Ideologically a Marxist—Leninist and Khmer nationalist , he was a leading member of Cambodia's communist movement, the Khmer Rouge , from until and served as the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Kampuchea from to Under his administration, Cambodia was converted into a one-party communist state governed according to Pol Pot's interpretation of Marxism—Leninism.
While in Paris during the s, he joined the French Communist Party. To avoid state repression, in he relocated to a jungle encampment and in became the CPK's leader. In , he re-launched the war against Sihanouk's government. After Lon Nol deposed Sihanouk in a coup , Pol Pot's forces sided with the deposed leader against Lon Nol's government , which was bolstered by the United States military.
Pol Pot transformed Cambodia into a one-party state called Democratic Kampuchea. Seeking to create an agrarian socialist society that he believed would evolve into a communist society , Pol Pot's government forcibly relocated the urban population to the countryside to work on collective farms. Pursuing complete egalitarianism, money was abolished and all citizens made to wear the same black clothing.
Those the Khmer Rouge regarded as enemies were killed. These mass killings, coupled with malnutrition and poor medical care, killed between 1.
Repeated purges of the CPK generated growing discontent; by Cambodian soldiers were mounting a rebellion in the east. After several years of border clashes, the newly unified Vietnam invaded Cambodia in December , toppling Pol Pot and installing a rival Marxist—Leninist government in The Khmer Rouge retreated to the jungles near the Thai border, from where they continued to fight. In declining health, Pol Pot stepped back from many of his roles in the movement. Taking power in Cambodia at the height of Marxism—Leninism's global impact, Pol Pot proved divisive among the international communist movement.
