The Cambodian Genocide took place from 1975 to 1979 in the Southeast Asian country of Cambodia. The genocide was a brutal massacre that killed 1.4 to 2.2 million people, about 21 percent of Cambodia's population. This essay will discuss the history of the Cambodian genocide, specifically, what happened, the victims and perpetrators, and the world's response to the genocide. The Cambodian genocide has the historical context of the Vietnam War and the country's civil war. During the Vietnam War, which led to conflicts that would contribute to genocide, Cambodia was used as a battlefield by the United States for the Vietnam War. Cambodia would become a battlefield for American troops fighting in Vietnam for four years; the war would kill up to 750,000 Cambodians thanks to US efforts to destroy alleged North Vietnamese supply lines. This devastation would have a negative impact on the morale of the Cambodian people and would later help contribute to the conflicts that caused the Cambodian genocide. In the 1970s, the Khmer Rouge guerrilla movement was formed. Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot was educated in France and believed in Maoist communism. These communist ideas would become important foundations for ideas of genocide and which groups would be persecuted. The genocide itself would be based on Pol Pot's ideas of returning Cambodia to an agricultural society, starting from year zero. His main goal was to achieve this romanticized idea of ​​old Cambodia, based on ancient Cambodian ruins, with all citizens living an agricultural life and being equal to each other. Because of his desire for society to be fair and agriculturally based, the victims would be those who are educated, intellectuals, professionals and ethnic minorities...... middle of paper ......: 215-233. Premier of academic research. Network. 25 November 2013.SAINATI, TATIANA E. "Towards a comparative approach to the crime of genocide". Duke Law Journal 62.1 (2012): 161-202. Premier of academic research. Network. November 25, 2013Williams, Sarah. "Genocide: the Cambodian experience". International Criminal Law Review 5.3 (2005): 447-461. Premier of academic research. Network. November 25, 2013. Photo Archive Sites “Cambodian Genocide: S-21 Photographs.” www.mtholyoke.edu. Network. December 17, 2013. http://www.mtholyoke.edu/~amamendo/photos.html"Cambodian Genocide Program: Presentation of Photographs of S-21 Prisoners." Cgp.research.yale.edu. Yale University Cambodian Genocide Program, Web. December 17, 2013. http://cgp.research.yale.edu/cgp/cts/cts_slideshow.jspVictim Dedicated Source"DACHS." The digital archive of Cambodia's Holocaust survivors. Network. 17 December 2013. http://www.cybercambodia.com/