Khmer Rouge Is Overthrown In Cambodia
After nearly 4 years in power, the regime led by Pol Pot is brought down. In 1979, the Communist Khmer Rouge government was overthrown by Vietnamese forces. Pol Pot's regime took power in 1975 after the corrupt Lon Nol government lost US support following the USA's defeat in Vietnam. The Khmer Rouge murdered thousands of Cambodians in their prisons. Hundreds of thousands more died from starvation and disease due to the regime's agricultural collectivization policies.