The Khmer Rouge (Khmer: ""; French for "Red Khmer") was a Stalinist, Maoist militant group in Cambodia. They took over the capital, Phnom Penh, on 17 April 1975. It was led by Pol Pot, who was called Saloth Sar before the take over. They named the country Democratic Kampuchea. They immediately forced everyone out of the cities, effectively turning the whole country into a giant labor camp. They were defeated by the Vietnamese in January of 1979. During the Khmer Rouge Years, between 1.7 million and 2 million people were killed (20–30% of the population) in a genocide comparable to the Holocaust. The international community continued to recognize the Khmer Rouge as the government of Kampuchea for a decade after they were defeated. Therefore, the Khmer Rouge held a seat in the United Nations until 1989.
Pol Pot died in 1998. He was cremated without any ceremony. By 1999, the Khmer Rouge disbanded.
A leading source summarised the Khmer Rouge as follows:
"...The Khmer Rouge regime [was] the ultimate twentieth-century paradigm of the totalitarian state. Using sheer violence and terror, a small clique [took] power. [It saw itself] as the messianic mission to bring happiness and prosperity faster than any of its revolutionary model and competitors. It came to control every aspect of social and private life. No one was allowed to nurse, let alone express, any form of opposition".
The same source summarises the effect: "Between 17 April 1975 and 7 January 1979 the death toll was about 25% of a population of some 7.8 million; 33.5% of men were massacred or died unnatural deaths as against 15.7% of the women, and 41.9% of the population of Phnom Penh".
Juche
Juche () is the group of ideas developed by North Korean leader Kim Il-Sung, "Juche" means self-reliance. According to its supporters, the idea was developed from Marxism and Leninism. In many cases, it is noticeably different from both. At its base, the idea states that the interests of the people and their nation are more important than those of Leninism or Marxism. A strong leader is required to undertake the necessary reforms. The nation of (North) Korea is special, and should be the focus of interest. Every nation needs to drive forward its own revolution. Three things are necessary for this:
It is the role of the state to make sure these three things are there. According to this idea, man himself is responsible for designing what the world should look like. The welfare of many people (which form the nation) is more important than the fate of the individual.
Juche also says that intellectuals are important.
Certain people have described these ideas as a philosophy, others see it as a religion.
Kigali
Kigali (pronounced either as 'Kigali' or 'Chigali' or 'Cyigali') is the capital city of Rwanda.
Louis XVI
Louis XVI (23 August 1754 21 January 1793) was the King of France from 1774 until 1792, when the monarchy was abolished during the French Revolution. His overthrow and execution ended a monarchy that was over 1,000 years old, although he was not the last French king.
Louis came from the House of Bourbon. He became the king at the age of 20, after the death of his grandfather Louis XV. Early in his reign, he tried to make France more modern. He stopped the government from using torture and allowed people to be Protestant again. He and his minister Turgot took away some laws on selling grain, which led to high grain prices in years when the harvest was bad. He also supported the Americans in their war for independence from Great Britain. Debts from this war, other war debts and the outdated tax system caused major money problems in France. Louis's plans to solve the problems were blocked by the nobles. The money problems and the new ideas of the Age of Enlightenment caused more people to stop supporting the existing monarchy (the "Ancien Régime") and demand change.
In 1789, Louis called the Estates-General (a parliament) to try to solve the problems. As a leader who was weak-willed and did not want to change the country much, he soon disappointed the elected politicians who wanted to reduce the king's powers. Protests against the monarchy became more common, especially among the poorer people of Paris and the middle class. This led to the Storming of the Bastille in July and the Women's March on Versailles in October. These events caused the king to lose control of the country to the National Assembly.
At first, the Assembly did not plan to abolish the monarchy. But the idea became more popular as rebellions and protests broke out across France, more radical politicians started to lead the government, money problems became worse and foreign governments threatened to invade. Louis and his wife Marie Antoinette slowly became unpopular symbols of the "Ancien Régime" that people wanted to leave behind. Their failed escape from Paris in June 1791 was a disaster. It convinced many people that they were plotting with foreign governments to overthrow the Assembly. He was arrested during a riot in August 1792 and the monarchy was abolished the next month. The government took away his titles, calling him "Citizen Louis Capet", taking the surname from Hugh Capet, an early French king. He was put on trial by the National Convention, found guilty of treason, and executed by guillotine on 21 January 1793. He was the only king of France to be executed.
Louis XVI was born in 1754 during the reign of his grandfather King Louis XV. His father was Louis Ferdinand, Dauphin of France, the heir to the throne. His mother was Marie Josephe of Saxony. His parents liked his older brother more than Louis and were upset when Louis's brother died while still a child. Louis's parents turned against him and he became a shy boy. His father died early in Louis's life and Louis became the heir to the throne. Because of this, he took the title of "dauphin".
In 1770, when Louis was 15, he married Marie Antoinette, an Austrian princess. They had met only two days before the wedding. Many people in France did not want Louis to have an Austrian wife, because France's alliance with Austria was not popular. The two countries had been enemies until 1756, when they had become allies. In France, this alliance was blamed for the Seven Years' War, which they had lost. Louis and Marie Antoinette were not close in the early years of their marriage, but they did grow to love each other. It was not until 1777 that they had sexual relations. They did not manage to have children for several years after that. This made the marriage difficult. The situation was made worse when rude pamphlet called "libelles" were published. These "libelles" mocked them for not being able to have children. One asked: "Can the King do it? Can't the King do it?" In the end, he and Marie Antoinette had four children:
They also adopted six children.
Louis became the king when Louis XV died in 1774. He was 19 years old. Louis took charge of a country which had big problems. After the Seven Year's War, France was no longer the most powerful country in Europe. The country had debts because of the war, and because its tax system was outdated. Many nobles and other rich people could avoid paying taxes, something that many ordinary people hated. It was also the Age of Enlightenment, a time when people were becoming more interested in ideas like democracy and liberalism. A growing number of people opposed the absolute monarchy of France.