Communist Party of Kampuchea ( or ; CPK , ) , also known as the Khmer Communist Party ( KCP ) , was a communist party in Cambodia . Its leader was Pol Pot and its followers were generally known as Khmer Rouge ( Red Khmers ) . The party was underground for most of its existence and took power in the country in 1975 and established the state known as Democratic Kampuchea . The party lost power in 1979 with the establishment of the People 's Republic of Kampuchea by leftists who were dissatisfied by the Pol Pot regime and by the intervention of Vietnamese military forces after a period of mass killing . The party was officially dissolved in 1981 , with the Party of Democratic Kampuchea claiming its legacy
period of mass killing
Cambodian genocide
Communist Party of Kampuchea