Cambodia:Cambodia:Beauty and DarknessBeauty and Darkness

Chemistry of a CataclysmChemistry of a Cataclysm

Cambodia: Time Line• In the Beginning:

– From the 9th to the 13th Centuries, the Cambodian Empire of Angkor was the most powerful political force in Southeast Asia.

– They were:• Technologically Advanced

– Irrigation– Public Works

• Military power allowed for the control of modern-day– Vietnam, Laos, Thailand and Cambodia

Cambodia: Time Line

• In the 15th Century, the Khmer Empire of Angkor began to fall to the Kingdom of Siam. In 1592, the great city of Angkor fell to a Siamese attack. The Khmer empire soon fell to pieces.

Cambodia: Time Line• Colonial Times to WWII• The French were colonizing

Cochin China (Southern Vietnam) when they recognized Cambodia’s potential; both economic and military. Cambodia was signed as a French protectorate (later colony) in 1863.

• In 1941 Japan invaded Southeast Asia occupying French Indochina, including Cambodia.

Francis Garnier – Some French Guy

Crazy Japanese Soldier Holding the Head of a Dead Chinese Soldier

Cambodia: Time Line

• After WWII, France attempted to reassert itself as a colonial power. It did not work! It only caused more problem and Anti-French sentiment.

Significant Stuff of that Era

• Ho Chi Minh– Nationalist leader of Viet Minh

declares independence (from France) for Vietnam.

• King Norodom Sihanouk Negotiates partial independence for Cambodia in 1949

• Battle of Dien Bien Phu (1954)– Frances loses North Vietnam,

Laos and Cambodia

Cambodia: Time Line

• The Cold War Era – The 1960’s• King Sihanouk’s grip on Cambodian politics

was so tight that few people dared challenge him. Some of those in opposition chose to flee instead:– Son Sen– Ieng Sary– Saloth Sar (Later Pol Pot)

• These men were communists.

Cambodia: Time Line

• As tensions rose between North and South Vietnam, King Sihanouk realising that his own military was weak and aligned himself with his most powerful enemy, Ho Chi Minh’s North Vietnamese Government.

• This alignment shot fear throughout the Western World. Including President Dwight Eisenhower’s Vice President Richard Nixon

Cambodia: Time Line

• American President JF Kennedy and his Vice President LB Johnson supplied military advisors to aid the South Vietnam’s Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) who were fighting two enemies.– The North Vietnamese Army (NVA)– Viet Cong (VC) guerrilla network of armed South

Vietnamese supporting the North.

Cambodia: Time Line

• By 1965 King Sihanouk had allowed VC/NVA camps inside his border as Cambodia.

• The King was officially neutral in this Vietnam Conflict

• The communist forces of Vietnam gambled that they could hide from the ARVN and the US in neutral Cambodia as President Johnson would not fight hem in neutral Cambodia

Cambodia: Time Line

Cambodia: Time Line

• The 1970’s – The bombings begin to involve civilians, causing an uprising of the Cambodian people. The once fledgling Khmer Rouge was becoming a real threat to King Sihanouk’s authority.

• America gets in deeper as they back the anti-Khmer Rouge General Lon Nol. They fight against their new enemy – The Khmer Rouge, the carpet bombings intensify.

Cambodia: Time Line• Jan 1 1975 – The Khmer Rouge begin their attack

on the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh. (Pop 2million)

• APRIL 17, 1975 – Khmer Rouge march into the city and are greeted with a parade as the people celebrated the end of the war.

• Within hours the Khmer Rouge began implementing its plan for a utopian communist society. APRIL 17, 1975 was DAY ZERO for the new Cambodia. 2000 years of Cambodian history was now meaningless.

Cambodia: Time Line

• Enter Saloth SAR AKA Pol Pot– “One of the most powerful monsters ever created

by humanity”• King Norodom Sihanouk

It Always Amazes Me – I Don’t Know Why!

President Eisenhower 1953-1961 President Nixon

1969-1974

President Kennedy 1961-1963

Vice President Johnson 1961–1963

Vice President Nixon 1953-1961

President Johnson 1969-1974

Henry Kissinger - 1969-1977 United States Secretary of State and United States National Security Advisor

President Ford 1974 - 1977.

Ho Chi MinhVietnam 1945-1969

Pol PotCambodia 1963-1998

The Vietnamese Era - 1979-1989Almost immediately after the Khmer Rouge victory, Cambodia continued their grand plan of re-establishing the old Khmer Empire by invading communist Vietnam – NOT SMART!

The Vietnamese retaliated by invading Cambodia in order to keep the Khmer Rouge in check.

The Vietnamese Era - 1979-1989

On January 10, 1979, the Vietnamese installed the new People's Republic of Kampuchea (PRK), ruling through former Khmer Rouge officials under the Kampuchean People's Revolutionary Party label. Heng Samrin was named as head of state, and other Khmer communists like Chan Sy and Hun Sen were prominent from the start. The Vietnamese army continued its pursuit of Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge forces.

“Modern” Cambodia 1990 to Present

Peace efforts intensified in 1989 and 1991 with two international conferences in Paris, and a UN peacekeeping mission helped maintain a cease-fire. As a part of the peace effort, UN-sponsored elections were held in 1993UN-sponsored elections were held in 1993 helped restore some semblance of normalcy as did the rapid diminishment of the Khmer Rouge in the mid-1990s. Norodom Sihanouk was reinstated as KingNorodom Sihanouk was reinstated as King. A coalition government, formed after national elections in 1998, brought renewed political stability and the surrender of remaining Khmer Rouge forces in 1998

“Modern” Cambodia 1990 to PresentCambodia has fallen under the leadership of several different leaders since 1990 including some members of the Vietnamese controlled communist party (People's Republic of Kampuchea (PRK)).

There have been a few civil disturbances and an outright successful coup by Son Sen against the Monarchy.

UN observers set up elections that were difficult to verify and more violence ensued.

On July 27, 2003, elections were held and the Cambodian People's Party of Prime Minister Hun Sen won a majority

In mid-2004 a coalition government was formed between FUNCINPEC (royalist Cambodian political party) and the Son Sen’s CPP.

In 2004, King Sihanouk, still in poor health, announced his abdication of the throne selected Prince Nor Odom Sihamoni, as the new king