal people. Communist ideology stressed the oligarchic, feudalistic, and pre-capitalist nature of Kampuchean society in which the only genuine capitalist activity was purportedly foreign. Khmer Rouge economic socialization was designed to proceed with minimal outside assistance. Some aid was accepted from the People's Republic of China but Beijing exercised little real influence over Kampuchea's radical domestic policies. Tensions between Phnom Penh and Hanoi mounted after their respective Communist takeovers.
