Cambodia

1
Cambodia
2
1863 French Protectorate

• Cambodians are
• descendents of the Angkor
• Empire which was at its
• peak during the 10th-13th
• century. But with attacks
• from present day Thailand
• and Viet Nam the empire
• declined. Soon after, the
• King placed Cambodia
• under French rule and
• became part of French
• Indochina in 1887.

3
1941 A New King

• When Norodom passed away
• in 1904, the throne was not
• passed onto his sons but to
• his brother Sisowath.
• Sisowath ruled until 1941
• when Norodom Sihanouk
• becomes king. Also during
• this time, Cambodia is
• occupied by Japan during
• WWII. With a new king,
• Cambodians felt that they
• should not be under control
• by the French anymore.

4
1953 Independence

• In 1946, the French granted
• Cambodia self government
• with the French Union. A
• constitution was drawn up in
• 1947 and a treaty was signed
• in 1949 making Cambodia an
• associated state with France.
• However, King Norodom
• Sihanouk wanted complete
• independence and was
• awarded it in 1953.

5
1955-1960 The Ins and Outs

• In 1955, King Norodom
• Sihanouk abdicates his
• throne and gives it to his
• father to rule. Norodom
• Sihanouk seeks a political
• career and becomes a
• premier. However, his
• father passes away in 1960
• and his mother, Queen
• Kossamak Nearireak takes
• over. Later, Norodom
• Sihanouk becomes king
• again.

6
1970 Take Your Sides

• Throughout the Viet Nam war,
• Sihanouk remained neutral to
• both sides. He allowed North Viet
• Nam to use Cambodian ports and
• allowed the US to bomb Viet Cong
• hideouts in Cambodia. However,
• the Cambodians grew discontent
• with this. While Sihanouk was
• abroad, General Lon Nol led a
• military coup to overthrow
• Sihanouk.

7
1975 Year Zero

• In 1975, the Khmer Rouge led by Pot Pot
• overthrew Lon Nol and took over Cambodia. He
• renames Cambodia as Kampuchea. They
• believed that Cambodians will be laborers
• working on a one federation of collective farms.
• The Khmer Rouge wanted to get rid of any
• intellectuals, educated people and anybody
• against their ideas and communism. Hundreds
• of thousands of the educated middle-classes are
• tortured and executed in special centers. Others
• starve, or die from disease or exhaustion. The
• total death toll during the next three years is
• estimated to be at least 1.7 million.

8
1979 Vietnamese Invasion

• In 1978, Viet Nam decided to
• invade Cambodia and take
• control of the country. The
• Vietnamese overthrew the Khmer
• Rouge and drove them to the
• Thai jungles. The Vietnamese
• tried to install a puppet
• government and reconstruct the
• country. However, Pol Pots
• regime destroyed the land,
• ruined the economy and he killed
• all of the potential intellectuals
• that could have jumpstarted the
• country again.

9
1985 Starting Over

• While the Khmer Rouge hid in
• the Thai jungles, the US were
• giving them help. The Khmer
• Rouge continued to fight Viet
• Nam to gain control of
• Cambodia again. In 1985, Hun
• Sen was elected as prime
• minister, and peace talks
• immediately began. In 1989,
• Viet Nam withdrew its last
• troops out of Cambodia.

10
1991 Peace?

• In 1991, a peace treaty was
• signed by all opposing
• parties. However, the
• treaty called for all groups
• to be disarmed and the
• Khmer Rouge refused.
• With that, Sihanouk
• denounced the Khmer
• Rouge and aligned himself
• with Hun Sen. Norodom
• Sihanouk again became
• Head of state.

11
1993 Democratic Elections

• In 1993, the first ever
• Democratic elections were held.
• The Royalist FUNCINPEC party
• won the most seats and Hun
• Sens Cambodian People's Party
• came in second. A coalition
• government is formed with
• FUNCINPEC's Prince Norodom
• Ranariddh as prime minister
• and Hun Sen as deputy prime
• minister. The monarchy is
• restored, and Sihanouk
• becomes king again.

12
1997 Only One Can Rule

• The coalition government of
• Norodom Ranariddh and Hun
• Sen was crumbling. Hun Sen
• set up a coup and replaced
• Ranariddh with Ung Huot.
• The coup delayed Cambodias
• membership with ASEAN.
• Also, in 1997, the Khmer
• Rouge was falling apart and
• Pol Pot was imprisoned. He
• later died in 1998.

13
2001 Justice Begins

• In 2001, the Cambodian
• Senate approved a law which
• created a tribunal. This
• would allow the Khmer Rouge
• leaders to be tried for their
• war crimes. With the
• Japanese financially
• supporting the tribunal,
• justice can be served.

14
2004 Like Father, Like Son

• In October 2004, King
• Norodom Sihanouk abdicated
• his throne in favor of his son.
• A nine member council
• elected Norodom Sihamoni
• to the throne a week later.
• King Norodom Sihamoni is
• the reigning king today.

15
2005 The Green Light

• The tribunal had
• encountered many
• problems. There were no
• funds going towards it
• and the Khmer Rouge
• leaders were getting old.
• Some feared that they
• might die before being
• tried. However in 2005,
• The UN gave the green
• light to start the
• tribunal.

16
2007 Justice is Served

• In 2007, trials began for
• the most notorious
• leaders of the Khmer
• Rouge. Nuon Chea was
• arrested in September
• and is being tried for
• his crimes. And in
• November, the tribunal
• holds its first public
• hearing with Comrade
• Duch.