Birth of Pol Pot
Birth of Pol Pot, son of a peasant family
Historical biography archive · Updated 2026-11-03
Pol Pot Biography and Timeline
Follow Pol Pot through 133 dated historical records for Kampuchea.
Pol Pot, historical timeline
A chronological timeline drawn from matching World History Database records.
133Distinct records
1 of 4Page
1925–1973Years on this page
1925
1946
KCP
Appointed Member of Kampuchean Communist Party
1950
Independence of Kampuchea
After the Soviet Union recognized the Viet Minh as the Government of Vietnam in 1950, French Communists (PCF) took up the cause of Vietnams independence
Independence of Vietnam
After the Soviet Union recognized the Viet Minh as the Government of Vietnam in 1950, French Communists (PCF) took up the cause of Vietnams independence
1951
Cercle Marxiste
Joins a communist cell in a secret organisation known as the Cercle Marxiste which had taken control of the Khmer Students Association (AER) that same year
KCP
Founded when the Indochinese Communist Party (ICP) was divided into separate Kampuchean, Lao, and Vietnamese communist parties.
KCP
Joins a communist cell in a secret organisation known as the Cercle Marxiste which had taken control of the Khmer Students Association (AER) that same year.
KCP
Pol Pot helps tranform the Khmer Students Association (KSA), to which most of the 200 or so Khmer students in Paris belonged, into an organisation for nationalist and leftist ideas.
KSA
Pol Pot helps tranform the Khmer Students Association (KSA), to which most of the 200 or so Khmer students in Paris belonged, into an organisation for nationalist and leftist ideas
Khmer Students Association
Joins a communist cell in a secret organisation known as the Cercle Marxiste which had taken control of the Khmer Students Association (AER) that same year
1952
KCP
Pol Pot, Hou Yuon, Ieng Sary, and other leftists gained notoriety by sending an open letter to Sihanouk calling him the "strangler of infant democracy"
1954
Independence of Kampuchea
After Kampuchean independence following the 1954 Geneva Conference, right and left wing parties struggled against each other for power in the new Government
KCP
After Kampuchean independence following the 1954 Geneva Conference, right and left wing parties struggled against each other for power in the new Government
1955
KCP
The KCP wins about 4% of the electoral vote but does not secure a seat in the legislature
1962
Election
Government attacks prevent the KCP from participating in the 1962 election and drove it underground
KCP
When Ton Samouth was murdered, Pol Pot becomes the acting leader of the communist party. Government attacks prevent the KCP from participating in the 1962 election and drove it underground
Party Leader
When Ton Samouth was murdered, Pol Pot becomes the acting leader of the communist party
Khmer Rouge
Founds the guerrilla movement, Khmer Rouge
Party Leader
Appointed Party Leader of the Kampuchean Communist Party
1963
Khmer Rouge
Tous allies, Nuon Chea and Keo Meas, are removed from the Central Committee and replaced by Son Sen and Vorn Vet. Pol Pot and loyal comrades from his Paris student days control the party centre, edging out older veterans whom they considered excessively proese. At the WPKs second congress, Pol Pot is chosen to succeed Tou Samouth as the party's general secretary
KCP
Pol Pot and most of the central committee left Phnom Penh to establish an insurgent base in Ratanakiri Province
Khmer Rouge
Pol Pot and most of the central committee leave Phnom Penh to establish an insurgent base in Ratanakiri Province in the northeast
General Secretary
At the WPKs second congress, Pol Pot is chosen to succeed Tou Samouth as the party's general secretary
KCP
Pol Pot and most of the central committee left Phnom Penh to establish an insurgent base in Ratanakiri Province. At the WPKs second congress, Pol Pot is chosen to succeed Tou Samouth as the party's general secretary
1964
KCP
Convinces the Vietnamese to help the Kampuchean Communists set up their own base camp, the central committee of the party met later that year and issued a declaration calling for armed struggle.
KCP
The Party declaration also emphasized the idea of "self-reliance" in the sense of extreme Kampuchean nationalism, in the border camps, the ideology of the Khmer Rouge was gradually developed.
KCP
The party, breaking with Marxism, declared rural peasant farmers to be the true working class proletarian and the lifeblood of the revolution.
Khmer Rouge
The Party declaration also emphasized the idea of "self-reliance" in the sense of extreme Kampuchean nationalism, in the border camps, the ideology of the Khmer Rouge was gradually developed. The party, breaking with Marxism, declared rural peasant farmers to be the true working class proletarian and the lifeblood of the revolution
1965
KCP
Goes to North Vietnam to gain approval for an uprising in Kampuchea against the Government. North Vietnam refused to support any uprising because of agreements being negotiated with the Kampuchean Government. After another wave of repression by Sihanouk in 1965, the Khmer Rouge movement under Saloth grew at a rapid rate, many teachers and students left the cities for the countryside to join the movement
Khmer Rouge
Goes to North Vietnam to gain approval for an uprising in Kampuchea against the Government. North Vietnam refused to support any uprising because of agreements being negotiated with the Kampuchean Government. After another wave of repression by Sihanouk in 1965, the Khmer Rouge movement under Saloth grew at a rapid rate, many teachers and students left the cities for the countryside to join the movement
Khmer Rouge
The region Pol Pot and others move to is inhabited by tribal minorities, the Khmer Loeu, whose rough treatment (including resettlement and forced assimilation) at the hands of the central Government made them willing recruits for a guerrilla struggle
1966
Communist Party
The party changes its name to the Communist Party of Kampuchea (CPK)
Khmer Rouge
The party changes its name to the Communist Party of Kampuchea (CPK)
1967
Khmer Rouge
Several small-scale attempts at insurgency are made by the CPK but they have little success
1968
KCP
The Khmer Rouge launches a national insurgency across Kampuchea
Khmer Rouge
The Khmer Rouge launches a national insurgency across Kampuchea
Khmer Rouge
Khmer Rouge forces launch a national insurgency across Kampuchea. As the insurgency grows stronger, the party finally openly declares itself to be the Communist Party of Kampuchea (CPK)
1970
KCP
The political appeal of the Khmer Rouge was increased as a result of the situation created by the removal of Sihanouk as head of state in 1970. Sihanouk, in exile in Beijing, makes an alliance with the Kampuchean Communist Party and becomes the nominal head of a Khmer Rouge-dominated Government-in-exile
Khmer Rouge
The political appeal of the Khmer Rouge was increased as a result of the situation created by the removal of Sihanouk as head of state in 1970
1973
Khmer Rouge
Many people in Kampuchea who helped the Khmer Rouge against the Lon Nol Government thought they were fighting for the restoration of Sihanouk.
Records, sources and methodology
These dates and descriptions come from the historical_events database. Exact duplicate records have been collapsed. Names are grouped by the country, Name 2 and Name 1 fields; records with missing Name 2 cannot be reliably assigned to an individual biography. Check the underlying sources before formal citation.