Far East Kingdoms

First Kingdom of Cambodia (Sangkum Period) (South-East Asia)
AD 1953 - 1970

Cambodia All Modern States China Japan Korea Laos Oceania Thailand Vietnam

The history of Asia can broadly be broken down into regional divisions, as well as time periods. The fall of the Khmer empire in South-East Asia dramatically reduced a state which at one time had controlled much of this Asian region. But it also set in motion the process of formation for today's states of Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam.

The fifteenth century successor to the Khmer was what is known as the 'Middle Kingdom', in the country of Kambuja (Cambodia). Very little is known about Cambodian history after the fall of Angkor in 1431 but, for much of the time, it was under the control of one of its more powerful neighbours, or was locked in civil war.

The French of the second empire took control of the state in 1863, ending the 'Middle Kingdom' period and starting a 'Colonial Cambodia' within their 'French Protectorate'. By the time their protectorate was established, Cambodia's territory had generally shrunk to that of modern Cambodia, although it still included what is now southern Vietnam and a small part of southern Laos. Siam lay to the west, Champassak to the north-east, and Dai Nam to the east.

The Second World War introduced fervent nationalism. The German conquest of republican France and the Japanese occupation of Indochina weakened the French position in the region. Japan permitted Vichy France to maintain nominal rule over Indochina before taking formal control in 1945 and having the Cambodian king declare independence for the first time.

The allied victory in the same year restored a liberated France to its former colonial position, but the various elements of French Indochina immediately began manoeuvring for independence. Itself autonomous from 1946 and negotiating as an equal for that independence, Cambodia officially became nominally independent in 1953 within the 'French Union', and then fully sovereign in the same year. France withdrew its forces from Cambodia in 1954, having already lost a war in North Vietnam.

Cambodia's 'First Kingdom', as it would be called, was a constitutional monarchy, with the king a relatively authoritarian figure who often faced a demanding national assembly. Eventually the king abdicated in favour of his father to became the country's prime minister, still in an authoritarian fashion in a troubled period.

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(Information by John De Cleene, Peter Kessler, & Ben Lawne, and the John De Cleene Archive, with additional information from Asia in the Modern World, Claude A Buss (Macmillan Publishing Company, 1964), from the two-part BBC documentary series, Jungle Atlantis (first screened on 25 September 2014), from Kingdoms of Asia, the Middle East, and Africa, Gene Gurney (New York, 1986), from Southeast Asia: Past & Present, D R SarDesai (Westview Press, 1989), and from External Links: Cambodia (Encyclopaedia Britannica), and Cambodia (Rulers.org), and Cambodia (World Statesmen).)

1953 - 1955

Oversaw transition from 'Colonial Cambodia'.

1953 - 1954

Sihanouk returns from exile in Thailand just as Cambodia declares independence. France for a while clings to the fiction that it is still the regional colonial power but, in 1954, finally concedes the inevitable loss of French Indochina, recognising the independent Cambodian state, which is known as the 'First Kingdom'. French forces are withdrawn in 1954.

1955

Norodom Sihanouk abdicates in favour of his father, Norodom Suramarit, in order that he can enter politics as the country's prime minister. Later in the same year Cambodia withdraws from the 'French Union' and joins the United Nations. Sihanouk remains the country's dominant political figure until 1970.

King Sihanouk visited Paris in 1946, and is pictured here with a bevy of French generals, but his reign came at a turbulent time in South-East Asian history

1955 - 1960

Father. Died.

1955 - 1960

Wife and co-head of state as queen.

1960

National assembly president. Chief of state for three days.

1960

Chairman of the regency council for 1 week.

1960 - 1970

Prince & head of state.

1960 - 1970

Mother and ceremonial head of state as queen.

1963

Saloth Sar, a school teacher and the leader of the tiny communist party, flees to the jungle near Vietnam and takes the name Pol Pot. He forms an organisation which will become known as the 'Khmer Rouge'.

Former school teacher Saloth Sar fled to the jungle in 1963 to rebrand himself as Pol Pot and eventually lead the communist 'Khmer Rouge' to power

mid-1960s

Sihanouk steers a course of neutrality to preserve his country's independence as the Vietnam War rages around him. By now he has recognised the fact that the Vietnamese communists are going to win, so he adopts a pro-Chinese and pro-Vietnamese position, even though he deeply fears the Vietnamese.

1966 - 1967

Prime minister and dictator.

1969 - 1970

Prime minister and dictator for the second time.

1969

The United States of America attacks North Vietnamese staging bases as part of the Vietnam War. Also targeted are Vietnamese routes through Cambodia and Laos which are being used for attacks against South Vietnam. North Vietnamese operations have worried Sihanouk, who has urged restraint but, in 1968, the North Vietnamese had opted for more aggressive tactics.

Savang Vatthana started a term as prime minister in 1951, but succeeded his father as king in October 1959 before being forced to abdicate on 2 December 1975 due to the communist revolution within Laos

Now Sihanouk resumes diplomatic relations with the Americans, antagonising much of the population and increasing recruitment for the communists.

1970

Lon Nol stages a coup which overthrows Prince Sihanouk while he is out of the country. Sihanouk accepts exile and is succeeded as head of state by Cheng Heng, while Lon Nol remains effective ruler of the 'Khmer Republic'.