This period, though it brought economic development to the region, also caused a strong sense of nationalism among Cambodians, since they were forced to pay heavy taxes to the French regime (Franchini 1988). This sense of nationalism resulted in the French losing their foothold within Cambodia during the Second World War and consequently led to the independence of Cambodia in 1953. The next two decades in some sense were represented by single man dominance in Cambodian politics with king Sihanouk, dictating everything and labeling his movement as, "Buddhist Socialism," (CIA Fact book). However, in 1975, with the rise of the communist left, Cambodia experienced an era that, although would only last a mere four years, forever changed the country. The Khmer rouge movement led by Pol Pot, also known as, "Brother Number One," (Cambodia Tribunal Monitor) accounted for an estimated 1.5-3 million deaths and was aimed at erasing all Cambodian history, prior to their rise to power. This meant that under the Khmer Rouge movement, the first year of the revolution equally meant the first year of Cambodia's new historic time. Moreover, under the Khmer Rouge, Cambodia's economy experienced a shift towards a fully agricultural society, which meant that private property was banned and anyone living in cities or towns was immediately forced to move to the countryside and contribute to the country's agricultural production by partaking in the newly formed collective farms. Furthermore, during this time, unrealistic economic and production goals were set, with farmers being told to produce around three tons of rice per hectare of land (Cambodia Tribunal Monitor). This horrific time period came to an end during the late 1970s thanks to a war started with Vietnam. The war resulted in a Vietnamese invasion in 1978 and Pol Pot fleeing the country into neighboring Thailand. Although the end of this war resulted in the Paris Peace Accords of 1991 and subsequently established a provisional government, free of communism in 1993, peace itself was not fully restored until 1998 when the former Khmer Rouge's leader, Pol Pot was reported dead (Cambodia Tribunal Monitor).
