Cambodia’s Colonial Roads Built on Graves

Did you know that French colonial roads in Cambodia were literally built on mass graves?

Between 1863 and 1953, French officials forced every Cambodian male to work 90

days each year without pay. They called it corvee labor, but it was legalized

slavery. The deadliest project was Route Coloniale 1, connecting Saigon

to Phnom Penh through dense jungle. Workers cleared forests with bare hands,

built bridges without safety equipment, and hauled massive stones in 100-degree heat.

Food was scarce. Water was scarcer. In 1916, 100,000 Cambodians finally rebelled

against this brutal system. The French Foreign Legion crushed the uprising with mass