Cambodia gained independence in 1953 . The Vietnam War extended into the country with the US bombing of Cambodia from 1969 until 1973 . Following the Cambodian coup of 1970 which installed the right-wing pro-US Khmer Republic , the deposed king gave his support to his former enemies , the Khmer Rouge . The Khmer Rouge emerged as a major power , taking Phnom Penh in 1975 and later carrying out the Cambodian genocide from 1975 until 1979 , when they were ousted by Vietnam and the Vietnamese-backed People 's Republic of Kampuchea , supported by the Soviet Union in the Cambodian – Vietnamese War ( 1979 – 91 )
Cambodian genocide
Cambodian genocide
Cambodia