A lokacin da Khmer Rouge ya fara da bushe-kakar offensive kama da beleaguered Kambodiyanci babban birnin kasar a kan 1 Janairu 1975, Jamhuriyar ya kasance a cikin hargitsi. tattalin arzikin da aka gutted, da sufuri na cibiyar sadarwa da aka rage zuwa iska da kuma ruwa tsarin, da shinkafa girbi da aka rage da daya-kwata, da kuma samar da ruwa mai kyau kifi (shugaban tushen gina jiki) ya ragu sosai. da kudin abinci ya 20 sau mafi girma fiye da pre-yakin matakan da rashin aikin yi ba a ma auna babu kuma. Phnom Penh, wanda yana da pre-yakin yawan kimanin 600,000, da aka shawo kan ta 'yan gudun hijira (wanda ya ci gaba da ambaliya daga steadily faduwa tsaro kewaye), girma zuwa a kusa da girman miliyan biyu.
Sihanouk