1975-1978: Cambodia Collapses under Khmer Rouge Regime

The Khmer Rouge under the leadership of Pol Pot evacuates the capital, sending its urban population into the countryside to work in agriculture. The regime destroys vehicles and machinery because of their Western origins and systematically kills between half a million and two million Cambodians, targeting mostly the wealthy and educated. Pol Pot also abolishes currency and the postal system. [Library of Congress, 1990; Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed., 2005]