Khmer Rumdo
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The Khmer Rumdos ( km, ខ្មែររំដោះ), also spelt Khmer Rumdos or Khmer Rumdoh ("Liberation Khmer" in the
Khmer language Khmer (; , ) is an Austroasiatic languages, Austroasiatic language spoken by the Khmer people, and the Official language, official and national language of Cambodia. Khmer has been influenced considerably by Sanskrit and Pāli, Pali, especiall ...
) were one of several groups of
guerrillas Guerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare in which small groups of combatants, such as paramilitary personnel, armed civilians, or irregulars, use military tactics including ambushes, sabotage, raids, petty warfare, hit-and-run tactics ...
operating within the borders of
Cambodia Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia, spanning an area of , bordered by Thailand t ...
during the
Cambodian Civil War The Cambodian Civil War ( km, សង្គ្រាមស៊ីវិលកម្ពុជា, Romanization of Khmer#UNGEGN, UNGEGN: ) was a civil war in Cambodia fought between the forces of the Communist Party of Kampuchea (known as the Khme ...
of 1970–1975. They were a part of the
National United Front of Kampuchea The National United Front of Kampuchea ( or , FUNK; km, រណសិរ្សរួបរួមជាតិកម្ពុជា, ) was an organisation formed by the deposed then Chief of State of Cambodia, Norodom Sihanouk in 1970 while he was in ...
(Front Uni National du Kampuchea, FUNK), an association between Prince
Norodom Sihanouk Norodom Sihanouk (; km, នរោត្តម សីហនុ, ; 31 October 192215 October 2012) was a Cambodian statesman, Sangkum and FUNCINPEC politician, Norodom Sihanouk filmography, film director, and composer who led Cambodia in vari ...
, who had been ousted from power in 1970, and communist forces.


Origin and history

Although the boundaries between the different factions were somewhat confused, the Khmer Rumdo are generally identified as those elements which were nominally loyal to Prince Sihanouk, but which were also leftist and supported by
North Vietnam North Vietnam, officially the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV; vi, Việt Nam Dân chủ Cộng hòa), was a socialist state supported by the Soviet Union (USSR) and the People's Republic of China (PRC) in Southeast Asia that existed f ...
.
Library of Congress Country Studies: Cambodia - Major Political and Military Organizations
'
Kiernan, B. ''How Pol Pot came to power'', Yale UP, 2004, p.317 The faction had its origins partly in the history of the
Communist Party of Kampuchea The Communist Party of Kampuchea (CPK),, Romanization of Khmer#UNGEGN, UNGEGN: , Romanization of Khmer#ALA-LC Romanization Tables, ALA-LC: ; french: Parti communiste du Kampuchea also known as the Khmer Communist Party,Khmer Issarak The Khmer Issarak ( km, ខ្មែរឥស្សរៈ, or 'Independent Khmer') was a "loosely structured" anti- French and anti-colonial independence movement. The movement has been labelled as “amorphous”. The Issarak was ...
(independence) movement. Many of the early Cambodian communists had strong links with the
Viet Minh The Việt Minh (; abbreviated from , chữ Nôm and Hán tự: ; french: Ligue pour l'indépendance du Viêt Nam, ) was a national independence coalition formed at Pác Bó by Hồ Chí Minh on 19 May 1941. Also known as the Việt Minh Fro ...
, received training and support from the Vietnamese Party, and in many cases supported Sihanouk as a figure of national unity. These cadres retained senior positions in many of the areas east of the
Mekong The Mekong or Mekong River is a trans-boundary river in East Asia and Southeast Asia. It is the world's List of rivers by length, twelfth longest river and List of longest rivers of Asia, the third longest in Asia. Its estimated length is , ...
and near the Vietnamese border. The 'Khmer Rumdo' forces, accordingly, were recruited largely in the east of the country. They were differentiated from the forces loyal to the hardline 'Centre' of the Communist Party of Kampuchea, who were strongest in the west and south-west, and who were generally referred to by European and American observers as the
Khmer Rouge The Khmer Rouge (; ; km, ខ្មែរក្រហម, ; ) is the name that was popularly given to members of the Communist Party of Kampuchea (CPK) and by extension to the regime through which the CPK ruled Cambodia between 1975 and 1979. ...
(a name originally coined by Sihanouk to refer to Cambodian communists in general). The 'Centre', led by
Saloth Sar Pol Pot; (born Saloth Sâr;; 19 May 1925 – 15 April 1998) was a Cambodian revolutionary, dictator, and politician who ruled Cambodia as Prime Minister of Democratic Kampuchea between 1976 and 1979. Ideologically a Marxist–Leninist a ...
,
Son Sen Son Sen ( km, សុន សេន ; 12 June 1930 – 15 June 1997), alias Comrade Khieu () or "Brother Number 89", was a Cambodian Communist politician and soldier. A member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Kampuchea/Party ...
and
Ieng Sary Ieng Sary ( km, អៀង សារី; 24 October 1925 – 14 March 2013) was a Cambodian politician who was the co-founder and senior member of the Khmer Rouge. He was a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Kampuchea le ...
, had a strongly nationalistic ideology, and did not cooperate so much with North Vietnam, receiving most of its support from
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
; it also disliked Sihanouk, regarding him as a 'feudal' figure. There were even periodic reports of clashes between the 'Centre' troops on the one side, and the eastern forces (and their
Vietnam People's Army Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...
support) on the other – although both factions coordinated their efforts against the
Khmer National Armed Forces The Khmer National Armed Forces ( km, កងកម្លាំងប្រដាប់អាវុធជាតិខ្មែរ; french: Forces armées nationales khmères, FANK) were the official armed defense forces of the Khmer Republic, a s ...
(FANK), the armed forces of
Lon Nol Marshal Lon Nol ( km, លន់ នល់, also ; 13 November 1913 – 17 November 1985) was a Cambodian politician and general who served as Prime Minister of Cambodia The prime minister of Cambodia ( km, នាយករដ្ឋមន្ ...
's
Khmer Republic The Khmer Republic ( km, សាធារណរដ្ឋខ្មែរ, ; french: République khmère) was a pro-United States military-led republican government of Cambodia that was formally declared on 9 October 1970. The Khmer Republic wa ...
. During the early part of the Civil War, the Khmer Rumdo were estimated to be by far the stronger element of the Cambodian forces opposing Lon Nol. In August 1971, the Khmer Republic official
In Tam In Tam ( km, អ៊ិន តាំ ; 22 September 19161 April 2006) was a Cambodian politician who once served as the prime minister of the Khmer Republic. He served in that position from 6 May 1973 to 9 December 1973, and had a long career in ...
estimated the non-Vietnamese insurgents to number around 10,000: of these, he was forced to admit that only 4000 were true 'Khmer Rouge', the remainder being made up of Sihanoukists and Khmers fighting what they regarded as an "American occupation".Kahin, G. ''Southeast Asia: a testament'', Routledge, 2003, p.313 After Sihanouk's 1973 visit to the 'liberated areas', however, where he was greeted with vocal support from the peasants, the 'Centre' began to quietly remove both the Sihanoukists and pro-Vietnamese cadres from the administration in the areas they controlled. By 1974, it was reported that the forces loyal to the 'Centre' were using the term ''Khmer Krahom'' – i.e. Red Khmer or ''Khmer Rouge'' – to identify themselves, rather than 'Khmer Rumdo'.Kiernan, p.335 As time went by there were reports that Khmer Rumdo were, in some cases, directly involved in activities against the Khmer Rouge administration within the 'liberated areas'. There were at least three incidents in Region 35 (
Kampot Province Kampot ( km, កំពត ) is a province in southwestern Cambodia. It borders the provinces of Koh Kong and Kampong Speu to the north, Takéo to the east, Kep and the country of Vietnam ( Kiên Giang) to the south, and Sihanoukville to the ...
) late 1973 in which Khmer Rumdo forces took part in action against hardline Communist Party troops, and rallied peasants protesting against attempts by Party cadres to requisition rice crops.Kiernan, B. ''How Pol Pot Came to Power'', Yale UP, 2004, p.377 By early 1974, a large pro-Sihanouk force was reported to be attempting to gain military control of main roads in the province. In Region 37 in the Western Zone, 742 Khmer Rumdo surrendered ''en masse'' to the Lon Nol regime in March 1974, claiming they were part of a force of ten thousand who would follow if Nol gave them operational autonomy to carry on their fight against their Communist Party rivals.Kiernan, p.378. Lon Nol, however, was to refuse them.


The administration in eastern Cambodia, 1970–75

Accounts obtained from refugees stated that not only did the eastern forces, under the command of Chan Chakrey, dress differently to the Khmer Rouge (wearing green military fatigues rather than the black peasants' clothing adopted by Khmer Rouge soldiers) but that in their zones of control they behaved with considerably more moderation (captured FANK officers, for example, were merely ordered to perform labour, rather than being executed as was invariably the case with the Khmer Rouge). There is also evidence that there was a greater degree of religious and economic freedom permitted in the eastern areas, even after the fall of the Lon Nol regime in 1975.Pike, D. ''Indochina: hearing before the Subcommittee on East Asian and Pacific Affairs of the Committee on Foreign Relations, United States Senate, Ninety-fifth Congress, second session, August 21, 1978'', p.79, 85


Purges after 1975

The senior Khmer Rouge leaders who had publicly collaborated with Sihanouk, either prior to 1970 or in the 'Unified Front', were either killed (as in the case of
Hou Yuon Hou Yuon ( km, ហ៊ូ យន់, 1930 – August 1975 (or later)) was a veteran of the communist movement in Cambodia. A member of the Communist Party of Kampuchea, also known as the Khmer Rouge, he served in several ministerial posts dur ...
and
Hu Nim Hu Nim (, 25 July 1930 or 1932 – 6 July 1977), alias "Phoas" (), was a Cambodian Communist intellectual and politician who held a number of ministerial posts. His long political career included spells with the Sangkum regime of Prince Norodom ...
) – or marginalised (as in the case of
Khieu Samphan Khieu Samphan ( km, ខៀវ សំផន; born 28 July 1931) is a Cambodian former communist politician and economist who was the chairman of the state presidium of Democratic Kampuchea (Cambodia) from 1976 until 1979. As such, he served as ...
) – after the establishment of
Democratic Kampuchea Kampuchea ( km, កម្ពុជា ), officially known as Democratic Kampuchea (DK; km, កម្ពុជាប្រជាធិបតេយ្យ ) from 5 January 1976, was a one-party totalitarian state which encompassed modern-day Camb ...
. The Eastern Zone was purged by the Party Centre in 1976–77. Chakrey was executed in
Tuol Sleng The Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum ( km, សារមន្ទីរឧក្រិដ្ឋកម្មប្រល័យពូជសាសន៍ទួលស្លែង) or simply Tuol Sleng ( km, ទួលស្លែង, link=no, ; lit. "Hill of ...
Detention Centre in 1976, the first high-ranking official to be sent there; while
So Phim So Phim was a Khmer Issarak, No. 3 of the Permanent Bureau and of the Military Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Kampuchea, deputy head of the People's National Liberation Armed Forces of Kampuchea, secretary of East Zone ...
, the Eastern Zone Secretary, committed suicide. Some of the ousted Eastern Zone cadres – such as
Heng Samrin Heng Samrin ( km, ហេង សំរិន; born 25 May 1934) is a Cambodian politician who serves as the President of the National Assembly of Cambodia. Between 1979 and 1992, he was the ''de facto'' leader of the Hanoi-backed People's Republi ...
– would later go on to lead the
People's Republic of Kampuchea The People's Republic of Kampuchea (PRK), UNGEGN: , ALA-LC: ; vi, Cộng hòa Nhân dân Campuchia was a partially recognised state in Southeast Asia supported by Vietnam which existed from 1979 to 1989. It was founded in Cambodia by the Kamp ...
after the 1979 Vietnamese invasion.


See also

*
National United Front of Kampuchea The National United Front of Kampuchea ( or , FUNK; km, រណសិរ្សរួបរួមជាតិកម្ពុជា, ) was an organisation formed by the deposed then Chief of State of Cambodia, Norodom Sihanouk in 1970 while he was in ...


References

{{Authority control Rebel groups in Cambodia Guerrilla organizations Cambodian Civil War Factions of the Vietnam War