Its foundation took place on 2 December 1978 in Kratié Province near the border with Vietnam at a meeting of seventy dissident Cambodians determined to overthrow Pol Pot's government. Heng Samrin was voted as leader of the front and within a few weeks its influence spread widely on both sides of the border. The front was a heterogeneous Cambodian politico-military organization that legitimized the Vietnamese invasion of Cambodia, precipitating the ensuing defeat of the Khmer Rouge's Democratic Kampuchea. It brought about the foundation of the new state named 'People's Republic of Kampuchea' and the reconstruction of the shattered and desperately impoverished country. This organization has undergone various name changes as it has expanded and adapted to the different historical realities in Cambodia.