Chronology

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Chronology

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Chronology
-Pol Pot
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Pol Pot 1925- May 19, born in the Kompong Thom Province of Cambodia, named Soloth Star 1949- Went to Paris to study radio technology, but he neglected his studies and became involved in radical student organizations. First learned about Marx's beliefs. 1953- Returned to Cambodia. A year later, Cambodia won full independence from the French. He worked as a teacher to support himself. He secretly worked in the radical underground to form an opposition to the monarchy of King Sihauouk. 1960- Along with other Cambodian Communists he formed the Cambodian Communist Party Group. King Sihanouk later called his group the "Khmer Rouge", or "Red Cambodians". 1967- The Khamer Rouge began its military campaign against the Cambodian government 1977- After the U.S. withdrew their forces from Vietnam the Khmer Rouge attacked and invaded the Cambodian capital of Phom Penh bringing the country under its control. 1975-1979 - The Khmer Rouge governed as a ruthless and bloody government. Nearly two million Cambodians were killed during the four-year experiment in peasant communism. Many died from starvation and disease during the Khmer Rouge Government's attempt to collectivize agricultural production. More were killed by direct methods. 1979 - Pol Pot invaded Vietnam. The Vietnamese army deposed Pol Pot's government and established a puppet government in its place. The Khmer Rouge fled to Thailand establishing military bases with the permission of the Thai Government. 1979-1996 - The Khmer Rouge fought against Cambodian Governments. 1991 - Peace agreement signed, but was not heeded. 1996 - Four thousand members left the Khmer Rouge and joined Cambodian Government. 1997- The Fall of Pol Pot. He ordered the executions of former defense minister and it resulted in a 1000 man force loyal to defense minister turning against Pol Pot, and he was captured. 1998 - On April 15 Pol Pot suffered a heart attack and died before he could be brought to trial. Mao Zedong 1893 - Born December 26 1911 - Mao enters a junior high school at Changsha. He is briefly activge in the republican revolution, and joins a local army unit. 1913 - Mao enrolls in the provincial normal school in Changsha, where he receives his last five years of formal education and graduates in 1918 1919 - Mao is working as a library assistant at Beijing University as a riot begins on May 4. About 3,000 students gather in Tiananmen Square in Beijing to demonstrate against the Yuan Shikai government's acceptance of a clause in the 'Treaty of Versailles' settlement of the First World War that transfers Germany's rights in the Shandong Province to Japan. This period marks his emergence as a Marxist-Leninist. He returns to Changsha to promote the movement but is forced to flee after the crackdown of a local warlord. 1920 - Mao returns to Changsha as head of a primary school and attempts to organize education for the masses. His efforts failed as he turned to politcs, forming a small communist group in Changsha. He organized Kuomintang-sponsored peasant and industrial unions and directed the Kuomintang's Peasant Movement Training Institute in 1926. 1927 - The Kuomintang-Communist split, Mao led a disastrous "Autumn Harvest Uprising" in Hunan, which led to his ousting from the central committee of the party. 1928-1931 - Mao and others established rural soviets in the hinterlands, and built the Red Army. 1931 - He was elected chairman of the newly established Soviet Republic of China, based in Jiangxi province. 1934-1935 - Mao led the Red Army on the Long March from the Jiangxi 5 province to the Shaanxi province and emerged as the most important communist leader. 1937-1945 - The communists and the Kuomintang continue their civil war while also battling the Japanese during the second Sino-Japanese war. 1949 - The civil war still continued, but at this time the Communists had taken almost all of mainland China and Mao became the chairman of the central government council of the newly established People's Republic of China. 1954 - Mao was reelected 1958 - In an attempt to break with the Russian model of Communism and to imbue the Chinese people with renewed revolutionary vigor, Mao launched the Great Leap Forward. The program was a failure, and resulted in starving 20 million people. The failure of the program also resulted in a break with the Soviet Union which cut off aid. 1959 - Liu Shaoqi, an opponent of the Great Leap Forward, replaced Mao as chairman of the central government council, but Mao retained his chairmanship of the Communist party politburo. 1966-1976 - A campaign to reestablish Mao's ideological line resulted in the Cultural Revolution. Mass mobilization led by Mao and his wife was directed against the party leadership. Liu and others were removed from power in 1968. 1969 - Mao reasserted his party leadership by serving as chairman of the Ninth Communist Party Congress and was named supreme commander of the nation and army in 1970. 1976 - The cultural revolution group continued its campaigns until Mao's death on September 9. *Kim Il Sung* 1912 - Born on April 15 in Mangyongdae in the Pyongyang Province of northern Korea 1919 - Nation-wide call for independence from Japan, but Korea does not receive it. Kim and his parents leave Japanese occupied Korea for Manchuria where he attends a Chinese school. 1930's - Korean military leaders become involved in the anti-Japanese resistance for the first time. Kim emerges as a significant resistance leader during this time, commanding the 6th Division, 2nd Army, 1st Route Army of the Northeast Anti-Japanese United Army. At its height Kim's division numbers about 300. The Japanese consider him to be so effective and dangerous they form a special unit to track him down. It is during this phase that he adopts the name Kim Il Sung. 1937 - The second Sino-Japanese war breaks out. Japan cracks down on its colony in Korea forcing Koreans to speak Japanese and take on Japanese names. 1941 - Kim is by now reputedly the only surviving leader of the Anti-Japanese United Army operating in Manchuria. He and some of his men flee to Siberia where they are detained by the Russians. They work with the Russians until the end of the war. 1945 - Kim returns to Korea aboard a soviet ship in September 1948 - Kim was placed in charge of the provisional government, until he came to power formally as premier of the newly-formed Democratic People's Republic of Korea. 1949 - Kim began to nag Stalin and Mao for permission to invade South Korea. Stalin disagreed and said no. About 6 months later Kim again asked for Stalin's permission to invade South Korea and Stalin again said no. 1950 - Kim spent the entire month of April in Moscow lobbying for war and finally Stalin and Mao gave him the green light to invade South Korea. On June 25^th, the Korean War began. 1953 - The Korean war ended in a draw, with around 500,000 North Korean soldiers being killed. 1968 - North Korean commandos attempt to assassinate the South Korean president and other senior government officials. Two days later a US spy ship is seized in international waters. The ship's crew was held for 11 months. 1969 - A US recon plane is shot down by North Korean fighter jets 1972 - Kim relinquishes his position as head of government but remains head of state by assuming the presidency under a revised constitution. 1980 - During the Sixth Party Congress held in October it is announced that Kim Jong Il will succeed his father. Party membership is now said to number 3.2 million. 1982 - In April Kim Il Sung announces a new economic policy giving priority to increased agricultural production through land reclamation, development of the country's infrastructure, and reliance on domestically produced equipment, including more emphasis on trade. 1983 - In October North Korean agents attempt to assassinate South Korean President Chun Doo Hwan while he is Rangoon, the capital of Burma. The bomb intended for Chun kills 17 senior South Korean officials and injures 14 others. Four Burmese nationals are also killed and 32 wounded. 1984 - Kim goes back to Moscow for the first time since 1961. The trip results in renewed deliveries of advanced Soviet weaponry to North Korea and increases in economic aid. 1986 - North Korea creates a nuclear reactor and will begin a program to develop nuclear weapons. 1989 - Kim Il Sung secretly announces that the North now has the technology to produce weapons-grade enriched uranium. 1990's - Early in the decade there are reports that food shortages in the North are leading to rioting and the imposition of food rationing. It is estimated that North Korea is about one million tons short of grain self-sufficiency each year. There are also reports that the country's economy is in serious decline. Military spending soaked up about 25% of the gross national product. 1990 - In May Kim Il Sung is reelected for another four-year term as president. 1994 - Kim dies on July 8. In death he becomes the "Eternal Leader."