In 1975, the Khmer Rouge party took over Cambodia. They believed that people shouldn’t live in cities at all! They wanted everyone out of the cities and back out into the countryside to be farmers; therefore, Phnom Penh was emptied again, this time, by force. Hundreds of thousands from this one city alone died at the hands of the Khmer Rouge; millions more were murdered in Cambodia during the genocide of 1975-79. You should visit the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum in Phnom to learn more about the terrible story, but there are also lots of interesting websites out there, which can educate you about the tragedy that happened to our neighbor.