What was the situation in cambodia prior to pol pot becoming a leader?

Answer 1

I'm not positive, but I think Cambodia tried to appease both America and North Vietnam during the Vietnam War. The North Vietanmese had lots of bases in Cambodia, and Cambodia turned a blind eye to it for a very long time; but eventually the Americans went after the bases. Some Cambodians were pro-Communist, and some helped the Americans a bit to remove the North Vietnamese bases. That's where they really got into trouble, but still the communists had their eye on Cambodia for a long time. The following is from Wikipedia (Pol Pot came to power in 1975): Cambodia continued as a protectorate of France from 1863 to 1953, administered as part of the French colony of Indochina. After war-time occupation by the Japanese empire from 1941 to 1945, Cambodia gained independence from France on November 9, 1953. It became a constitutional monarchy under King Norodom Sihanouk. In 1955, Sihanouk abdicated in favour of his father in order to be elected Prime Minister. Upon his father's death in 1960, Sihanouk again became head of state, taking the title of Prince. As the Vietnam War progressed, Sihanouk adopted an official policy of neutrality until ousted in 1970 by a military coup led by Prime Minister General Lon Nol and Prince Sisowath Sirik Matak, while on a trip abroad. From Beijing, Sihanouk realigned himself with the communist Khmer Rouge rebels who had been slowly gaining territory in the remote mountain regions and urged his followers to help in overthrowing the pro-United States government of Lon Nol, hastening the onset of civil war.[8] Operation Menu, a series of secret B-52 bombing raids by the United States on alleged Viet Cong bases and supply routes inside Cambodia, was acknowledged after Lon Nol assumed power; U.S. forces briefly invaded Cambodia in a further effort to disrupt the Viet Cong. The bombing continued and, as the Cambodian communists began gaining ground, eventually included strikes on suspected Khmer Rouge sites until halted in 1973.[9]