History of Cambodia

In 1936 Son Ngoc Thanh and others began publishing Nagara Vatta, the first Khmer language newspaper. In July 1940 Cambodia's French colonizers allied themselves to Vichy France. In April 1941, King Sisowath Monivong died and the French crowned Norodom Sihanouk king because they thought he would be a pliant ruler. In mid-1941, Japanese armed forces entered Cambodia by agreement with the French colonizers.

On July 14, 1942, two monks were arrested by the French authorities. The newspaper Nagara Vatta supported the monks. Cambodian representatives went to the Japanese and asked that a demonstration they would have be supported, the Japanese tacitly supported them. 700 monks and 2000 others demonstrated the arrests. The French responded by arresting dozens of the demonstrations leaders. A riot ensued.

Anti-colonialist rebel bands began going to the countryside. In the spring of 1944, Thailand had a change of government, and the new civilian government supported Cambodian rebels on Thailand's border.

On March 09, 1945, the Japanese arrested the French administrators of Cambodia, because the Japanese were worried about the effects of the collapse of Vichy France. On March 13, 1945, Japan declared Cambodia independent, and it was renames the Kingdom of Kampuchea. Sihanouk was installed as monarch and Son Ngoc Thanh became prime minister.

On October 08, 1945, the British arrived in Phnom Penh with a detachment of Nepali Gurkhas. Thanh is arrested, and the government is overthrown, with the French put back in charge.

Some anti-colonialists go to the countryside and form armed groups, the Khmer Issarak (Khmer Independence). They operate initially along the border with Thailand and are helped by the Thai government. The Vietnamese Viet Minh began supporting Cambodian independence movements in 1945 as well. The Issarak are from a wide range of political backgrounds, but all anti-colonialist.

The French were not able to fully regain their control of Cambodia. Elections were held in 1946 and 1947, and won by the Democratic party. In the countryside, French forces fought the Khmer Issarak.

In the spring of 1949, Khmer Issarak factions began polarizing over association with the Viet Minh. The Issarak began splitting into left and right factions. On April 17, 1950 the first national conference of the Khmer resistance is held and the United Issarak Front is created, with Son Ngoc Minh heading it.

On February 11, 1951, the Communist Party of Indochina began it's second conference, which dissolved the party. It was replaced by the Workers Party of Vietnam for the Vietnamese communists, and the Cambodian communists announced that the KPRP would soon be formed.

In September 1951 the Democrats won the Cambodian elections once again. Sihanouk worried the Democrats were not only anti-colonial but republican as well. So in June 1952 he dismissed the government and took control of it.

In early 1953 Pol Pot returned from Paris and went to the maquis to fight with the United Issarak Front. He was given menial tasks and gained a distaste for Vietnamese communists during his time in the maquis. He left when Cambodia was granted independence, but continued to visit the maquis afterward.

Sihanouk demanded sovereignty from the French and on November 09, 1953, Cambodia was given independence (ahead of Laos and North Vietnam). The Issarak were still in the countryside and controlled perhaps half of the country. In the April Geneva Conference of 1954, the Issarak agreed to give up their territory. Some Cambodian communists felt the Vietnamese communists betrayed them at the Geneva conference. Some thought the left would do well in the 1955 Cambodian elections. Cambodian communists ended their armed struggle in 1954.

Many Cambodian communists left Cambodia and went to the communist-controlled areas of Vietnam. The communists who remained formed the Pracheachon party and prepared for the 1955 elections. Later, Cambodian communists sympathetic to Vietnam said that the Pracheachon Party was a front group, and that a clandestine Cambodian temporary central committee was formed at this time.

Starting around this time, Cambodian students began returning from France, and this new generation would have an impact on Cambodian politics. The wave of students arriving in 1954 and 1955 generally joined the Democrat party initially. These students may have had secret connections with the Cambodian communists at the time.

On March 02, 1955, Sihanouk abdicated his throne and his father, Norodom Suramarit, became king. Sihanouk established a party, the Sangkum Reastr Niyum (Popular Socialist Community). The Sangkum easily won the elections. After this, leftist Cambodian students returning from Paris began joining the Sangkum party instead of the Democrat party. In April, Sihanouk attended the Bandung conference.