Introduction
Are we any better than they were? We look down on foreign countries killing their masses but are we doing anything to help? In this activity, you are a detective trying to figure out why the U.S. had such a big part in the Cambodian Genocide and the Vietnam War. You will need to explore the events that led to the Cambodian Genocide and how the U.S. affected the country. Then, you will use this knowledge and present it through journal entries and notes.
Task
While researching the incidents that occured in Cambodia you will see that mistakes can cause hundreds of thousands of people to die. By realizing that for every action there is a reaction, hopefully, you think about what you do so that the malicious events in history does not repeat itself.
Process
Use Microsoft Word to type journal entries and additional notes (one entry each)
1. What did Lon Nol manage to do from 1970-1972? What policy did he abandon and what sides did he support?
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/346805/Lon-Nol
2. Who was Pol Pot and what did he attempt to do?
http://worldwithoutgenocide.org/genocides-and-conflicts/cambodian-genocide
3. What illegal plan did President Nixon carry out in 1969? What was the plan about? What was Operation Eagle Pull?
http://www.pbs.org/battlefieldvietnam/timeline/index3.html
http://www.rotorheadsrus.us/documents/361.html
4. What did the U.S. do that cause thousands of Cambodians to die?
http://www.ppu.org.uk/genocide/g_cambodia.html
5. How long did the Bombings last and how many tons of bombs were dropped? Why do you think Nixon kept this a secret?
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/us-bombs-cambodia-for-the-first-time
Critical Thinking: Lon Nol was the leader of Cambodia during the Civil war which is the time the bombings occured. If he supported the U.S. do you think the Cambodians would support him or be against him? Would their reaction help Pol Pot into becoming the dictator of Cambodia?
6. Lon Nol did not treat his army with respect which could have led to his overthrow. What did many of his soldiers resort to after having no food?
7. What type of people did the Khmer Rouge(Pol Pot's Government) kill? What was their slogan and what does it mean?
http://www.hmd.org.uk/genocides/cambodia
8. What did the khmer rouge do in order to achieve the "ideal" communist model?
http://theotheralist.wordpress.com/2014/04/05/s-21-and-the-khmer-rouge-killing-fields-cambodia/
9. What were the types of "citizens" that the Khmer Rouge label the the cambodians? In the very end how many people died and how long was the Genocide?
https://www.hmh.org/ed_Genocide_Cambodia.shtml
10. Draw conclusions for the about how the U.S. affected the Cambodians. Also, relate the Cambodian Genocide to another Genocide in history.
+ Each entry must be atleast 3 sentences
+ Have your name, date, teacher, class and title for full points on the cover page
Evaluation
Use this rubric to guide you through your journal entries
Conclusion
By the end of this activity, you would have learned about the Cambodian Genocide and how the U.S. may have sparked it. It was only a mistake but that mistake caused hundreds of thousands of people to be killed. I hope you realize that you must think of the consequences before you do something that can hurt someone else, eventually, if we all do this then we can prevent history from repeating itself and causing another problem like the one in Cambodia.
Credits
"Battlefield: Vietnam." PBS. PBS, n.d. Web. 10 Apr. 2014.
"Cambodian Genocide | World Without Genocide." Cambodian Genocide | World Without Genocide. World Without Genocide, n.d. Web. 10 Apr. 2014.
"GENOCIDE - CAMBODIA." GENOCIDE - CAMBODIA. Peace Pledge Union, n.d. Web. 09 Apr. 2014.
"Genocide in Cambodia." Genocide in Cambodia. Holocaust Museum Holocaust, n.d. Web. 10 Apr. 2014.
"Holocaust Memorial Day Trust." Cambodia. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Apr. 2014.
"History of Cambodia." N.p., 02 July 2009. Web. 10 Apr. 2014.
"Operation: Eagle Pull." Rotorheadsrus.us. Rotorheads, n.d. Web. 10 Apr. 2014.
"S-21 and the Khmer Rouge Killing Fields [Cambodia] | The Other A-List." The Other AList. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Apr. 2014.
Schanberg, Sydney. "Crimesof War." Crimes of War – Cambodia. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Apr. 2014.
"Vietnam War." History.com. A&E Television Networks, n.d. Web. 09 Apr. 2014.