Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
1973, which had the effect of forcing communist Vietnamese deeper into
Cambodian territory and thus alienating provincial Cambodians, causing them to
side with the CPK.
Lon Nol takes charge
Elected prime minister in 1966,
General Lon Nol
had been regarded as Sihanouk's man
but began to shift his position in response to unrest among a military upset by a lack of
equipment and supplies, and a middle class dissatisfied with the prince's economic
policies. Plots continued to be hatched against Sihanouk, and in 1970, while he was
out of the country, Lon Nol headed a coup, removing the prince as chief of state,
abolishing the monarchy and renaming the country the
Khmer Republic
. Sihanouk
broadcast an impassioned plea from Beijing, begging his supporters to fight Lon Nol,
but the Chinese persuaded him to join with the communists whom he had forced into
exile in 1963 to form an alternative government.
At home, details of Sihanouk's secret treaty with the North Vietnamese surfaced, and
the elimination of their supply trail from Cambodian soil became a national
preoccupation. Thousands of Cambodians joined the army to help, but they were
poorly trained and ill equipped (despite renewed US financial support, which served
only to feed widespread corruption). In the event, the Cambodians were no match for
the battle-hardened Vietnamese, and after tens of thousands of Cambodians died in
fighting, Lon Nol called a halt to the offensive in 1971.
he
Khmer Rouge
meanwhile were battling towards Phnom Penh. In 1970 they
already controlled an estimated twenty percent of Cambodia, primarily in the northeast
and northwest; by the end of 1972, all but Phnom Penh and a few provincial capitals
were under their control. Although heavy US bombing brought a momentary halt to
their advance in 1973, they pushed steadily forward; refugees fled to Phnom Penh
ahead of their advance, bringing with them tales of whole villages being slaughtered.
The stories were dismissed by the capital's inhabitants as unfounded, and all blame was
laid at the door of the Vietnamese. By early 1975, Phnom Penh was surrounded, access
to the rest of Cambodia was cut off and the US was flying in supplies to the besieged
city. Endemic corruption and constant warfare had taken its toll on the people, and
when the communists walked into Phnom Penh on April 17, 1975 they were greeted
with relief. On April 30, the last Americans withdrew from Saigon, just ahead of North
Vietnamese forces, and US military involvement in Indochina came to an end.
It's believed that
more than 300,000 Cambodians
were killed as a result of the four
years of fighting against the Vietnamese and the Khmer Rouge, coupled with
indiscriminate bombing by the US. Sihanouk's worst fears had been realized, but this
was nothing compared to what was to come.
The Khmer Rouge era
The Khmer Rouge had its roots in the Khmer People's Revolutionary Party (
KPRP
),
formed in the early 1950s. As well as appealing to anti-monarchist elements, the KPRP
attracted young Cambodians who had been exposed to communist ideals while
studying in France. Three of these rose to powerful positions in the Khmer Rouge:
Saloth Sar - later known as
Pol Pot
- who rose to the exalted rank of “Brother Number
1946
1947-50
The first elections in Cambodian
history lead to the formation of a new
government under Krom Pracheathipodei
The left-wing Khmer Issarak guerrilla movement launches
attacks against French forces and gains control of large swathes
of Cambodian territory
