tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-46113437068985523922023-07-17T22:09:21.273-07:00Khmer HistoryNanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17149283539654033740noreply@blogger.comBlogger25125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4611343706898552392.post-90251448012567860702009-09-04T23:48:00.000-07:002009-09-04T23:48:52.038-07:00Angkor Wat, Cambodia<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">AngkorWat or Angkor Touch</span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> in Khmer) is one of the two great complexes of ancient temples in Southeast Asia beside the one in Bagan in Burma, the other at Angkor in Cambodia. The temples of Angkor, built by the Khmer civilization between 802 and 1220 AD, represent one of humankind's most astonishing and enduring architectural achievements. When you visit AngkorWat Temple, it is an area where there is an important group of ancient structures. It is the southernmost of Angkor's main sites. Mouhot, like other early Western visitors, was unable to believe that the Khmers could have built the temple, and mistakenly dated it to around the same era as Rome. The true history of Angkor Wat was pieced together only from stylistic and epigraphic evidence accumulated during the subsequent clearing and restoration work carried out across the whole Angkor site.</span><br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /><br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Official Name: </span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Angkor Wat (Angkor Toch)</span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
Construction Date</span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">: Early - Mid 12th century C.E. </span><br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Religious Link</span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">: Hinduism </span><br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">King:</span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Suryavarman II </span><br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Archeological. Style: Angkor Wat </span><br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Location:</span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> 7 km north of Siem Reap town</span><br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Location of Entrance</span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">: Western causeway </span><br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Duration of Visit</span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">: 2 hours - half day </span><br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Time to Visit</span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">: Sunrise; Afternoon for best light on face; Fewer visitors in the morning. </span><br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Photography Information: </span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Sunrise; Afternoon for best light on face </span><br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Position: </span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">13d24'44N 103d52'00E </span><br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /></span> <h6 style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">History </span></span><a href="" name="History"></a></span></h6><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Historically researched by archeologist, The initial design and construction of the temple took place in the first half of the 12th century, during the reign of </span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Suryavarman II</span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> (ruled 1113 – c. 1150), Dedicated to Vishnu, it was built as the king's state temple and capital city. From Angkor the Khmer kings ruled over a vast domain that reached from Vietnam to China to the Bay of Bengal. The structures one sees at Angkor today, more than 100 stone temples in all, are the surviving remains of a grand religious, social and administrative metropolis whose other buildings - palaces, public buildings, and houses - were built of wood and are long since decayed and gone.</span><br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /><br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> As neither the foundation stela nor any contemporary inscriptions referring to the temple have been found, its original name is unknown, but it may have been known as </span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Vrah Vishnulok</span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> after the presiding deity. Work seems to have ended on the king's death, leaving some of the bas-relief decoration unfinished. In 1177 Angkor was sacked by the Chams, the traditional enemies of the Khmer. Thereafter the empire was restored by a new king, </span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Jayavarman VII</span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">, who established a new capital and state temple (</span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Angkor Thom and the Bayon respectively</span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">) a few kilometres to the north.In the 14th or 15th century the temple was converted to Theravada Buddhist use, which continues to the present day. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Angkor Wat is unusual among the Angkor temples in that although it was somewhat neglected after the 16th century it was never completely abandoned, its preservation being due in part to the fact that its moat also provided some protection from encroachment by the jungle. One of the first Western visitors to the temple was Antonio da Magdalena, a Portuguese monk who visited in 1586 and said that it "</span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">is of such extraordinary construction that it is not possible to describe it with a pen, particularly since it is like no other building in the world</span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">. It has towers and decoration and all the refinements which the human genius can conceive of".[5] However, the temple was popularised in the West only in the mid-19th century on the publication of Henri Mouhot's travel notes. The French explorer wrote of it: AngkorWat is surrounded by a moat and an exterior wall measuring 1300 meters x 1500 meters. </span><br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /><br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Angkor Wat built for the king Suryavarman II (Great King of Khmer Kingdom) date backed in the early 12th century. During his management, As the best-preserved temple at the site, it is the only one to have remained a significant religious centre since its foundation—first Hindu, dedicated to Vishnu, then Buddhist. The temple is the epitome of the high classical style of Khmer architecture. It has become a symbol of Cambodia, appearing on its national flag, and it is the country's prime attraction for visitors and symbol for peace and stability. The modern name, Angkor Wat, in use by the 16th century,[1] means "City Temple": Angkor is a vernacular form of the word nokor which comes from the Sanskrit word nagara (capital), while wat is the Khmer word for temple. Prior to this time the temple was known as Preah Pisnulok, after the posthumous title of its founder, Suryavarman II.</span><br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /><br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /></span> <br />
<h6 style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Location <a href="" name="Location"></a></span></h6><span style="font-size: small;"><br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Angkor Wat is located 7 km north of the modern town of Siem Reap, and a short distance south and slightly east of the previous capital, which was centred on the Baphuon. </span><br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /><br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /></span> <h6 style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> Features <a href="" name="Features"></a></span></h6><span style="font-size: small;"><br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Angkor Wat is architecturally and artistically breathtaking. It is a massive three-tiered pyramid crow</span><img align="right" border="0" src="http://www.cambodia-tourism.org/images/attraction_angkor_structure.jpg" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">ned by five lotus-like towers rising 65 meters from ground level. Angkor Wat is the centerpiece of any visit to the temples of Angkor. Angkor Wat combines two basic plans of Khmer temple architecture: </span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">the temple mountain and the later galleried temple</span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">, based on early South Indian architecture, with key features such as the Jagati. It is designed to represent Mount Meru, home of the devas in Hindu mythology: </span><br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /><br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Angkor Wat is surrounded by a moat and an exterior wall measuring 1300 meters x 1500 meters. within a moat and an outer wall 3.6 kilometres (2.2 mi) long are three rectangular galleries. At the centre of the temple stands a quincunx of towers. Unlike most Angkorian temples, Angkor Wat is oriented to the west; scholars are divided as to the significance of this. The temple is admired for the grandeur and harmony of the architecture, its extensive bas-reliefs and for the numerous devatas (guardian spirits) adorning its walls.</span><br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /><br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /></span> <h3 style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Outer enclosure</span></h3><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The outer wall, 1024 by 802 m and 4.5 m high, is surrounded by a 30 m apron of open ground and a moat 190 m wide. Access to the temple is by an earth bank to the east and a sandstone causeway to the west; the latter, the main entrance</span><img align="right" alt="Angkor Wat View" border="0" src="http://www.cambodia-tourism.org/images/attraction_angkor_view.jpg" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" vspace="2" /><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">, is a later addition, possibly replacing a wooden bridge. There are gopuras at each of the cardinal points; the western is much the largest and has three ruined towers. The outer wall encloses a space of 820,000 square metres (203 acres), which besides the temple proper was originally occupied by the city and, to the north of the temple, the royal palace. Like all secular buildings of Angkor, these were built of perishable materials rather than of stone, so nothing remains of them except the outlines of some of the streets. Most of the area is now covered by forest. A 350 m causeway connects the western gopura to the temple proper, with naga balustrades and six sets of steps leading down to the city on either side. Each side also features a library with entrances at each cardinal point, in front of the third set of stairs from the entrance, and a pond between the library and the temple itself. The ponds are later additions to the design, as is the cruciform terrace guarded by lions connecting the causeway to the central structure.</span><br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /></span> <div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> <span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span> </div><h3 style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Main Structure<img align="right" alt="Gallery" border="0" src="http://www.cambodia-tourism.org/images/attraction_angkor_gallery.jpg" /></span></h3><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">AngkorWat lay on a terrace higher than the Siem Reap city. It is made of three rectangular galleries rising to a central tower, each level higher than the last. Mannikka interprets these galleries as being dedicated to the </span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">king, Brahma, the moon, and Vishnu</span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">. Every gallery has a gopura at each of the points, and two inner galleries each have towers at their corners, forming a quincunx with the central tower. Because the temple faces west, the features are all set back towards the east, leaving more space to be filled in each enclosure and gallery on the west side; for the same reason the west-facing steps are shallower than those on the other sides.</span><br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /></span> <div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> <span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span> </div><h3 style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Decoration</span></h3><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Angkor Wat's extensive decoration, which predominantly takes the form of bas-relief friezes. When you visit it. The inner walls of the outer gallery bear a series of large-scale scenes mainly depicting episodes from the Hindu epics the </span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Ramayana and the Mahabharata</span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">. Higham has called these, "the greatest</span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> known linear arrangement of stone carving". North-west corner anti-clockwise</span></span><ul style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><li><span style="font-size: small;">Western gallery shows the Battle of Lanka (from the Ramayana, in which Rama defeats Ravana) and the Battle of Kurukshetra (from the Mahabharata, showing the mutual annihilation of the Kaurava and Pandava clans). On the southern gallery follow the only historical scene, a procession of Suryavarman II, then the 32 hells and 37 heavens of Hindu<img align="right" alt="Base Relief" border="0" src="http://www.cambodia-tourism.org/images/attraction_angkor_base_reli.jpg" /> mythology.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;">Eastern gallery is one of the most celebrated scenes, the Churning of the Sea of Milk, showing 92[34] asuras and 88 devas using the serpent Vasuki to churn the sea under Vishnu's direction (Mannikka counts only 91 asuras, and explains the asymmetrical numbers as representing the number of days from the winter solstice to the spring equinox, and from the equinox to the summer solstice).[35] It is followed by Vishnu defeating asuras (a 16th-century addition).</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;">Northern gallery shows Krishna's victory over Bana (where according to Glaize, "The workmanship is at its worst"[36]) and a battle between the Hindu gods and asuras. The north-west and south-west corner pavilions both feature much smaller-scale scenes, some unidentified but most from the Ramayana or the life of Krishna.<br />
</span></li>
</ul><h6 style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">What to See <a href="" name="What_To_See"></a></span></h6><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">When Visit Angkorwat Temple, First you have to go from the West of AngkorWat known as the man entrance. Then you can have a look view or take picture of Angkor 3-Tower View. When you enter the entrance, you can visit Apsara Base Relief on the wall. Then go on with walk to main. </span><br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /></span>Nanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17149283539654033740noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4611343706898552392.post-73271386534082461182009-09-04T23:45:00.000-07:002009-09-04T23:45:31.993-07:00Gautama Buddha<span style="color: #444444; font-size: small;"></span><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Siddhārtha Gautama</b> (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanskrit" title="Sanskrit">Sanskrit</a>: <a class="extiw" href="http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E0%A4%B8%E0%A4%BF%E0%A4%A6%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%A7%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%B0%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%A5" title="wikt:सिद्धार्थ">सिद्धार्थ</a> <a class="extiw" href="http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E0%A4%97%E0%A5%8C%E0%A4%A4%E0%A4%AE" title="wikt:गौतम">गौतम</a>; <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pali" title="Pali">Pali</a>: <b>Siddhattha Gotama</b>) was a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spirituality" title="Spirituality">spiritual</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_subcontinent" title="Indian subcontinent">Indian subcontinent</a> who founded <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhism" title="Buddhism">Buddhism</a>.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-0"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gautama_Buddha#cite_note-0"><span></span><span></span></a></sup> He is generally seen by Buddhists as the Supreme <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhahood" title="Buddhahood">Buddha</a></i> (Sammāsambuddha) of our age. The time of his birth and death are uncertain: most early 20th-century historians dated his lifetime as <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circa" title="Circa">c.</a> 563 BCE to 483 BCE; more recently, however, at a specialist symposium on this question,<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-1"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gautama_Buddha#cite_note-1"><span></span><span></span></a></sup></span> teacher in the north eastern region of the the majority of those scholars who presented definite opinions gave dates within 20 years either side of 400 BCE for the Buddha's death, with others supporting earlier or later dates.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Gautama, also known as <i>Śākyamuni</i> or <i>Shakyamuni</i> ("sage of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shakya" title="Shakya">Shakyas</a>"), is the key figure in Buddhism, and accounts of his life, discourses, and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monasticism" title="Monasticism">monastic</a> rules are believed by Buddhists to have been summarized after his death and memorized by his followers. Various collections of teachings attributed to Gautama were passed down by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oral_tradition" title="Oral tradition">oral tradition</a>, and first committed to writing about 400 years later. Early Western scholarship tended to accept the biography of the Buddha presented in the Buddhist scriptures as largely historical, but currently "scholars are increasingly reluctant to make unqualified claims about the historical <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fact" title="Fact">facts</a> of the Buddha's life and teachings."<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-2"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gautama_Buddha#cite_note-2"><span>[</span>3<span>]</span></a></sup></span></div><h2 style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="mw-headline">Life</span></span></h2><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The primary sources of information regarding Siddhārtha Gautama's life are the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhist_texts" title="Buddhist texts">Buddhist texts</a>. The Buddha and his monks spent four months each year discussing and rehearsing his teachings, and after his death his monks set about preserving them. A council was held shortly after his death, and another was held a century later. At these councils the monks attempted to establish and authenticate the extant accounts of the life and teachings of the Buddha following systematic rules. They divided the teachings into distinct but overlapping bodies of material, and assigned specific monks to preserve each one.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-3"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gautama_Buddha#cite_note-3"><span>[</span>4<span>]</span></a></sup> In some cases, essential aspects of the Buddha's teaching were incorporated into stories and chants in order to preserve them accurately.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-4"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gautama_Buddha#cite_note-4"><span></span><span></span></a></sup></span></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">From then on, the teachings were transmitted orally. From internal evidence it seems clear that the oldest texts crystallized into their current form by the time of the second council or shortly after it. The scriptures were not written down until three or four hundred years after the Buddha's death. By this point, the monks had added or altered some material themselves, in particular magnifying the figure of the Buddha.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-5"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gautama_Buddha#cite_note-5"><span></span><span></span></a></sup></span></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The ancient Indians were generally not concerned with chronologies, being far more focused on philosophy. The Buddhist texts reflect this tendency, providing a clearer picture of what Shakyamuni may have taught than of the dates of the events in his life. These texts contain descriptions of the culture and daily life of ancient India which can be corroborated from the <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jain" title="Jain">Jai</a><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-6"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gautama_Buddha#cite_note-6"><span></span><span></span></a></sup> According to Michael Carrithers, there are good reasons to doubt the traditional account, though the outline of "birth, maturity, renunciation, search, awakening and liberation, teaching, death" must be true.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-7"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gautama_Buddha#cite_note-7"><span></span><span></span></a></sup></span> scriptures, and make the Buddha's time the earliest period in Indian history for which substantial accounts exist.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="" id="Conception_and_birth" name="Conception_and_birth"></a></span></div><h3 style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="mw-headline">Conception and birth</span></span></h3><div class="thumb tleft" style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> <div class="thumbinner" style="width: 182px;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a class="image" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Maya_Devi_temple-Nepal.JPG" title="Maya Devi Temple in Lumbini, Nepal."><img alt="" class="thumbimage" height="135" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c3/Maya_Devi_temple-Nepal.JPG/180px-Maya_Devi_temple-Nepal.JPG" width="180" /></a></span> <div class="thumbcaption"> <span style="font-size: small;"> Maya Devi Temple in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lumbini" title="Lumbini">Lumbini</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nepal" title="Nepal">Nepal</a>.</span></div><div class="thumbcaption"><span style="font-size: small;"> <br />
</span></div></div></div><div class="thumb tleft" style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> <div class="thumbinner" style="width: 182px;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a class="image" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Birth_of_Buddha_at_Lumbini.jpg" title="Birth of Buddha at Lumbini. Picture of a painting in a Laotian Temple."><img alt="" class="thumbimage" height="115" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9a/Birth_of_Buddha_at_Lumbini.jpg/180px-Birth_of_Buddha_at_Lumbini.jpg" width="180" /></a></span> <div class="thumbcaption"> <span style="font-size: small;"> Birth of Buddha at Lumbini. Picture of a painting in a Laotian Temple.</span></div></div></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Siddhartha was born in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lumbini" title="Lumbini">Lumbini</a><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-8"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gautama_Buddha#cite_note-8"><span>[</span>9<span>]</span></a></sup> and raised in the small kingdom or principality of <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kapilvastu" title="Kapilvastu">Kapilvastu</a>, both of which are in modern day <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nepal" title="Nepal">Nepal</a>. At the time of the Buddha's birth, the area was at or beyond the boundary of <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vedic_civilization" title="Vedic civilization">Vedic civilization</a>, the dominant culture of northern India at the time; it is even possible that his mother tongue was not an <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indo-Aryan_language" title="Indo-Aryan language">Indo-Aryan language</a>.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-9"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gautama_Buddha#cite_note-9"><span></span><span></span></a></sup> At the time, a multitude of small city-states existed in ancient India, called <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahajanapadas" title="Mahajanapadas">janapadas</a>. <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republics" title="Republics">Republics</a> and chiefdoms with diffused political power and limited social stratification, were not uncommon amongst them, and were referred to as <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gana-sanghas" title="Gana-sanghas">gana-sanghas</a>.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-10"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gautama_Buddha#cite_note-10"><span></span><span></span></a></sup> </span></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The Buddha's community does not seem to have had a caste system, and their society was not structured according to Brahminical theory. It was not a monarchy, and seems to have been structured either as an <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oligarchy" title="Oligarchy">oligarchy</a>, or as a form of republic.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-11"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gautama_Buddha#cite_note-11"><span></span><span></span></a></sup> The more egalitarian gana-sangha form of government, as a political alternative to the strongly hierarchical kingdoms, may have influenced the development of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shramana" title="Shramana">Shramana</a> type Jain and Buddhist <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sangha" title="Sangha">sanghas</a>, where monarchies tended toward <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vedic_Brahmanism" title="Vedic Brahmanism">Vedic Brahmanism</a>.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-12"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gautama_Buddha#cite_note-12"><span></span><span></span></a></sup></span></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">According to the traditional biography, his father was King <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suddhodana" title="Suddhodana">Suddhodana</a>, the leader of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shakya" title="Shakya">Shakya</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kosala" title="Kosala">Kosala</a> during the Buddha's lifetime; Gautama was the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Family_name" title="Family name">family name</a>. His mother, <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_Maya" title="Queen Maya">Queen Maha Maya</a> (Māyādevī) and Suddhodana's wife, was a <a class="new" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Koliya&action=edit&redlink=1" title="Koliya (page does not exist)">Koliyan</a> princess. On the night Siddhartha was conceived, Queen Maya dreamt that a white elephant with six white tusks entered her right side<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-13"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gautama_Buddha#cite_note-13"><span></span><span></span></a></sup>, and ten <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunar_month" title="Lunar month">lunar months</a> later Siddhartha was born. As was the Shakya tradition, when his mother Queen Maya became pregnant, she left <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kapilvastu" title="Kapilvastu">Kapilvastu</a> for her father's kingdom to give birth. However, she gave birth on the way, at <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lumbini" title="Lumbini">Lumbini</a>, in a garden beneath a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shorea_robusta" title="Shorea robusta">sal</a> tree.</span> clan, whose capital was Kapilavastu, and who were later annexed by the growing Kingdom of </div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The day of the Buddha's birth is widely celebrated in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theravada" title="Theravada">Theravada</a> countries as <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vesak" title="Vesak">Vesak</a>.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-14"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gautama_Buddha#cite_note-14"><span></span><span></span></a></sup> Various sources hold that the Buddha's mother died at his birth, a few days or seven days later. The infant was given the name Siddhartha (Pāli: Siddhatta), meaning "he who achieves his aim". During the birth celebrations, the hermit <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clairvoyance" title="Clairvoyance">seer</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asita" title="Asita">Asita</a> journeyed from his mountain abode and announced that the child would either become a great king (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chakravartin" title="Chakravartin">chakravartin</a>) or a great <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sadhu" title="Sadhu">holy man</a>.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-narada_15-0"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gautama_Buddha#cite_note-narada-15"><span></span><span></span></a></sup> This occurred after Siddhartha placed his feet in Asita's hair and Asita examined the birthmarks. </span></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Suddhodana held a naming ceremony on the fifth day, and invited eight <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brahmin" title="Brahmin">brahmin</a><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-narada_15-1"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gautama_Buddha#cite_note-narada-15"><span>[</span>16<span>]</span></a></sup> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaundinya" title="Kaundinya">Kaundinya</a> (Pali: Kondanna), the youngest, and later to be the first <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arahant" title="Arahant">arahant</a>, was the only one who unequivocally predicted that Siddhartha would become a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhahood" title="Buddhahood">Buddha</a>.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-16"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gautama_Buddha#cite_note-16"><span>[</span>17<span>]</span></a></sup></span> scholars to read the future. All gave a dual prediction that the baby would either become a great king or a great holy man.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">While later tradition and legend characterized Śuddhodana as a <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hereditary" title="Hereditary">hereditary</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monarch" title="Monarch">monarch</a>, the <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinship_and_descent" title="Kinship and descent">descendant</a> of the Solar Dynasty of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ikshvaku" title="Ikshvaku"><span class="Unicode" lang="sa-Latn" style="text-decoration: none; white-space: normal;" title="International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration" xml:lang="sa-Latn">Ikṣvāku</span></a> (Pāli: Okkāka), many scholars believe that Śuddhodana was the elected chief of a tribal confederacy.</span></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="" id="Early_life_and_marriage" name="Early_life_and_marriage"></a></span></div><h3 style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="mw-headline">Early life and marriage</span></span></h3><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Siddhartha, destined to a luxurious life as a prince, had three palaces (for seasonal occupation) especially built for him. His father, King Śuddhodana, wishing for Siddhartha to be a great king, shielded his son from religious teachings or knowledge of human <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dukkha" title="Dukkha">suffering</a>. Siddhartha was brought up by his mother's younger sister, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahapajapati_Gotami" title="Mahapajapati Gotami">Maha Pajapati</a>.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-narada_14_17-0"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gautama_Buddha#cite_note-narada_14-17"><span></span><span></span></a></sup></span></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">As the boy reached the age of 16, his father arranged his marriage to <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yashodhara" title="Yashodhara">Yaśodharā</a> (Pāli: Yasodharā), a cousin of the same age. According to the traditional account, in time, she gave birth to a son, <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rahula" title="Rahula">Rahula</a>. Siddhartha spent 29 years as a Prince in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kapilavastu" title="Kapilavastu">Kapilavastu</a>. Although his father ensured that Siddhartha was provided with everything he could want or need, Siddhartha felt that material wealth was not the ultimate goal of life.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-narada_14_17-1"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gautama_Buddha#cite_note-narada_14-17"><span></span><span></span></a></sup></span></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="" id="Departure_and_Ascetic_Life" name="Departure_and_Ascetic_Life"></a></span></div><h3 style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="mw-headline">Departure and Ascetic Life </span></span></h3><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">At the age of 29, Siddhartha left his palace in order to meet his subjects. Despite his father's effort to remove the sick, aged and suffering from the public view, Siddhartha was said to have seen an old man. Disturbed by this, when told that all people would eventually grow old by his charioteer <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Channa_%28Buddhist%29" title="Channa (Buddhist)">Channa</a>, the prince went on further trips where he encountered, variously, a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disease" title="Disease">diseased</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body" title="Body">corpse</a>, and an <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asceticism" title="Asceticism">ascetic</a>. Deeply depressed by these sights, he sought to overcome old age, illness, and death by living the life of an ascetic.</span> man, a decayin. </div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> <span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Siddhartha escaped his palace, accompanied by Channa aboard his horse <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kanthaka" title="Kanthaka">Kanthaka</a>, leaving behind this royal life to become a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mendicant" title="Mendicant">mendicant</a>. It is said that, "the horse's hooves were muffled by the gods"<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-18"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gautama_Buddha#cite_note-18"><span></span><span></span></a></sup> to prevent guards from knowing the Bodhisatta's departure. This event is traditionally called "The Great Departure". Siddhartha initially went to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rajgir" title="Rajgir">Rajagaha</a> and began his ascetic life by begging for alms in the street. Having been recognised by the men of King <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bimbisara" title="Bimbisara">Bimbisara</a>, Bimbisara offered him the throne after hearing of Siddhartha's quest. Siddhartha rejected the offer, but promised to visit his kingdom of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magadha" title="Magadha">Magadha</a> first, upon attaining enlightenment.</span></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Siddhartha left Rajagaha and practised under two hermit teachers. After mastering the teachings of <a class="new" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Alara_Kalama&action=edit&redlink=1" title="Alara Kalama (page does not exist)">Alara Kalama</a> (Skr. Ārāḍa Kālāma), Siddhartha was asked by Kalama to succeed him, but moved on after being unsatisfied with his practices. He then became a student of <a class="new" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Udaka_Ramaputta&action=edit&redlink=1" title="Udaka Ramaputta (page does not exist)">Udaka Ramaputta</a> (Skr. Udraka Rāmaputra), but although he achieved high levels of meditative consciousness and was asked to succeed Ramaputta, he was still not satisfied with his path, and moved on.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-19"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gautama_Buddha#cite_note-19"><span></span><span></span></a></sup></span></div><div class="thumb tright" style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> <div class="thumbinner" style="width: 182px;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a class="image" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Gandhara_Buddha_%28tnm%29.jpeg" title="Gandhara Buddha. 1st–2nd century CE, Tokyo National Museum."><img alt="" class="thumbimage" height="296" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b8/Gandhara_Buddha_%28tnm%29.jpeg/180px-Gandhara_Buddha_%28tnm%29.jpeg" width="180" /></a></span> <div class="thumbcaption"> <span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gandhara" title="Gandhara">Gandhara</a> Buddha. 1st–2nd century CE, Tokyo National Museum.</span></div></div></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Siddhartha and a group of five companions led by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaundinya" title="Kaundinya">Kaundinya</a> then set out to take their austerities even further. They tried to find enlightenment through near total deprivation of worldly goods, including food, practising <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mortification_of_the_flesh" title="Mortification of the flesh">self-mortification</a>. After nearly starving himself to death by restricting his food intake to around a leaf or nut per day, he collapsed in a river while bathing and almost drowned. Siddhartha began to reconsider his path. Then, he remembered a moment in childhood in which he had been watching his father start the season's plowing, and he had fallen into a naturally concentrated and focused state that was blissful and refreshing, the <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jhana" title="Jhana">jhana</a>.</span></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="" id="Enlightenment" name="Enlightenment"></a></span></div><h3 style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="mw-headline">Enlightenment</span></span></h3><div class="thumb tleft" style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> <div class="thumbinner" style="width: 182px;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a class="image" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:PrinceSiddhartha.JPG" title="Prince Siddhartha Gautama, Musée Guimet, Paris"><img alt="" class="thumbimage" height="437" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/05/PrinceSiddhartha.JPG/180px-PrinceSiddhartha.JPG" width="180" /></a></span> <div class="thumbcaption"> <div class="magnify"><span style="font-size: small;"><a class="internal" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:PrinceSiddhartha.JPG" title="Enlarge"><br />
</a></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"> Prince <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siddhartha_Gautama" title="Siddhartha Gautama">Siddhartha Gautama</a>, Musée Guimet, Paris</span></div></div></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">After asceticism and concentrating on <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meditation" title="Meditation">meditation</a> and Anapana-sati (awareness of breathing in and out), Siddhartha is said to have discovered what Buddhists call the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_way" title="Middle way">Middle Way</a>—a path of moderation away from the extremes of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hedonism" title="Hedonism">self-indulgence</a> and self-mortification. He accepted a little milk and rice pudding from a village girl named <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sujata" title="Sujata">Sujata</a>, who wrongly believed him to be the spirit that had granted her a wish, such was his emaciated appearance. Then, sitting under a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pipal" title="Pipal">pipal</a> tree, now known as the <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bodhi_tree" title="Bodhi tree">Bodhi tree</a> in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bodh_Gaya" title="Bodh Gaya">Bodh Gaya</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/India" title="India">India</a>, he vowed never to arise until he had found the Truth. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaundinya" title="Kaundinya">Kaundinya</a> and the other four companions, believing that he had abandoned his search and become undisciplined, left. After 49 days meditating, at the age of 35, he attained <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bodhi" title="Bodhi">Enlightenment</a>; according to some traditions, this occurred approximately in the fifth lunar month, and according to others in the twelfth. Gautama, from then on, was known as the <i>Buddha</i> or "Awakened One." Buddha is also sometimes translated as "The Enlightened One." Often, he is referred to in Buddhism as <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shakyamuni" title="Shakyamuni">Shakyamuni</a> Buddha or "The Awakened One of the Shakya Clan."</span></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">At this point, he is believed to have realized complete awakening and insight into the nature and cause of human suffering which was ignorance, along with steps necessary to eliminate it. This was then categorized into '<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Noble_Truths" title="Four Noble Truths">Four Noble Truths</a>'; the state of supreme liberation—possible for any being—was called <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nirvana" title="Nirvana">Nirvana</a>. He then allegedly came to possess the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhahood#Nine_characteristics" title="Buddhahood">Nine Characteristics</a>, which are said to belong to every Buddha.</span></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">According to one of the stories in the <i><a class="new" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=%C4%80y%C4%81cana_Sutta&action=edit&redlink=1" title="Āyācana Sutta (page does not exist)">Āyācana Sutta</a></i> (Samyutta Nikaya VI.1), a scripture found in the <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P%C4%81li" title="Pāli">Pāli</a> and other <a class="extiw" href="http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/canon" title="wiktionary:canon">canons</a>, immediately after his Enlightenment, the Buddha was wondering whether or not he should teach the <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dharma_%28Buddhism%29" title="Dharma (Buddhism)">Dharma</a></i> to human beings. He was concerned that, as human beings were overpowered by greed, hatred and delusion, they would not be able to see the true <i>dharma</i>, which was subtle, deep and hard to understand. However, <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brahma_%28Buddhism%29#Brahm.C4.81_Sahampati" title="Brahma (Buddhism)">Brahmā Sahampati</a>, interceded and asked that he teach the <i>dharma</i> to the world, as "there will be those who will understand the <i>Dharma</i>". With his great compassion to all beings in the universe, the Buddha agreed to become a teacher.</span></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="" id="Formation_of_the_sangha" name="Formation_of_the_sangha"></a></span></div><h3 style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="mw-headline">Formation of the sangha</span></span></h3><div class="thumb tright" style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> <div class="thumbinner" style="width: 152px;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a class="image" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Sermon_in_the_Deer_Park_depicted_at_Wat_Chedi_Liem-KayEss-1.jpeg" title="Painting of the first sermon depicted at Wat Chedi Liem in Thailand."><img alt="" class="thumbimage" height="202" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5f/Sermon_in_the_Deer_Park_depicted_at_Wat_Chedi_Liem-KayEss-1.jpeg/150px-Sermon_in_the_Deer_Park_depicted_at_Wat_Chedi_Liem-KayEss-1.jpeg" width="150" /></a></span> <div class="thumbcaption"> <span style="font-size: small;"> Painting of the first sermon depicted at <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wat_Chedi_Liem" title="Wat Chedi Liem">Wat Chedi Liem</a> in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thailand" title="Thailand">Thailand</a>.</span></div></div></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">After becoming enlightened, two merchants whom the Buddha met, named <a class="new" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tapussa&action=edit&redlink=1" title="Tapussa (page does not exist)">Tapussa</a> and <a class="new" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bhallika&action=edit&redlink=1" title="Bhallika (page does not exist)">Bhallika</a> became the first lay disciples. They are given some hairs from the Buddha's head, which are believed to now be enshrined in the <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shwe_Dagon" title="Shwe Dagon">Shwe Dagon</a> Temple in <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rangoon" title="Rangoon">Rangoon</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burma" title="Burma">Burma</a>. The Buddha intended to visit <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asita" title="Asita">Asita</a>, and his former teachers, <a class="new" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Alara_Kalama&action=edit&redlink=1" title="Alara Kalama (page does not exist)">Alara Kalama</a> and <a class="new" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Uddaka_Ramaputta&action=edit&redlink=1" title="Uddaka Ramaputta (page does not exist)">Uddaka Ramaputta</a></span> to explain his findings, but they had already died.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The Buddha thus journeyed to Deer Park near <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Varanasi" title="Varanasi"><span class="Unicode" lang="sa-Latn" style="text-decoration: none; white-space: normal;" title="International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration" xml:lang="sa-Latn">Vārāṇasī</span></a> (Benares) in northern India, he set in motion the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dharmacakra" title="Dharmacakra">Wheel of Dharma</a> by delivering his first sermon to the group of five companions with whom he had previously sought enlightenment. They, together with the Buddha, formed the first <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sangha" title="Sangha"><span class="Unicode" lang="sa-Latn" style="text-decoration: none; white-space: normal;" title="International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration" xml:lang="sa-Latn">saṅgha</span></a>, the company of Buddhist monks, and hence, the first formation of <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triple_Gem" title="Triple Gem">Triple Gem</a> (Buddha, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dharma_%28Buddhism%29" title="Dharma (Buddhism)">Dharma</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sangha" title="Sangha">Sangha</a>) was completed, with <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaundinya" title="Kaundinya">Kaundinya</a> becoming the first <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stream-enterer" title="Stream-enterer">stream-enterer</a>. All five soon become arahants, and with the conversion of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yasa" title="Yasa">Yasa</a> and fifty four of his friends, the number of arahants swelled to 60 within the first two months. The conversion of the three Kassapa brothers and their 200, 300 and 500 disciples swelled the sangha over 1000, and they were dispatched to explain the dharma to the populace.</span></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">It is unknown what the Buddha's mother tongue was, and no conclusive documentation has been made at this point. It is likely that he preached and his teachings were originally preserved in a variety of closely related Middle Indo-Aryan dialects, of which <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pali" title="Pali">Pali</a> may be a standardization.</span></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="" id="Travels_and_teaching" name="Travels_and_teaching"></a></span></div><h3 style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="mw-headline">Travels and teaching</span></span></h3><div class="thumb tleft" style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> <div class="thumbinner" style="width: 182px;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a class="image" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:TheBuddhaAndVajrapaniGandhara2ndCentury.jpg" title="Buddha with his protector Vajrapani, Gandhara, 2nd century CE, Ostasiatische Kunst Museum"><img alt="" class="thumbimage" height="269" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a4/TheBuddhaAndVajrapaniGandhara2ndCentury.jpg/180px-TheBuddhaAndVajrapaniGandhara2ndCentury.jpg" width="180" /></a></span> <div class="thumbcaption"> <span style="font-size: small;"> Buddha with his protector <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vajrapani" title="Vajrapani">Vajrapani</a>, Gandhara, 2nd century CE, Ostasiatische Kunst Museum</span></div></div></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">For the remaining 45 years of his life, the Buddha is said to have traveled in the <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gangetic_Plain" title="Gangetic Plain">Gangetic Plain</a>, in what is now <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uttar_Pradesh" title="Uttar Pradesh">Uttar Pradesh</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bihar" title="Bihar">Bihar</a> and southern <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nepal" title="Nepal">Nepal</a>, teaching his doctrine and discipline to an extremely diverse range of people— from nobles to <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dalit_%28outcast%29" title="Dalit (outcast)">outcaste</a> street sweepers, mass murderers such as <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angulimala" title="Angulimala">Angulimala</a> and cannibals such as <a class="new" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Alavaka&action=edit&redlink=1" title="Alavaka (page does not exist)">Alavaka</a>. This extended to many adherents of rival philosophies and religions. The Buddha founded the community of Buddhist monks and nuns (the <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sangha" title="Sangha">Sangha</a></i>) to continue the dispensation after his <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parinirvana" title="Parinirvana">Parinirvāna</a></i> (<a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P%C4%81li" title="Pāli">Pāli</a>: Parinibbāna) or "complete Nirvāna", and made thousands of converts. His religion was open to all races and classes and had no <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caste" title="Caste">caste</a> structure. He was also subject to attack from opposition religious groups, including attempted murders and framings.</span></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div class="thumb tright" style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> <div class="thumbinner" style="width: 152px;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a class="image" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Sakyamuni_cuts_his_hair,_Tang_Dynasty.jpg" title="A Tang Dynasty (618–907 AD) Chinese silk landscape painting depicting the young Sakyamuni shaving his head. This is one of the earliest visual presentations of the Gautama Buddha in the history of painting"><img alt="" class="thumbimage" height="498" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/bc/Sakyamuni_cuts_his_hair%2C_Tang_Dynasty.jpg/150px-Sakyamuni_cuts_his_hair%2C_Tang_Dynasty.jpg" width="150" /></a></span> <div class="thumbcaption"> <span style="font-size: small;"> A Tang Dynasty (618–907 AD) Chinese silk landscape <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_painting" title="Chinese painting">painting</a></span> depicting the young Sakyamuni shaving his head. This is one of the earliest visual presentations of the Gautama Buddha in the history of painting</div></div></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The sangha travelled from place to place in India, expounding the dharma. This occurred throughout the year, except during the four months of the <a class="new" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Vassana&action=edit&redlink=1" title="Vassana (page does not exist)">vassana</a> rainy season. Due to the heavy amount of flooding, travelling was difficult, and ascetics of all religions in that time did not travel, since it was more difficult to do so without stepping on submerged animal life, unwittingly killing them. During this period, the sangha would retreat to a monastery, public park or a forest and people would come to them.</span></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The first vassana was spent at <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Varanasi" title="Varanasi">Varanasi</a> when the sangha was first formed. After this, he travelled to <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rajagaha" title="Rajagaha">Rajagaha</a>, the capital of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magadha" title="Magadha">Magadha</a> to visit King <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bimbisara" title="Bimbisara">Bimbisara</a>, in accordance with his promise after enlightenment. It was during this visit that <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sariputta" title="Sariputta">Sariputta</a> and <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahamoggallana" title="Mahamoggallana">Mahamoggallana</a> were converted by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assaji" title="Assaji">Assaji</a>, one of the first five disciples; they were to become the Buddha's two foremost disciples. The Buddha then spent the next three seasons at Veluvana Bamboo Grove monastery in <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rajagaha" title="Rajagaha">Rajagaha</a>, the capital of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magadha" title="Magadha">Magadha</a>. The monastery, which was of a moderate distance from the city centre was donated by Bimbisara.</span></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Upon hearing of the enlightenment, Suddhodana dispatched royal delegations to ask the Buddha to return to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kapilavastu" title="Kapilavastu">Kapilavastu</a>. Nine delegations were sent in all, but the delegates joined the sangha and became arahants. Neglecting worldly matters, they did not convey their message. The tenth delegation, led by <a class="new" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Kaludayi&action=edit&redlink=1" title="Kaludayi (page does not exist)">Kaludayi</a>, a childhood friend, resulted in the message being successfully conveyed as well as becoming an arahant. Since it was not the vassana, the Buddha agreed, and two years after his enlightenment, took a two month journey to Kapilavastu by foot, preaching the dharma along the way. Upon his return, the royal palace had prepared the midday meal, but since no specific invitation had come, the sangha went for an alms round in Kapilavastu. Hearing this, Suddhodana hastened to approach the Buddha, stating "Ours is the warrior lineage of Mahamassata, and not a single warrior has gone seeking alms", to which the Buddha replied</span></div><blockquote class="templatequote" style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> <div> <span style="font-size: small;">That is not the custom of your royal lineage. But it is the custom of my Buddha lineage. Several thousands of Buddhas have gone by seeking alms</span><br />
</div></blockquote><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Suddhodana invited the sangha back to the royal palace for the meal, followed by a dharma talk, after which he became a <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sotapanna" title="Sotapanna">sotapanna</a>. During the visit, many members of the royal family joined the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sangha" title="Sangha">sangha</a>. His cousins <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ananda" title="Ananda">Ananda</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anuruddha" title="Anuruddha">Anuruddha</a> were to become two of his five chief disciples. His son <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rahula" title="Rahula">Rahula</a> also joined the sangha at the age of seven, and was one of the ten chief disciples. His half-brother <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanda" title="Nanda">Nanda</a> also joined the sangha and became an arahant. Another cousin <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devadatta" title="Devadatta">Devadatta</a> also became a monk although he later became an enemy and tried to kill the Buddha on multiple occasions.</span></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Of his disciples, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sariputta" title="Sariputta">Sariputta</a>, <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahamoggallana" title="Mahamoggallana">Mahamoggallana</a>, <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahakasyapa" title="Mahakasyapa">Mahakasyapa</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ananda" title="Ananda">Ananda</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anuruddha" title="Anuruddha">Anuruddha</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Upali" title="Upali">Upali</a>, <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subhoti" title="Subhoti">Subhoti</a>, <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rahula" title="Rahula">Rahula</a>, <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahakaccana" title="Mahakaccana">Mahakaccana</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punna" title="Punna">Punna</a>.</span> comprised the five chief disciples. His ten foremost disciples were completed by the quintet of </div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">In the fifth vassana, the Buddha was staying at Mahavana near <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vesali" title="Vesali">Vesali</a>. Hearing of the impending death of Suddhodana, the Buddha went to his father and preached the dharma, and Suddhodana became an arahant prior to death. The death and cremation led to the creation of the order of nuns. Buddhist texts record that he was reluctant to ordain women as nuns. </span></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">His foster mother <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maha_Pajapati" title="Maha Pajapati">Maha Pajapati</a> approached him asking to join the sangha, but the Buddha refused, and began the journey from Kapilavastu back to Rajagaha. Maha Pajapati was so intent on renouncing the world that she led a group of royal Sakyan and Koliyan ladies, following the sangha to Rajagaha. The Buddha eventually accepted them five years after the formation of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sangha" title="Sangha">Sangha</a> on the grounds that their capacity for enlightenment was equal to that of men, but he gave them certain additional rules (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vinaya" title="Vinaya">Vinaya</a>) to follow. This occurred after <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ananda" title="Ananda">Ananda</a> interceded on their behalf. <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yasodhara" title="Yasodhara">Yasodhara</a> also became a nun, with both becoming <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arahant" title="Arahant">arahants</a>.</span></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div class="thumb tleft" style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> <div class="thumbinner" style="width: 182px;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a class="image" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Devadatta_attacking_Buddha.jpg" title="Devadatta tries to attack the Buddha. Picture of a wallpainting in a Laotian monastery."><img alt="" class="thumbimage" height="109" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b9/Devadatta_attacking_Buddha.jpg/180px-Devadatta_attacking_Buddha.jpg" width="180" /></a></span><span style="font-size: small;">Devadatta tries to attack the Buddha. Picture of a wallpainting in a Laotian monastery.</span> </div></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">During his ministry, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devadatta" title="Devadatta">Devadatta</a> (who was not an arahant) frequently tried to undermine the Buddha. At one point Devadatta asked the Buddha to stand aside to let him lead the sangha. The Buddha declined, and stated that Devadatta's actions did not reflect on the <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triple_Gem" title="Triple Gem">Triple Gem</a>, but on him alone. Devadatta conspired with Prince <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ajatasattu" title="Ajatasattu">Ajatasattu</a>, son of Bimbisara, so that they would kill and usurp the Buddha and Bimbisara respectively. Devadatta attempted three times to kill the Buddha. The first attempt involved the hiring of a group of archers, whom upon meeting the Buddha became disciples. A second attempt followed when Devadatta attempted to roll a large boulder down a hill. It hit another rock and splintered, only grazing the Buddha in the foot. </span></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">A final attempt by plying an elephant with alcohol and setting it loose again failed. Failing this, Devadatta attempted to cause a schism in the sangha, by proposing extra restrictions on the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vinaya" title="Vinaya">vinaya</a>. When the Buddha declined, Devadatta started a breakaway order, criticising the Buddha's laxity. At first, he managed to convert some of the bhikkhus, but Sariputta and Mahamoggallana expounded the dharma to them and succeeded in winning them back.</span></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">When the Buddha reached the age of 55, he made Ananda his chief attendant.</span></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="" id="Death_.2F_Mahaparinirvana" name="Death_.2F_Mahaparinirvana"></a></span></div><h3 style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="mw-headline">Death / Mahaparinirvana</span></span></h3><div class="thumb tleft" style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> <div class="thumbinner" style="width: 202px;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a class="image" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Parinibbana.jpg" title="An artist`s portrayal of Buddha's entry into Parinirvana."><img alt="" class="thumbimage" height="197" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/dd/Parinibbana.jpg/200px-Parinibbana.jpg" width="200" /></a></span> <div class="thumbcaption"> <span style="font-size: small;"> An artist`s portrayal of Buddha's entry into <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parinirvana" title="Parinirvana">Parinirvana</a>.</span></div></div></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">According to the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahaparinibbana_Sutta" title="Mahaparinibbana Sutta">Mahaparinibbana Sutta</a> of the Pali canon, at the age of 80, the Buddha announced that he would soon reach <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parinirvana" title="Parinirvana">Parinirvana</a> or the final deathless state abandoning the earthly body. After this, the Buddha ate his last meal, which he had received as an offering from a blacksmith named <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cunda_%28Buddhism%29" title="Cunda (Buddhism)">Cunda</a>. Falling violently ill, Buddha instructed his attendant <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ananda" title="Ananda">Ānanda</a> to convince Cunda that the meal eaten at his place had nothing to do with his passing and that his meal would be a source of the greatest merit as it provided the last meal for a Buddha.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-20"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gautama_Buddha#cite_note-20"><span></span><span></span></a></sup><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-21"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gautama_Buddha#cite_note-21"><span></span><span></span></a></sup> The precise contents of the Buddha's final meal are not clear, due to variant scriptural traditions and ambiguity over the translation of certain significant terms; the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theravada" title="Theravada">Theravada</a> tradition generally believes that the Buddha was offered some kind of pork, while the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahayana" title="Mahayana">Mahayana</a> tradition believes that the Buddha consumed some sort of truffle or other mushroom.</span> Mettanando and von Hinüber argue that the Buddha died of mesenteric infarction, a symptom of old age, rather than food poisoning.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div class="thumb tright" style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> <div class="thumbinner" style="width: 202px;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a class="image" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:EndAscetism.JPG" title="The sharing of the relics of the Buddha, Zenyōmitsu-Temple Museum, Tokyo"><img alt="" class="thumbimage" height="119" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7e/EndAscetism.JPG/200px-EndAscetism.JPG" width="200" /></a></span> <div class="thumbcaption"> <span style="font-size: small;"> The sharing of the relics of the Buddha, Zenyōmitsu-Temple Museum, Tokyo</span></div><div class="thumbcaption"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div></div></div><div class="thumb tright" style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> <div class="thumbinner" style="width: 202px;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a class="image" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Buddha_relics.JPG" title="Buddha relics from Kanishka's stupa in Peshawar, Pakistan, now in Mandalay, Burma. Teresa Merrigan, 2005"><img alt="" class="thumbimage" height="135" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/7/73/Buddha_relics.JPG/200px-Buddha_relics.JPG" width="200" /></a></span> <div class="thumbcaption"> <span style="font-size: small;"> Buddha relics from <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kanishka" title="Kanishka">Kanishka</a>'s <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stupa" title="Stupa">stupa</a> in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peshawar" title="Peshawar">Peshawar</a>, Pakistan, now in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandalay" title="Mandalay">Mandalay</a>, Burma. Teresa Merrigan, 2005</span></div></div></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The Mahayana <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vimalakirti_Sutra" title="Vimalakirti Sutra">Vimalakirti Sutra</a> claims, in Chapter 3, that the Buddha doesn't really become ill or old but purposely presents such an appearance only to teach those born into samsara about the impermanence and pain of defiled worlds and to encourage them to strive for Nirvana.</span></div><blockquote class="templatequote" style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> <div> <span style="font-size: small;">"Reverend Ánanda, the Tathágatas have the body of the Dharma—not a body that is sustained by material food. The Tathágatas have a transcendental body that has transcended all mundane qualities. There is no injury to the body of a Tathágata, as it is rid of all defilements. The body of a Tathágata is uncompounded and free of all formative activity. Reverend Ánanda, to believe there can be illness in such a body is irrational and unseemly!' Nevertheless, since the Buddha has appeared during the time of the five corruptions, he disciplines living beings by acting lowly and humble."[14]</span><br />
</div></blockquote><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Ananda protested Buddha's decision to enter Parinirvana in the abandoned jungles of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kushinagar" title="Kushinagar">Kuśināra</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kushinagar" title="Kushinagar">Kushinagar</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/India" title="India">India</a>) of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malla_%28India%29" title="Malla (India)">Malla</a> kingdom. Buddha, however, reminded Ananda how Kushinara was a land once ruled by a righteous wheel-turning king that resounded with joy:</span> (present-day </div><blockquote class="templatequote" style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> <div> <span style="font-size: small;"><i>44.</i> Kusavati, Ananda, resounded unceasingly day and night with ten sounds—the trumpeting of elephants, the neighing of horses, the rattling of chariots, the beating of drums and tabours, music and song, cheers, the clapping of hands, and cries of "Eat, drink, and be merry!"</span><br />
</div></blockquote><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Buddha then asked all the attendant <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhikshu" title="Bhikshu">Bhikshus</a> to clarify any doubts or questions they had. They had none. He then finally entered Parinirvana. The Buddha's final words were, "All composite things pass away. Strive for your own liberation with diligence." The Buddha's body was cremated and the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relic" title="Relic">relics</a> were placed in monuments or <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stupa" title="Stupa">stupas</a>, some of which are believed to have survived until the present. For example, The <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temple_of_the_Tooth" title="Temple of the Tooth">Temple of the Tooth</a> or "Dalada Maligawa" in </span></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sri_Lanka" title="Sri Lanka">Sri Lanka</a> is the place where the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relic_of_the_tooth_of_the_Buddha" title="Relic of the tooth of the Buddha">relic of the right tooth of Buddha</a> is kept at present.</span></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">According to the Pāli historical chronicles of Sri Lanka, the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dipavamsa" title="Dipavamsa"><span class="Unicode" lang="sa-Latn" style="text-decoration: none; white-space: normal;" title="International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration" xml:lang="sa-Latn">Dīpavaṃsa</span></a> and <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahavansa" title="Mahavansa"><span class="Unicode" lang="sa-Latn" style="text-decoration: none; white-space: normal;" title="International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration" xml:lang="sa-Latn">Mahāvaṃsa</span></a>, the coronation of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashoka_the_Great" title="Ashoka the Great">Aśoka</a> (Pāli: Asoka) is 218 years after the death of Buddha. According to one Mahayana record in Chinese (十八部論 and 部執異論), the coronation of Aśoka is 116 years after the death of Buddha. Therefore, the time of Buddha's passing is either 486 BCE according to Theravāda record or 383 BCE according to Mahayana record. However, the actual date traditionally accepted as the date of the Buddha's death in Theravāda countries is 544 or 543 BCE, because the reign of Aśoka was traditionally reckoned to be about 60 years earlier than current estimates.</span></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">At his death, the Buddha told his disciples to follow no leader, but to follow his teachings (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dharma" title="Dharma">dharma</a>). However, at the <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Buddhist_Council" title="First Buddhist Council">First Buddhist Council</a>, <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahakasyapa" title="Mahakasyapa">Mahakasyapa</a> was held by the sangha as their leader, with the two chief disciples <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahamoggallana" title="Mahamoggallana">Mahamoggallana</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sariputta" title="Sariputta">Sariputta</a> having died before the Buddha.</span></div><h2 style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="mw-headline">Physical characteristics</span></span></h2><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Buddha is perhaps one of the few sages for whom we have mention of his rather impressive physical characteristics. A <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kshatriya" title="Kshatriya">kshatriya</a> by birth, he had military training in his upbringing, and by Shakyan tradition was required to pass tests to demonstrate his worthiness as a warrior in order to marry. He had a strong enough body to be noticed by one of the kings and was asked to join his army as a general. He is also believed by Buddhists to have "<a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thirty-two_marks_of_the_Buddha" title="Thirty-two marks of the Buddha">the 32 Signs of the Great Man</a>".</span></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The Brahmin Sonadanda described him as "handsome, good-looking, and pleasing to the eye, with a most beautiful complexion. He has a godlike form and countenance, he is by no means unattractive."(D,I:115).</span></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">"It is wonderful, truly marvellous, how serene is the good Gotama's appearance, how clear and radiant his complexion, just as the golden jujube in autumn is clear and radiant, just as a palm-tree fruit just loosened from the stalk is clear and radiant, just as an adornment of red gold wrought in a crucible by a skilled goldsmith, deftly beaten and laid on a yellow-cloth shines, blazes and glitters, even so, the good Gotama's senses are calmed, his complexion is clear and radiant." (A,I:181)</span></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">A disciple named Vakkali, who later became an Arahant, was so obsessed by Buddha's physical presence that Buddha had to tell him to stop and reminded Vakkali to know Buddha through the Dhamma and not physical appearances.</span></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Although the Buddha was not represented in human form until around the <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1st_century_AD" title="1st century AD">1st century CE</a> (see <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhist_art" title="Buddhist art">Buddhist art</a>), the physical characteristics of fully-enlightened Buddhas are described by the Buddha in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digha_Nikaya" title="Digha Nikaya">Digha Nikaya</a>'s <i><span class="Unicode" lang="sa-Latn" style="text-decoration: none; white-space: normal;" title="International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration" xml:lang="sa-Latn">Lakkhaṇa Sutta</span></i> (D,I:142).<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-22"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gautama_Buddha#cite_note-22"><span></span><span></span></a></sup> In addition, the Buddha's physical appearance is described by <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yasodhara" title="Yasodhara">Yasodhara</a> to their son <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rahula" title="Rahula">Rahula</a> upon the Buddha's first post-Enlightenment return to his former princely palace in the non-canonical Pali devotional hymn, <i>Narasīha Gāthā</i> ("The Lion of Men").<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-23"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gautama_Buddha#cite_note-23"><span></span><span></span></a></sup></span></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Many Westerners associate the name "Buddha" with figurine depictions of a certain fat, bald, smiling person. This is inaccurate, as the person in these figurines is not Buddha at all, but <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Budai" title="Budai">Budai</a>, a Chinese Buddhist monk who lived in the 10th century CE.</span></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="" id="Teachings" name="Teachings"></a></span></div><h2 style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="mw-headline">Teachings</span></span></h2><div class="thumb tright" style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> <div class="thumbinner" style="width: 182px;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a class="image" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:SeatedBuddhaGandhara2ndCenturyOstasiatischeMuseum.jpg" title="Seated Buddha, Gandhara, 2nd century CE."><img alt="" class="thumbimage" height="231" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3c/SeatedBuddhaGandhara2ndCenturyOstasiatischeMuseum.jpg/180px-SeatedBuddhaGandhara2ndCenturyOstasiatischeMuseum.jpg" width="180" /></a></span> <div class="thumbcaption"> <span style="font-size: small;"> Seated Buddha, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gandhara" title="Gandhara">Gandhara</a>, 2nd century CE.</span></div></div></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Some scholars believe that some portions of the <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pali_Canon" title="Pali Canon">Pali Canon</a> and the Agamas could contain the actual substance of the historical teachings (and possibly even the words) of the Buddha.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-24"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gautama_Buddha#cite_note-24"><span></span><span></span></a></sup><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-25"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gautama_Buddha#cite_note-25"><span></span><span></span></a></sup><b>Not</b> the case for the later Mahayana sutras.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-26"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gautama_Buddha#cite_note-26"><span>[</span>27<span>]</span></a></sup> The scriptural works of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Early_Buddhism" title="Early Buddhism">Early Buddhism</a></span> This is precede the Mahayana works chronologically, and are treated by many Western scholars as the main credible source for information regarding the actual historical teachings of Gautama Buddha.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Some of the fundamentals of the teachings of Gautama Buddha are:</span></div><ul style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><li><span style="font-size: small;">The <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Noble_Truths" title="Four Noble Truths">Four Noble Truths</a>: that suffering is an inherent part of existence; that the origin of suffering is ignorance and the main symptoms of that ignorance are attachment and craving; that attachment and craving can be ceased; and that following the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noble_Eightfold_Path" title="Noble Eightfold Path">Noble Eightfold Path</a> will lead to the cessation of attachment and craving and therefore suffering.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;">The <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noble_Eightfold_Path" title="Noble Eightfold Path">Noble Eightfold Path</a>: right understanding, right thought, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pratitya-samutpada" title="Pratitya-samutpada">Dependent origination</a>: that any phenomenon 'exists' only because of the ‘existence’ of other phenomena in a complex web of cause and effect covering time past, present and future. Because all things are thus conditioned and transient (<a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anicca" title="Anicca">anicca</a>), they have no real independent identity (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anatta" title="Anatta">anatta</a>).</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;">Rejection of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infallibility" title="Infallibility">infallibility</a> of accepted <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scripture" title="Scripture">scripture</a>: Teachings should not be accepted unless they are borne out by our experience and are praised by the wise. See the <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalama_Sutta" title="Kalama Sutta">Kalama Sutta</a></i> for details.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><i><a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anicca" title="Anicca">Anicca</a></i> (Sanskrit: <i>anitya</i>): That all things are impermanent.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dukkha" title="Dukkha">Dukkha</a></i> (Sanskrit: <i><span class="Unicode" lang="sa-Latn" style="text-decoration: none; white-space: normal;" title="International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration" xml:lang="sa-Latn">duḥkha</span></i>): That all beings suffer from all situations due to unclear mind.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anatta" title="Anatta">Anatta</a></i> (Sanskrit: <i>anātman</i>): That the perception of a constant "<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self_%28philosophy%29" title="Self (philosophy)">self</a>" is an illusion.</span></li>
</ul><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">However, in some Mahayana schools, these points have come to be regarded as more or less subsidiary. There is some disagreement amongst various <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schools_of_Buddhism" title="Schools of Buddhism">schools of Buddhism</a> over more esoteric aspects of Buddha's teachings, and also over some of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vinaya" title="Vinaya">disciplinary rules</a> for monks.</span></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">According to tradition, the Buddha emphasized ethics and correct understanding. He questioned the average person's notions of divinity and salvation. He stated that there is no intermediary between mankind and the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Divinity" title="Divinity">divine</a>; distant gods are subjected to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karma" title="Karma">karma</a> themselves in decaying heavens; and the Buddha is solely a guide and teacher for the sentient beings who must tread the path of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nirvana" title="Nirvana"><span class="Unicode" lang="sa-Latn" style="text-decoration: none; white-space: normal;" title="International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration" xml:lang="sa-Latn">Nirvāṇa</span></a> (<a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P%C4%81li" title="Pāli">Pāli</a>: Nibbāna) themselves to attain the spiritual awakening called <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bodhi" title="Bodhi">bodhi</a></i> and see truth and reality as it is. The Buddhist system of insight and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meditation" title="Meditation">meditation</a></span> practice is not believed to have been revealed divinely, but by the understanding of the true nature of the mind, which must be discovered by personally treading a spiritual path guided by the Buddha's teachings.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><h3 style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="mw-headline"></span></span></h3><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div>Nanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17149283539654033740noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4611343706898552392.post-39629578820442332522009-09-04T23:32:00.000-07:002009-09-04T23:32:22.715-07:00Cambodian New Year<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;"></span><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>ambodian New Year</b> (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khmer_language" title="Khmer language">Khmer</a>: <span lang="km" xml:lang="km">បុណ្យចូលឆ្នាំថ្មី</span>) or <i>Chol Chnam Thmey</i> in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khmer_language" title="Khmer language">Khmer language</a>, literally "Enter the New Year", is the name of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambodia" title="Cambodia">Cambodian</a> holiday that celebrates the <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_year" title="New year">new year</a>. The holiday lasts for three days beginning on New Year's Day, most commonly <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/April_13" title="April 13">April 13th</a> but sometimes on the 14th in keeping with the lunar calendar. Khmer living in other countries may change the dates so as to celebrate on the weekend. This time of the year is at the end of the harvesting season. The farmers enjoy the fruits of their harvest and relax before the rainy season begins. </span></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The numbering is based on the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhist_calendar" title="Buddhist calendar">Buddhist calendar</a>. For 2009 it is 2553 BE (Buddhist Era),</span></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><h2 style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="mw-headline">The Three Days of The New Year</span></span></h2><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="" id="Maha_Songkran" name="Maha_Songkran"></a></span></div><h3 style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="editsection"></span> <span class="mw-headline">Maha Songkran</span></span></h3><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Maha <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Songkran" title="Songkran">Songkran</a></i>, derived from <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanskrit" title="Sanskrit">Sanskrit</a> <i>Maha <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sankranti" title="Sankranti">Sankranti</a></i>, is the name of the first day of the new year celebration. It is the ending of the year and the beginning of a new one. People dress up and light candles and burn incense sticks at shrines. The members of each family pay homage to offer thanks for the Buddha's teachings by bowing, kneeling and prostrating themselves three times before his image. For good luck people wash their face with holy water in the morning, their chests at noon, and their feet in the evening before they go to bed.</span></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="" id="Wanabat" name="Wanabat"></a></span></div><h3 style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="editsection"></span> <span class="mw-headline">Wanabat</span></span></h3><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Wanabat</i> is the name of the second day of the new year celebration. People contribute charity to the less fortunate, help the poor, servants, homeless people, and low-income families. Families attend a dedication ceremony to their ancestors at the monastery.</span></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="" id="Tngay_Leang_Saka" name="Tngay_Leang_Saka"></a></span></div><h3 style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="editsection"></span><span class="mw-headline">Tngay Leang Saka</span></span></h3><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Tngay Leang Saka</i> is the name of the third day of the new year celebration. Buddhist cleanse the Buddha statues and elders with perfumed water. Bathing the Buddha images is the symbol that water will be needed for all kinds of plants and lives. It is also thought to be a kind deed that will bring longevity, good luck, happiness and prosperity in life. By bathing their grandparents and parents, children can obtain from them best wishes and good advice for the future.</span></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="" id="New_Year_Traditions" name="New_Year_Traditions"></a></span></div><h2 style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="editsection"></span> <span class="mw-headline">New Year Traditions</span></span></h2><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">In temples, people erect a sand hillock on temple grounds. They mound up a big pointed hill of sand or dome in the center which represents sakyamuni satya, the stupa at Tavatimsa, where the Buddha's hair and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diadem" title="Diadem">diadem</a></span> are buried. The big stupa is surrounded by four small ones, which represent the stupas of the Buddha's favorite disciples which are Sariputta, Moggallana, Ananda, and Maha Kassapa. There is another tradition, that is pouring water or plaster on someone.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Khmer New Year is a time to prepare special dishes. One of these is <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kralan" title="Kralan">kralan</a>, a cake made from steamed rice mixed with beans or peas, grated coconut and coconut milk. The mixture is stuffed inside a bamboo stick and slowly roasted.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-0"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambodian_New_Year#cite_note-0"><span></span><span></span></a></sup></span></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="" id="Khmer_games" name="Khmer_games"></a></span></div><h2 style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="editsection"></span> <span class="mw-headline">Khmer games</span></span></h2><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Cambodia is home to a variety of games played to transform the dullest days into a memorable occasion. Through-out the Khmer New Year, street corners often are crowded with friends and families enjoying a break from routine, filling their free time dancing and play. Typically Khmer games help maintain one's mental and physical dexterity. The body's blood pressure, muscle system and brain all are challenged and strengthened in the name of fun.</span></div><ul style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><li><span style="font-size: small;">"Tres"</span></li>
</ul><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">A game played by throwing and catching a ball with one hand while trying to catch an increasing number of sticks with the other hand. Usually, pens or chopsticks are used as the sticks to be caught.</span></div><ul style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><li><span style="font-size: small;">"Chol Chhoung"</span></li>
</ul><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">A game played especially on the first nightfall of the Khmer New Year by two groups of boys and girls. Ten or 20 people comprise each group, standing in two rows opposite each other. One group throws the "chhoung" to the other group. When it is caught, it will be rapidly thrown back to the first group. If someone is hit by the "chhoung," the whole group must dance to get the "chhoung" back while the other group sings.</span></div><ul style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><li><span style="font-size: small;">"Chab Kon Kleng"</span></li>
</ul><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">A game played by imitating a hen as she protects her chicks from a crow. Adults typically play this game on the night of the first New Year's Day. Participants usually appoint a person with a strong build to play the hen leading many chicks. Another person is picked to be the crow. While both sides sing a song of bargaining, the crow tries to catch as many chicks as possible as they hide behind the hen.</span></div><ul style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><li><span style="font-size: small;">"Bos Angkunh"</span></li>
</ul><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">A game played by two groups of boys and girls. Each group throws their own "angkunh" to hit the master "angkunhs," which belong to the other group and are placed on the ground. The winners must knock the knee of the losers with the "angkunh." "Angkunh" is the name of an inedible fruit seed, which looks like the knee bone.</span></div><ul style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><li><span style="font-size: small;">"Leak Kanseng"</span></li>
</ul><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">A game played by a group of children sitting in circle. Someone holding a "kanseng" (Cambodian towel) twisted into a round shape walks around the circle while singing a song. The person walking secretly tries to place the "kanseng" behind one of the children. If that chosen child realizes what is happening, he or she must pick up the "kanseng" and beat the person sitting next to him or her.</span></div><ul style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><li><span style="font-size: small;">"Bay Khom"</span></li>
</ul><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">A game played by two children in rural or urban areas during their free time. Ten holes are dug in the shape of an oval into a board in the ground. The game is played with 42 small beads, stones or fruit seeds. Before starting the game, five beads are put into each of the two holes located at the tip of the board. Four beads are placed in each of the remaining eight holes. The first player takes all the beads from any hole and drops them one by one in the other holes. He or she must repeat this process until they have dropped the last bead into a hole lying beside an empty one. Then they must take all the beads in the hole that follows the empty one. At this point, the second player begins to play. The game ends when all the holes are empty. The player with the greatest number of beads wins the game</span></div><ul style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><li><span style="font-size: small;">"Klah Klok"</span></li>
</ul><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">A game played by Cambodians of all ages. It is a gambling game that is fun for all ages. There is a mat & dice. You put money on the object that you believe the person rolling the dice (which is usually shaken in a type of bowl) and you wait. If the objects face up on the dice are the same as the objects you put money on. You double it. If there are two of yours you triple, and so on.</span></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div>Nanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17149283539654033740noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4611343706898552392.post-65719655711459962512009-09-04T23:30:00.000-07:002009-09-04T23:30:22.967-07:00Bon Om Thook<span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Bon Om Thook</b>, the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khmer_people" title="Khmer people">Khmer</a> Water Festival, is a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambodia" title="Cambodia">Cambodian</a> festival celebrated in November. Every town and province joins in with the celebration but the place to be for Bon Om Thook is <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phnom_Penh" title="Phnom Penh">Phnom Penh</a>. For three days, workers from every province join with the city's residents to celebrate by night and day.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The river comes alive with fireworks and flotillas of brightly-lit boats and the moon rises over the capital.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The full moon which coincides with the festival is worshiped by many households. The highlight of the festival is a series of boat races. These take place over three days and honour the twelfth century Khmer naval victories achieved under King Jayavarman VII.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Bon Om Thook is ancient; having its roots in a time when the Angkorian kings would test the fighting prowess of their warriors by holding competitions. The races were a form of training and a means by which the king could choose his champions. To this end they were used in a similar way to jousting tournaments in medieval Europe.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Cambodian temple carvings at <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bayon" title="Bayon">Bayon</a> and <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banteay_Chmar" title="Banteay Chmar">Banteay Chmar</a> have numerous depictions of battles fought on water. Spiritually, the festival provides a chance to give thanks to Buddha for the year's rice crop and to ask for sufficient rain in the coming year. There are 3 other ceremonies during the festival.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><h2 style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="mw-headline">Ork Ambok </span></span></h2><h2 style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="mw-headline"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Ork Ambok is named after the rice dish which forms part of the Bon Om Thook ceremony. Rice is fried in the husk and then pounded with a giant pestle. The husks are removed and the special rice mixed with coconut and banana. This traditional Khmer dish is sold throughout the festival.</span></span></h2><h2><span class="mw-headline">Sampheah Preah Kae</span></h2><h2><b>Sampheah Preah Kae</b> is a ceremony in which salutations are made to the moon. After the Sampheah Preah Kae ceremony people gather at a pagoda at midnight for Ork Ambok.<span class="mw-headline"> <br />
</span></h2><h2 style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span></span></h2><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div>Nanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17149283539654033740noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4611343706898552392.post-16402505541699937542009-09-04T23:24:00.000-07:002009-09-04T23:24:31.418-07:00Vesak<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b style="color: #444444;">Vesak</b><span style="color: #444444;"> is an annual holiday observed traditionally by practicing </span><a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhist" style="color: #444444;" title="Buddhist">Buddhists</a><span style="color: #444444;"> in </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Asia" style="color: #444444;" title="South Asia">South Asian</a><span style="color: #444444;"> and </span><a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_East_Asia" style="color: #444444;" title="South East Asia">South East Asian</a><span style="color: #444444;"> countries like </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nepal" style="color: #444444;" title="Nepal">Nepal</a><span style="color: #444444;">, </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singapore" style="color: #444444;" title="Singapore">Singapore</a><span style="color: #444444;">, </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnam" style="color: #444444;" title="Vietnam">Vietnam</a><span style="color: #444444;">, </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thailand" style="color: #444444;" title="Thailand">Thailand</a><span style="color: #444444;">, </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambodia" style="color: #444444;" title="Cambodia">Cambodia</a><span style="color: #444444;">, </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malaysia" style="color: #444444;" title="Malaysia">Malaysia</a><span style="color: #444444;">, </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sri_Lanka" style="color: #444444;" title="Sri Lanka">Sri Lanka</a><span style="color: #444444;">, </span><a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myanmar" style="color: #444444;" title="Myanmar">Myanmar</a><span style="color: #444444;">, </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indonesia" style="color: #444444;" title="Indonesia">Indonesia</a><span style="color: #444444;">, </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pakistan" style="color: #444444;" title="Pakistan">Pakistan</a><span style="color: #444444;"> and </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/India" style="color: #444444;" title="India">India</a><span style="color: #444444;">. </span><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-0" style="color: #444444;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vesak#cite_note-0"><span></span><span></span></a></sup><span style="color: #444444;"> Sometimes informally called "</span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddha%27s_Birthday" style="color: #444444;" title="Buddha's Birthday">Buddha's Birthday</a><span style="color: #444444;">," it actually encompasses the birth, enlightenment (</span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nirvana" style="color: #444444;" title="Nirvana">Nirvana</a><span style="color: #444444;">), and passing away (</span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parinirvana" style="color: #444444;" title="Parinirvana">Parinirvana</a><span style="color: #444444;">) of </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gautama_Buddha" style="color: #444444;" title="Gautama Buddha">Gautama Buddha</a><span style="color: #444444;">.</span><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-1" style="color: #444444;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vesak#cite_note-1"><span></span><span></span></a></sup></span> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">In <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahayana" title="Mahayana">Mahayana</a> Buddhist traditions, the holiday is known by its <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanskrit" title="Sanskrit">Sanskrit</a> name, and derived variants of it. The word <i>Vesak</i> itself is the <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinhalese_language" title="Sinhalese language">Sinhalese language</a> word for the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pali" title="Pali">Pali</a> variation, <i>Vesākha</i>. Vesak is also known as <i>Buddha Purnima</i> or <i>Buddha Jayanti</i> in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/India" title="India">India</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bangladesh" title="Bangladesh">Bangladesh</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nepal" title="Nepal">Nepal</a>, (<i><a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanamatsuri" title="Hanamatsuri">Hanamatsuri</a></i>) in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japan" title="Japan">Japan</a>, <i>Seokka Tanshin-il</i> in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korean_language" title="Korean language">Korean</a>, (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandarin_Chinese" title="Mandarin Chinese">Mandarin</a>: <i>Fódàn</i>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cantonese" title="Cantonese">Cantonese</a>: <i>Fātdàahn</i>) in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_language" title="Chinese language">Chinese</a>-speaking communities, <i>Phật Đản</i> in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnamese_language" title="Vietnamese language">Vietnamese</a>, ས་ག་ཟླ་བ། <i>Saga Dawa</i> (<i>sa ga zla ba</i>) in <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tibetan_language" title="Tibetan language">Tibetan</a>, <span lang="km" xml:lang="km">វិសាខបូជា</span> <i>Visak Bochéa</i> in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khmer_language" title="Khmer language">Khmer</a>, วันวิสาขบูชา <i>Visakah Puja</i> (or <i>Visakha Bucha</i>) in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thai_language" title="Thai language">Thai</a>, <i>Waisak</i> in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indonesia" title="Indonesia">Indonesia</a>, <i>Vesak</i> (<i>Wesak</i>) in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sri_Lanka" title="Sri Lanka">Sri Lanka</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malaysia" title="Malaysia">Malaysia</a>. The equivalent festival in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laos" title="Laos">Laos</a> is called ວິຊຂບູຊ <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vixakha_Bouxa" title="Vixakha Bouxa">Vixakha Bouxa</a></i> and in <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myanmar" title="Myanmar">Myanmar</a> is called <i>Ka-sone-la-pyae</i> meaning “Fullmoon Day of Kasone” which is also the second month of the Myanmar Calendar.</span></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The exact date of Vesak varies according to the various lunar calendars used in different traditions. In Theravada countries following the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhist_calendar" title="Buddhist calendar">Buddhist calendar</a>, it falls on the full moon Uposatha day (typically the 5th or 6th lunar month). While the Vesak Day in China, it is on the eighth of the fourth month in the <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_lunar_calendar" title="Chinese lunar calendar">Chinese lunar calendar</a>. The date varies from year to year in the Western <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gregorian" title="Gregorian">Gregorian</a> calendar but falls in April or May.</span></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The 2009 date for Vesak as observed by the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhammayuttika_Nikaya" title="Dhammayuttika Nikaya">Dhammayutika</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maha_Nikaya" title="Maha Nikaya">Mahānikāya</a> sects of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhism_in_Thailand" title="Buddhism in Thailand">Thai Buddhism</a> was 8 May<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-2"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vesak#cite_note-2"><span>[</span>3<span>]</span></a></sup>; 8 May 2009 was also Vesak in Sri Lanka<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-3"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vesak#cite_note-3"><span>[</span>4<span>]</span></a></sup>. The 2009 date for Vesak as observed in Singapore is 9 May.</span></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><h2 style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="mw-headline">History</span></span></h2><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The decision to agree to celebrate Vesak as the Buddha’s birthday was formalized at the first Conference of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Fellowship_of_Buddhists" title="World Fellowship of Buddhists">World Fellowship of Buddhists</a> held in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sri_Lanka" title="Sri Lanka">Sri Lanka</a> in 1950, although festivals at this time in the Buddhist world are a centuries-old tradition. The Resolution that was adopted at the World Conference reads as follows:</span></div><table class="cquote" style="background-color: transparent; border-collapse: collapse; border-style: none; color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin: auto;"><tbody>
<tr> <td style="font-size: 35px; font-weight: bold; padding: 10px; text-align: left;" valign="top" width="20"><br />
</td> <td style="padding: 4px 10px;" valign="top"><span style="font-size: small;">That this Conference of the World Fellowship of Buddhists, while recording its appreciation of the gracious act of His Majesty, the <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nepalese_monarchy" title="Nepalese monarchy">Maharaja of Nepal</a> in making the full-moon day of Vesak a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture_of_Nepal#Festivals_and_celebrations" title="Culture of Nepal">Public Holiday in Nepal</a>, earnestly requests the Heads of Governments of all countries in which large or small number of Buddhists are to be found, to take steps to make the full-moon day in the month of May a Public Holiday in honour of the Buddha, who is universally acclaimed as one of the greatest benefactors of Humanity.</span></td> <td style="font-size: 36px; font-weight: bold; padding: 10px; text-align: right;" valign="bottom" width="20"><br />
</td> </tr>
</tbody></table><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">On Vesak Day, Buddhists all over the world commemorate events of significance to Buddhists of all traditions: The birth, enlightenment and the passing away of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gautama_Buddha" title="Gautama Buddha">Gautama Buddha</a>. As Buddhism spread from India it was assimilated into many foreign cultures, and consequently Vesak is celebrated in many different ways all over the world.</span></div><h2 style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="mw-headline">The celebration of Vesak</span></span></h2><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> May 2007 had two full moon days, the 1st and the 31st. Some countries (including <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sri_Lanka" title="Sri Lanka">Sri Lanka</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambodia" title="Cambodia">Cambodia</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malaysia" title="Malaysia">Malaysia</a>) celebrated Vesak on the 1st, while others (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thailand" title="Thailand">Thailand</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singapore" title="Singapore">Singapore</a>) celebrated the holiday on the 31st due to different local lunar observance. This difference also manifests in the observance of other Buddhist holidays, which are traditionally observed at the local full moon.</span> and </div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> On Vesak day, devout Buddhists and followers alike are expected and requested to assemble in their various temples before dawn for the ceremonial, and honorable, hoisting of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhist_flag" title="Buddhist flag">Buddhist flag</a> and the singing of hymns in praise of the holy triple gem: The <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gautama_Buddha" title="Gautama Buddha">Buddha</a>, The <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dharma_%28Buddhism%29" title="Dharma (Buddhism)">Dharma</a> (his teachings), and The <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sangha" title="Sangha">Sangha</a> (his disciples). Devotees may bring simple offerings of flowers, candles and joss-sticks to lay at the feet of their teacher. These symbolic offerings are to remind followers that just as the beautiful flowers would wither away after a short while and the candles and joss-sticks would soon burn out, so too is life subject to decay and destruction. Devotees are enjoined to make a special effort to refrain from killing of any kind. They are encouraged to partake of vegetarian food for the day. In some countries, notably <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sri_Lanka" title="Sri Lanka">Sri Lanka</a>, two days are set aside for the celebration of Vesak and all liquor shops and slaughter houses are closed by government decree during the two days. Also birds, insects and animals are released by the thousands in what is known as a 'symbolic act to liberation'; of giving freedom to those who are in captivity, imprisoned, or tortured against their will. Some devout Buddhists will wear a simple white dress and spend the whole day in temples with renewed determination to observe the eight Precepts.</span></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div class="thumb tright" style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> <div class="thumbinner" style="width: 152px;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a class="image" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:WesakDay.jpg" title="Young novice on Vesak Day Parade"><img alt="" class="thumbimage" height="225" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/f/f9/WesakDay.jpg/150px-WesakDay.jpg" width="150" /></a></span> <div class="thumbcaption"> <span style="font-size: small;"> Young novice on Vesak Day Parade</span></div></div></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Devout Buddhists undertake to lead a noble life according to the teaching by making daily affirmations to observe the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_Precepts" title="Five Precepts">Five Precepts</a>. However, on special days, notably new moon and full moon days, they observe the eight Percepts to train themselves to practice morality, simplicity and humility.</span></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Some temples also display a small image of the baby Buddha in front of the altar in a small basin filled with water and decorated with flowers, allowing devotees to pour water over the statue; it is symbolic of the cleansing of a practitioners bad karma, and to reenact the events following the Buddha's birth, when devas and spirits made heavenly offerings to him.</span></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Devotees are expected to listen to talks given by monks. On this day monks will recite verses uttered by the Buddha twenty-five centuries ago, to invoke peace and happiness for the Government and the people. Buddhists are reminded to live in harmony with people of other faiths and to respect the beliefs of other people as the Buddha had taught.</span></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><h3 style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="mw-headline">Bringing happiness to others</span></span></h3><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Celebrating Vesak also means making special efforts to bring happiness to the unfortunate like the aged, the handicapped and the sick. To this day, Buddhists will distribute gifts in cash and kind to various charitable homes throughout the country. Vesak is also a time for great joy and happiness, expressed not by pandering to one’s appetites but by concentrating on useful activities such as decorating and illuminating temples, painting and creating exquisite scenes from the life of the Buddha for public dissemination. Devout Buddhists also vie with one another to provide refreshments and vegetarian food to followers who visit the temple to pay homage to the Enlightened One.</span></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="" id="Paying_homage_to_the_Buddha" name="Paying_homage_to_the_Buddha"></a></span></div><h3 style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="editsection"></span><span class="mw-headline">Paying homage to the Buddha</span></span></h3><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Tradition ascribes to the Buddha himself instruction on how to pay him homage. Just before he died, he saw his faithful attendant <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ananda" title="Ananda">Ananda</a>, weeping. The Buddha advised him not to weep, but to understand the universal law that all <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dependent_origination" title="Dependent origination">compounded things</a> (including even his own body) must disintegrate. He advised everyone not to cry over the disintegration of the physical body but to regard his teachings (The Dhamma) as their teacher from then on, because only the Dhamma truth is eternal and not subject to the law of change. He also stressed that the way to pay homage to him was not merely by offering flowers, incense, and lights, but by truly and sincerely striving to follow his teachings. This is how devotees are expected to celebrate Vesak: to use the opportunity to reiterate their determination to lead noble lives, to develop their minds, to practise loving-kindness and to bring peace and harmony to humanity.</span></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="" id="Vesak_in_Japan" name="Vesak_in_Japan"></a></span></div><h3 style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="editsection">[</span></span></h3><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-4"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vesak#cite_note-4"><span></span><span></span></a></sup></span></div>Nanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17149283539654033740noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4611343706898552392.post-68404858162891901462009-09-04T23:18:00.000-07:002009-09-04T23:18:17.358-07:00Prachum Benda "Ancestors' Day"<span style="color: #444444; font-size: small;"></span><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> Cambodians believe that although most living creatures are reincarnated at death, due to bad karma, some souls are not reincarnated but rather remain trapped in the spirit world. Each year, for fifteen days, these souls are released from the spirit world to search for their living relatives, meditate and repent. The fifteen-day observance of <i>Prachum Benda</i>, or Ancestors' Day, is a time for living relatives to remember their ancestors and offer food to those unfortunate enough to have become trapped in the spirit world. Furthermore, it is an important opportunity for living relatives to meditate and pray to help reduce the bad karma of their ancestors, thus enabling the ancestors to become reincarnated and leave the torment and misery of the spirit world. </span></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Prachum Benda</i>, better known colloquially as <i>Pchum Ben</i>, may be translated as "gathering together to make offerings" (<i>prachum</i> meaning "gathering together" and <i>benda </i>meaning "offering"). The observance usually begins in mid-September and lasts an entire lunar cycle, constituting the fifteen days that ancestral spirits are given to visit their living relatives. In the year 2003, the specific dates for its commencement and conclusion are September 11th and September 25th, respectively. </span></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Pchum Ben</i> is the fifteenth and final day of the observance and consists of a large gathering of laity for festivities at the local Buddhist temple. Each day leading up to the fifteenth, however, is also important and special. Different families host services at the temple on each of the fourteen days prior to the final celebration. The days leading up to <i>Pchum Ben </i>are known as <i>Kann Ben </i>(<i>kann </i>meaning "hosting or holding") and are numbered one through fourteen accordingly. </span></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Prior to the day a family or families are scheduled to host a <i>Kann Ben</i>, relatives and close family friends will go to the temple to make preparations. During the preparations, urns of ancestors, traditionally kept on temple grounds, are polished and brought to the <i>viheara </i>(the main chanting room). Also, the names of ancestors are recorded onto an invitation list. This is important because spirits cannot receive offerings unless they are first invited to do so by living relatives. In the evening, the host family and other participants will join the monks in the <i>viheara </i>for meditation and chanting. The monks will then pass on the Buddha's teachings, as well as offer blessings and guidance to those present. </span></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Before sunrise on the morning of the <i>Kann Ben</i>, special food is prepared for the ancestral spirits to enjoy. Favorite dishes of various flavors and colors are offered. They range from the simple and traditional <i>nom ansom </i>(sticky rice wrapped in banana leaves with assorted fillings) to the more elaborate and rich <i>amok </i>(steamed fish fillet marinated in a complex mix of spices and herbs). As a gesture of kindness, the hosts also prepare <i>bai ben </i>(steamed sticky rice mixed with sesame seeds and then formed into balls) to be thrown into shaded areas about the temple grounds. This mixture is an offering to the hungry souls who have been forgotten or no longer have living relatives to make them offerings. </span></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Before noon on <i>Kann Ben</i>, candles and incense are lit and the various dishes are offered to the monks. The prepared list of names is then recited and burned. The reading and burning of the list is a ritual performed to alert and direct the wandering souls to the location of their families. It is an invitation for the ancestral spirits to join their living relatives as they commemorate life. After consuming the proffered meal, the monks continue to chant blessings, sprinkling (or showering) holy water onto the families and their visiting ancestral spirits. The <i>Kann Ben </i>is a time of remembrance and an opportunity to accumulate good karma on behalf of one's ancestors. </span></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The rituals of <i>Kann Ben </i>continue for fourteen days. On the fifteenth day, the traditionally observed <i>Pchum Ben</i>, families in the local area gather to perform the same ritual of ancestral remembrance and offer an immense communal feast. This day is especially important because if any ancestors are unfortunate enough to have become <i>Priad </i>spirits, it is the only day that they may receive offerings of food and benefit from the good karma earned by their relatives. <i>Priads </i>are the most miserable of all souls due to their exceptional bad karma. Unlike other spirits, <i>Priads </i>fear light and can only receive prayers, food and be reunited with their living relatives during the darkest day of this lunar cycle, the day of <i>Pchum Ben</i>. </span></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Participating in the <i>Pchum Ben</i>, whether as a host or participant, is a very important aspect of Cambodian culture. It is a time of reunion and commemoration. It is a time to express love and appreciation for one's ancestors. By offering food and good karma to those possibly trapped in the spirit world, living relatives help assuage their misery and guide them back into the cycle of reincarnation. After the ancestors are reincarnated, they have the opportunity to accumulate good karma on their own and look forward to attaining a peaceful inner spirit, which is the best blessing a living relative can wish for their ancestors. </span></div>Nanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17149283539654033740noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4611343706898552392.post-4430185692754325062009-09-04T23:09:00.000-07:002009-09-04T23:09:16.180-07:00Phnom Penh<span style="color: #444444; font-size: small;"></span><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Phnom Penh</b> (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khmer_language" title="Khmer language">Khmer</a>: <span lang="km" xml:lang="km">ភ្នំពេញ</span>, official Romanization: <i>Phnum Pénh</i>; pronounced <span class="IPA" title="Pronunciation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:IPA" title="Wikipedia:IPA">[pʰnum pɯɲ]</a></span><span class="IPA" title="Pronunciation in IPA"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:IPA_for_English" title="Wikipedia:IPA for English">/pəˈnɒm ˈpɛn/</a></span> or <span class="IPA" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/ˈnɒm ˈpɛn/</span> in English<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-1"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phnom_Penh#cite_note-1"><span></span><span></span></a></sup>) is the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital_%28political%29" title="Capital (political)">capital</a> and largest city of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambodia" title="Cambodia">Cambodia</a>. It is also the capital of the Phnom Penh municipality. It is an <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy" title="Economy">economic</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Industry" title="Industry">industrial</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commerce" title="Commerce">commercial</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture" title="Culture">cultural</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tourism" title="Tourism">tourist</a> and historical center in the country.</span> in Khmer and </div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Once known as the "Pearl of Asia"<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-2"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phnom_Penh#cite_note-2"><span></span><span></span></a></sup> in the 1920s, Phnom Penh, along with <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siem_Reap" title="Siem Reap">Siem Reap</a>, is a significant global and domestic tourist destination for Cambodia. Phnom Penh is known for its traditional Khmer and French influenced architecture.</span></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Phnom Penh is the wealthiest and most populous city in Cambodia. It is also the commercial, political and cultural hub of Cambodia and is home to more than 2 million of Cambodia's population of over 14 million.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-3"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phnom_Penh#cite_note-3"><span> </span><span></span></a></sup></span></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><h2 style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="mw-headline">Etymology</span></span></h2><div class="thumb tleft" style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> <div class="thumbinner" style="width: 152px;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a class="image" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Wat_Phnom-Phnom_Penh-Cambodia.jpg" title="Stupas in front of Wat Phnom"><img alt="" class="thumbimage" height="226" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5f/Wat_Phnom-Phnom_Penh-Cambodia.jpg/150px-Wat_Phnom-Phnom_Penh-Cambodia.jpg" width="150" /></a></span> <div class="thumbcaption"> <span style="font-size: small;"><a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stupas" title="Stupas">Stupas</a> in front of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wat_Phnom" title="Wat Phnom">Wat Phnom</a></span></div></div></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Phnom Penh City takes its name from the present <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wat_Phnom" title="Wat Phnom">Wat Phnom</a> or <i>Hill Temple</i>. Legend has it that in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1372" title="1372">1372</a>, an old nun named Penh went to fetch the water in the <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mekong_river" title="Mekong river">Mekong river</a> and found a dead Koki tree floating down the stream. Inside the hole of that dead Koki tree contained four bronze and one stone <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddha" title="Buddha">Buddha</a> statues in it.</span></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Daun (Grandma) Penh brought the statues ashore and ordered people to pile up earth at northeast of her house and used those Koki trunks to build a temple on that hill to house the five <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddha" title="Buddha">Buddha</a> statues, then named the temple after her as <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wat_Phnom" title="Wat Phnom">Wat Phnom</a> Daun Penh, which presently known as Wat Phnom, a small hill of 27 metres (89 ft) in height.</span></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Phnom Penh was also previously known as <i>Krong Chaktomuk</i> (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khmer_language" title="Khmer language">Khmer</a>: <span lang="km" xml:lang="km">ក្រុងចតុមុខ</span>) meaning "City of Four Faces". This name refers to the junction where the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mekong" title="Mekong">Mekong</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bassac_River" title="Bassac River">Bassac</a>, and <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tonle_Sap_River" title="Tonle Sap River">Tonle Sap</a> rivers cross to form an "X" where the capital is situated. <i>Krong Chaktomuk</i> is an abbreviation of its ceremonial name given by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ponhea_Yat" title="Ponhea Yat">King Ponhea Yat</a> which full named Known as "Krong Chaktomuk Mongkol Sakal Kampuchea Thipadei Sereythor Inthabot Borei Roth Reach Seima Maha Nokor" (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khmer_language" title="Khmer language">Khmer</a>: <span lang="km" xml:lang="km">ក្រុងចតុម្មុខមង្គលសកលកម្ពុជាធិបតី សិរីធរបវរឥន្ទបត្តាមុនី រដ្ឋរាជសីមា មហានគរ</span>). This ceremonial name is composed into <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pali" title="Pali">Pali</a>, translates clearly but not official right as " The Place of Four river that give a happiness and success of Kampuja Kingdom, the highest leader as well as impregnable city of God <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indra" title="Indra">Indra</a> of the enormous Kingdom".<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-4"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phnom_Penh#cite_note-4"><span></span><span></span></a></sup>)</span></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="" id="History" name="History"></a></span></div><h2 style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="editsection"></span><span class="mw-headline">History</span></span></h2><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Phnom Penh first became the capital of Cambodia after <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ponhea_Yat" title="Ponhea Yat">Ponhea Yat</a>, king of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khmer_Empire" title="Khmer Empire">Khmer Empire</a>, moved the capital from <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angkor_Thom" title="Angkor Thom">Angkor Thom</a> after it was captured by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thailand" title="Thailand">Siam</a> a few years earlier. There are <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stupa" title="Stupa">stupa</a> behind Wat Phnom that house the remains of Ponhea Yat and the royal family as well as the remaining <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhist" title="Buddhist">Buddhist</a> statues from the Angkorean era. There is a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phnom_Penh_Legend" title="Phnom Penh Legend">legend</a> that tells how Phnom Penh was created. In the 1600s, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_people" title="Japanese people">Japanese</a> immigrants settled on the outskirts of Phnom Penh. <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-5"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phnom_Penh#cite_note-5"><span></span><span></span></a></sup></span></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Phnom Penh remained the royal capital for 73 years from <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1432" title="1432">1432</a> to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1505" title="1505">1505</a> when it was abandoned for 360 years from 1505 to 1865 by subsequent kings due to internal fighting between the royal pretenders. Later kings moved the capital several times and established their royal capitals at various locations in Tuol Basan (Srey Santhor), <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pursat" title="Pursat">Pursat</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lovek" title="Lovek">Longvek</a>, Lavear Em and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oudong" title="Oudong">Oudong</a>.</span></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div class="thumb tright" style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> <div class="thumbinner" style="width: 202px;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a class="image" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Wat_phnom1.jpg" title="Phnom Penh from east drawn in 1887 (Courtesy of Phnom Pen Then & Now)."><img alt="" class="thumbimage" height="133" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/0/07/Wat_phnom1.jpg/200px-Wat_phnom1.jpg" width="200" /></a></span> <div class="thumbcaption"> <span style="font-size: small;"> Phnom Penh from east drawn in 1887 (Courtesy of Phnom Pen Then & Now).</span></div></div></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">It was not until 1866, under the reign of King <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norodom_of_Cambodia" title="Norodom of Cambodia">Norodom I</a>, that Phnom Penh became the permanent seat of government, and the current <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Palace,_Phnom_Penh" title="Royal Palace, Phnom Penh">Royal Palace</a> was built. Beginning in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1870" title="1870">1870</a>, the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colonial_Cambodia" title="Colonial Cambodia">French Colonialists</a> had turned a a riverside village into a city when it started to build hotels, schools, prisons, barracks, bank, public works offices, telegraph offices, Law courts, and health services buildings. In 1872, the first glimpse of a modern city took shape when the colonial administration contracted a French contractor, Le Faucheur, to construct the first 300 concrete houses for sales and rentals to the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_Cambodian" title="Chinese Cambodian">Chinese traders</a>.</span></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
By the 1920s, Phnom Penh was known as the <i>Pearl of Asia</i>, and over the next four decades continued to experience growth with the building of a railway to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sihanoukville" title="Sihanoukville">Sihanoukville</a> and the Pochentong International Airport (now <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phnom_Penh_International_Airport" title="Phnom Penh International Airport">Phnom Penh International Airport</a>).Phnom Penh under the period of <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sihanouk" title="Sihanouk">Sihanouk</a>’s rule had seen the expansion and the constructions of many modern infrastructures.The city had been expanded and many infrastructures had been built.</span></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-6"></sup></span></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-6"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phnom_Penh#cite_note-6"><span></span><span></span></a></sup></span></div><div class="thumb tright" style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> <div class="thumbinner" style="width: 182px;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a class="image" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Tuolsleng1.JPG" title="The exterior of the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, Phnom Penh"><img alt="" class="thumbimage" height="135" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/19/Tuolsleng1.JPG/180px-Tuolsleng1.JPG" width="180" /></a></span> <div class="thumbcaption"> <span style="font-size: small;"> The exterior of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuol_Sleng_Genocide_Museum" title="Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum">Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum</a>, Phnom Penh</span></div></div></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">During the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnam_War" title="Vietnam War">Vietnam War</a>, Cambodia was used as a base by the <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Vietnamese_Army" title="North Vietnamese Army">North Vietnamese Army</a> and the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viet_Cong" title="Viet Cong">Viet Cong</a>, and thousands of refugees from across the country flooded the city to escape the fighting between their own government troops, the NVA/NLF, the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Vietnam" title="South Vietnam">South Vietnamese</a> and its allies and the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khmer_Rouge" title="Khmer Rouge">Khmer Rouge</a>. By 1975, the population was 2,000,000, the bulk of them refugees from the fighting. The city fell to the Khmer Rouge on <span class="mw-formatted-date" title="04-17"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/April_17" title="April 17">April 17</a></span>. Many of its residents, those who were wealthy and educated, were forced to do labor on rural farms as "<a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_people_%28Kampuchea%29" title="New people (Kampuchea)">new people</a>". Tuol Svay Prey High School was taken over by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pol_Pot" title="Pol Pot">Pol Pot</a>'s forces and was turned into the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuol_Sleng_Genocide_Museum" title="Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum">S-21</a> prison camp, where Cambodians were detained and tortured. </span></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Pol Pot sought a return to an agrarian economy and therefore killed many people perceived as educated, "lazy" or political enemies. Many others starved to death as a result of failure of the agrarian society and the sale of Cambodia's rice to China in exchange for bullets and weaponry. The former high school is now the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuol_Sleng_Genocide_Museum" title="Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum">Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum</a> where Khmer Rouge torture devices and photos of their victims are displayed. Choeung Ek (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Killing_Fields" title="The Killing Fields">The Killing Fields</a>), 15 kilometres (9 mi) away, where the Khmer Rouge marched prisoners from Tuol Sleng to be murdered and buried in shallow pits, is also now a memorial to those who were killed by the regime.</span></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khmer_Rouge" title="Khmer Rouge">Khmer Rouge</a> were driven out of Phnom Penh by the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnam" title="Vietnam">Vietnamese</a> in 1979<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-7"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phnom_Penh#cite_note-7"><span></span><span></span></a></sup> and people began to return to the city. Vietnam is historically a state with which Cambodia has had many conflicts, therefore this liberation was and is viewed with mixed emotions by the Cambodians. A period of reconstruction began, spurred by continuing stability of government, attracting new foreign investment and aid by countries including <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/France" title="France">France</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australia" title="Australia">Australia</a>, and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japan" title="Japan">Japan</a>. Loans were made from the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asian_Development_Bank" title="Asian Development Bank">Asian Development Bank</a> and the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Bank" title="World Bank">World Bank</a> to reinstate a clean water supply, roads and other infrastructure. The 1998 Census put Phnom Penh's population at 862,000;<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-8"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phnom_Penh#cite_note-8"><span></span><span></span></a></sup> by the next census in 2008 it was 1.3 million.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-NIS2008_0-2"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phnom_Penh#cite_note-NIS2008-0"><span></span><span></span></a></sup></span></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div>Nanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17149283539654033740noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4611343706898552392.post-19540065482351250942009-09-04T23:05:00.000-07:002009-09-04T23:05:32.356-07:00New Khmer Architecture<span style="color: #444444; font-size: small;"></span><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">New Khmer Architecture was an architectural movement in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambodia" title="Cambodia">Cambodia</a> during the 1950s and 1960s. The style blended elements of the Modern Movement with two distinctly Cambodian traditions: the grand tradition of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angkor" title="Angkor">Angkor</a>, and the vernacular tradition of ordinary people's houses. Colonial architecture also had an influence, especially in the earlier years. The movement was founded in 1953 with Cambodia's independence, reached its climax during the 1960s and came abruptly to an end in 1970 with the overthrow of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norodom_Sihanouk" title="Norodom Sihanouk">Norodom Sihanouk</a> by Gen. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lon_Nol" title="Lon Nol">Lon Nol</a>.</span></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><h2 style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="mw-headline">Historic overview</span></span></h2><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The driving force behind the movement was Norodom Sihanouk, King (1953-1955), Prime Minister (1955-1960), Head of State (1960-1970), ruthless leader yet beloved by his people, composer, writer, poet and lyricist, filmmaker, interior designer, and patron of the arts. Starting in 1953, year of Cambodia's independence, his vision of Cambodia as a modern, developed country and an integral part of the world led him to drive an all-encompassing effort to modernize the country, from agriculture to infrastructure and industry, education to health care, tourism to the arts. </span></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">At first the foreign influences in the style were clear, but quickly the architects of the movement, many of them trained abroad, become more confident in their use of distinctly Cambodian elements, merging them seamlessly with Modern elements. During the 1960s Phnom Penh with its many buildings in the style of New Khmer Architecture, was called the 'Pearl of the East'. During a visit to the city in the 60s, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee_Kuan_Yew" title="Lee Kuan Yew">Lee Kuan Yew</a>, Prime Minister of the Republic of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singapore" title="Singapore">Singapore</a> from 1959 to 1990, was so impressed he expressed his desire for Singapore to develop along similar lines. The movement came abruptly to an end in 1970 with the US-backed overthrow of Norodom Sihanouk by Gen. Lon Nol.</span></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><h2 style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="mw-headline">Present and future</span></span></h2><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Most New Khmer Architecture buildings in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phnom_Penh" title="Phnom Penh">Phnom Penh</a> and across the country survived the years of war and devastation remarkably intact. Some were destroyed by the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khmer_Rouge" title="Khmer Rouge">Khmer Rouge</a>: destroyed were for example all but one of the country's churches built during the 50s and 60s (only Sihanouk Ville's church survived), and the University of Kampot-Takeo. Unfortunately ruthless liberalism and the current period of high economic growth are proving to be a much greater threat. Some buildings worth protecting, like the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preah_Suramarit_National_Theatre" title="Preah Suramarit National Theatre">Preah Suramarit National Theater</a><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-0"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Khmer_Architecture#cite_note-0"><span></span><span></span></a></sup>). Currently a small group of people, mainly foreigners, is trying to raise awareness of </span></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> Cambodians in an effort to save the remaining sites. A new generation of Cambodian architecture students is also aware of the situation.</span> (which partially burned down in 1994 after a building accident) and the Council of Ministers, have already been destroyed in the rush to modernize. (Not just buildings of the 50s and 60s, but also buildings from the colonial period are threatened). </div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Many buildings built during the period are in poor shape. The National Sports Complex is especially vulnerable. Even though it is still in regular use, a recent "renovation" was extremely superficial. The moats surrounding the stadium, integral part of the design for flood prevention, have been or are being filled with shoddy new constructions. Of the two apartment blocks on the Front de Bassac, one is in such a bad state that it is past saving; the other has been encapsulated in concrete and has lost all its distinct features. Only a few buildings in the style are in good condition and regularly used (the Chaktomuk Compound (part of the Senate), Chaktomuk Conference Hall and Chenla Theater for example). Confounding the situation is the fact that many Cambodians, especially those in power, don't recognize the movement as distinctly Khmer. On the contrary, many – erroneously – see it as something foreign, because "it's too modern (...) and is not understood as being an expression of a vital time in Cambodia's history" (</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="" id="Characteristics_of_the_style" name="Characteristics_of_the_style"></a></span></div><h2 style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="editsection"></span> <span class="mw-headline">Characteristics of the style</span></span></h2><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">There are several typical elements that characterize the style.</span></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">From the Modern movement comes the use of reinforced concrete and assertive structures.</span></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Elements of vernacular tradition can be seen in the adaptations to the local tropical climate. Traditional Cambodian houses are usually raised on columns. This makes for an open, shaded space for social activities, creates a natural cooling effect, and the height of the building offers protection in times of floods. New Khmer Architecture often uses this approach. Other adaptations to the climate are the use of wall panels, double walls and roofs (especially the typical VVV- shaped roofs that can be found many of the buildings in the style) to prevent direct sunlight. Loggias (covered balconies and walkways) and claustras (decorative openwork) offer shade.</span></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> Particular attention was often paid to the creation of natural ventilation to cool the building. Traditional houses also have an open floor plan, another theme that can be found in many New Khmer Architecture buildings. Many of them are light, white (another adaptation to climate) and open. And just like in traditional houses the building's structure is clear, in New Khmer Architecture buildings the structure is not hidden. On the contrary, it's often used as an integral part of the look of a building and forms a decorative element. Many buildings are infused with Cambodian culture and everyday life. Sometimes elements of traditional temples are used, like multi-tiered tiled roofs, golden spires, tympani (gables) and roof ornaments. Sometimes a traditional object formed an inspiration for a design. Vann Molyvann's library at the Teacher Training College looks like a traditional straw hat. The Chaktomuk Conference Hall, also by Vann Molyvann, offers another example of the use of traditional objects as inspiration, with its fan shaped roof and golden spire.</span></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The Angkor tradition suggested the use of moats and raised walkways. Moats are not only decorative, but also function as a water reservoir in rainy season, and work as a cooling device. The National Sports Complex and the Teacher Training College (now Institute of Foreign Languages) are prime examples of this approach.</span></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Early in the movement colonial architecture also had an influence, but its importance waned as the architects' self-confidence grew.</span></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Government buildings, royal residences, factories, schools and universities, health centers and hospitals, sports complexes, exhibition halls, cinemas and theaters, airports and train stations, churches, private houses and social housing projects, even stupas and monuments were built in the style. Although the most impressive examples of the style can be found in Phnom Penh, many others were completed in most of the country's provincial capitals and other towns. These buildings fitted in a more wide-ranging effort to modernize the whole country. Most projects were funded from the national budget or private Cambodian funds, because as Sihanouk declared 'I do not want to indebt my children'. International technical assistance was accepted from the UN and foreign governments, such as the <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_of_America" title="United States of America">United States of America</a>, the <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USSR" title="USSR">USSR</a>, and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China" title="China">China</a>.</span></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="" id="Important_architects" name="Important_architects"></a></span></div><h2 style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="editsection"></span><span class="mw-headline">Important architects</span></span></h2><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The most famous New Khmer Architect is undeniably <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vann_Molyvann" title="Vann Molyvann">Vann Molyvann</a>. Other important architects were <a class="new" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Lu_Ban_Hap&action=edit&redlink=1" title="Lu Ban Hap (page does not exist)">Lu Ban Hap</a>, <a class="new" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Chhim_Sun_Fong&action=edit&redlink=1" title="Chhim Sun Fong (page does not exist)">Chhim Sun Fong</a>, <a class="new" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Seng_Sutheng&action=edit&redlink=1" title="Seng Sutheng (page does not exist)">Seng Sutheng</a>, and <a class="new" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mam_Sophana&action=edit&redlink=1" title="Mam Sophana (page does not exist)">Mam Sophana</a>. Many of them were trained abroad, especially in France or the United States. Norodom Sihanouk should not be omitted from this list; not an architect as such, he was nevertheless the driving force behind the movement. He personally supervised most projects and encouraged his architects to reach their highest possible level of achievement. He also worked as an interior designer on some buildings. Non-Cambodian architects that nevertheless were part of the movement were <a class="new" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Vladimir_Bodiansky&action=edit&redlink=1" title="Vladimir Bodiansky (page does not exist)">Vladimir Bodiansky</a> and <a class="new" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=G%C3%A9rald_Hanning&action=edit&redlink=1" title="Gérald Hanning (page does not exist)">Gérald Hanning</a> (both UN experts), Henri Chatel and Leroy & Mondet.</span></div>Nanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17149283539654033740noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4611343706898552392.post-86121496602979334962009-09-04T22:55:00.000-07:002009-09-04T22:55:00.799-07:00Cambodian history<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Verdana;">Migrations into the mainland regions of Southeast Asia from the north continued well into historic times. The ancestors of the Cambodians came with earlier waves that followed in the wake of the proto-Malays. The Cambodians are closely related to the Mon who settled further to the west but of whom only small pockets survive in Thailand and Burma. </span> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span> </span></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> <span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">According to conventional history based largely on Chinese sources, when the Cambodians arrived in presentday Cambodia, two powerful states had already been established there by people of the Malay stock--<b>Champa</b>, controlling part of central and southern Vietnam, and <b>Founan </b>(Funan), sited in the southernmost part of Vietnam and most of presentday Cambodia. Founan was at the height of its power at the end of the fifth century A.D. Some scholars, such as Nasuruddin, believe that the court of Founan had Indian dance and music which spread to the other parts of the Kingdom (1992:2), but Chandler (1992:13ff) casts doubt on the reliability of the Chinese sources. </span></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> <span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">It is believed that one of Founan's vassals was the Cambodian state of <b>Chenla</b>, situated in presentday northern Cambodia and southern Laos. By about the middle of the sixth century A.D., Chenla overcame Founan and reversed the pattern of overlord and vassal. About A.D. 627, Chenla completely absorbed Founan, during the reign of Isanvarman I who married a princess of the neighboring kingdom of Champa, and extended his domains westward until it bordered the Mon kingdom of Dvaravati (Cambodia 1969:104). Before the end of Jayavarman I's reign, Chenla was showing signs of breaking up. Civil war followed his death, and the country split into two parts: Land Chenla (northern part) and Water Chenla (southern part), and </span></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Cambodian power suffered an eclipse for more than a century. </span></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> <span style="font-size: small;"> The Cambodians, like the people of Founan and Champa, absorbed many aspects of Indic culture, including the Hindu-based concept of the <i>Sivite Deva Raja</i> (God-King) and the great temple as a symbolic holy mountain. Although Cambodian kingdoms waxed and waned and were eventually eclipsed, the Cambodian penchant for building temples of stones throughout their kingdoms left monuments by which today's people can sense the power and cosmic order of their ancient forebears. Though he did not found the city of Angkor, <b>Jayavarman II</b> (802-830), revived Cambodian power and built the foundation for the Angkorean empire, founding three capitals--Indrapura, Hariharalaya, and Mahendraparvata--the archeological remains of which reveal much about his times. </span></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> <span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The first great expansion of Cambodian power occurred during the reign of <b>Suryavarman I</b> (1002-1050). After winning a long civil war, he turned his force eastward and subjugated the Mon kingdom of Dvaravati. Consequently, he ruled over the greater part of presentday Thailand and Laos, as well as the northern half of the Malay Peninsula. This period, during which Angkor Vatt was constructed, is considered the apex of Cambodian civilization. Cambodia became a great empire, and the great temples of Angkor, an archeological treasure replete with detailed stone bas-reliefs showing many aspects of the culture, including some musical instruments, remain as monuments to the greatness of Cambodia's culture. After the death of Suryavarman II (1113-1150), Cambodia lapsed into chaos until <b>Jayavarman VII</b> (1181-1218) ordered the construction of a new city. He was a Buddhist, and for a time, Buddhism became the dominant religion in Cambodia. As a state religion, however, it was adapted to suit the Deva Raja cult, with a Buddha Raja being substituted for the former Shiva Raja or Vishnu Raja.</span></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> <span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The Siamese Tai became increasingly powerful in the valley of the Chao Phraya River. In 1238 they captured Sukhothai and soon established a powerful, independent kingdom (Cambodia 1969:105). The rise of the Tai kingdoms of Sukhothai (1238) and Ayuthaya (1350) resulted in almost ceaseless wars with the Cambodians and led to the destruction of Angkor in 1431 when the forces of Ayuthaya captured Angkor itself through the treachery of two Buddhist monks. They are said to have carried off 90,000 prisoners, many of whom were likely dancers and musicians (Thailand 1969:151, Blanchard 1958:27). The period following 1432, with the Cambodian people bereft of their treasures, documents, and human culture bearers, was one of precipitous decline. In 1434 <b>King Ponhea Yat</b> made Phnom Penh his capital, and Angkor was abandoned to the jungle. During the following century, <b>King Ang Chan</b> (1516-1566) transferred the capital to Lungvek (lovek), but it was taken in 1594 by the Siamese. Due to continued Siamese and Vietnamese agression Cambodia appealed to France for protection in 1863 and became a French protectorate in 1864. During the 1880s, along southern Vietnam and Laos, Cambodia was drawn into the French-controlled Indochinese Union. For nearly a century, the French exploited Cambodia commercially, and demanded power over politics, economics, and social life.</span></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> <span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">During the second half of the twentieth century, the political situation in Cambodia became chaotic. <b>King Norodom Sihanouk</b> (later, Prince, then again King), proclaimed Cambodia's independence in 1949 (granted in full in 1953) and ruled the country until March 18, 1970, when he was overthrown by <b>General Lon Nol</b>, who established the Khmer Republic. On April 17, 1975, the genocidal <b>Khmer Rouge</b> led by Pol Pot (alias Saloth Sar) came to power and <a href="http://www.umbc.edu/eol/cambodia/decimate.htm">virtually destroyed Cambodian people, their health, morality, education, physical environment, and culture</a>. On January 7, 1979, Cambodian forces under Heng Samrin together with Vietnamese forces, ousted the Khmer Rouge. After more than ten years of painfully slow rebuilding with only meager outside help, the United Nations intervened resulted in the Paris Peace Accord on October 23, 1992 and created the conditions for general elections in May 1993, which led to the formation of the country's current government and the restoration of Prince Sihanouk to power as King in 1993. Nonetheless, the Khmer Rouge continue to control portions of western and northern Cambodia, and security outside the capitals remains problematic. </span></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> </div>Nanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17149283539654033740noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4611343706898552392.post-70390360005873944712009-09-04T03:40:00.000-07:002009-09-04T04:25:00.046-07:00Modern Cambodia: 1993-Present<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">After the fall of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pol_Pot" title="Pol Pot">Pol Pot</a> regime of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_Kampuchea" title="Democratic Kampuchea">Democratic Kampuchea</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambodia" title="Cambodia">Cambodia</a> was under <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnam" title="Vietnam">Vietnamese</a> occupation and a pro-<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanoi" title="Hanoi">Hanoi</a> government, the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People%27s_Republic_of_Kampuchea" title="People's Republic of Kampuchea">People's Republic of Kampuchea</a> was established. A <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_war" title="Civil war">civil war</a> raged during the 1980s opposing the government's <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kampuchean_People%27s_Revolutionary_Armed_Forces" title="Kampuchean People's Revolutionary Armed Forces">Kampuchean People's Revolutionary Armed Forces</a> against the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coalition_Government_of_Democratic_Kampuchea" title="Coalition Government of Democratic Kampuchea">Coalition Government of Democratic Kampuchea</a>, a government in exile composed of three Cambodian political factions: <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_Norodom_Sihanouk" title="Prince Norodom Sihanouk">Prince Norodom Sihanouk</a>'s <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Funcinpec" title="Funcinpec">Funcinpec</a> party, the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Party_of_Democratic_Kampuchea" title="Party of Democratic Kampuchea">Party of Democratic Kampuchea</a> (often referred to as the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khmer_Rouge" title="Khmer Rouge">Khmer Rouge</a>) and the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khmer_People%27s_National_Liberation_Front" title="Khmer People's National Liberation Front">Khmer People's National Liberation Front</a> (KPNLF).</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
Peace efforts intensified in 1989 and 1991 with two international conferences in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris" title="Paris">Paris</a>, and a <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UN_peacekeeping" title="UN peacekeeping">UN peacekeeping</a> mission helped maintain a cease-fire. As a part of the peace effort, <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UN" title="UN">UN</a>-sponsored elections were held in 1993 helped restore some semblance of normality as did the rapid diminishment of the Khmer Rouge in the mid-1990s. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norodom_Sihanouk" title="Norodom Sihanouk">Norodom Sihanouk</a> 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. Compared to its recent past, the 1993–2003 period has been one of relative stability for Cambodia. However, political violence continues to be a problem.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><h2 style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Peace efforts and the free elections</h2><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">From <span title="07-30"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/July_30" title="July 30">July 30</a></span> to <span title="1989-08-30"><span title="08-30"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/August_30" title="August 30">August 30</a></span>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1989" title="1989">1989</a></span>, representatives of 18 countries, the four Cambodian parties, and the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations" title="United Nations">UN</a> Secretary General met in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris" title="Paris">Paris</a> in an effort to negotiate a comprehensive settlement. They hoped to achieve those objectives seen as crucial to the future of post-occupation Cambodia: a verified withdrawal of the remaining Vietnamese occupation troops and genuine self-determination for the Cambodian people.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
On <span title="1991-10-23"><span title="10-23"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/October_23" title="October 23">October 23</a></span>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1991" title="1991">1991</a></span>, the Paris Conference convened to sign a comprehensive settlement giving the UN full authority to supervise a ceasefire, repatriate the displaced Khmer along the border with Thailand, disarm and demobilize the factional armies, and to prepare the country for free and fair elections.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Prince Sihanouk, President of the Supreme National Council of Cambodia (SNC), and other members of the SNC returned to Phnom Penh in November, 1991, to begin the resettlement process in Cambodia. The UN Advance Mission for Cambodia (UNAMIC) was deployed at the same time to maintain liaison among the factions and begin demining operations to expedite the repatriation of approximately 370,000 Cambodians from Thailand.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
On <span title="1992-03-16"><span title="03-16"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/March_16" title="March 16">March 16</a></span>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1992" title="1992">1992</a></span>, the UN Transitional Authority in Cambodia (<a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UNTAC" title="UNTAC">UNTAC</a>), under UNSYG Special Representative <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yasushi_Akashi" title="Yasushi Akashi">Yasushi Akashi</a> and Lt. General <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Sanderson" title="John Sanderson">John Sanderson</a>, arrived in Cambodia to begin implementation of the UN Settlement Plan. The <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UN_High_Commissioner_for_Refugees" title="UN High Commissioner for Refugees">UN High Commissioner for Refugees</a> began full-scale repatriation in March, 1992. UNTAC grew into a 22,000 strong civilian and military peacekeeping force to conduct free and fair elections for a <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constituent_Assembly" title="Constituent Assembly">constituent assembly</a>.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Over four million Cambodians (about 90% of eligible voters) participated in the May 1993 elections, although the Khmer Rouge or <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Party_of_Democratic_Kampuchea" title="Party of Democratic Kampuchea">Party of Democratic Kampuchea</a> (PDK), whose forces were never actually disarmed or demobilized, barred some people from participating in the 10-15 percent of the country (holding six percent of the population) it then controlled.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
Prince <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norodom_Ranariddh" title="Norodom Ranariddh">Norodom Ranariddh</a>'s <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FUNCINPEC" title="FUNCINPEC">FUNCINPEC</a> Party was the top vote recipient with 45.5% vote followed by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hun_Sen" title="Hun Sen">Hun Sen</a>'s <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambodian_People%27s_Party" title="Cambodian People's Party">Cambodian People's Party</a> and the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhist_Liberal_Democratic_Party" title="Buddhist Liberal Democratic Party">Buddhist Liberal Democratic Party</a>, respectively. FUNCINPEC then entered into a coalition with the other parties that had participated in the elections.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The parties represented in the 120-member Assembly proceeded to draft and approve a new Constitution, which was promulgated <span title="09-24"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/September_24" title="September 24">September 24</a></span>. It established a multiparty liberal democracy in the framework of a constitutional monarchy, with the former Prince Sihanouk elevated to King. Prince Ranariddh and Hun Sen became First and Second Prime Ministers, respectively, in the Royal Cambodian Government (RCG). The Constitution provides for a wide range of internationally recognized human rights.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=4611343706898552392&postID=7039036000587394471" id="1997_clashes_in_Cambodia" name="1997_clashes_in_Cambodia"></a></div><h2 style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1997_clashes_in_Cambodia" title="1997 clashes in Cambodia">1997 clashes in Cambodia</a></h2><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">In 1997, factional fighting between <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FUNCINPEC" title="FUNCINPEC">FUNCINPEC</a> supporters of Prince <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norodom_Ranariddh" title="Norodom Ranariddh">Norodom Ranariddh</a> and of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hun_Sen" title="Hun Sen">Hun Sen</a> broke out, resulting in a number of casualties. This event was generally treated by the press, as well as by some scholars, as a "bloody coup by strongman Hun Sen"<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-0"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modern_Cambodia#cite_note-0"></a></sup>, without much serious and neutral investigation into its causes and its development.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-1"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modern_Cambodia#cite_note-1"></a></sup>Among the very few who attempted to look at evidence from both sides at the time were <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian" title="Australian">Australian</a> ambassador to Cambodia Tony Kevin,<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-2"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modern_Cambodia#cite_note-2"></a></sup> and journalist Barry Wain, who wrote, "in circumstances that remain disputed, Mr. Hun Sen's military forces... defeated Prince Ranariddh's troops in Phnom Penh".<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-3"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modern_Cambodia#cite_note-3"></a></sup> Hun sen had alleged that Ranariddh had been planning a take-over with the help of Khmer rouge fighters, supposedly smuggled into the capital (on the other hand, Hun Sen's army included a number of ex-Khmer rouge fighters)<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-4"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modern_Cambodia#cite_note-4"></a></sup>. After the royalist resistance was crushed in Phnom Penh, there was indeed some FUCINPEC-Khmer Rouge in the Northern provinces, where the fighting against Hun Sen offensive lasted until August 1997<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-5"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modern_Cambodia#cite_note-5"></a></sup>.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
Following the coup Prince Ranariddh went into exile to Paris. Some <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FUNCINPEC" title="FUNCINPEC">FUNCINPEC</a> leaders were forced to flee the country, many were shot and Ung Huot was elected as the new First Prime Minister. FUNCINPEC leaders returned to Cambodia shortly before the 1998 National Assembly elections. In those elections, the CPP received 41% of the vote, FUNCINPEC 32%, and the Sam Rainsy Party (SRP) 13%. Many international observers judged the elections to have been seriously flawed, claiming political violence, intimidation, and lack of media access. The CPP and FUNCINPEC formed another coalition government, with CPP the senior partner.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">On October 23, 1991, the Paris Conference reconvened to sign a comprehensive settlement giving the UN full authority to supervise a cease-fire, repatriate the displaced Khmer along the border with Thailand, disarm and demobilize the factional armies, and prepare the country for free and fair elections. Prince Sihanouk, President of the Supreme National Council of Cambodia (SNC), and other members of the SNC returned to Phnom Penh in November 1991, to begin the resettlement process in Cambodia. The UN Advance Mission for Cambodia (UNAMIC) was deployed at the same time to maintain liaison among the factions and begin demining operations to expedite the repatriation of approximately 370,000 Cambodians from Thailand.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
On March 16, 1992, the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_Transitional_Authority_in_Cambodia" title="United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia">UN Transitional Authority in Cambodia</a> (UNTAC) arrived in Cambodia to begin implementation of the UN Settlement Plan. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees began fullscale repatriation in March 1992. UNTAC grew into a 22,000-strong civilian and military peacekeeping force to conduct free and fair elections for a constituent assembly.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Over 4 million Cambodians (about 90% of eligible voters) participated in the May 1993 elections, although the Khmer Rouge or <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Party_of_Democratic_Kampuchea" title="Party of Democratic Kampuchea">Party of Democratic Kampuchea</a> (PDK), whose forces were never actually disarmed or demobilized, barred some people from participating. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norodom_Ranariddh" title="Norodom Ranariddh">Prince Ranariddh</a>'s royalist <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Funcinpec" title="Funcinpec">FUNCINPEC Party</a> was the top vote recipient with 45.5% of the vote, followed by Hun Sen's <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambodian_People%27s_Party" title="Cambodian People's Party">Cambodian People's Party</a> and the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhist_Liberal_Democratic_Party" title="Buddhist Liberal Democratic Party">Buddhist Liberal Democratic Party</a>, respectively. FUNCINPEC then entered into a coalition with the other parties that had participated in the election. The parties represented in the 120-member assembly proceeded to draft and approve a new constitution, which was promulgated September 24, 1993.<br />
<br />
It established a multiparty liberal democracy in the framework of a constitutional monarchy, with the former Prince Sihanouk elevated to King. Prince Ranariddh and Hun Sen became First and Second Prime Ministers, respectively, in the Royal Cambodian Government (RGC). The constitution provides for a wide range of internationally recognized human rights.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">On October 4, 2004, the Cambodian National Assembly ratified an agreement with the United Nations on the establishment of a tribunal to try senior leaders responsible for the atrocities committed by the Khmer Rouge. Donor countries have pledged the $43 million international share of the three-year tribunal budget, while the Cambodian government’s share of the budget is $13.3 million. The tribunal started trials of senior Khmer Rouge leaders in 2008.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=4611343706898552392&postID=7039036000587394471" id="Recent_developments" name="Recent_developments"></a></div><h2 style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Recent developments</h2><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Cambodia's first commune elections were held in February 2002. These elections to select chiefs and members of 1,621 commune (municipality) councils also were marred by political violence and fell short of being free and fair by international standards. The election results were largely acceptable to the major parties, though procedures for the new local councils have not been fully implemented.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
A riot occurred in January 2003 in which the Embassy of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thailand" title="Thailand">Thailand</a> and several Thai businesses were damaged. Following the incident, Prime Minister Hun Sen expressed the RGC's regret to the Thai Government and promised compensation. See <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-Thai_Cambodian_riots_of_2003" title="Anti-Thai Cambodian riots of 2003">Anti-Thai Cambodian riots of 2003</a></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">On <span title="2003-07-27"><span title="07-27"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/July_27" title="July 27">July 27</a></span>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2003" title="2003">2003</a></span>, elections were held and the Cambodian People's Party of Prime Minister Hun Sen won a majority, but not enough to rule outright. The King has urged the two other parties, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Rainsy_Party" title="Sam Rainsy Party">Sam Rainsy Party</a> and <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FUNCINPEC" title="FUNCINPEC">FUNCINPEC</a>, to accept the incumbent Hun Sen as prime minister. In mid-2004 a coalition government was formed between FUNCINPEC and the CPP.</div><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">In 2004, King Sihanouk, still in poor health, announced his abdication of the throne. Prince Norodom Ranariddh was one of the leading candidates to succeed Sihanouk, but the Royal Council of the Throne selected Prince </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norodom_Sihamoni" style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" title="Norodom Sihamoni">Norodom Sihamoni</a><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">, as the new king. A sign of Cambodia's modernization is the construction of skyscrapers and Phnom Penh's satellite city, </span><a class="new" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Camko_city&action=edit&redlink=1" style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" title="Camko city (page does not exist)">Camko city</a><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">. As a result of modernization, many problems such as illegal deforestation is occurring. The primary rainforest went from 70% in the 1970s to 3% in today's time.</span><br />
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div>Nanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17149283539654033740noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4611343706898552392.post-63655761992433177622009-09-04T03:14:00.000-07:002009-09-04T04:22:21.742-07:00Democratic Kampuchea (the Khmer Rouge/Red Khmer age): 1975-1979<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Immediately after its victory, the CPK ordered the evacuation of all cities and towns, sending the entire urban population into the countryside to work as farmers, as the CPK was trying to reshape society into a model that Pol Pot had conceived.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
Thousands starved or died of disease during the evacuation and its aftermath. Many of those forced to evacuate the cities were resettled in newly created villages, which lacked food, agricultural implements, and medical care. Many who lived in cities had lost the skills necessary for survival in an agrarian environment. Thousands starved before the first harvest. Hunger and malnutrition—bordering on starvation—were constant during those years. Most military and civilian leaders of the former regime who failed to disguise their pasts were executed.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
Within the CPK, the Paris-educated leadership—<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pol_Pot" title="Pol Pot">Pol Pot</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ieng_Sary" title="Ieng Sary">Ieng Sary</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuon_Chea" title="Nuon Chea">Nuon Chea</a>, and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Son_Sen" title="Son Sen">Son Sen</a>—were in control. A new constitution in January 1976 established Democratic Kampuchea as a Communist People's Republic, and a 250-member Assembly of the Representatives of the People of Kampuchea (PRA) was selected in March to choose the collective leadership of a State Presidium, the chairman of which became the head of state.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Prince Sihanouk resigned as head of state on April 4. On April 14, after its first session, the PRA announced that <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khieu_Samphan" title="Khieu Samphan">Khieu Samphan</a> would chair the State Presidium for a 5-year term. It also picked a 15-member cabinet headed by Pol Pot as prime minister. Prince Sihanouk was put under virtual house arrest.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
The new government sought to completely restructure Cambodian society. Remnants of the old society were abolished and religion, particularly <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhism" title="Buddhism">Buddhism</a> and <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Catholic_Church" title="Roman Catholic Church">Catholicism</a>, was suppressed. Agriculture was collectivized, and the surviving part of the industrial base was abandoned or placed under state control. Cambodia had neither a currency nor a banking system.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
Life in 'Democratic Kampuchea' was strict and brutal. In many areas of the country people were rounded up and executed for speaking a foreign language, wearing glasses, scavenging for food, and even crying for dead loved ones. Former businessmen and bureaucrats were ruthlessly hunted down and killed along with their entire families; the Khmer Rouge feared that they held beliefs that could lead them to oppose their regime. A few Khmer Rouge loyalists were even killed for failing to find enough 'counter-revolutionaries' to execute.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
Solid estimates of the numbers who died between 1975 and 1979 are not available, but it is likely that hundreds of thousands were brutally executed by the regime. Hundreds of thousands died of starvation and disease (both under the CPK and during the Vietnamese invasion in 1978). Some estimates of the dead range from 1 to 3 million, out of a 1975 population estimated at 7.3 million. The CIA estimated 50,000–100,000 were executed and 1.2 million died from 1975 to 1979.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-yale_2-0"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Cambodia#cite_note-yale-2"></a></sup></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
Democratic Kampuchea's relations with <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnam" title="Vietnam">Vietnam</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thailand" title="Thailand">Thailand</a> worsened rapidly as a result of border clashes and ideological differences. While communist, the CPK was fiercely pro-Cambodia, and most of its members who had lived in Vietnam were purged. Democratic Kampuchea established close ties with the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People%27s_Republic_of_China" title="People's Republic of China">People's Republic of China</a>, and the Cambodian-Vietnamese conflict became part of the Sino-<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_Union" title="Soviet Union">Soviet</a> rivalry, with Moscow backing Vietnam. Border clashes worsened when Democratic Kampuchea military attacked villages in Vietnam. The regime broke off relations with Hanoi in December 1977, protesting Vietnam's alleged attempt to create an Indochina Federation. In mid-1978, Vietnamese forces invaded Cambodia, advancing about 30 miles (48 km) before the arrival of the rainy season.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
The reasons for Chinese support of the CPK was to prevent a pan-Indochina movement, and maintain Chinese military superiority in the region. The Soviet Union supported a strong Vietnam to maintain a second front against China in case of hostilities and to prevent further Chinese expansion. Since Stalin's death, relations between Mao-controlled China and the Soviet Union were lukewarm at best. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, China and Vietnam would fight the brief <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sino-Vietnamese_War" title="Sino-Vietnamese War">Sino-Vietnamese War</a> over the issue.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
In December 1978, Vietnam announced formation of the Kampuchean United Front for National Salvation (KUFNS) under <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heng_Samrin" title="Heng Samrin">Heng Samrin</a>, a former DK division commander. It was composed of Khmer Communists who had remained in Vietnam after 1975 and officials from the eastern sector—like Heng Samrin and Hun Sen—who had fled to Vietnam from Cambodia in 1978. In late December 1978, Vietnamese forces launched a full invasion of Cambodia, capturing Phnom Penh on January 7, 1979 and driving the remnants of Democratic Kampuchea's army westward toward Thailand.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=4611343706898552392&postID=6365576199243317762" id="People.27s_Republic_of_Kampuchea_.28Vietnamese_occupation.29:_1979-1993" name="People.27s_Republic_of_Kampuchea_.28Vietnamese_occupation.29:_1979-1993"></a></div><h2 style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> People's Republic of Kampuchea (Vietnamese occupation): 1979-1993</h2><div class="rellink noprint relarticle mainarticle" style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Main article: <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambodia_under_Vietnamese_occupation_%281979%E2%80%931989%29" title="Cambodia under Vietnamese occupation (1979–1989)">Cambodia under Vietnamese occupation (1979–1989)</a></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">On <span title="1979-01-10"><span title="01-10"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/January_10" title="January 10">January 10</a></span>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1979" title="1979">1979</a></span>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communism" title="Communism">Communist</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnam" title="Vietnam">Vietnam</a> installed <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heng_Samrin" title="Heng Samrin">Heng Samrin</a> as head of state in the new People's Republic of Kampuchea (PRK). The Vietnamese army continued its pursuit of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pol_Pot" title="Pol Pot">Pol Pot</a>'s <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khmer_Rouge" title="Khmer Rouge">Khmer Rouge</a> forces. At least 600,000 Cambodians displaced during the Pol Pot era and the Vietnamese invasion began streaming to the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thailand" title="Thailand">Thai</a> border in search of refuge.<br />
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The international community responded with a massive relief effort, for these refugees only, coordinated by the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States" title="United States">United States</a> through <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UNICEF" title="UNICEF">UNICEF</a> and the World Food Program. More than $400 million was provided between 1979 and 1982, of which the United States contributed nearly $100 million dollars. At one point, more than 500,000 Cambodians were living along the Thai and Cambodian border and more than 100,000 in holding centers inside Thailand. Yet the biggest contribution of humanitarian aid to the bulk of the Cambodian population came from then impoverished Vietnam as well as other Eastern Block countries.</div>Nanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17149283539654033740noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4611343706898552392.post-81099428668521603952009-09-04T03:11:00.000-07:002009-09-04T04:29:24.605-07:00Pol Pot<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>Saloth Sar</b> or <b>Minh Hai</b>, (May 19, 1928<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-chandler6_6-0"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pol_Pot#cite_note-chandler6-6"></a></sup><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-university1975_1-1"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pol_Pot#cite_note-university1975-1"></a></sup><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-asiasource1_2-1"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pol_Pot#cite_note-asiasource1-2"></a></sup><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-magazine15_3-1"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pol_Pot#cite_note-magazine15-3"></a></sup><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-7"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pol_Pot#cite_note-7"></a></sup> – April 15, 1998), widely known as <b>Pol Pot</b>, <b>ប៉ុល ពត</b>, was the leader of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambodia" title="Cambodia">Cambodian</a> <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communist" title="Communist">communist</a> movement known as the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khmer_Rouge" title="Khmer Rouge">Khmer Rouge</a><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-8"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pol_Pot#cite_note-8">[9]</a></sup> and was <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prime_Minister" title="Prime Minister">Prime Minister</a> of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_Kampuchea" title="Democratic Kampuchea">Democratic Kampuchea</a> from 1976–1979.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Pol Pot became the <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_facto" title="De facto">de facto</a></i> leader of Cambodia in mid-1975.<sup></sup>During his time in power, Pol Pot imposed a version of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agrarian_socialism" title="Agrarian socialism">agrarian collectivization</a>, forcing city dwellers to relocate to the countryside to work in collective farms and forced labor projects, toward a goal of "restarting civilization" in "<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Year_Zero_%28political_notion%29" title="Year Zero (political notion)">Year Zero</a>". The combined effects of slave labor, malnutrition, poor medical care, and executions resulted in the deaths of an estimated 1.7 to 2.5 million people, approximately 21% of the Cambodian population.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
In 1979, after the invasion of Cambodia by neighbouring <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnam" title="Vietnam">Vietnam</a> in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambodian%E2%80%93Vietnamese_War" title="Cambodian–Vietnamese War">Cambodian–Vietnamese War</a>, Pol Pot fled into the jungles of southwest Cambodia and the Khmer Rouge government collapsed.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-10"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pol_Pot#cite_note-10"></a></sup> From 1979 to 1997 he and a remnant of the old Khmer Rouge operated from the border region of Cambodia and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thailand" title="Thailand">Thailand</a>, where they clung to power and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations" title="United Nations">United Nations</a> recognition as the rightful government of Cambodia.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Pol Pot died in 1998 while held under house arrest by the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ta_Mok" title="Ta Mok">Ta Mok</a> faction of the Khmer Rouge. Since his death, rumours that he was poisoned have persisted. </div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><h3 style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Early life (1928-1961)</h3><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Saloth Sar was born in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prek_Sbauv" title="Prek Sbauv">Prek Sbauv</a> in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kampong_Thom_Province" title="Kampong Thom Province">Kampong Thom Province</a> in 1928 to a moderately wealthy family of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_people" title="Chinese people">Chinese</a>-<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khmer_people" title="Khmer people">Khmer</a> descent.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-12"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pol_Pot#cite_note-12"></a></sup><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-13"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pol_Pot#cite_note-13"></a></sup> In 1935, he left Prek Sbauv to attend the École Miche, a Catholic school in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phnom_Penh" title="Phnom Penh">Phnom Penh</a>. As his sister Roeung was a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concubinage" title="Concubinage">concubine</a> of King <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sisowath_Monivong" title="Sisowath Monivong">Sisowath Monivong</a>, he often visited the royal palace.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-14"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pol_Pot#cite_note-14"></a></sup> In 1947, he gained admission to the exclusive <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyc%C3%A9e_Sisowath" title="Lycée Sisowath">Lycée Sisowath</a> but was unsuccessful in his studies. His future first wife, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khieu_Ponnary" title="Khieu Ponnary">Khieu Ponnary</a>, her sister, (née Khieu Thirith) <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ieng_Thirith" title="Ieng Thirith">Ieng Thirith</a> and Khieu's future husband, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ieng_Sary" title="Ieng Sary">Ieng Sary</a> also attended the Lycée.<sup class="noprint Template-Fact" style="white-space: nowrap;" title="This claim needs references to reliable sources from July 2008"><i> </i></sup></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">After switching to a technical school at <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russey_Keo" title="Russey Keo">Russey Keo</a>, north of Phnom Penh, he qualified for a scholarship that allowed for technical study in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/France" title="France">France</a>. He studied radio electronics at the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EFREI" title="EFREI">EFR</a> in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris" title="Paris">Paris</a> from 1949 to 1953. He also participated in an international labor brigade building roads in Yugoslavia in 1950.<br />
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After the Soviet Union recognized the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viet_Minh" title="Viet Minh">Viet Minh</a> as the government of Vietnam in 1950, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Communist_Party" title="French Communist Party">French Communists</a> (PCF) took up the cause of Vietnam's independence. The PCF's <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-imperialism" title="Anti-imperialism">anti-colonialism</a> attracted many young Cambodians, including Saloth. In 1951, he joined a communist cell in a secret organization known as the <i>Cercle Marxiste</i> which had taken control of the Khmer Student's Association (AER) that same year. Within a few months, Saloth also joined the PCF. Historian Philip Short has said that Saloth's poor academic record was a considerable advantage within the anti-intellectual PCF, who saw uneducated peasants as the true proletariatand helped him to quickly establish a leadership role for himself among the <i>Cercle Marxiste</i>.<sup class="noprint Template-Fact" style="white-space: nowrap;" title="This claim needs references to reliable sources from July 2008"><i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed" title="Wikipedia:Citation needed"> </a></i></sup></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
As a result of failing his exams in three successive years, he was forced to return to Cambodia in January 1954. He was the first member of the group to return to Cambodia and was given the task of evaluating the various groups rebelling against the government. He recommended the Khmer Viet Minh, and in August 1954, Saloth, along with Rath Samoeun, travelled to the Viet Minh Eastern Zone headquarters in the village of Krabao in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kampong_Cham_Province" title="Kampong Cham Province">Kompong Cham</a>/<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prey_Veng_Province" title="Prey Veng Province">Prey Veng</a> border area of Cambodia.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
Saloth and the others learned that the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communist_Party_of_Kampuchea" title="Communist Party of Kampuchea">Khmer People's Revolutionary Party</a> (KPRP) was little more than a Vietnamese front organization. In 1954, the Cambodians at the Eastern Zone Headquarters split into two groups. Due to the Geneva peace accord of 1954 expelling all Viet Minh forces and insurgents, one group followed the Vietnamese back to Vietnam as cadres to be used by Vietnam in a future war to liberate Cambodia. The other group, including Saloth, returned to Cambodia.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
After <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Cambodia" title="History of Cambodia">Cambodian independence</a> following the 1954 <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geneva_Conference_%281954%29" title="Geneva Conference (1954)">Geneva Conference</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Left-right_politics" title="Left-right politics">right and left wing</a> parties struggled against each other for power in the new government. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norodom_Sihanouk" title="Norodom Sihanouk">King Norodom Sihanouk</a> played the parties against each other while using the police and army to suppress extreme political groups. Corrupt elections in 1955 led many leftists in Cambodia to abandon hope of taking power by legal means. The communist movement, while ideologically committed to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guerrilla_warfare" title="Guerrilla warfare">armed struggle</a> in these circumstances, did not launch a rebellion because of the weakness of the party.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
After his return to Phnom Penh, Saloth became the liaison between the above-ground parties of the left (Democrats and Pracheachon) and the underground communist movement. He married Ponnary on <span title="07-14"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/July_14" title="July 14">July 14</a></span>, 1956. She returned to Lycee Sisowath but now as a teacher, while he taught French literature and history at Chamraon Vichea, a new private college.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-camnet_15-0"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pol_Pot#cite_note-camnet-15"></a></sup></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=4611343706898552392&postID=8109942866852160395" id="The_path_to_rebellion_.281962-1968.29" name="The_path_to_rebellion_.281962-1968.29"></a></div><h3 style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The path to rebellion (1962-1968)</h3><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">In January 1962, the government of Cambodia rounded up most of the leadership of the far-left Pracheachon party ahead of parliamentary elections due in June. The newspapers and other publications of the party were also closed. This event effectively ended any above-ground political role for the communist movement in Cambodia. In July 1962, the underground communist party secretary Tou Samouth was arrested and later killed while in custody.<br />
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The arrests created a situation where Saloth could become the <i>de facto</i> deputy leader of the party. When Ton Samouth was murdered, Saloth became the acting leader of the communist party. At a party meeting attended by at most eighteen people in 1963, he was elected Secretary of the central committee of the party. In March 1963, Saloth went into hiding after his name was published in a list of leftist suspects put together by the police for <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norodom_Sihanouk" title="Norodom Sihanouk">Norodom Sihanouk</a>. He fled to the Vietnamese border region and made contact with Vietnamese units fighting against <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Vietnam" title="South Vietnam">South Vietnam</a>.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
In early 1964, Saloth convinced the Vietnamese to help the Cambodian Communists set up their own base camp. The central committee of the party met later that year and issued a declaration calling for armed struggle. The declaration also emphasized the idea of "self-reliance" in the sense of extreme Cambodian <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nationalism" title="Nationalism">nationalism</a>. In the border camps, the ideology of the Khmer Rouge was gradually developed. The party, breaking with <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marxism" title="Marxism">Marxism</a>, declared rural peasant farmers to be the true working class proletarian and the lifeblood of the revolution. This is in some sense explained by the fact that none of the central committee were in any sense "working class". All of them had grown up in a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feudalism" title="Feudalism">feudal</a> peasant society. The party adapted elements of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theravada" title="Theravada">Theravada</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhism" title="Buddhism">Buddhism</a> to justify their non-standard communism.<sup class="noprint Template-Fact" style="white-space: nowrap;" title="This claim needs references to reliable sources from July 2008"><i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed" title="Wikipedia:Citation needed"><br />
</a></i></sup></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
After another wave of repression by Sihanouk in 1965, the Khmer Rouge movement under Saloth grew at a rapid rate. Many teachers and students left the cities for the countryside to join the movement.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">In April 1965, Saloth went to North Vietnam to gain approval for an uprising in Cambodia against the government. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Vietnam" title="North Vietnam">North Vietnam</a> refused to support any uprising because of agreements being negotiated with the Cambodian government. Sihanouk promised to allow the Vietnamese to use Cambodian territory and Cambodian ports in their war against South Vietnam.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">After returning to Cambodia in 1966, Saloth organized a party meeting where a number of important decisions were made. The party was officially but secretly renamed the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communist_Party_of_Kampuchea" title="Communist Party of Kampuchea">Communist Party of Kampuchea</a> (CPK). Lower ranks of the party were not informed of the decision. It was also decided to establish command zones and prepare each region for an uprising against the government.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
In early 1966 fighting broke out in the countryside between peasants and the government over the price paid for rice. Saloth's Khmer Rouge was caught by surprise by the uprisings and was unable to take any real advantage of them. But the government's refusal to find a peaceful solution to the problem created rural unrest that played into the hands of the Communist movement.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
It wasn't until early 1967 that Saloth decided to launch a national uprising, even after North Vietnam refused to assist it in any real way. The uprising was launched on <span title="1968-01-18"><span title="01-18"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/January_18" title="January 18">January 18</a></span>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1968" title="1968">1968</a></span> with a raid on an army base south of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battambang" title="Battambang">Battambang</a>. The Battambang area had already seen two years of great peasant unrest. The attack was driven off by the army, but the Khmer Rouge had captured a number of weapons, which were then used to drive police forces out of Cambodian villages.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
By the summer of 1968, Saloth began the transition from a party leader working with a collective leadership into the absolutist leader of the Khmer Rouge movement. Where before he had shared communal quarters with other leaders, he now had his own compound with a personal staff and a troop of guards. Outsiders were no longer allowed to approach him. Rather, people were summoned into his presence by his staff.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=4611343706898552392&postID=8109942866852160395" id="The_path_to_power_.281969-1975.29" name="The_path_to_power_.281969-1975.29"></a></div><h3 style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> The path to power (1969-1975)</h3><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The movement was estimated to consist of no more than 1500 regulars, but the core of the movement was supported by a number of villagers many times that size. While weapons were in short supply, the insurgency was still able to operate in twelve of nineteen districts of Cambodia. In the middle of the year Saloth called a party conference and decided on a change in propaganda strategy. Up to 1969, the Khmer Rouge had been very anti-Sihanouk. Opposition to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norodom_Sihanouk" title="Norodom Sihanouk">Sihanouk</a> was at the center of their propaganda. But it was decided at the conference to shift the party's propaganda to be against the right-wing parties of Cambodia and their supposed pro-American attitudes. The party ceased to be anti-Sihanouk in public statements, but in private the party had not changed its view of him.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
The road to power for Saloth and the Khmer Rouge was opened by the events of January 1970 in Cambodia. Sihanouk, while out of the country, ordered the government to stage anti-Vietnamese protests in the capital. The protesters quickly went out of control and wrecked the embassies of both North and South Vietnam. Sihanouk, who had ordered the protests, then denounced them from Paris and blamed unnamed individuals in Cambodia for them. These actions, along with intrigues by Sihanouk's followers in Cambodia, convinced the government that he should be removed as <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Head_of_state" title="Head of state">head of state</a>. The National Assembly voted to remove Sihanouk from office. Afterward, the government closed Cambodia's ports to Vietnamese weapons traffic and demanded that the Vietnamese leave Cambodia.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
The North Vietnamese reacted to the political changes in Cambodia by sending Premier <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ph%E1%BA%A1m_V%C4%83n_%C4%90%E1%BB%93ng" title="Phạm Văn Đồng">Phạm Văn Đồng</a> to meet Sihanouk in China and recruit him into an alliance with the Khmer Rouge. Saloth was also contacted by the Vietnamese who now offered him whatever resources he wanted for his <a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_1252058566054" title="Insurgency">insurgency</a> against the Cambodian government. Saloth and Sihanouk were actually in Beijing at the same time but the Vietnamese and Chinese leaders never informed Sihanouk of the presence of Saloth or allowed the two men to meet. Shortly after, Sihanouk issued an appeal by radio to the people of Cambodia to rise up against the government and support the Khmer Rouge. In May 1970, Saloth finally returned to Cambodia and the pace of the insurgency greatly increased.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
Earlier, on <span title="1970-03-29"><span title="03-29"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=4611343706898552392&postID=8109942866852160395" title="March 29">March 29</a></span>, <a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=4611343706898552392&postID=8109942866852160395" title="1970">1970</a></span>, the Vietnamese had taken matters into their own hands and launched an offensive against the Cambodian army. A force of 40,000 Vietnamese quickly overran large parts of eastern Cambodia reaching to within 15 miles (24 km) of<a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_1252058566044"> </a>Phnom Penh before being pushed back. In these battles the Khmer Rouge and Saloth played a very small role.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
In October 1970, Saloth issued a resolution in the name of the Central Committee. The resolution stated the principle of independence mastery which was a call for Cambodia to decide its own future independent of the influence of any other country. The resolution also included statements describing the betrayal of the Cambodian Communist movement in the 1950s by the Viet Minh. This was the first statement of the anti-Vietnamese/self sufficiency at all costs ideology that would be a part of the Pol Pot regime when it took power years later.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Through 1971, the Vietnamese (North Vietnamese and Viet Cong) did most of the fighting against the Cambodian government while Saloth and the Khmer Rouge functioned almost as auxiliaries to their forces. Saloth took advantage of the situation to gather in new recruits and to train them to a higher standard than previously was possible.<br />
<br />
Saloth also put resources of Khmer Rouge organizations into political education and indoctrination. While accepting anyone regardless of background into the Khmer Rouge army at this time, Saloth greatly increased the requirements for membership in the party. Students and so-called middle peasants were now rejected by the party. Those with clear peasant backgrounds were the preferred recruits for party membership. These restrictions were ironic in that most of the senior party leadership including Saloth came from student and middle peasant backgrounds. They also created an intellectual split between the educated old guard party members and the uneducated peasant new party members.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
In early 1972, Saloth toured the insurgent/Vietnamese controlled areas and Cambodia. He saw a regular Khmer Rouge army of 35,000 men taking shape supported by around 100,000 <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irregular_military" title="Irregular military">irregulars</a>. China was supplying five million dollars a year in weapons and Saloth had organized an independent revenue source for the party in the form of <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubber" title="Rubber">rubber</a> plantations in eastern Cambodia using forced labor.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
The Khmer Rouge also used the US bombings of Villages along the Vietnam/Cambodian border to aid in their recruitment of members.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">After a central committee meeting in May 1972, the party under the direction of Saloth began to enforce new levels of discipline and conformity in areas under their control. Minorities such as the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cham_people" title="Cham people">Chams</a> were forced to conform to Cambodian styles of dress and appearance. These policies, such as forbidding the Chams from wearing jewelry, were soon extended to the whole population. A haphazard version of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_reform" title="Land reform">land reform</a> was undertaken by Saloth. Its basis was that all land holdings should be of uniform size. The party also confiscated all private means of transportation at this time. The 1972 policies were aimed at reducing the peoples of the liberated areas to a sort of feudal peasant equality. These policies were generally favorable at the time to poor peasants and extremely unfavorable to refugees from towns who had fled to the countryside.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
In 1972, the Vietnamese army forces began to withdraw from the fighting against the Cambodian government. Saloth issued a new set of decrees in May 1973 which started the process of reorganizing peasant villages into <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cooperative" title="Cooperative">cooperatives</a> where property was jointly owned and individual possessions banned.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The Khmer Rouge advanced during 1973. After they reached the edges of Phnom Penh, Saloth issued orders during the peak of the rainy season that the city be taken. The orders led to futile attacks and wasted lives among the Khmer Rouge army. By the middle of 1973, the Khmer Rouge under Saloth controlled almost two-thirds of the country and half the population. Vietnam realized that it no longer controlled the situation and began to treat Saloth as more of an equal leader than a junior partner.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
In late 1973, Saloth made strategic decisions about the future of the war. His first decision was to cut the capital off from contact from outside supply and effectively put the city under siege. The second decision was to enforce tight command on people trying to leave the city through the Khmer Rouge lines. The city people were considered like a disease that needed to be contained so that it would not infect areas run by the Khmer Rouge. He also ordered a series of general <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purge" title="Purge">purges</a>. Former government officials, along with anyone with an education, were singled out in the purges. A set of new prisons was also constructed in Khmer Rouge run areas. The Cham minority attempted an uprising around this time against attempts to destroy their culture. While the uprising was quickly crushed, Saloth ordered that harsh physical torture be used against most of those involved in the revolt. </div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">As previously, Saloth tested out harsh new policies against the Cham minority before extending them to the general population of the country.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
The Khmer Rouge also had a policy of evacuating urban areas to the countryside. When the Khmer Rouge took the town of Kratie in 1971, Saloth and other members of the party were shocked at how fast the liberated urban areas shook off socialism and went back to the old ways. Various ideas were tried to re-create the town in the image of the party, but nothing worked. In 1973, out of total frustration, Saloth decided that the only solution was to send the entire population of the town to the fields in the countryside. He wrote at the time "if the result of so many sacrifices was that the capitalists remain in control, what was the point of the revolution?". Shortly after, Saloth ordered the evacuation of the 15,000 people of Kompong Cham for the same reasons. The Khmer Rouge then moved on in 1974 to evacuate the larger city of Oudong.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I<br />
nternationally, Saloth and the Khmer Rouge were able to gain the recognition of 63 countries as the true government of Cambodia. A move was made at the United Nations to give the seat for Cambodia to the Khmer Rouge. The government prevailed by two votes.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">In September 1974, Saloth gathered the central committee of the party together. As the military campaign was moving toward a conclusion, Saloth decided to move the party toward implementing a socialist transformation of the country in the form of a series of decisions.<br />
<br />
The first one was that after their victory, the main cities of the country would be evacuated with the population moved to the countryside. The second was that money would cease to be put into circulation and quickly be phased out. The final decision was the party's acceptance of Saloth's first major purge. In 1974, Saloth had purged a top party official named Prasith. Prasith was taken out into a forest and shot without any chance to defend himself. His death was followed by a purge of cadres who, like Prasith, were ethnically <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thai_people" title="Thai people">Thai</a>. Saloth offered as explanation that the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Class_struggle" title="Class struggle">class struggle</a> had become acute and that a strong stand had to be made against the enemies of the party.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
The Khmer Rouge were positioned for a final offensive against the government in January 1975. At the same time at a press event in Beijing, Sihanouk proudly announced Saloth's "death list" of enemies to be killed after victory. The list, which originally contained seven names, expanded to twenty-three, including all the senior government leaders along with the military and police leadership. The rivalry between Vietnam and Cambodia also came out into the open. North Vietnam, as the rival socialist country in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indochina" title="Indochina">Indochina</a>, was determined to take Saigon before the Khmer Rouge took Phnom Penh. Shipments of weapons from China were delayed and in one instance the Cambodians were forced to sign a humiliating document thanking Vietnam for shipments of what were in fact Chinese weapons.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
In September 1975, the government formed a Supreme National Council with new leadership, with the aim of negotiating a surrender to the Khmer Rouge. It was headed by <a class="new" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sak_Sutsakhan&action=edit&redlink=1" title="Sak Sutsakhan (page does not exist)">Sak Sutsakhan</a> who had studied in France with Saloth and was cousin to the Khmer Rouge Deputy Secretary Nuon Chea. Saloth's reaction to this was to add the names of everyone involved to his post-victory death list. Government resistance finally collapsed on <span title="1975-09-17"><span title="09-17"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/September_17" title="September 17">September 17</a></span>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1975" title="1975">1975</a></span>.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=4611343706898552392&postID=8109942866852160395" id="Democratic_Kampuchea_.281975-1979.29" name="Democratic_Kampuchea_.281975-1979.29"></a></div><h2 style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Democratic Kampuchea (1975-1979)</h2><div class="thumb tright" style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><div class="thumbinner" style="width: 182px;"><a class="image" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Choeungek2.JPG" title="Skulls of Khmer Rouge victims"><img alt="" class="thumbimage" height="135" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9c/Choeungek2.JPG/180px-Choeungek2.JPG" width="180" /></a> <br />
<div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a class="internal" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Choeungek2.JPG" title="Enlarge"><br />
</a></div>Skulls of Khmer Rouge victims</div></div></div><div class="rellink relarticle mainarticle" style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div class="rellink relarticle mainarticle" style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Main article: <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khmer_Rouge_period_%281975%E2%80%931979%29" title="Khmer Rouge period (1975–1979)">Khmer Rouge period (1975–1979)</a></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The Khmer Rouge took <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phnom_Penh" title="Phnom Penh">Phnom Penh</a> on <span title="1975-04-17"><span title="04-17"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/April_17" title="April 17">April 17</a></span>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1975" title="1975">1975</a></span>. As the leader of the Communist Party, Saloth Sar was the designated leader of the new regime. He took the name "brother number one" and declared his <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pseudonym#Nom_de_guerre" title="Pseudonym"><i>nom de guerre</i></a> Pol Pot, from <i><b>Pol</b>itique <b>pot</b>entielle</i>, the French equivalent of a phrase supposedly coined for him by the Chinese leadership.<sup class="noprint Template-Fact" style="white-space: nowrap;" title="This claim needs references to reliable sources from December 2008">[<i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed" title="Wikipedia:Citation needed">citation needed</a></i>]</sup> The new constitution was adapted on <span title="1976-01-05"><span title="01-05"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/January_5" title="January 5">January 5</a></span>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1976" title="1976">1976</a></span>, effectively abolishing the monarchy and placing prince <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sihanouk" title="Sihanouk">Sihanouk</a> under detention.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
The newly-established Representative Assembly held its first plenary meeting on <span title="04-11"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/April_11" title="April 11">April 11</a></span>-<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/April_13" title="April 13">13</a>, electing a new government with Pol Pot as its leader. His predecessor, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khieu_Samphan" title="Khieu Samphan">Khieu Samphan</a> was instead given the new post as president of the State Presidium, thus the effective head of state. The new administration was inaugurated at <span title="05-13"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_13" title="May 13">May 13</a></span>, with Pol Pot as prime minister.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The name of the country was, due to the constitution, officially altered to "Democratic Kampuchea". The Khmer Rouge tried to impose the concept of "Year Zero" and targeted <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhism" title="Buddhism">Buddhist</a> monks, Muslims, Western-educated intellectuals, educated people in general, people who had contact with Western countries or with Vietnam, disabled people, and the ethnic Chinese, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laos" title="Laos">Laotians</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnamese_people" title="Vietnamese people">Vietnamese</a>. Some were put in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuol_Sleng_Genocide_Museum" title="Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum">S-21</a> camp for interrogation involving torture in cases where a confession was useful to the government. Many others were summarily executed. Confessions forced at S-21 were extracted from prisoners through such methods as waterboarding, removing toenails with pliers, suffocating a prisoner repeatedly, and skinning a person while alive.<sup class="noprint Template-Fact" style="white-space: nowrap;" title="This claim needs references to reliable sources from January 2009"></sup></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
Immediately after the fall of Phnom Penh, the Khmer Rouge began to implement reforms following the concept of "Year Zero" ideology and placing the former king, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norodom_Sihanouk" title="Norodom Sihanouk">Norodom Sihanouk</a>, in a purely ceremonial role. The Khmer Rouge ordered the complete evacuation of Phnom Penh and all other recently captured major towns and cities. Those leaving were told that the evacuation was due to the threat of severe American bombing and it would last for no more than a few days.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge had been evacuating captured urban areas for many years, but the evacuation of Phnom Penh was unique in scale. The first operations to evacuate urban areas occurred in 1968 in the Ratanakiri area and were aimed at moving people deeper into Khmer Rouge territory to better control them. From 1971-1973, the motivation changed. Pol Pot and the other senior leaders were frustrated that urban Cambodians were retaining old habits of trade and business. When all other methods had failed, evacuation to the countryside was adopted to solve the problem.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
Pol Pot adopted the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maoism" title="Maoism">Maoist</a> idea that peasants were the true working class. In 1976, people were reclassified as full-rights (base) people, candidates and depositees - so called because they included most of the new people who had been deposited from the cities into the communes. Depositees were marked for destruction. Their rations were reduced to two bowls of rice soup, or "<a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rice_congee" title="Rice congee">p'baw</a>" per day. This led to widespread starvation. "New people" were allegedly given no place in the elections taking place on <span title="03-20"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/March_20" title="March 20">March 20</a></span>, 1976, despite the fact the constitution was said to have established <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_suffrage" title="Universal suffrage">universal suffrage</a> for all Cambodians over age 18.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The Khmer Rouge leadership boasted over the state-controlled radio that only one or two million people were needed to build the new <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agrarian_socialism" title="Agrarian socialism">agrarian communist</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utopia" title="Utopia">utopia</a>. As for the others, as their proverb put it, "To keep you is no benefit, to destroy you is no loss." <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-children_of_cambodias_killing_fields_16-0"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pol_Pot#cite_note-children_of_cambodias_killing_fields-16"></a></sup></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
Hundreds of thousands of the new people, and later the depositees, were taken out in shackles to dig their own <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_grave" title="Mass grave">mass graves</a>. Then the Khmer Rouge soldiers beat them to death with iron bars and hoes or buried them alive. A Khmer Rouge extermination prison directive ordered, "Bullets are not to be wasted." These mass graves are often referred to as <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Killing_Fields" title="The Killing Fields">The Killing Fields</a>.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The Khmer Rouge also classified by religion and ethnic group. They abolished all religion and dispersed minority groups, forbidding them to speak their languages or to practice their customs. These policies had been implemented in less severe forms for many years prior to the Khmer Rouge's taking power.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
According to François Ponchaud's book <i>Cambodia: Year Zero</i>, "Ever since 1972 the guerrilla fighters had been sending all the inhabitants of the villages and towns they occupied into the forest to live and often burning their homes, so that they would have nothing to come back to." The Khmer Rouge refused offers of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humanitarian_aid" title="Humanitarian aid">humanitarian aid</a>, a decision which proved to be a humanitarian catastrophe: millions died of starvation and brutal government-inflicted overwork in the countryside. To the Khmer Rouge, outside aid went against their principle of national <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autarky" title="Autarky">self-reliance</a>.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
Property became collective, and education was dispensed at communal schools. Children were raised on a communal basis. Even meals were prepared and eaten communally. Pol Pot's regime was extremely paranoid. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_dissent" title="Political dissent">Political dissent</a> and opposition were not permitted. People were treated as opponents based on their appearance or background. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torture" title="Torture">Torture</a> was widespread. In some instances, throats were slit as prisoners were tied to metal bed frames.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Thousands of politicians and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bureaucrat" title="Bureaucrat">bureaucrats</a> accused of association with previous governments were executed. Phnom Penh was turned into a ghost city, while people in the countryside were dying of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starvation" title="Starvation">starvation</a>, illnesses, or execution.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
The casualty list from the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_war" title="Civil war">civil war</a>, Pol Pot's consolidation of power, and the later intervention by Vietnam is disputed. Different estimates vary from 750,000 to over two million. Credible Western and Eastern sources<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-17"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pol_Pot#cite_note-17"></a></sup> put the death toll inflicted by the Khmer Rouge at 1.6 million. A specific source, such as a figure of 3 million deaths between 1975 and 1979, was given by the People's Republic of Kampuchea. François Ponchaud suggested 2.3 million—although this includes hundreds of thousands who died prior to the CPK takeover and has been disputed;<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-chomsky_18-0"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pol_Pot#cite_note-chomsky-18"></a></sup> the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yale_University" title="Yale University">Yale</a> Cambodian Genocide Project<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-yale_9-1"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pol_Pot#cite_note-yale-9"></a></sup> estimates 1.7 million; <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amnesty_International" title="Amnesty International">Amnesty International</a> estimated 1.4 million; and the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Department_of_State" title="United States Department of State">United States Department of State</a>, 1.2 million. Khieu Samphan and Pol Pot themselves cited figures of 1 million and 800,000, respectively.<sup class="noprint Template-Fact" style="white-space: nowrap;" title="This claim needs references to reliable sources from November 2007"><i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed" title="Wikipedia:Citation needed"> </a></i></sup></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
Pol Pot aligned the country politically with the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People%27s_Republic_of_China" title="People's Republic of China">People's Republic of China</a> and adopted an anti-Soviet line. This alignment was more political and practical than ideological. Vietnam was aligned with the Soviet Union so Cambodia aligned with the rival of the Soviet Union and Vietnam in Southeast Asia. China had been supplying the Khmer Rouge with weapons for years before they took power.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
In December 1976, Pol Pot issued directives to the senior leadership to the effect that Vietnam was now an enemy. Defenses along the border were strengthened and unreliable deportees were moved deeper into Cambodia. Pol Pot's actions were in response to the Vietnamese Communist Party's fourth Congress which approved a resolution describing Vietnam's special relationship with Laos and Cambodia. It also talked of how Vietnam would forever be associated with the building and defense of the other two countries.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
In May 1975 a squad of Khmer Rouge soldiers raided and took Phu Quoc Island. By 1977, relations with Vietnam began to fall apart. There were small border clashes in January. Pol Pot tried to prevent border disputes by sending a team to Vietnam. The negotiations failed which resulted in even more border disputes. On <span title="04-30"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/April_30" title="April 30">April 30</a></span>, the Cambodian army, backed by artillery, crossed over into Vietnam. In attempting to explain Pol Pot's behavior, one region-watcher suggested that Cambodia was attempting to intimidate Vietnam, by irrational acts, into respecting or at least fearing Cambodia to the point they would leave the country alone. However, these actions only served to anger the Vietnamese people and government against the Khmer Rouge.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
In May 1976, Vietnam sent its air force into Cambodia in a series of raids. In July, Vietnam forced a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Friendship" title="Treaty of Friendship">Treaty of Friendship</a> on Laos which gave Vietnam almost total control over the country. In Cambodia, Khmer Rouge commanders in the Eastern Zone began to tell their men that war with Vietnam was inevitable and that once the war started their goal would be to recover parts of Vietnam, (Khmer Krom) which used to be part of Cambodia, in which its people were struggling to fight for independence from Vietnam. It is not clear whether these statements were the official policy of Pol Pot.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
In September 1977, Cambodia launched <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Division_%28military%29" title="Division (military)">division</a>-scale raids over the border which once again left a trail of murder and destruction in villages. The Vietnamese claimed that around 1,000 people had been killed or injured. Three days after the raid, Pol Pot officially announced the existence of the formerly secret Communist Party of Kampuchea (CPK) and finally announced to the world that the country was a Communist state. In December, after having exhausted all other options, Vietnam sent 50,000 troops into Cambodia in what amounted to a short raid. The raid was meant to be secret. The Vietnamese withdrew after declaring they had achieved their goals, and the invasion was just a warning. Upon being threatened, the Vietnamese army promised to return with support from the Soviet Union. Pol Pot's actions made the operation much more visible than the Vietnamese had intended and created a situation in which Vietnam appeared weak.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
After making one final attempt to negotiate a settlement with Cambodia, Vietnam decided that it had to prepare for a full war. Vietnam also tried to pressure Cambodia through China. However, China's refusal to pressure Cambodia and the flow of weapons from China into Cambodia were both signs that China also intended to act against Vietnam.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">In late 1978, in response to threats to its borders and the Vietnamese people, Vietnam attacked Cambodia to overthrow the Khmer Rouge, which Vietnam could justify on the basis of self-defense.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
The Cambodian army was defeated, the regime was toppled and Pol Pot fled to the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thailand" title="Thailand">Thai</a> border area. In January 1979, Vietnam installed a new government under <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heng_Samrin" title="Heng Samrin">Heng Samrin</a>, composed of Khmer Rouge who had fled to Vietnam to avoid the purges. Pol Pot eventually regrouped with his core supporters in the Thai border area where he received shelter and assistance. At different times during this period, he was located on both sides of the border. The military government of Thailand used the Khmer Rouge as a buffer force to keep the Vietnamese away from the border. The Thai military also made money from the shipment of weapons from China to the Khmer Rouge. Eventually Pol Pot was able to rebuild a small military force in the west of the country with the help of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People%27s_Republic_of_China" title="People's Republic of China">People's Republic of China</a>. The PRC also initiated the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sino-Vietnamese_War" title="Sino-Vietnamese War">Sino-Vietnamese War</a> around this time.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
After the Khmer Rouge were driven from power by the Vietnamese in 1979, the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States" title="United States">United States</a> and other Western powers refused to allow the Vietnamese-backed Cambodian government to take the seat of Cambodia at the United Nations. The seat, by default, remained in the hands of the Khmer Rouge. These countries considered that however negative allowing the Khmer Rouge to hold on to the seat was, recognizing Vietnam's occupation of Cambodia was worse. Also, representatives of these countries argued<sup> </sup>that both claimants to the seat were Khmer Rouge governments, due to the fact that Vietnam's Cambodian government was formed from ex-Khmer Rouge cadres.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=4611343706898552392&postID=8109942866852160395" id="Aftermath_.281979-1998.29" name="Aftermath_.281979-1998.29"></a></div><h2 style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Aftermath (1979-1998)</h2><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The U.S. opposed the Vietnamese military occupation of Cambodia, and in the mid-1980s supported insurgents opposed to the regime of Heng Samrin, approving $5 million in aid to the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khmer_People%27s_National_Liberation_Front" title="Khmer People's National Liberation Front">Khmer People's National Liberation Front</a> of former prime minister <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Son_Sann" title="Son Sann">Son Sann</a> and the pro-Sihanouk ANS in 1985. Regardless of this, Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge remained the best-trained and most capable of the three insurgent groups who, despite sharply divergent ideologies, had formed the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coalition_Government_of_Democratic_Kampuchea" title="Coalition Government of Democratic Kampuchea">Coalition Government of Democratic Kampuchea</a> (CGDK) alliance three years earlier. China continued to funnel extensive military aid to the Khmer Rouge, and critics of U.S. foreign policy claimed that the U.S. was indirectly sponsoring the Khmer Rouge due to U.S. assistance given the CGDK in keeping control of the United Nations "seat" of Cambodia.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-19"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pol_Pot#cite_note-19"></a></sup><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-20"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pol_Pot#cite_note-20"></a></sup><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-21"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pol_Pot#cite_note-21"></a></sup> The U.S. refused to recognize the Cambodian government installed by the army of Vietnam or to recognize any Cambodian government operating while Cambodia was under the military occupation of Vietnam.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
During this period, the Khmer Rouge was able to rebuild its military, now titled the "<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Army_of_Democratic_Kampuchea" title="National Army of Democratic Kampuchea">National Army of Democratic Kampuchea</a>" (NADK), as well as its infamous ruling party, the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communist_Party_of_Kampuchea" title="Communist Party of Kampuchea">Communist Party of Kampuchea</a> (CPK), the sinister and shadowy <i>"angkar"</i>, in the mountain area of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phnom_Malai" title="Phnom Malai">Phnom Malai</a>. By mid-1980s, with the cooperation of the West and China, the Khmer Rouge had grown to about 35 to 50 thousand troops and committed cadres.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-22"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pol_Pot#cite_note-22"></a></sup></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
Archives uncovered in Cambodia in 2009 have shed light on the deaths of several Western yachtsman, including 2 Australian and a New Zealander who were forced to confess under duress to being CIA operatives. The Australian yachtsman strayed into disputed waters, where they were captured by the Khmer Rogue and sent to Pol Pot's S-21 death camp. Later Australian foreign minister Andrew Peacock resigned in 1981 over his unease over the Fraser government’s recognition of Pol Pot’s regime under pressure from China.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-23"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pol_Pot#cite_note-23"></a></sup></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Pol Pot lived in the Phnom Malai area, giving interviews in the early 1980s accusing all those who opposed him of being traitors and "puppets" of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnam" title="Vietnam">Vietnamese</a> until he disappeared from public view. In 1985, his "retirement" was announced, but he kept hiding somewhere close by, still pulling the Khmer Rouge strings of power.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-24"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pol_Pot#cite_note-24"></a></sup></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Phnom Malai was the location where in 1981 Pol Pot made his famous declarations denying guilt for the brutalities of the organization he led:</div><dl style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><dd>
<dl><dd><i>[Pol Pot] said that he knows that many people in the country hate him and think he’s responsible for the killings. He said that he knows many people died. When he said this he nearly broke down and cried. He said he must accept responsibility because the line was too far to the left, and because he didn’t keep proper track of what was going on. He said he was like the master in a house he didn’t know what the kids were up to, and that he trusted people too much. For example, he allowed [one person] to take care of central committee business for him, [another person] to take care of intellectuals, and [a third person] to take care of political education.... These were the people to whom he felt very close, and he trusted them completely. Then in the end ... they made a mess of everything.... They would tell him things that were not true, that everything was fine, that this person or that was a traitor. In the end they were the real traitors. The major problem had been cadres formed by the Vietnamese.</i><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-25"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pol_Pot#cite_note-25"></a></sup></dd></dl></dd></dl><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">In December 1985, the Vietnamese launched a major offensive and overran most of the Khmer Rouge and other insurgent positions. The Khmer Rouge headquarters at Phnom Malai and its base near <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pailin" title="Pailin">Pailin</a> were completely destroyed; the Vietnamese attackers suffered substantial losses during the attack.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-26"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pol_Pot#cite_note-26"></a></sup></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
Pol Pot fled to Thailand where he lived for the next six years. His headquarters were a plantation villa near <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trat" title="Trat">Trat</a>. He was guarded by Thai Special Unit 838.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Pol Pot officially resigned from the party in 1985 citing asthma as a contributing factor, but continued as de facto Khmer Rouge leader and dominant force within the anti-Vietnam alliance. He handed day to day power to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Son_Sen" title="Son Sen">Son Sen</a>, his hand-picked successor. Opponents of the Khmer Rouge claimed that they were sometimes acting in an inhumane manner in territory controlled by the alliance but none of the forces fighting in Cambodia could be said to have clean hands.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">In 1986, his new wife Mea Son gave birth to a daughter, Sitha, named after an experimental form of North Vietnamese cookery. Shortly after, Pol Pot moved to China for medical treatment for cancer of the face. He remained there until 1988.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
In 1989, Vietnam withdrew from Cambodia. The Khmer Rouge established a new stronghold area in the west near the Thai border and Pol Pot relocated back into Cambodia from Thailand. Pol Pot refused to cooperate with the peace process, and kept fighting the new coalition government. The Khmer Rouge kept the government forces at bay until 1996, when troops started deserting. Several important Khmer Rouge leaders also defected. The government had a policy of making peace with Khmer Rouge individuals and groups after negotiations with the organization as a whole failed. In 1995 Pol Pot experienced a stroke that paralyzed the left side of his body.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
Pol Pot ordered the execution of his life-long right-hand man Son Sen on <span title="1997-06-10"><span title="06-10"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/June_10" title="June 10">June 10</a></span>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1997" title="1997">1997</a></span> for attempting to make a settlement with the government. Eleven members of his family were killed also, although Pol Pot later denied that he had ordered this. He then fled his northern stronghold, but was later arrested by Khmer Rouge military Chief <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ta_Mok" title="Ta Mok">Ta Mok</a>. In November he was subjected to a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Show_trial" title="Show trial">show trial</a> for the death of Son Sen and sentenced to lifelong <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_arrest" title="House arrest">house arrest</a>.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><h3 style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Death</h3><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">On the night of </span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" title="04-15"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/April_15" title="April 15">15 April</a></span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">, 1998 the </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voice_of_America" style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" title="Voice of America">Voice of America</a><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">, of which Pol Pot was a devoted listener, announced that the Khmer Rouge had agreed to turn him over to an international tribunal. According to his wife, he died in his bed later in the night while waiting to be moved to another location. Ta Mok claimed that his death was due to heart failure.</span><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-27" style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pol_Pot#cite_note-27"></a></sup><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Despite government requests to inspect the body, it was </span><a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cremated" style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" title="Cremated">cremated</a><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> a few days later at </span><a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anlong_Veng" style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" title="Anlong Veng">Anlong Veng</a><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> in the Khmer Rouge zone, raising strong suspicions that he committed suicide or was poisoned.</span><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-28"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pol_Pot#cite_note-28"></a></sup><br />
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pol_Pot#cite_note-11"></a></div>Nanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17149283539654033740noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4611343706898552392.post-73695644454773927952009-09-04T03:02:00.000-07:002009-09-04T03:02:33.208-07:00Lon Nol<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>Lon Nol</b> (<span class="mw-formatted-date" title="1913-11-13"><span class="mw-formatted-date" title="11-13"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/November_13" title="November 13">November 13</a></span>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1913" title="1913">1913</a></span> - <span class="mw-formatted-date" title="1985-11-17"><span class="mw-formatted-date" title="11-17"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/November_17" title="November 17">November 17</a></span>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1985" title="1985">1985</a></span>) was a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambodia" title="Cambodia">Cambodian</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politician" title="Politician">politician</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soldier" title="Soldier">soldier</a> who served as Prime Minister of Cambodia twice, as well as serving repeatedly as Defense Minister. He proclaimed himself, after a coup against <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norodom_Sihanouk" title="Norodom Sihanouk">Norodom Sihanouk</a>, acting Head of State of the ill-fated <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khmer_Republic" title="Khmer Republic">Khmer Republic</a>, and was later its President.</div><h2 style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span class="mw-headline">Biography</span></h2><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="" id="Early_life" name="Early_life"></a></div><h3 style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span class="editsection"></span><span class="mw-headline">Early life</span></h3><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Nol was born in Prey Veng Province on November 13, 1913, to a family of mixed <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_Cambodian" title="Chinese Cambodian">Chinese</a>–<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khmer_people" title="Khmer people">Khmer</a> descent.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-0"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lon_Nol#cite_note-0"><span></span><span></span></a></sup><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-1"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lon_Nol#cite_note-1"><span></span><span></span></a></sup><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-2"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lon_Nol#cite_note-2"><span></span><span></span></a></sup> His father, Lon Hin, served as a district chief in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siem_Reap" title="Siem Reap">Siem Reap</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kampong_Thom" title="Kampong Thom">Kampong Thom</a>, after making a name for himself 'pacifying' bandit groups in the area of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prey_Veng" title="Prey Veng">Prey Veng</a>.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-kiernan24_3-0"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lon_Nol#cite_note-kiernan24-3"><span></span><span></span></a></sup> Nol was educated in the relatively privileged surroundings of the Lycée Chasseloup-Laubat in <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saigon" title="Saigon">Saigon</a>, followed by the Cambodian Royal Military Academy.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="" id="Employment_in_the_colonial_government" name="Employment_in_the_colonial_government"></a></div><h3 style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span class="editsection"></span> <span class="mw-headline">Employment in the colonial government</span></h3><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Nol found employment with the French colonial civil service in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1937" title="1937">1937</a>. He became a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magistrate" title="Magistrate">magistrate</a>, and soon proved himself as an efficient enforcer of French rule against a series of anti-colonial disturbances in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1939" title="1939">1939</a>.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-kiernan24_3-1"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lon_Nol#cite_note-kiernan24-3"><span></span><span></span></a></sup> By <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1946" title="1946">1946</a>, he had risen to the post of Governor of <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kratie_Province" title="Kratie Province">Kratie Province</a>. He became an associate of King <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norodom_Sihanouk" title="Norodom Sihanouk">Norodom Sihanouk</a>, and by the late 1940s, when he set up a right-wing, monarchist, pro-independence political group, was becoming increasingly involved in the developing Cambodian political scene. Joining the army in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1952" title="1952">1952</a>, he carried out military operations against the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viet_Minh" title="Viet Minh">Viet Minh</a>.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">After independence, Nol's nationalist 'Khmer Renovation' party (along with small right-wing parties headed by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Sary" title="Sam Sary">Sam Sary</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dap_Chhuon" title="Dap Chhuon">Dap Chhuon</a>) became the core of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sangkum" title="Sangkum">Sangkum</a>, the organisation set up by Sihanouk to fight the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambodian_parliamentary_election,_1955" title="Cambodian parliamentary election, 1955">1955 elections</a>.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-kiernan_4-0"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lon_Nol#cite_note-kiernan-4"><span></span><span></span></a></sup></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="" id="In_the_administration_of_Sihanouk.2C_1955-70" name="In_the_administration_of_Sihanouk.2C_1955-70"></a></div><h3 style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span class="editsection"></span><span class="mw-headline">In the administration of Sihanouk, 1955-70</span></h3><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Nol was appointed the Army Chief of Staff in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1955" title="1955">1955</a>, and commander-in-chief of the armed forces in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1960" title="1960">1960</a>, as well as serving as Defence Minister. At the time, he was a trusted supporter of Sihanouk, his police being instrumental in the suppression of the small, clandestine communist movement in Cambodia. He was appointed deputy Premier in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1963" title="1963">1963</a>. While Sihanouk - in an attempt to distance his country from the effects of the <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Indochina_War" title="Second Indochina War">Second Indochina War</a> - was pursuing a foreign policy of "extreme neutrality", which involved association with <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China" title="China">China</a> and toleration of <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Vietnamese" title="North Vietnamese">North Vietnamese</a> activity on the eastern borders, Nol remained friendly towards the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States" title="United States">United States</a>, and indicated that he regretted the ending of American aid after 1963.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-shawcross61_5-0"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lon_Nol#cite_note-shawcross61-5"><span></span><span></span></a></sup></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The 1966 parliamentary elections represented a major shift in the balance of power towards Lon Nol and the rightist elements of the Sangkum, as conservative and right-wing candidates were overwhelmingly elected.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-kiernan232_6-0"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lon_Nol#cite_note-kiernan232-6"><span></span><span></span></a></sup> Lon Nol became Prime Minister, and the following year his troops were used by Sihanouk to carry out a savage repression of a leftist-inspired revolt in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battambang_Province" title="Battambang Province">Battambang Province</a>.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Nol was injured in a car crash later in 1967, and temporarily retired from politics. In <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1968" title="1968">1968</a>, however, he returned as Minister of Defence and in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1969" title="1969">1969</a> became Prime Minister a second time, appointing the vocally anti-Sihanouk, and pro-US politician Prince <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sisowath_Sirik_Matak" title="Sisowath Sirik Matak">Sisowath Sirik Matak</a> as his deputy.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="" id="The_1970_Coup" name="The_1970_Coup"></a></div><h3 style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span class="editsection"></span><span class="mw-headline">The 1970 Coup</span></h3><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Sihanouk later claimed that the 1970 coup against him was the result of an alliance between his longstanding enemy, exiled politician <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Son_Ngoc_Thanh" title="Son Ngoc Thanh">Son Ngoc Thanh</a> and Sirik Matak, with CIA support and planning.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-sihanouk37_7-0"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lon_Nol#cite_note-sihanouk37-7"><span></span><span></span></a></sup> It seems likely that Lon Nol initially intended to strengthen his position against the North Vietnamese with the ultimate aim of preventing their troops (and those of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viet_Cong" title="Viet Cong">Viet Cong</a>) from operating within Cambodian borders, and wished to apply pressure on Sihanouk to achieve this.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-shawcross118_8-0"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lon_Nol#cite_note-shawcross118-8"><span></span><span></span></a></sup> However, events rapidly developed far beyond the original plan, and with the encouragement of Sirik Matak - who wished to see Sihanouk deposed as Head of State - Lon Nol was ultimately to engineer Sihanouk's removal.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">While Sihanouk was abroad during March 1970, there were anti-Vietnamese riots in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phnom_Penh" title="Phnom Penh">Phnom Penh</a>. On 12 March, Lon Nol and Sirik Matak closed the port of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sihanoukville" title="Sihanoukville">Sihanoukville</a>, through which weapons were being smuggled to the viet Cong, to the North Vietnamese and issued an impossible ultimatum: all PAVN (North Vietnamese) and NLF (Viet Cong) forces were to withdraw from Cambodian soil within 72 hours (on 15 March) or face military action.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-sutsakhan42_9-0"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lon_Nol#cite_note-sutsakhan42-9"><span></span><span></span></a></sup></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Lon Nol initially refused to countenance Sihanouk being deposed as Head of State; to force his hand, Sirik Matak played him a tape-recorded press conference from <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris" title="Paris">Paris</a>, in which Sihanouk blamed them for the unrest and threatened to execute them both on his return to Phnom Penh.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-marlay165_10-0"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lon_Nol#cite_note-marlay165-10"><span></span><span></span></a></sup> However, the Prime Minister remained uncertain as to whether to instigate a vote in the National Assembly. On the night of 17 March, Sirik Matak, accompanied by three army officers, went to the Prime Ministers's residence and compelled a weeping Lon Nol to sign the necessary documents at gunpoint.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-chandler_11-0"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lon_Nol#cite_note-chandler-11"><span></span><span></span></a></sup></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">A vote was taken in the National Assembly on <span class="mw-formatted-date" title="03-18"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/March_18" title="March 18">18 March</a></span> in which Sihanouk was stripped of his power. Lon Nol assumed the powers of the Head of State on an emergency basis. On 28 and 29 March there were large-scale popular demonstrations in favour of Sihanouk in several provincial cities, but Lon Nol's forces suppressed them with great brutality, causing several hundred deaths.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-kiernan302_12-0"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lon_Nol#cite_note-kiernan302-12"><span></span><span></span></a></sup> The Khmer Republic was formally declared that October, and Sihanouk - who had formed a government-in-exile, GRUNK, incorporating the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khmer_Rouge" title="Khmer Rouge">Khmer Rouge</a> communists - was condemned to death <i>in absentia</i>. In the meantime, the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambodian_Campaign" title="Cambodian Campaign">Cambodian Campaign</a> of April 1970, in which US and South Vietnamese forces entered Cambodian territory in pursuit of North Vietnamese and Viet Cong troops, had irrevocably involved Lon Nol's regime in the Second Indochina War.</div><h3 style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span class="mw-headline">The Khmer Republic and the Civil War</span></h3><div class="rellink boilerplate seealso" style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> </div><div class="thumb tright" style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> <div class="thumbinner" style="width: 182px;"><a class="image" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_the_Khmer_Republic.svg" title="Flag of the ill-fated Khmer Republic led by Lon Nol."><img alt="" class="thumbimage" height="120" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a8/Flag_of_the_Khmer_Republic.svg/180px-Flag_of_the_Khmer_Republic.svg.png" width="180" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"> <div class="magnify"><a class="internal" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_the_Khmer_Republic.svg" title="Enlarge"><br />
</a></div>Flag of the ill-fated Khmer Republic led by Lon Nol.</div></div></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> The <b><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khmer_Republic" title="Khmer Republic">Khmer Republic</a></b> (1970 - 1975) was founded in order to do away with Cambodia's widespread corruption and to restore Cambodia's sovereignty in its eastern regions, occupied by Vietnamese communist insurgents as a result of Sihanouk's "neutrality" policies. Despite its high aims, the republic proved disastrous both militarily and politically. Lon Nol's health started to decline after he suffered a stroke in February 1971. His rule became increasingly erratic and authoritarian: he appointed himself Marshal (a title previously unknown in Cambodia) in April 1971, and in October suspended the National Assembly, stating he would "no longer play the game of democracy". Backed by his forceful, ambitious younger brother <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lon_Non" title="Lon Non">Lon Non</a>, Nol succeeded in reducing the influence of Sirik Matak, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_Tam" title="In Tam">In Tam</a> and the other coup leaders: he also insisted on directing many of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khmer_National_Armed_Forces" title="Khmer National Armed Forces">Khmer National Armed Forces</a> operations personally.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khmer_National_Armed_Forces" title="Khmer National Armed Forces">Khmer National Armed Forces</a> (French: Force Armée Nationale Khmère), often abbreviated to FANK, were the armed forces of the Khmer Republic, their Commander in Chief was General <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sosthene_Fernandez" title="Sosthene Fernandez">Sosthene Fernandez</a>.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">In time Lon Nol's regime became completely dependent upon large quantities of American aid that towards the end were not backed by the political and military resolve needed to effectively help the beleaguered republic.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-ReferenceA_13-0"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lon_Nol#cite_note-ReferenceA-13"><span></span><span></span></a></sup> By 1975, the government was eventually reduced to holding little more than <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phnom_Penh" title="Phnom Penh">Phnom Penh</a>. The FANK had run out of ammunition. Nol was increasingly dependent on the advice of soothsayers and Buddhist mystics: at one point during a Khmer Rouge assault on Phnom Penh, he sprinkled a circular line of consecrated sand in order to defend the city. Finally, on April 1, 1975, Nol resigned and fled the country into exile, as the Khmer Rouge had vowed to execute him.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The first priority of the Khmer Rouge after conquering Cambodia and overthrowing the Khmer Republic was to execute all its leaders and high officials without delay,<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-ReferenceA_13-1"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lon_Nol#cite_note-ReferenceA-13"><span></span><span></span></a></sup> a fate that Lon Nol escaped.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="" id="Final_exile" name="Final_exile"></a></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="" id="Political_views" name="Political_views"></a></div><h2 style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span class="editsection"></span> <span class="mw-headline">Political views</span></h2><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Despite his actions in deposing Sihanouk, Nol was a firm believer in traditional Cambodian hierarchy: after Sihanouk had been removed he prostrated himself at the <a class="new" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sisowath_Kossamak&action=edit&redlink=1" title="Sisowath Kossamak (page does not exist)">Queen Mother</a>'s feet in order to ask forgiveness.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-shawcross128_14-0"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lon_Nol#cite_note-shawcross128-14"><span></span><span></span></a></sup> He termed his ideology, a blend of <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chauvinist" title="Chauvinist">chauvinist</a> nationalism and mysticsm, as 'Neo-Khmerism': he expressed an ambition of reuniting the ethnic Khmers of Cambodia with the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khmer_Krom" title="Khmer Krom">Khmer Krom</a> of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mekong_Delta" title="Mekong Delta">Mekong Delta</a> and the Khmer Surin of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thailand" title="Thailand">Thailand</a>, projecting a state of "thirty million" Khmers by the year 2020.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-kiernan348_15-0"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lon_Nol#cite_note-kiernan348-15"><span></span><span></span></a></sup> Asking his followers to embrace the traditions of what he referred to as <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mon-Khmer" title="Mon-Khmer">Mon-Khmer</a> 'holy warriors' (<i>yuthesel</i>), he also encouraged them to refer to him as their "Black Papa", a name referring to the dark skin considered to be the sign of an 'authentic' Khmer.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-becker134_16-0"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lon_Nol#cite_note-becker134-16"><span></span><span></span></a></sup></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Despite his ambitions, Nol was noted to be increasingly unstable and emotional, especially after his stroke, with a tendency to break down under stress. When, after the Cambodian incursion of 1970, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Haig" title="Alexander Haig">Alexander Haig</a> told him that American ground forces would not be used to assist the Cambodian army, Nol broke down in tears and emotionally claimed that Cambodia would be unable to defend itself.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-shawcross163_17-0"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lon_Nol#cite_note-shawcross163-17"><span></span><span></span></a></sup></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div>Nanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17149283539654033740noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4611343706898552392.post-45383048022353944382009-09-04T02:57:00.000-07:002009-09-04T02:57:51.353-07:00Agony of the Khmer Republic (1971–1973)<h3 style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span class="mw-headline">Struggling to survive</span></h3><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">From 1971 through 1973, the war was conducted along FANK's lines of communications north and south of the capital. Limited offensives were launched to maintain contact with the rice-growing regions of the northwest and along the <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mekong_River" title="Mekong River">Mekong River</a> and Route 5, the Republic's overland connections to South Vietnam. The strategy of the Khmer Rouge was to gradually cut those lines of communication and squeeze Phnom Penh. As a result, FANK forces became fragmented, isolated, and unable to lend one another mutual support.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The main U.S. contribution to the FANK effort came in the form of the bombers and tactical aircraft of the U.S. Air Force. When President Nixon launched the incursion in 1970, American and South Vietnamese troops operated under an umbrella of air cover that was designated Operation <i>Freedom Deal</i>. When those troops were withdrawn, the air operation continued, ostensibly to interdict PAVN/NLF troop movements and logistics.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-65"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_War_in_Cambodia#cite_note-65"><span></span><span></span></a></sup> In reality (and unknown to the American Congress and public), they were utilized to provide tactical air support to FANK.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-66"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_War_in_Cambodia#cite_note-66"><span></span><span></span></a></sup> As a former U.S. military officer in Phnom Penh reported, "the areas around the Mekong River were so full of bomb craters from B-52 strikes that, by 1973, they looked like the valleys of the moon." </div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-67"></sup></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-67"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_War_in_Cambodia#cite_note-67"><span></span><span></span></a></sup></div><div class="thumb tleft" style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> <div class="thumbinner" style="width: 182px;"><a class="image" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Cambodian_Civil_War-era_T-55.jpg" title="Memorial in Cambodia: a Soviet-built T-54 tank"><img alt="" class="thumbimage" height="135" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/12/Cambodian_Civil_War-era_T-55.jpg/180px-Cambodian_Civil_War-era_T-55.jpg" width="180" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"> <div class="magnify"><a class="internal" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Cambodian_Civil_War-era_T-55.jpg" title="Enlarge"><br />
</a></div>Memorial in Cambodia: a Soviet-built <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T-55" title="T-55">T-54</a> tank</div></div></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">On 10 March 1972, just before the newly-renamed <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constituent_Assembly" title="Constituent Assembly">Constituent Assembly</a> was to approve a revised constitution, Lon Nol announced that he was suspending the deliberations. He then forced Cheng Heng, the chief of state since Sihanouk's deposition, to surrender his authority to him. On the second anniversary of the coup, Lon Nol relinquished his authority as chief of state, but retained his position as prime minister and defense minister.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">On 4 June, Lon Nol was elected as the first president of the Khmer Republic in a blatantly rigged election.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-68"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_War_in_Cambodia#cite_note-68"><span></span><span></span></a></sup> As per the new constitution (ratified on 30 April), political parties formed in the new nation, quickly becoming a source of political factionalism. General Sutsakhan stated: "the seeds of democratization, which had been thrown into the wind with such goodwill by the Khmer leaders, returned for the Khmer Republic nothing but a poor harvest."<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Sutsakhan.2C_p._89_54-1"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_War_in_Cambodia#cite_note-Sutsakhan.2C_p._89-54"><span></span><span></span></a></sup></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">In January 1973, hope sprang into the breasts of the Republic's government, army, and population when the <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris_Peace_Accord" title="Paris Peace Accord">Paris Peace Accord</a> was signed, ending the conflict (for the time being) in South Vietnam and Laos. On 29 January, Lon Nol proclaimed a unilateral cease-fire throughout the nation. All U.S. bombing operations were halted in hopes of securing a chance for peace. It was not to be. The Khmer Rouge simply ignored the proclamation and carried on fighting. By March, heavy casualties, desertions, and low recruitment had forced Lon Nol to introduce conscription and, in April, insurgent forces launched an offensive that pushed into the suburbs of the capital. The U.S. Air Force responded by launching an intense bombing operation that forced the communists back into the countryside after being decimated by the air strikes.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-69"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_War_in_Cambodia#cite_note-69"><span></span><span></span></a></sup></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">By the last day of Operation <i>Freedom Deal</i> (15 August 1973), 250,000 tons of bombs had been dropped on the Khmer Republic, 82,000 tons of which had been released in the last 45 days of the operation.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-70"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_War_in_Cambodia#cite_note-70"><span></span><span></span></a></sup> Since the inception of Operation <i>Menu</i> in 1972, the U.S. Air Force had dropped 539,129 tons of ordnance on Cambodia/Khmer Republic.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-71"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_War_in_Cambodia#cite_note-71"><span></span><span></span></a></sup></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="" id="Shape_of_things_to_come" name="Shape_of_things_to_come"></a></div><h3 style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span class="editsection"></span> <span class="mw-headline">Shape of things to come</span></h3><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">As late as 1973–1975, it was a commonly held belief, both within and outside Cambodia, that the war was essentially a foreign conflict that had not fundamentally altered the nature of the Khmer peopl<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-ihb106_72-0"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_War_in_Cambodia#cite_note-ihb106-72"><span></span><span></span></a></sup> By late 1973, there was a growing awareness among the government and population of the fanaticism, total lack of concern over casualties, and complete rejection of any offer of peace talks which "began to suggest that Khmer Rouge fanaticism and capacity for violence were deeper than anyone had suspected."<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-ihb106_72-1"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_War_in_Cambodia#cite_note-ihb106-72"><span></span><span></span></a></sup></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Reports of the brutal policies of the organization soon made their way to Phnom Penh and into the population foretelling a violent madness that was about to consume the nation. There were tales of the forced relocations of entire villages, of the summary execution of any who disobeyed or even asked questions, the forbidding of religious practices, of monks who were defrocked or murdered, and where traditional sexual and marital habits were foresworn.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-73"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_War_in_Cambodia#cite_note-73"><span></span><span></span></a></sup> War was one thing, the offhand manner in which the Khmer Rouge dealt out death, so contrary to the Khmer character, was quite another.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-74"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_War_in_Cambodia#cite_note-74"><span></span><span></span></a></sup> Reports of these atrocities began to surface during the same period in which North Vietnamese troops were withdrawing from the Cambodian battlefields. This was no coincidence. The concentration of the PAVN effort on South Vietnam allowed the Khmer Rouge to apply their doctrine and policies without restraint for the first time.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-ihb107_75-0"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_War_in_Cambodia#cite_note-ihb107-75"><span></span><span></span></a></sup></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The Khmer Rouge leadership was almost completely unknown by the public. They were referred to by their fellow countrymen as <i>peap prey</i> – the forest army. Previously, the very existence of the communist party as a component of GRUNK had been hidden.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-76"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_War_in_Cambodia#cite_note-76"><span></span><span></span></a></sup> Within the "liberated zones" it was simply referred to as "Angka" – the organization. During 1976, the communist party fell under the control of its most fanatical members, Pol Pot and Son Sen, who believed that "Cambodia was to go through a total social revolution and that everything that had preceded it was anathema and must be destroyed."<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-ihb107_75-1"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_War_in_Cambodia#cite_note-ihb107-75"><span></span><span></span></a></sup></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Also hidden from scrutiny was the growing antagonism between the Khmer Rouge and their North Vietnamese allies.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-77"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_War_in_Cambodia#cite_note-77"><span></span><span></span></a></sup> The radical leadership of the party could never escape the suspicion that Hanoi had designs on building an Indochinese federation with the North Vietnamese as its master.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-78"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_War_in_Cambodia#cite_note-78"><span></span><span></span></a></sup> The Khmer Rouge were ideologically tied to the Chinese, while North Vietnam's chief supporters, the Soviet Union, still recognized the Lon Nol government as legitimate.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-79"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_War_in_Cambodia#cite_note-79"><span></span><span></span></a></sup> After the signing of the Paris Peace Accords, PAVN cut off the supply of arms to the Khmer Rouge, hoping to force them into a cease-fire.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-80"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_War_in_Cambodia#cite_note-80"><span></span><span></span></a></sup> When the Americans were freed by the signing of the accords to turn their air power completely on the Khmer Rouge, this too was blamed on Hanoi.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-81"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_War_in_Cambodia#cite_note-81"><span></span><span></span></a></sup> During the year, these suspicions and attitudes led the party leadership to carry out purges within their ranks. Most of the Hanoi-trained members were then executed on the orders of Pol Pot.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-82"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_War_in_Cambodia#cite_note-82"><span></span><span></span></a></sup></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">As time passed, the need of the Khmer Rouge for the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinecure" title="Sinecure">sinecure</a> of Prince Sihanouk lessened. The organization demonstrated to the people of the 'liberated' areas in no uncertain terms that open expressions of support for Sihanouk would result in their liquidation. Although the prince still enjoyed the protection of the Chinese, when he made public appearances overseas to publicize the GRUNK cause, he was treated with almost open contempt by Ministers <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ieng_Sary" title="Ieng Sary">Ieng Sary</a> and Khieu Samphan.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-84"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_War_in_Cambodia#cite_note-84"><span></span><span></span></a></sup> In June, the prince told Italian journalist Oriana Fallaci that when "they [the Khmer Rouge] have sucked me dry, they will spit me out like a cherry stone."<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-85"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_War_in_Cambodia#cite_note-85"><span></span><span></span></a></sup></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">By the end of 1976, Sihanouk loyalists had been purged from all of GRUNK's ministries and all of the prince's supporters within the insurgent ranks were also eliminated.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-ihb107_75-2"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_War_in_Cambodia#cite_note-ihb107-75"><span></span><span></span></a></sup> Shortly after Christmas, as the insurgents were gearing up for their final offensive, Sihanouk spoke with the French diplomat <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etienne_Manac%27h" title="Etienne Manac'h">Etienne Manac'h</a>. He said that his hopes for a moderate socialism akin to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yugoslavia" title="Yugoslavia">Yugoslavia</a>'s must now be totally dismissed. Stalinist <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albania" title="Albania">Albania</a> he said, would be the model. </div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><h3 style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span class="mw-headline">Fall of Phnom Penh</span></h3><div class="rellink boilerplate seealso" style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">For more details on Cambodia under Khmer Rouge rule, see <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambodia_under_Pol_Pot" title="Cambodia under Pol Pot">Cambodia under Pol Pot</a>.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">By the time the Khmer Rouge initiated their dry-season offensive to capture the beleaguered Cambodian capital on 1 January 1975, the Republic was in chaos. The economy had been gutted, the transportation network had been reduced to air and water systems, the rice harvest had been reduced by one-quarter, and the supply of freshwater fish (the chief source of protein) had declined drastically. The cost of food was 20 times greater than pre-war levels and unemployment was not even measured anymore. </div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Phnom Penh, which had a pre-war population of around 600,000 was overwhelmed by refugees (who continued to flood in from the steadily collapsing defense perimeter), growing to a size of around two million. These helpless and desperate civilians had no jobs and little in the way of food, shelter, or medical care. Their condition (and the government's) only worsened when Khmer Rouge forces gradually gained control of the banks of the Mekong. From the riverbanks, their mines and gunfire steadily reduced the river convoys bringing relief supplies of food, fuel, and ammunition to the slowly starving city (90 percent of the Republic's supplies moved by means of the convoys) from South Vietnam. </div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">After the river was effectively blocked in early February, the U.S. began an airlift of supplies. This became increasingly risky, however, due to communist rocket and artillery fire, which constantly rained down on the airfields and city.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Desperate, yet determined, units of Republican soldiers, many of whom had run out of ammunition, dug in around the capital and fought until they were overrun as the Khmer Rouge advanced. By the last week of March 1975, approximately 40,000 communist troops had surrounded the capital and began preparing to deliver the <i>coup de grace</i> to about half as many Republican forces.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-88"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_War_in_Cambodia#cite_note-88"><span></span><span></span></a></sup></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Lon Nol resigned and left the country on 1 April, hoping that a negotiated settlement might still be possible if he was absent from the political scene.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-89"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_War_in_Cambodia#cite_note-89"><span></span><span></span></a></sup> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saukam_Khoy" title="Saukam Khoy">Saukam Khoy</a> became acting president of a government that had less than three weeks to live. Last-minute efforts on the part of the U.S. to arrange a peace agreement involving Sihanouk ended in failure. When a vote in the U.S. Congress for a resumption of American air support failed, panic and a sense of doom pervaded the capital. The situation was best described by General Sak Sutsakhan (now FANK chief of staff):</div><blockquote style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> "The picture of the Khmer Republic which came to mind at that time was one of a sick man who survived only by outside means and that, in its condition, the administration of medication, however efficient it might be, was probably of no further value."<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-90"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_War_in_Cambodia#cite_note-90"><span></span><span></span></a></sup><br />
</blockquote><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">On 12 April, concluding that all was lost (and without notifying the Khmer government), the U.S. evacuated its embassy personnel by helicopter during Operation <i>Eagle Pull</i>. The 276 evacuees included U.S. Ambassador <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Gunther_Dean" title="John Gunther Dean">John Gunther Dean</a>, other American diplomatic personnel, <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acting_President" title="Acting President">Acting President</a> Saukam Khoy , senior Khmer Republic government officials and their families, and members of the news media. In all, 82 U.S., 159 Cambodian, and 35 third-country nationals were evacuated.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-91"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_War_in_Cambodia#cite_note-91"><span></span><span></span></a></sup> Although invited by Ambassador Dean to join the evacuation (and much to the Americans' surprise), Prince <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sisowath_Sirik_Matak" title="Sisowath Sirik Matak">Sisowath Sirik Matak</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_Boret" title="Long Boret">Long Boret</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lon_Non" title="Lon Non">Lon Non</a> (Lon Nol's brother), and most members of Lon Nol's cabinet declined the offer.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-92"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_War_in_Cambodia#cite_note-92"><span></span><span></span></a></sup> All of them chose to share the fate of their people. Their names were not published on the death lists and many trusted the Khmer Rouge's assertions that former government officials would not be murdered, but would be welcome in helping rebuild a new Cambodia.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Later, they were all executed by the Khmer Rouge.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">After the Americans (and Saukam Khoy) had departed, a seven-member Supreme Committee, headed by General Sak Sutsakhan, assumed authority over the collapsing Republic. By 15 April, the last solid defenses of the city were overcome by the communists. In the early morning hours of 17 April, the committee decided to move the seat of government to Oddar Meanchay Province in the northwest. Around 10:00, the voice of General Mey Si Chan of the FANK general staff broadcast on the radio, ordering all FANK forces to cease firing, since "negotiations were in progress" for the surrender of Phnom Penh.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-93"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_War_in_Cambodia#cite_note-93"><span></span><span></span></a></sup> The war was over but the terrible dreams of the Khmer Rouge were about to come to fruition in the newly-proclaimed <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_Kampuchea" title="Democratic Kampuchea">Democratic Kampuchea</a>. Khmer Rouge troops immediately began to forcibly empty the capital city, driving the population into the countryside and killing thousands in the process. The Year Zero had begun.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-87"></sup></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-87"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_War_in_Cambodia#cite_note-87"><span></span><span></span></a></sup></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-86"></sup></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-86"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_War_in_Cambodia#cite_note-86"><span></span><span></span></a></sup></div>Nanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17149283539654033740noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4611343706898552392.post-88119453876139384912009-09-04T02:52:00.000-07:002009-09-04T02:52:45.809-07:00Widening war (1970–1975)<h3 style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span class="mw-headline">Opposing sides</span></h3><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">In the wake of the coup, Lon Nol did not immediately launch Cambodia into war. He appealed to the international community and to the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations" title="United Nations">United Nations</a> in an attempt to gain support for the new government and condemned violations of Cambodia's neutrality "by foreign forces, whatever camp they come from."<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-43"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_War_in_Cambodia#cite_note-43"><span></span><span></span></a></sup> His hope for continued neutralism availed him no more than it had Sihanouk.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">As combat operations quickly revealed, the two sides were badly mismatched. Government troops, were now renamed the <i>Forces Armees Nationales Khemeres</i> or FANK (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khmer_National_Armed_Forces" title="Khmer National Armed Forces">Khmer National Armed Forces</a>) and thousands of young urban Cambodians flocked to join it in the months following the removal of Sihanouk. With the surge of recruits, however, FANK expanded well beyond its capacity to absorb the new men.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-44"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_War_in_Cambodia#cite_note-44"><span></span><span></span></a></sup> Later, given the press of tactical operations and the need to replace combat casualties, there was insufficient time to impart needed skills to individuals or to units, and lack of training remained the bane of FANK's existence until its collapse.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-45"></sup></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-45"></sup></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-45"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_War_in_Cambodia#cite_note-45"><span></span><span></span></a></sup></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">During the period 1970–1975, FANK forces officially grew from 100,000 to approximately 250,000 men, but probably only numbered around 180,000 due to payroll padding by their officers and due to desertions.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-46"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_War_in_Cambodia#cite_note-46"><span></span><span></span></a></sup> U.S. military aid (ammunition, supplies, and equipment) was funneled to FANK through the Military Equipment Delivery Team, Cambodia (MEDTC). </div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Authorized a total of 113 officers and men, the team arrived in Phnom Penh in 1974,<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-47"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_War_in_Cambodia#cite_note-47"><span></span><span></span></a></sup> under the overall command of <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CINCPAC" title="CINCPAC">CINCPAC</a> Admiral <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_S._McCain,_Jr." title="John S. McCain, Jr.">John S. McCain, Jr.</a><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-48"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_War_in_Cambodia#cite_note-48"><span></span><span></span></a></sup> The attitude of the Nixon administration could be summed up by the advice given by Henry Kissinger to the first head of the liaison team, Colonel Jonathan Ladd: "Don't think of victory; just keep it alive."<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-49"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_War_in_Cambodia#cite_note-49"><span></span><span></span></a></sup> Nevertheless, McCain constantly petitioned the Pentagon for more arms, equipment, and staff for what he proprietarily viewed as "my war".<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-50"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_War_in_Cambodia#cite_note-50"><span></span><span></span></a></sup></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">There were other problems. The officer corps of FANK was generally corrupt and greedy.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Isaacs.2C_Hardy_and_Brown.2C_p._108_51-0"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_War_in_Cambodia#cite_note-Isaacs.2C_Hardy_and_Brown.2C_p._108-51"><span></span><span></span></a></sup> The inclusion of "ghost" soldiers allowed massive payroll padding; ration allowances were kept by the officers while their men starved; and the sale of arms and ammunition on the black market (or to the enemy) was commonplace.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-52"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_War_in_Cambodia#cite_note-52"><span></span><span></span></a></sup> Worse, the tactical ineptitude among FANK officers was as common as their greed.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-53"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_War_in_Cambodia#cite_note-53"><span></span><span></span></a></sup> Lon Nol frequently bypassed the general staff and directed operations down to battalion-level while also forbidding any real coordination between the army, navy, and air force.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Sutsakhan.2C_p._89_54-0"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_War_in_Cambodia#cite_note-Sutsakhan.2C_p._89-54"><span></span><span></span></a></sup></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The common soldiers fought bravely at first, but they were saddled with low pay (with which they had to purchase their own food and medical care), ammunition shortages, and mixed equipment. Due to the pay system, there were no allotments for their families, who were, therefore, forced to follow their husbands/sons into the battle zones. These problems (exacerbated by continuously declining morale) only increased over time.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Isaacs.2C_Hardy_and_Brown.2C_p._108_51-1"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_War_in_Cambodia#cite_note-Isaacs.2C_Hardy_and_Brown.2C_p._108-51"><span></span><span></span></a></sup></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">At the beginning of 1970, the Cambodian army inventory included 241,630 rifles, 7,079 machine guns, 2,726 mortars, 20,481 grenade launchers, 304 recoilless rifles, 289 howitzers, 202 APCs, and 4,316 trucks. The Khmer navy had 171 vessels; the Khmer air force had 211 aircraft, including 64 North American T-28s, 14 Douglas AC-47 gunships and 44 helicopters. American embassy military personnel – who were only supposed to coordinate the arms aid program – sometimes found themselves involved in prohibited advisory and combat tasks.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Initially arrayed against an armed force of such limited capability was arguably the best light infantry army in the world at the time – the People's Army of Vietnam.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-55"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_War_in_Cambodia#cite_note-55"><span></span><span></span></a></sup> When their forces were supplanted, it was by the tough, rigidly indoctrinated peasant army of the Khmer Rouge with its core of seasoned leaders, who now received the full support of Hanoi. Khmer Rouge forces, which had been reorganized at an Indochinese summit held in Conghua, China in April 1973, would grow from 12–15,000 in 1973 to 35–40,000 by 1975, when the so-called "Khmerization" of the conflict took place and combat operations against the Republic were handed over completely to the insurgents.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-56"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_War_in_Cambodia#cite_note-56"><span></span><span></span></a></sup></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The development of these forces took place in three stages. 1970 to 1973 was a period of organization and recruitment, during which Khmer Rouge units served as auxiliaries to PAVN. From 1970 to mid-1973, the insurgents formed units of battalion and regimental size. It was during this period that the Khmer Rouge began to break away from Sihanouk and his supporters and the collectivization of agriculture was begun in the liberated areas. Division-sized units were being fielded by 1977–1978, when the party was on its own and began the radical transformation of the country.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-57"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_War_in_Cambodia#cite_note-57"><span></span><span></span></a></sup></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">With the fall of Sihanouk, Hanoi became alarmed at the prospect of a pro-Western regime that might allow the Americans to establish a military presence on their western flank. To prevent that from happening, they began transferring their military installations away from the border regions to locations deeper within Cambodian territory. A new command center was established at the city of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krati%C3%A9_%28city%29" title="Kratié (city)">Kratié</a> and the timing of the move was propitious. President Nixon was of the opinion that:</div><blockquote style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> "We need a bold move in Cambodia to show that we stand with Lon Nol...something symbolic...for the only Cambodian regime that had the guts to take a pro-Western and pro-American stand."<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-k608_58-0"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_War_in_Cambodia#cite_note-k608-58"><span></span><span></span></a></sup><br />
</blockquote><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><h3 style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span class="mw-headline">Cambodian incursion</span></h3><div class="rellink boilerplate seealso" style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">For more details on the incursion, see <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambodian_Campaign" title="Cambodian Campaign">Cambodian Campaign</a>.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">On 29 April 1970, South Vietnamese and U.S. units (also alarmed by the prospect of Cambodia being overrun by the communists) unleashed a limited, multi-pronged <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambodian_Campaign" title="Cambodian Campaign">Cambodian Campaign</a> that Washington hoped would solve three other problems: First, it would provide a shield for the American withdrawal (by destroying the PAVN logistical system and killing enemy troops); second, it would provide a test for the policy of Vietnamization; third, it would serve as a signal to Hanoi that Nixon meant business.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-59"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_War_in_Cambodia#cite_note-59"><span></span><span></span></a></sup> Despite Nixon's appreciation of Lon Nol's position, the Cambodian leader was not even informed in advance of the decision to invade his country. He learned about it only after it had begun from the head of the U.S. mission, who had himself learned about it from a radio broadcast.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-k608_58-1"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_War_in_Cambodia#cite_note-k608-58"><span></span><span></span></a></sup></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Extensive logistical installations and large amounts of supplies were found and destroyed, but as reporting from the American command in Saigon disclosed, still larger amounts of material had already been moved deeper into the countryside.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-60"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_War_in_Cambodia#cite_note-60"><span></span><span></span></a></sup> According to Republican General Sak Sutsakhan, the withdrawal of U.S. forces, after only a 30-day campaign, created "a void so great on the allied side that neither the Cambodian nor the South Vietnamese armies were ever able to fill it."<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-61"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_War_in_Cambodia#cite_note-61"><span></span><span></span></a></sup></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">On the day the incursion was launched, the North Vietnamese reacted by launching an offensive (Campaign <i>X</i>) of its own against FANK forces in order to protect and expand their Base Areas and logistical system.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-62"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_War_in_Cambodia#cite_note-62"><span></span><span></span></a></sup> By June, three months after the removal of Sihanouk, they had swept government forces from the entire northeastern third of the country. After defeating those forces, the North Vietnamese turned the newly won territories over to the local insurgents. The Khmer Rouge also established liberated areas in the south and the southwestern parts of the country, where they operated independently of the North Vietnamese. </div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><h3 style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span class="mw-headline"><i><i>Chenla II</i></i></span></h3><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">During the night of 21 January 1971, a force of 100 PAVN/NLF commandos attacked Pochentong airfield, the main base of the Republican Air Force. In this one action, the raiders destroyed almost the entire inventory of government aircraft, including all of its fighter planes. This may have been a blessing in disguise, however, since the air force was composed of old (even obsolete) Soviet aircraft. The Americans soon replaced the airplanes with more advanced models. The attack did, however, stall a proposed FANK offensive. Two weeks later, Lon Nol suffered a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stroke" title="Stroke">stroke</a> and was evacuated to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawaii" title="Hawaii">Hawaii</a> for treatment. It had been a mild stroke, however, and the general recovered quickly, returning to Cambodia after only two months.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">t was not until 20 August that FANK launched Operation <i>Chenla II</i>, its first offensive of the year. </div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The objective of the campaign was to clear Route 6 of enemy forces and thereby reopen communications with <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kompong_Thom" title="Kompong Thom">Kompong Thom</a>, the Republic's second largest city, which had been isolated from the capital for more than a year. The operation was initially successful, and the city was relieved. The PAVN and Khmer Rouge counterattacked in November and December, annihilating government forces in the process. There was never an accurate count of the losses, but the estimate was "on the order of ten battalions of personnel and equipment lost plus the equipment of an additional ten battalions."<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-64"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_War_in_Cambodia#cite_note-64"><span></span><span></span></a></sup> The strategic result of the failure of <i>Chenla II</i> was that the offensive initiative passed completely into the hands of PAVN and the Khmer Rouge.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> </div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> </div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-63"></sup></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-63"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_War_in_Cambodia#cite_note-63"><span></span><span></span></a></sup></div>Nanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17149283539654033740noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4611343706898552392.post-89331490191404513982009-09-04T02:46:00.000-07:002009-09-04T02:46:18.981-07:00Overthrow of Sihanouk (1970)<h3 style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span class="mw-headline">Lon Nol coup</span></h3><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">While Sihanouk was out of the country on a trip to France, anti-Vietnamese rioting (which was semi-sponsored by the government) took place in Phnom Penh, during which the North Vietnamese and NLF embassies were sacked.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-27"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_War_in_Cambodia#cite_note-27"><span></span><span></span></a></sup> In the prince's absence, Lon Nol did nothing to halt these activities.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-28"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_War_in_Cambodia#cite_note-28"><span></span><span></span></a></sup> On the 12th, the prime minister closed the port of Sihanoukville to the North Vietnamese and issued an impossible ultimatum to them. All PAVN/NLF forces were to withdraw from Cambodian soil within 72 hours (on 15 March) or face military action.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-29"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_War_in_Cambodia#cite_note-29"><span></span><span></span></a></sup></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Sihanouk, hearing of the turmoil, headed for <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moscow" title="Moscow">Moscow</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beijing" title="Beijing">Beijing</a> in order to demand that the patrons of PAVN and the NLF exert more control over their clients.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Isaacs.2C_Hardy_and_Brown.2C_p._90_21-1"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_War_in_Cambodia#cite_note-Isaacs.2C_Hardy_and_Brown.2C_p._90-21"><span></span><span></span></a></sup> On 18 March 1970, Lon Nol requested that the National Assembly vote on the future of the prince's leadership of the nation. Sihanouk was ousted from power by a vote of 92-0.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-30"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_War_in_Cambodia#cite_note-30"><span></span><span></span></a></sup> Heng Cheng became president of the National Assembly, while Prime Minister Lon Nol was granted emergency powers. Sirik Matak retained his post as deputy prime minister. The new government emphasized that the transfer of power had been totally legal and constitutional, and it received the recognition of most foreign governments. There have been, and continue to be, accusations that the U.S. government played some role in the overthrow of Sihanouk, but conclusive evidence has never been found to support them.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-31"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_War_in_Cambodia#cite_note-31"><span></span><span></span></a></sup></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The majority of middle-class and educated Khmers had grown weary of the prince and welcomed the change of government.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-32"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_War_in_Cambodia#cite_note-32"><span></span><span></span></a></sup> They were joined by the military, for whom the prospect of the return of American military and financial aid was a cause for celebration.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-ld144_33-0"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_War_in_Cambodia#cite_note-ld144-33"><span></span><span></span></a></sup> Within days of his deposition, Sihanouk, now in Beijing, broadcast an appeal to the people to resist the usurpers.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Isaacs.2C_Hardy_and_Brown.2C_p._90_21-2"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_War_in_Cambodia#cite_note-Isaacs.2C_Hardy_and_Brown.2C_p._90-21"><span></span><span></span></a></sup> Demonstrations and riots occurred (mainly in areas contiguous to PAVN/NLF controlled areas), but no nationwide groundswell threatened the government.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-34"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_War_in_Cambodia#cite_note-34"><span></span><span></span></a></sup> In one incident at Kompong Cham on 29 March, however, an enraged crowd killed Lon Nol's brother, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lon_Nil" title="Lon Nil">Lon Nil</a>, tore out his liver, and cooked and ate it.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-ld144_33-1"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_War_in_Cambodia#cite_note-ld144-33"><span></span><span></span></a></sup> An estimated 40,000 peasants then began to march on the capital to demand Sihanouk's reinstatement. They were dispersed, with many casualties, by contingents of the armed forces.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="" id="Massacre_of_the_Vietnamese" name="Massacre_of_the_Vietnamese"></a></div><h3 style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span class="editsection"></span><span class="mw-headline">Massacre of the Vietnamese</span></h3><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Most of the population, urban and rural, took out their anger and frustrations on the nation's Vietnamese population. Lon Nol's call for 10,000 volunteers to boost the manpower of Cambodia's poorly-equipped, 30,000-man army, managed to swamp the military with over 70,000 recruits.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-35"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_War_in_Cambodia#cite_note-35"><span></span><span></span></a></sup> Rumours abounded concerning a possible PAVN offensive aimed at Phnom Penh itself. Paranoia flourished and this set off a violent reaction against the nation's 400,000 ethnic Vietnamese.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-ld144_33-2"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_War_in_Cambodia#cite_note-ld144-33"><span></span><span></span></a></sup></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Lon Nol hoped to use the Vietnamese as hostages against PAVN/NLF activities, and the military set about rounding them up into detention camps.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-ld144_33-3"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_War_in_Cambodia#cite_note-ld144-33"><span></span><span></span></a></sup> That was when the killing began. In towns and villages all over Cambodia, soldiers and civilians sought out their Vietnamese neighbors in order to murder them.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-36"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_War_in_Cambodia#cite_note-36"><span></span><span></span></a></sup> On 15 April, the bodies of 800 Vietnamese floated down the <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mekong_River" title="Mekong River">Mekong River</a> and into South Vietnam.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The South Vietnamese, North Vietnamese, and the NLF harshly denounced these horrendous actions.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-37"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_War_in_Cambodia#cite_note-37"><span></span><span></span></a></sup>Significantly, no Cambodians—not even those of the Buddhist community—condemned the killings. In his apology to the <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saigon" title="Saigon">Saigon</a> government, Lon Nol stated that</div><blockquote class="templatequote" style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> <div> it was difficult to distinguish between Vietnamese citizens who were Viet Cong and those who were not. So it is quite normal that the reaction of Cambodian troops, who feel themselves betrayed, is difficult to control.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-38"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_War_in_Cambodia#cite_note-38"><span></span><span></span></a></sup><br />
</div></blockquote><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="" id="FUNK_and_GRUNK" name="FUNK_and_GRUNK"></a></div><h3 style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span class="editsection"></span><span class="mw-headline">FUNK and GRUNK</span></h3><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">From Beijing, Sihanouk proclaimed that the government in Phnom Penh was dissolved and his intention to create the <i>Front Uni National du Kampuchea</i> or FUNK (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_United_Front_of_Kampuchea" title="National United Front of Kampuchea">National United Front of Kampuchea</a>). Sihanouk later said "I had chosen not to be with either the Americans or the communists, because I considered that there were two dangers, American imperialism and Asian communism. It was Lon Nol who obliged me to choose between them."<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-ld144_33-4"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_War_in_Cambodia#cite_note-ld144-33"><span></span><span></span></a></sup></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The prince then allied himself with the Khmer Rouge, the North Vietnamese, the Laotian <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pathet_Lao" title="Pathet Lao">Pathet Lao</a>, and the NLF, throwing his personal prestige behind the communists On 5 May, the actual establishment of FUNK and of the <i>Gouvernement Royal d'Union Nationale du Kampuchea</i> or GRUNK (<a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Government_of_National_Union_of_Kampuchea" title="Royal Government of National Union of Kampuchea">Royal Government of National Union of Kampuchea</a>), was proclaimed. Sihanouk assumed the post of head of state, appointing <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penn_Nouth" title="Penn Nouth">Penn Nouth</a>, one of his most loyal supporters, as prime minister.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-ld144_33-5"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_War_in_Cambodia#cite_note-ld144-33"><span></span><span></span></a></sup></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Khieu Samphan was designated deputy prime minister, minister of defense, and commander in chief of the GRUNK armed forces (though actual military operations were directed by Pol Pot). Hu Nim became minister of information, and Hou Yuon assumed multiple responsibilities as minister of the interior, communal reforms, and cooperatives. GRUNK claimed that it was not a government-in-exile since Khieu Samphan and the insurgents remained inside Cambodia. Sihanouk and his loyalists remained in China, although the prince did make a visit to the "liberated areas" of Cambodia, including <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angkor_Wat" title="Angkor Wat">Angkor Wat</a>, in March 1976. These visits were used mainly for propaganda purposes and had no real influence on political affairs.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-39"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_War_in_Cambodia#cite_note-39"><span></span><span></span></a></sup></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">For Sihanouk, this proved to be a short-sighted marriage of convenience that was spurred on by his thirst for revenge against those who had betrayed him.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-40"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_War_in_Cambodia#cite_note-40"><span></span><span></span></a></sup> For the Khmer Rouge, it was a means to greatly expand the appeal of their movement. Peasants, motivated by loyalty to the monarchy, gradually rallied to the FUNK cause.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-41"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_War_in_Cambodia#cite_note-41"><span></span><span></span></a></sup> The personal appeal of Sihanouk, the overall better behavior of the communist troops, and widespread allied aerial bombardment facilitated recruitment. This task was made even easier for the communists after 9 October 1973, when Lon Nol abolished the loosely federalist monarchy and proclaimed the establishment of a central</div>Nanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17149283539654033740noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4611343706898552392.post-7127485094844815112009-09-04T02:40:00.000-07:002009-09-04T02:40:11.082-07:00Cambodian Civil War<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The <b>Cambodian Civil War</b> was a conflict that pitted the forces of the Communist Party of Kampuchea <a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_1252055608717">(known as the </a><a href="http://www.blogger.com/" title="Khmer Rouge">Khmer Rouge</a>) and their allies the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam) and the National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam (NLF, or, derogatively, <i>Viet Cong</i>) against the government forces of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambodia" title="Cambodia">Cambodia</a> (after October 1973, the Khmer Republic), which were supported by the United States (U.S.) and the Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam).</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The struggle was exacerbated by the influence and actions of the allies of the two warring sides. <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People%27s_Army_of_Vietnam" title="People's Army of Vietnam">People's Army of Vietnam</a> (North Vietnamese Army) involvement was designed to protect its Base Areas and sanctuaries in eastern Cambodia, without which the prosecution of its military effort in South Vietnam would have been more difficult. The U.S. was motivated by the need to buy time for its withdrawal from <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southeast_Asia" title="Southeast Asia">Southeast Asia</a> and to protect its ally, South Vietnam. American, South and North Vietnamese forces directly participated (at one time or another) in the fighting. The central government was mainly assisted by the application of massive U.S. aerial bombing campaigns and direct material and financial aid.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">After five years of savage fighting that brought about massive casualties, the destruction of the economy, the starvation of the population, and grievous atrocities, the Republican government was defeated on 17 April 1975 when the victorious Khmer Rouge proclaimed the establishment of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_Kampuchea" title="Democratic Kampuchea">Democratic Kampuchea</a>. Thus, it has been argued, that the US intervention in Cambodia contributed to the eventual seizure of power by the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khmer_Rouge" title="Khmer Rouge">Khmer Rouge</a>, that grew from 4,000 in number in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1970" title="1970">1970</a> to 70,000 in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1975" title="1975">1975</a>. This conflict, although an indigenous civil war, was considered to be part of the larger <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnam_War" title="Vietnam War">Vietnam War</a> (1963–1978) that also consumed the neighboring <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_Laos" title="Kingdom of Laos">Kingdom of Laos</a>, South Vietnam, and North Vietnam. This civil war led to the <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambodian_Genocide" title="Cambodian Genocide">Cambodian Genocide</a>, one of the bloodiest in history.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><h2 style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span class="mw-headline">Setting the stage (1968–1970)</span></h2><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="" id="Background" name="Background"></a></div><h3 style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span class="editsection"></span><span class="mw-headline">Background</span></h3><div class="rellink boilerplate seealso" style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">For more details on the rule of Prince Sihanouk, see <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambodia_under_Sihanouk_%281954-1970%29" title="Cambodia under Sihanouk (1954-1970)">Cambodia under Sihanouk (1954-1970)</a>.</div><div class="rellink boilerplate seealso" style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">For more details on the PAVN/NLF logistical system, see <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sihanouk_Trail" title="Sihanouk Trail">Sihanouk Trail</a>.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">During the early to mid-1960s, Prince <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norodom_Sihanouk" title="Norodom Sihanouk">Norodom Sihanouk</a>'s leftist policies had protected his nation from the turmoil that engulfed Laos and South Vietnam.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-2"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_War_in_Cambodia#cite_note-2"><span></span><span></span></a></sup> Neither the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People%27s_Republic_of_China" title="People's Republic of China">People's Republic of China (PRC)</a> nor North Vietnam disputed Sihanouk's claim to represent "progressive" political policies and the leadership of the prince's domestic leftist opposition, the Prachea Chon Party, had been integrated into the government.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-ihb83_3-0"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_War_in_Cambodia#cite_note-ihb83-3"><span></span><span></span></a></sup> On 3 May 1965, Sihanouk broke diplomatic relations with the U.S., ended the flow of American aid, and turned to the PRC and the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_Union" title="Soviet Union">Soviet Union</a> for economic and military assistance<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-ihb83_3-1">.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_War_in_Cambodia#cite_note-ihb83-3"><span></span><span></span></a></sup></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">By the late 1960s, Sihanouk's delicate domestic and foreign policy balancing act was beginning to go awry. In 1969, an agreement was struck between the prince and the Chinese, allowing the presence of large-scale <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People%27s_Army_of_Vietnam" title="People's Army of Vietnam">People's Army of Vietnam</a> (PAVN) and NLF troop deployments and logistical bases in the eastern border regions.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-4"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_War_in_Cambodia#cite_note-4"><span></span><span></span></a></sup> He had also agreed to allow the use of the port of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sihanoukville" title="Sihanoukville">Sihanoukville</a> by communist-flagged vessels delivering supplies and materiel to support the PAVN/NLF military effort in Vietnam.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-5"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_War_in_Cambodia#cite_note-5"><span></span><span></span></a></sup> These concessions made a sham<sup> </sup>of Cambodia's <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neutral_country" title="Neutral country">neutrality</a>, which had been guaranteed by the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geneva_Conference_%281954%29" title="Geneva Conference (1954)">Geneva Conference</a> of 1957.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div class="thumb tleft" style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> <div class="thumbinner" style="width: 252px;"><a class="image" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Sihan.jpg" title="Meeting in Beijing: Mao Zedong (l), Prince Sihanouk (c), and Le Duc Tho (r)"><img alt="" class="thumbimage" height="151" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/f/fa/Sihan.jpg/250px-Sihan.jpg" width="250" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"> <div class="magnify"><a class="internal" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Sihan.jpg" title="Enlarge"><br />
</a></div>Meeting in Beijing: Mao Zedong (l), Prince Sihanouk (c), and Le Duc Tho (r)</div></div></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Sihanouk was convinced that the PRC, not the U.S., would eventually control the Indochinese Peninsula and that "our interests are best served by dealing with the camp that one day will dominate the whole of Asia – and coming to terms before its victory – in order to obtain the best terms possible."<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-6"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_War_in_Cambodia#cite_note-6"><span></span><span></span></a></sup></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">During the same year, however, he allowed his pro-American minister of defense, General <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lon_Nol" title="Lon Nol">Lon Nol</a>, to crack down on leftist activities, crushing the Prachea Chon by accusing its members of subversion and subservience to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanoi" title="Hanoi">Hanoi</a>.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-7"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_War_in_Cambodia#cite_note-7"><span></span><span></span></a></sup> Simultaneously, Sihanouk lost the support of Cambodia's conservatives as a result of his failure to come to grips with the deteriorating economic situation (exacerbated by the loss of rice exports, most of which went to the PAVN/NLF) and with the growing communist military presence.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-8"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_War_in_Cambodia#cite_note-8"><span></span><span></span></a></sup></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">On 11 September, Cambodia held its first open election. Through manipulation and harassment (and to Sihanouk's surprise) the conservatives won 75 percent of the seats in the National Assembly.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-9"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_War_in_Cambodia#cite_note-9"><span></span><span></span></a></sup> Lon Nol was chosen by the right as prime minister and, as his deputy, they named <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sirik_Matak" title="Sirik Matak">Sirik Matak</a>, an ultraconservative member of the Sisowath branch of the royal clan and long-time enemy of Sihanouk. In addition to these developments and the clash of interests among <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phnom_Penh" title="Phnom Penh">Phnom Penh</a>'s politicized elite, social tensions created a favorable environment for the growth of a domestic communist <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insurgency" title="Insurgency">insurgency</a> in the rural areas.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-10"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_War_in_Cambodia#cite_note-10"><span></span><span></span></a></sup></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="" id="Revolt_in_Battambang" name="Revolt_in_Battambang"></a></div><h3 style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span class="editsection"></span><span class="mw-headline">Revolt in Battambang</span></h3><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The prince then found himself in a political dilemma. To maintain the balance against the rising tide of the conservatives, he named the leaders of the very group he had been oppressing as members of a "counter-government" that was meant to monitor and criticize Lon Nol's administration.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-ihb86_11-0"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_War_in_Cambodia#cite_note-ihb86-11"><span></span><span></span></a></sup> One of Lon Nol's first priorities was to fix the ailing economy by halting the illegal sale of rice to the communists. Soldiers were dispatched to the rice-growing areas to forcibly collect the harvests at gunpoint, and they paid only the low government price. There was widespread unrest, especially in rice-rich <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battambang_Province" title="Battambang Province">Battambang Province</a>, an area long-noted for the presence of large landowners, great disparity in wealth, and where the communists still had some influence.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-12"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_War_in_Cambodia#cite_note-12"><span></span><span></span></a></sup> </div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">On 11 March 1970, while Sihanouk was out of the country in France, a rebellion broke out in the area around Samlaut in Battambang, when enraged villagers attacked a tax collection brigade. With the probable encouragement of local communist cadres, the insurrection quickly spread throughout the whole region.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Lipsman_and_Doyle.2C_p._130_13-0"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_War_in_Cambodia#cite_note-Lipsman_and_Doyle.2C_p._130-13"><span></span><span></span></a></sup> Lon Nol, acting in the prince's absence (but with his approval), responded by declaring <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martial_law" title="Martial law">martial law</a>.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-ihb86_11-1"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_War_in_Cambodia#cite_note-ihb86-11"><span></span><span></span></a></sup> Hundreds of peasants were killed and whole villages were laid waste during the repression.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-14"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_War_in_Cambodia#cite_note-14"><span></span><span></span></a></sup> After returning home in March, Sihanouk abandoned his centrist position and personally ordered the arrest of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khieu_Samphan" title="Khieu Samphan">Khieu Samphan</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hou_Yuon" title="Hou Yuon">Hou Yuon</a>, and Hu Nim, the leaders of the "counter government", all of whom escaped into the northeast.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-c166_15-0"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_War_in_Cambodia#cite_note-c166-15"><span></span><span></span></a></sup></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Simultaneously, Sihanouk ordered the arrest of Chinese middlemen involved in the illegal rice trade, thereby raising government revenues and placating the conservatives. Lon Nol was forced to resign, and, in a typical move, the prince named new leftists to the government to balance the conservatives.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-c166_15-1"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_War_in_Cambodia#cite_note-c166-15"><span></span><span></span></a></sup> The immediate crisis had passed, but it engendered two tragic consequences. First, it drove thousands of new recruits into the arms of the hard-line <i>maquis</i> of the Cambodian Communist Party (which Sihanouk labelled the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khmer_Rouge" title="Khmer Rouge">Khmer Rouge</a> or "Red Khmers"). Second, for the peasantry, the name of Lon Nol became associated with ruthless repression throughout Cambodia.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-16"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_War_in_Cambodia#cite_note-16"><span></span><span></span></a></sup></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="" id="Communist_regroupment" name="Communist_regroupment"></a></div><h3 style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span class="editsection"></span><span class="mw-headline">Communist regroupment</span></h3><div class="rellink boilerplate seealso" style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">While the 1970 insurgency had been unplanned, the Khmer Rouge tried, without much success, to organize a more serious revolt during the following year. The prince's decimation of the Prachea Chon and the urban communists had, however, cleared the field of competition for Saloth Sar (also known as <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pol_Pot" title="Pol Pot">Pol Pot</a>), Ieng Sary, and Son Sen - the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maoism" title="Maoism">Maoist</a> leadership of the <i>maquisards</i>.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-17"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_War_in_Cambodia#cite_note-17"><span></span><span></span></a></sup> They led their followers into the highlands of the northeast and into the lands of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khmer_Loeu" title="Khmer Loeu">Khmer Loeu</a>, a primitive people who were hostile to both the lowland Khmers and the central government. For the Khmer Rouge, who still lacked assistance from the North Vietnamese, it was a period of regroupment, organization, and training. Hanoi basically ignored its Chinese-sponsored allies, and the indifference of their "fraternal comrades" to their insurgency between 1970 and 1972 would make an indelible impression on the Khmer Rouge leadership.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-18"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_War_in_Cambodia#cite_note-18"><span></span><span></span></a></sup></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">On 17 January 1974, the Khmer Rouge launched their first offensive. It was aimed more at gathering weapons and spreading propaganda than in seizing territory since, at that time, the adherents of the insurgency numbered no more than 4–5,000.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-19"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_War_in_Cambodia#cite_note-19"><span></span><span></span></a></sup> During the same month, the communists established the Revolutionary Army of Kampuchea as the military wing of the party. As early as the end of the Battambang revolt, Sihanouk had begun to reevaluate his relationship with the communists.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-20"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_War_in_Cambodia#cite_note-20"><span></span><span></span></a></sup> His earlier agreement with the Chinese had availed him nothing. They had not only failed to restrain the North Vietnamese, but they had actually involved themselves (through the Khmer Rouge) in active subversion within his country.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Lipsman_and_Doyle.2C_p._130_13-1"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_War_in_Cambodia#cite_note-Lipsman_and_Doyle.2C_p._130-13"><span></span><span></span></a></sup> </div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">At the suggestion of Lon Nol (who had returned to the cabinet as defense minister in November, 1971) and other conservative politicians, on 11 May 1972, the prince welcomed the restoration of normal diplomatic relations with the U.S. and created a new Government of National Salvation with Lon Nol as his prime minister.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Isaacs.2C_Hardy_and_Brown.2C_p._90_21-0"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_War_in_Cambodia#cite_note-Isaacs.2C_Hardy_and_Brown.2C_p._90-21"><span></span><span></span></a></sup> He did so "in order to play a new card, since the Asian communists are already attacking us before the end of the Vietnam War."<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-22"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_War_in_Cambodia#cite_note-22"><span></span><span></span></a></sup> Besides, PAVN and the NLF would made very convenient scapegoats for Cambodia's ills, much more so than the minuscule Khmer Rouge, and ridding Cambodia of their presence would solve many problems simultaneously.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-23"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_War_in_Cambodia#cite_note-23"><span></span><span></span></a></sup> The Americans took advantage of this same opportunity to solve some of their own problems in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southeast_Asia" title="Southeast Asia">Southeast Asia</a>.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="" id="Operation_Menu" name="Operation_Menu"></a></div><h3 style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span class="editsection"></span><span class="mw-headline">Operation <i>Menu</i></span></h3><div class="rellink boilerplate seealso" style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">For more details on the bombing campaign, see <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Menu" title="Operation Menu">Operation Menu</a>.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Although the U.S. had been aware of the PAVN/NLF sanctuaries in Cambodia since 1969, President <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyndon_B._Johnson" title="Lyndon B. Johnson">Lyndon B. Johnson</a> had chosen not to attack them due to possible international repercussions and his belief that Sihanouk could be convinced to alter his policies.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-24"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_War_in_Cambodia#cite_note-24"><span></span><span></span></a></sup> Johnson did, however, authorize the reconnaissance <a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_1252055608801">teams of the highly-classified </a>Military Assistance Command, Vietnam Studies and Observations Group (SOG) to enter Cambodia and gather intelligence on the Base Areas in 1970.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-25"><span></span><span></span></sup> </div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The election of<a class="mw-redirect" href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_1252055608763" title="Richard M. Nixon"> Richard M. Nixon</a> in 1968 and the introduction of his policies of gradual U.S. withdrawal from South Vietnam and the Vietnamization of the conflict there, changed everything. On 18 March 1972, on secret orders from Nixon, the U.S. Air Force carried out the bombing of Base Area 353 (in the Fishhook region opposite South Vietnam's Tay Ninh Province) by 59 B-52 Stratofortress bombers. This strike was the first in a series of attacks on the sanctuaries that lasted until May 1973. During Operation Menu, the Air Force conducted 3,875 sorties and dropped more than 108,000 tons of ordnance on the eastern border areas.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-26"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_War_in_Cambodia#cite_note-26"><span> </span><span></span></a></sup>During this operation, Sihanouk remained quiet about the whole affair, possibly hoping that the U.S. would be able to drive PAVN and NLF troops from his country. Hanoi too, remained quiet, not wishing to advertise the presence of its forces in "neutral" Cambodia. The <i>Menu</i> bombings remained secret from the U.S. Congress and people until 1976.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><h3 style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span class="mw-headline"> </span></h3><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div>Nanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17149283539654033740noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4611343706898552392.post-3213069346216472812009-09-04T02:13:00.000-07:002009-09-04T02:13:23.598-07:00The Khmer Republic and the War: 1970-1975<span style="color: #444444; font-size: small;"></span> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a class="image" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Asien_Bd1.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;" title="Map of Asia in 1890"><img alt="" class="thumbimage" height="276" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4f/Asien_Bd1.jpg/350px-Asien_Bd1.jpg" width="350" /></a></span></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> In March 1970, while Prince Sihanouk was absent, General Lon Nol deposed Prince Sihanouk in a coup d'état which, contrary to common belief, was not planned by the CIA. Lon Nol assumed the power after the military coup and allied Cambodia with the United States. Son Ngoc Thanh announced his support for the new government. On <span class="mw-formatted-date" title="10-09"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/October_9" title="October 9">October 9</a></span>, the Cambodian monarchy was abolished, and the country was renamed the Khmer Republic.</span></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Hanoi rejected the new republic's request for the withdrawal of NVA troops. 2,000–4,000 Cambodians who had gone to North Vietnam in 1954 reentered Cambodia, backed by North Vietnamese soldiers. In response, the United States moved to provide material assistance to the new government's armed forces, which were engaged against both CPK insurgents and NVA forces.</span></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">In April 1970, US President Nixon announced to the American public that US and South Vietnamese ground forces had entered Cambodia in a campaign aimed at destroying NVA base areas in Cambodia (see <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambodian_Incursion" title="Cambodian Incursion">Cambodian Incursion</a>). The US had already been bombing Cambodia for well over a year by that point.</span></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Although a considerable quantity of equipment was seized or destroyed by US and South Vietnamese forces, containment of North Vietnamese forces proved elusive. The North Vietnamese moved deeper into Cambodia to avoid US and South Vietnamese raids. NVA units overran many Cambodian army positions while the CPK expanded their small-scale attacks on lines of communication.</span></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The Khmer Republic's leadership was plagued by disunity among its three principal figures: Lon Nol, Sihanouk's cousin <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sirik_Matak" title="Sirik Matak">Sirik Matak</a>, and National Assembly leader <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_Tam" title="In Tam">In Tam</a>. Lon Nol remained in power in part because none of the others were prepared to take his place. In 1972, a constitution was adopted, a parliament elected, and Lon Nol became president. But disunity, the problems of transforming a 30,000-man army into a national combat force of more than 200,000 men, and spreading corruption weakened the civilian administration and army.</span></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The Communist insurgency inside Cambodia continued to grow, aided by supplies and military support from North Vietnam. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pol_Pot" title="Pol Pot">Pol Pot</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ieng_Sary" title="Ieng Sary">Ieng Sary</a> asserted their dominance over the Vietnamese-trained communists, many of whom were purged. At the same time, the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communist_Party_of_Kampuchea" title="Communist Party of Kampuchea">Communist Party of Kampuchea</a> forces became stronger and more independent of their Vietnamese patrons. By 1973, the CPK were fighting battles against government forces with little or no North Vietnamese troop support, and they controlled nearly 60% of Cambodia's territory and 25% of its population.</span></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The government made three unsuccessful attempts to enter into negotiations with the insurgents, but by 1974, the CPK were operating openly as divisions, and some of the NVA combat forces had moved into South Vietnam. Lon Nol's control was reduced to small enclaves around the cities and main transportation routes. More than 2 million refugees from the war lived in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phnom_Penh" title="Phnom Penh">Phnom Penh</a> and other cities.</span></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">On New Year's Day 1975, Communist troops launched an offensive which, in 117 days of the hardest fighting of the war, collapsed the Khmer Republic. Simultaneous attacks around the perimeter of Phnom Penh pinned down Republican forces, while other CPK units overran fire bases controlling the vital lower Mekong resupply route. A US-funded airlift of ammunition and rice ended when Congress refused additional aid for Cambodia. The Lon Nol government in Phnom Penh surrendered on April 17–5 days after the US mission evacuated Cambodia.</span></div>Nanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17149283539654033740noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4611343706898552392.post-73100923086007190022009-09-04T01:38:00.000-07:002009-09-04T01:48:47.144-07:00Cambodia under Sihanouk (1954–1970)<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The <b>First administration of Sihanouk</b> from <b>1954–1970</b> was an especially significant time in the history of Cambodia. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norodom_Sihanouk" title="Norodom Sihanouk">Norodom Sihanouk</a> continues to be one of the most controversial figures in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southeast_Asia" title="Southeast Asia">Southeast Asia</a>'s turbulent, and often tragic, postwar <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Southeast_Asia" title="History of Southeast Asia">history</a>. Admirers view him as one of the country's great patriots, whose insistence on strict neutrality kept <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambodia" title="Cambodia">Cambodia</a> out of the maelstrom of war and out of the revolution in neighboring <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnam" title="Vietnam">Vietnam</a> for more than fifteen years before he was deposed by his close associate, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lon_Nol" title="Lon Nol">Lon Nol</a>.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><h2 style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The Geneva Conference and Viet Minh Incursion</h2><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Although Cambodia had achieved independence by late 1953, its military situation remained unsettled. Noncommunist factions of the Khmer Issarak had joined the government, but pro-<a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communist" title="Communist">communist</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viet_Minh" title="Viet Minh">Viet Minh</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Issarak_Front" title="United Issarak Front">United Issarak Front</a> activities increased at the very time French Union forces were stretched thin elsewhere. In April 1954, several Viet Minh battalions crossed the border into Cambodia. Royalist forces engaged them but could not force their complete withdrawal. In part, the communists were attempting to strengthen their bargaining position at the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geneva_Conference_%281954%29" title="Geneva Conference (1954)">Geneva Conference</a> that had been scheduled to begin in late April.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
The Geneva Conference was attended by representatives of Cambodia, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Vietnam" title="North Vietnam">North Vietnam</a>, the Associated State of Vietnam (the predecessor of the Republic of Vietnam, or <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Vietnam" title="South Vietnam">South Vietnam</a>), <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laos" title="Laos">Laos</a>, the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People%27s_Republic_of_China" title="People's Republic of China">People's Republic of China</a>, the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_Union" title="Soviet Union">Soviet Union</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/France" title="France">France</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom" title="United Kingdom">Britain</a>, and the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States" title="United States">United States</a>. One goal of the conference was to restore a lasting peace in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Indochina" title="French Indochina">Indochina</a>. The discussions on Indochina began on <span title="1954-05-08"><span title="05-08"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_8" title="May 8">May 8</a></span>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1954" title="1954">1954</a></span>. The North Vietnamese attempted to get representation for the resistance government that had been established in the south, but failed. On <span title="1954-07-21"><span title="07-21"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/July_21" title="July 21">July 21</a></span>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1954" title="1954">1954</a></span>, the conference reached an agreement calling for a cessation of hostilities in Indochina. With respect to Cambodia, the agreement stipulated that all Viet Minh military forces be withdrawn within ninety days and that Cambodian resistance forces be demobilized within thirty days. In a separate agreement signed by the Cambodian representative, the French and the Viet Minh agreed to withdraw all forces from Cambodian soil by October 1954.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
In exchange for the withdrawal of Viet Minh forces, the communist representatives in Geneva wanted full neutrality for Cambodia and for Laos that would prevent the basing of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States" title="United States">United States</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_armed_forces" title="United States armed forces">military forces</a> in these countries. On the eve of the conference's conclusion, however, the Cambodian representative, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Sary" title="Sam Sary">Sam Sary</a>, insisted that, if Cambodia were to be genuinely independent, it must not be prohibited from seeking whatever military assistance it desired (Cambodia had earlier appealed to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington,_D.C." title="Washington, D.C.">Washington</a> for military aid). The conference accepted this point over North Vietnam's strenuous objections. In the final agreement, Cambodia accepted a watered-down neutrality, vowing not to join any military alliance "not in conformity with the principles of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_Charter" title="United Nations Charter">Charter</a> of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations" title="United Nations">United Nations</a>" or to allow the basing of foreign military forces on its territory "as long as its security is not threatened."</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
The conference agreement established the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Control_Commission" title="International Control Commission">International Control Commission</a> (officially called the International Commission for Supervision and Control) in all the Indochinese countries. Made up of representatives from <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada" title="Canada">Canada</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poland" title="Poland">Poland</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/India" title="India">India</a>, it supervised the cease-fire, the withdrawal of foreign troops, the release of <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prisoners_of_war" title="Prisoners of war">prisoners of war</a>, and overall compliance with the terms of the agreement. The French and most of the Viet Minh forces were withdrawn on schedule in October 1954.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><h2 style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Domestic Developments</h2><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The Geneva agreement also stipulated that general <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Election" title="Election">elections</a> should be held in Cambodia during 1955 and that the International Control Commission should monitor them to ensure fairness. Sihanouk was more determined than ever to defeat the Democrats (who, on the basis of their past record, were expected to win the election). The king attempted unsuccessfully to have the constitution amended. On <span title="1955-03-02"><span title="03-02"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/March_2" title="March 2">March 2</a></span>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1955" title="1955">1955</a></span>, he announced his abdication in favor of his father, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norodom_Suramarit" title="Norodom Suramarit">Norodom Suramarit</a>. Assuming the title of samdech (prince), Sihanouk explained that this action was necessary in order to give him a free hand to engage in politics.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
To challenge the Democrats, Prince Sihanouk established his own political machine, the Sangkum Reastr Niyum (Popular Socialist Community), commonly referred to as the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sangkum" title="Sangkum">Sangkum</a>, which, despite its name, contained significant <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Right-wing" title="Right-wing">right-wing</a> elements that were virulently anticommunist. The Sangkum's emergence in early 1955 unified most right-wing groups under the prince's auspices. In the September election, Sihanouk's new party decisively defeated the Democrats, the <a class="new" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Khmer_Independence_Party&action=edit&redlink=1" title="Khmer Independence Party (page does not exist)">Khmer Independence Party</a> of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Son_Ngoc_Thanh" title="Son Ngoc Thanh">Son Ngoc Thanh</a>, and the <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leftist" title="Leftist">leftist</a> <a class="new" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Pracheachon_Party&action=edit&redlink=1" title="Pracheachon Party (page does not exist)">Pracheachon Party</a>, winning 83% of the vote and all of the seats in the National Assembly.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
The results of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambodian_parliamentary_election,_1955" title="Cambodian parliamentary election, 1955">1955 election</a> have been attributed to fraud and intimidation. Voters were intimidated by a voting system involving colored pieces of paper that had to be put into a box in full view of Sihanouk's political figures, soldiers and local police. In many cases, voting results were simply falsified as in the case where a district that had been a Viet Minh stronghold for years did not return a single vote for the far left. Writer <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_Short" title="Philip Short">Philip Short</a> points to a 1957 statement by Sihanouk admitting that thirty six electoral districts had voted Pracheachon or Democrat majority whereas the official results said that they had won none.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
Khmer nationalism, loyalty to the monarch, struggle against injustice and corruption, and protection of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhism" title="Buddhism">Buddhist religion</a> were major themes in Sangkum ideology. The party adopted a particularly conservative interpretation of Buddhism, common in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theravada" title="Theravada">Theravada</a> countries of Southeast Asia, that the social and economic inequalities among people were legitimate because of the workings of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karma" title="Karma">karma</a>. For the poorer classes, virtuous and obedient conduct opened up the possibility of being born into a higher station in a future life. The appeal to religion won the allegiance of the country's many Buddhist priests, who were a particularly influential group in rural villages.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
In August 1957, Sihanouk summoned the leaders of the Democrat party to what he called a "debate" at the Royal Palace. They were subjected to five hours of public humiliation. After the event was over, the participants were dragged from their cars and beaten with rifle butts by Sihanouk's police and army.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
Around the same time, the Pracheachon party put up five candidates for election. Sihanouk travelled in person to each district and the government mounted a full campaign against the party. The national radio service accused the party of being Vietnamese puppets. Posters showing supposed atrocities were hung in the districts. Eventually four candidates were intimidated into dropping out of the election. The only one who stayed in was credited by government officials with 396 votes out of an electorate of 30,000 in an area where Pracheachon was known to have deep support.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
As the 1960s began, organized political opposition to Sihanouk and the Sangkum virtually had been largely driven underground. According to Vickery, the Democratic Party disbanded in 1957 after its leaders--who had been beaten by soldiers--requested the privilege of joining the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sangkum" title="Sangkum">Sangkum</a>.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
Despite its defense of the status quo, especially the interests of rural elites, the Sangkum was not an exclusively right-wing organization. Sihanouk invited a number of leftists into his party and government to provide a balance to the right-wing. Among these were future leaders of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khmer_Rouge" title="Khmer Rouge">Khmer Rouge</a>. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hu_Nim" title="Hu Nim">Hu Nim</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hou_Yuon" title="Hou Yuon">Hou Yuon</a> served in several ministries between 1958 and 1963, and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khieu_Samphan" title="Khieu Samphan">Khieu Samphan</a> served briefly as secretary of state for commerce in 1963.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">But the independent parties of the left were generally targeted for destruction. On <span title="1959-10-09"><span title="10-09"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/October_9" title="October 9">October 9</a></span>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1959" title="1959">1959</a></span> the editor of the Pracheachon Weekly Paper, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nop_Bophann" title="Nop Bophann">Nop Bophann</a> was shot to death outside his office by state security police. In 1960, some two thousand people were detained for political reasons in a holding camp outside the capital. State Security cases were handled by a military tribunal from which there was no appeal. The tribunal handed down over thirty death decrees in its first six months of operation and it was widely known that the verdicts were the personal decision of Sihanouk himself.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
In 1960, the editor of the paper <a class="new" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=L%27Observateur&action=edit&redlink=1" title="L'Observateur (page does not exist)">l'Observateur</a>, was beaten in the street, stripped naked and photographed by members of the security police a few hundred yards from the Central Police Station. The editor reported the attack to the police. When the National Assembly summoned the minister responsible to explain the incident, he said it was the job the police to protect the opponents of the government. The minister then proceeded to name members of the National Assembly who he considered to be in the same category of opponents. One of the named deputies, <a class="new" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Uch_Ven&action=edit&redlink=1" title="Uch Ven (page does not exist)">Uch Ven</a>, tabled a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Censure" title="Censure">censure</a> motion that had been drawn up against the minister. Sihanouk issued a statement afterward attacking the members of the National Assembly for their hostile attitude toward the police. Within days, l'Observateur and two other papers were closed by the government, fifty people were detained indefinitely for questioning and the political director of Sihanouk's own newspaper was fired for an editorial objecting to heavy-handed political intimidation.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
In July 1962, one of the leading leftists in the country, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tou_Samouth" title="Tou Samouth">Tou Samouth</a> was grabbed by the security police while seeking medicine for his child in a street market. He was held in secret and tortured for several days. He was eventually simply murdered with his body dumped into a wasteland in the Stung Meancheay district of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phnom_Penh" title="Phnom Penh">Phnom Penh</a>.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
In March 1963, Sihanouk published a list of thirty four leftists. After denouncing them as cowards, hypocrites, saboteurs, subversive agents and traitors, he demanded that they form a government for the country. Shortly after, they were brought into the presence of Sihanouk and each signed a statement saying that he was only man capable of leading the country. After the incident, police officers were posted outside the residences and places of employment of each of the named men. They were essentially under permanent police observation.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The results of 1962 and 1963 were to drive the underground leftist movement out of the cities and into the countryside. Even underground politics or proxy actions through above-ground parties against the government had effectively ceased to be possible.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
Sihanouk's attitude toward the left was often cynical. He realized that his own political position was dependent on carefully balancing off the left in Cambodia against the right. If one side ever defeated the other, the next step of either party would be to end Sihanouk's role in ruling the country. He often declared that if he had not been a prince, he would have become a revolutionary. Sihanouk's chronic suspicion of United States intentions in the region, his perception of revolutionary China as Cambodia's most valuable ally, his respect for such prominent and capable leftists as Hou, Hu, and Khieu, and his vague notions of "royal socialism" all impelled him to experiment with socialist policies. It should also be recognized that each move toward socialism gave Sihanouk and his inner circle the able to reward each other with lucrative political "spoils" and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patronage" title="Patronage">patronage</a>.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
In 1963 the prince announced the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nationalization" title="Nationalization">nationalization</a> of banking, foreign trade, and insurance as a means of reducing foreign control of the economy. In 1964 a state trading company, the National Export-Import Corporation, was established to handle foreign commerce. The declared purposes of nationalization were to give Khmer nationals, rather than Chinese or Vietnamese, a greater role in the nation's trade, to eliminate middlemen and to conserve foreign exchange through the limiting of unnecessary luxury imports. As a result of this policy, foreign investment quickly disappeared, and a nepotistic "crony socialism" emerged somewhat similar to the "crony capitalism" that evolved in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippines" title="Philippines">Philippines</a> under President <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferdinand_Marcos" title="Ferdinand Marcos">Ferdinand Marcos</a>. Lucrative state monopolies were parceled out to Sihanouk's most loyal retainers, who "milked" them for cash.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
Sihanouk was headed steadily for a collision with the right. To counter charges of one-man rule, the prince declared that he would relinquish control of candidate selection and would permit more than one Sangkum candidate to run for each seat in the September 1966 National Assembly election. The returns showed a surprising upsurge in the conservative vote at the expense of more moderate and left-wing elements, although Hou, Hu, and Khieu were reelected by their constituencies. General <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lon_Nol" title="Lon Nol">Lon Nol</a> became <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prime_minister" title="Prime minister">prime minister</a>.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
Out of concern that the right wing might cause an irreparable split within the Sangkum and might challenge his domination of the political system, Sihanouk set up a "counter government" (like the British "shadow cabinet") packed with his most loyal personal followers and with leading leftists, hoping that it would exert a restraining influence on Lon Nol. Leftists accused the general of being groomed by Western intelligence agencies to lead a bloody anticommunist <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coup_d%27%C3%A9tat" title="Coup d'état">coup d'état</a> similar to that of General <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suharto" title="Suharto">Suharto</a> in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indonesia" title="Indonesia">Indonesia</a>. Injured in an automobile accident, Lon Nol resigned in April 1967. Sihanouk replaced him with a trusted centrist, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Son_Sann" title="Son Sann">Son Sann</a>. This was the twenty-third successive <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sangkum" title="Sangkum">Sangkum</a> cabinet and government to have been appointed by Sihanouk since the party was formed in 1955.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><h2 style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Nonaligned Foreign Policy</h2><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Sihanouk's nonaligned foreign policy, which emerged in the months following the Geneva Conference, cannot be understood without reference to Cambodia's past history of foreign subjugation and its very uncertain prospects for survival as the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnam_War" title="Vietnam War">war</a> between North Vietnam and South Vietnam intensified. Soon after the 1954 Geneva Conference, Sihanouk expressed some interest in integrating Cambodia into the framework of the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (<a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SEATO" title="SEATO">SEATO</a>), which included Cambodia, Laos, and South Vietnam within the "treaty area," although none of these states was a signatory. But meetings in late 1954 with <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/India" title="India">India</a>'s Prime Minister Jawaharlal <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nehru" title="Nehru">Nehru</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burma" title="Burma">Burma</a>'s Premier <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U_Nu" title="U Nu">U Nu</a> made him receptive to the appeal of nonalignment. Moreover, the prince was somewhat uneasy about a United States-dominated alliance that included one old enemy, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thailand" title="Thailand">Thailand</a>, and encompassed another, South Vietnam, each of which offered sanctuary to anti-Sihanouk dissidents.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
At the <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bandung_Conference" title="Bandung Conference">Bandung Conference</a> in April 1955, Sihanouk held private meetings with Premier <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhou_Enlai" title="Zhou Enlai">Zhou Enlai</a> of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China" title="China">China</a> and Foreign Minister <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pham_Van_Dong" title="Pham Van Dong">Pham Van Dong</a> of North Vietnam. Both assured him that their countries would respect Cambodia's independence and territorial integrity. His experience with the French, first as a client, then as the self-proclaimed leader of the "royal crusade for independence," apparently led him to conclude that the United States, like France, would eventually be forced to leave Southeast Asia. From this perspective, the Western presence in Indochina was only a temporary interruption of the dynamics of the region--continued Vietnamese (and perhaps even Thai) expansion at Cambodia's expense. Accommodation with North Vietnam and friendly ties with China during the late 1950s and the 1960s were tactics designed to counteract these dynamics. China accepted Sihanouk's overtures and became a valuable counterweight to growing Vietnamese and Thai pressure on Cambodia.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
Cambodia's relations with China were based on mutual interests. Sihanouk hoped that China would restrain the Vietnamese and the Thai from acting to Cambodia's detriment. The Chinese, in turn, viewed Cambodia's nonalignment as vital in order to prevent the encirclement of their country by the United States and its allies. When Premier Zhou Enlai visited <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phnom_Penh" title="Phnom Penh">Phnom Penh</a> in 1956, he asked the country's Chinese minority, numbering about 300,000, to cooperate in Cambodia's development, to stay out of politics, and to consider adopting Cambodian citizenship. This gesture helped to resolve a sensitive issue--the loyalty of Cambodian Chinese--that had troubled the relationship between Phnom Penh and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beijing" title="Beijing">Beijing</a>. In 1960 the two countries signed a Treaty of Friendship and Nonaggression. After the Sino-Soviet rift Sihanouk's ardent friendship with China contributed to generally cooler ties with <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moscow" title="Moscow">Moscow</a>.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">China was not the only large power to which Sihanouk looked for patronage, however. </div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Cambodia's quest for security and nation-building assistance impelled the prince to search beyond Asia and to accept help from all donors as long as there was no impingement upon his country's sovereignty. With this end in mind, Sihanouk turned to the United States in 1955 and negotiated a military aid agreement that secured funds and equipment for the Royal Khmer Armed Forces (Forces Armées Royales Khmères--FARK). A United States Military Assistance Advisory Group (MAAG) was established in Phnom Penh to supervise the delivery and the use of equipment that began to arrive from the United States. By the early 1960s, aid from Washington constituted 30% of Cambodia's defense budget and 14% of total budget inflows (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Indochina_War" title="First Indochina War">First Indochina War</a>).</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
Relations with the United States, however, proved to be stormy. United States officials both in Washington and in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phnom_Penh" title="Phnom Penh">Phnom Penh</a> frequently underestimated the prince and considered him to be an erratic figure with minimal understanding of the threat posed by Asian <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communism" title="Communism">communism</a>. Sihanouk easily reciprocated this mistrust because several developments aroused his suspicion of United States intentions toward his country.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
One of these developments was the growing United States influence within the <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_of_Cambodia" title="Military of Cambodia">Cambodian armed forces</a>. The processing of equipment deliveries and the training of Cambodian personnel had forged close ties between United States military advisers and their Cambodian counterparts. Military officers of both nations also shared apprehensions about the spread of communism in Southeast Asia. Sihanouk considered FARK to be Washington's most powerful constituency in his country. The prince also feared that a number of high-ranking, rightist FARK officers led by Lon Nol were becoming too powerful and that, by association with these officers, United States influence in Cambodia was becoming too deeply rooted.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
A second development included the repetition of overflights by United States and South Vietnamese military aircraft within Cambodian airspace and border incursions by South Vietnamese troops in hot pursuit of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viet_Cong" title="Viet Cong">Viet Cong</a> insurgents who crossed into Cambodian territory when military pressure upon them became too sustained. As the early 1960s wore on, this increasingly sensitive issue contributed to the deterioration of relations between Phnom Penh and Washington.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
A third development was Sihanouk's own belief that he had been targeted by United States intelligence agencies for replacement by a more pro-Western leader. Evidence to support this suspicion came to light in 1959 when the government discovered a plot to overthrow Sihanouk. The conspiracy, often known as the "<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bangkok_Plot" title="Bangkok Plot">Bangkok Plot</a>", involved several Khmer leaders suspected of American connections. Among them were <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Sary" title="Sam Sary">Sam Sary</a>, a leader of right-wing <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khmer_Serei" title="Khmer Serei">Khmer Serei</a> troops in South Vietnam; <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Son_Ngoc_Thanh" title="Son Ngoc Thanh">Son Ngoc Thanh</a>, the early nationalist leader once exiled into <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thailand" title="Thailand">Thailand</a>; and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dap_Chhuon" title="Dap Chhuon">Dap Chhuon</a>, the military governor of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siem_Reap_Province" title="Siem Reap Province">Siem Reap Province</a>. Another alleged plot involved Dap Chuon's establishment of a "free" state that would have included <a class="new" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Siemreab_Province&action=edit&redlink=1" title="Siemreab Province (page does not exist)">Siemreab Province</a> and <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kampong_Thum_Province" title="Kampong Thum Province">Kampong Thum</a> (Kampong Thom) Province and the southern areas of Laos that were controlled by the rightist Laotian prince, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boun_Oum" title="Boun Oum">Boun Oum</a>.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
These developments, magnified by Sihanouk's abiding suspicions, eventually undermined Phnom Penh's relations with Washington. In November 1963, the prince charged that the United States was continuing to support the subversive activities of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khmer_Serei" title="Khmer Serei">Khmer Serei</a> in Thailand and in South Vietnam, and he announced the immediate termination of Washington's aid program to Cambodia. Relations continued to deteriorate, and the final break came in May 1965 amid increasing indications of airspace violations by South Vietnamese and by United States aircraft and of ground fighting between <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Army_of_the_Republic_of_Vietnam" title="Army of the Republic of Vietnam">Army of the Republic of Vietnam</a> (ARVN) troops and Viet Cong insurgents in the Cambodian border areas.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
In the meantime, Cambodia's relations with North Vietnam and with South Vietnam, as well as the rupture with Washington, reflected Sihanouk's efforts to adjust to geopolitical realities in Southeast Asia and to keep his country out of the escalating conflict in neighboring South Vietnam. In the early to mid-1960s, this effort required a tilt toward <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanoi" title="Hanoi">Hanoi</a> because the government in <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saigon" title="Saigon">Saigon</a> tottered on the brink of anarchy. In the cities, the administration of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ngo_Dinh_Diem" title="Ngo Dinh Diem">Ngo Dinh Diem</a> and the military regimes that succeeded it had become increasingly ineffectual and unstable, while in the countryside the government forces were steadily losing ground to the Hanoi-backed insurgents.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
To observers in Phnom Penh, South Vietnam's short-term viability was seriously in doubt, and this compelled a new tack in Cambodian foreign policy. First, Cambodia severed diplomatic ties with Saigon in August 1963. The following March, Sihanouk announced plans to establish diplomatic relations with North Vietnam and to negotiate a border settlement directly with Hanoi. These plans were not implemented quickly, however, because the North Vietnamese told the prince that any problem concerning Cambodia's border with South Vietnam would have to be negotiated directly with the National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam (NFLSVN). Cambodia opened border talks with the front in mid-1966, and the latter recognized the inviolability of Cambodia's borders a year later. North Vietnam quickly followed suit. Cambodia was the first foreign government to recognize the NFLSVN's Provisional Revolutionary Government after it was established in June 1969. Sihanouk was the only foreign head of state to attend the funeral of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ho_Chi_Minh" title="Ho Chi Minh">Ho Chi Minh</a>, North Vietnam's deceased leader, in Hanoi three months later.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
In 1965, Sihanouk negotiated a deal with China and North Vietnam. Whereas before Viet Cong and North Vietnamese forces had temporarily move into Cambodian territory, the deal allowed them to build permanent military facilities on Cambodian soil. Cambodia also opened its ports to shipments of military supplies from China and the Soviet Union to the Vietnamese. In exchange for these concessions, large amounts of money passed into the hands of the Cambodian elite. In particular, deals were made where China would purchase rice at inflated prices from the Cambodian government. While Sihanouk talked neutrality in public, he had effectively pushed Cambodia directly into the Vietnam conflict.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
After making friends with North Vietnam and China, Sihanouk turned politically to the right and unleashed a wave of repression throughout the country. The repression drove most of the political left in the country underground. While Sihanouk's deal with China and Vietnam in the short term kept both countries from arming the Cambodian left, it did not prevent the Cambodian left from launching an unsupported rebellion on its own.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
In the late 1960s, while preserving relations with China and with North Vietnam, Sihanouk sought to restore a measure of equilibrium by improving Cambodia's ties with the West. This shift in course by the prince represented another adjustment to prevailing conditions in Asia. The Chinese had become almost impossible to deal with because of the turmoil associated with the cultural revolution. The North Vietnamese presence in Eastern Cambodia had grown so large that it was destabilizing Cambodia politically and economically. Further, when the Cambodian left went underground in the late 1960s, Sihanouk had to make concessions to the right in the absence of any force that he could play off against them. </div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
North Vietnamese and Viet Cong forces were increasing their use of sanctuaries in Cambodia, which also served as the southern terminus of the <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ho_Chi_Minh_Trail" title="Ho Chi Minh Trail">Ho Chi Minh Trail</a>, their logistical resupply route originating in both North Vietnam and Cambodia's own ports. Cambodian neutrality in the conflict no longer existed, and China, preoccupied with its <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_Revolution" title="Cultural Revolution">Cultural Revolution</a>, did not intercede with Hanoi. On Cambodia's eastern border, South Vietnam, surprisingly, had not collapsed, even in the face of the communist <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tet_Offensive" title="Tet Offensive">Tet Offensive</a> in 1968, and President <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nguyen_Van_Thieu" title="Nguyen Van Thieu">Nguyen Van Thieu</a>'s government was bringing a measure of stability to the war-ravaged country. As the government in Phnom Penh began to feel keenly the loss of economic and military aid from the United States, which had totaled about US$400 million between 1955 and 1963, it began to have second thoughts about the rupture with Washington. The unavailability of American equipment and spare parts was exacerbated by the poor quality and the small numbers of <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet" title="Soviet">Soviet</a>, Chinese, and French substitutes.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
In late 1967 and in early 1968, Sihanouk signaled that he would raise no objection to hot pursuit of communist forces by South Vietnamese or by United States troops into Cambodian territory. Washington, in the meantime, accepted the recommendation of the United States <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_Assistance_Command,_Vietnam" title="Military Assistance Command, Vietnam">Military Assistance Command--Vietnam</a> (MACV) and, beginning in March 1969, ordered a series of airstrikes (dubbed the Menu series) against Cambodian sanctuaries used by the North Vietnamese and the Viet Cong. Whether or not these bombing missions were authorized aroused considerable controversy, and assertions by the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Nixon" title="Richard Nixon">Nixon</a> administration that Sihanouk had "allowed" or even "encouraged" them were disputed by critics such as British journalist <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Shawcross" title="William Shawcross">William Shawcross</a>. But in retrospect, Sihanouk allowing US bombing as a counter-weight to his previous decision to allow the Vietnamese to establish base areas seems consistent with his policy strategy in that US was the only force he could use as a counter-weight to the Vietnamese presence in Cambodia.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
On a diplomatic level, however, the Menu airstrikes did not impede bilateral relations from moving forward. In April 1969, Nixon sent a note to the prince affirming that the United States recognized and respected "the sovereignty, neutrality and territorial integrity of the Kingdom of Cambodia with its present frontiers." Shortly thereafter, in June 1969, full diplomatic relations were restored between Phnom Penh and Washington.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=4611343706898552392&postID=7310092308600719002" id="The_Cambodian_Left:_The_Early_Phases" name="The_Cambodian_Left:_The_Early_Phases"></a></div><h2 style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The Cambodian Left: The Early Phases</h2><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The history of the communist movement in Cambodia can be divided into six phases: the emergence of the <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indochinese_Communist_Party" title="Indochinese Communist Party">Indochinese Communist Party</a> (ICP), whose members were almost exclusively Vietnamese, before <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_II" title="World War II">World War II</a>; the ten-year struggle for independence from the French, when a separate Cambodian communist party, the Kampuchean (or Khmer) <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People%27s_Revolutionary_Party" title="People's Revolutionary Party">People's Revolutionary Party</a> (KPRP), was established under Vietnamese auspices; the period following the Second Party Congress of the KPRP in 1960, when Saloth Sar (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pol_Pot" title="Pol Pot">Pol Pot</a> after 1976) and other future Khmer Rouge leaders gained control of its apparatus; the revolutionary struggle from the initiation of the Khmer Rouge insurgency in 1967-68 to the fall of the Lon Nol government in April 1975; the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_Kampuchea" title="Democratic Kampuchea">Democratic Kampuchea</a> regime, from April 1975 to January 1979; and the period following the Third Party Congress of the KPRP in January 1979, when Hanoi effectively assumed control over Cambodia's government and communist party.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
Much of the movement's history has been shrouded in mystery, largely because successive purges, especially during the Democratic Kampuchea period, have left so few survivors to recount their experiences. One thing is evident, however, the tension between Khmer and Vietnamese was a major theme in the movement's development. In the three decades between the end of World War II and the Khmer Rouge victory, the appeal of communism to Western educated intellectuals (and to a lesser extent its more inchoate attraction for poor peasants) was tempered by the apprehension that the much stronger Vietnamese movement was using communism as an ideological rationale for dominating the Khmer. The analogy between the Vietnamese communists and the <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nguyen_dynasty" title="Nguyen dynasty">Nguyen dynasty</a>, which had legitimized its encroachments in the nineteenth century in terms of the "civilizing mission" of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confucianism" title="Confucianism">Confucianism</a>, was persuasive. Thus, the new brand of indigenous communism that emerged after 1960 combined nationalist and revolutionary appeals and, when it could afford to, exploited the virulent anti-Vietnamese sentiments of the Khmers. Khmer Rouge literature in the 1970s frequently referred to the Vietnamese as yuon (barbarian), a term dating from the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Early_history_of_Cambodia" title="Early history of Cambodia">Angkorian period</a>.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
In 1930 Ho Chi Minh founded the Vietnamese Communist Party by unifying three smaller communist movements that had emerged in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tonkin" title="Tonkin">Tonkin</a>, in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annam_%28French_protectorate%29" title="Annam (French protectorate)">Annam</a>, and in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cochinchina" title="Cochinchina">Cochinchina</a> during the late 1920s. The name was changed almost immediately to the ICP, ostensibly to include revolutionaries from Cambodia and Laos. Almost without exception, however, all the earliest party members were Vietnamese. By the end of World War II, a handful of Cambodians had joined its ranks, but their influence on the Indochinese communist movement and on developments within Cambodia was negligible.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
Viet Minh units occasionally made forays into Cambodian bases during their war against the French, and, in conjunction with the leftist government that ruled Thailand until 1947, the Viet Minh encouraged the formation of armed, left-wing Khmer Issarak bands. On <span title="1950-04-17"><span title="04-17"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/April_17" title="April 17">April 17</a></span>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1950" title="1950">1950</a></span> (twenty-five years to the day before the Khmer Rouge captured Phnom Penh), the first nationwide congress of the Khmer Issarak groups convened, and the United Issarak Front was established. Its leader was <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Son_Ngoc_Minh" title="Son Ngoc Minh">Son Ngoc Minh</a> (possibly a brother of the nationalist Son Ngoc Thanh), and a third of its leadership consisted of members of the ICP. According to the historian <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_P._Chandler" title="David P. Chandler">David P. Chandler</a>, the leftist Issarak groups, aided by the Viet Minh, occupied a sixth of Cambodia's territory by 1952; and, on the eve of the Geneva Conference, they controlled as much as one half of the country.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
In 1951 the ICP was reorganized into three national units--the <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnam_Workers%27_Party" title="Vietnam Workers' Party">Vietnam Workers' Party</a>, the <a class="new" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Lao_Itsala&action=edit&redlink=1" title="Lao Itsala (page does not exist)">Lao Itsala</a>, and the KPRP. According to a document issued after the reorganization, the Vietnam Workers' Party would continue to "supervise" the smaller Laotian and Cambodian movements. Most KPRP leaders and rank-and-file seem to have been either <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khmer_Krom" title="Khmer Krom">Khmer Krom</a>, or ethnic Vietnamese living in Cambodia. The party's appeal to indigenous Khmers appears to have been minimal.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
According to Democratic Kampuchea's version of party history, the Viet Minh's failure to negotiate a political role for the KPRP at the 1954 Geneva Conference represented a betrayal of the Cambodian movement, which still controlled large areas of the countryside and which commanded at least 5,000 armed men. Following the conference, about 1,000 members of the KPRP, including Son Ngoc Minh, made a "Long March" into North Vietnam, where they remained in exile. In late 1954, those who stayed in Cambodia founded a legal political party, the Pracheachon Party, which participated in the 1955 and the 1958 National Assembly elections. In the September 1955 election, it won about 4% of the vote but did not secure a seat in the legislature. Members of the Pracheachon were subject to constant harassment and to arrests because the party remained outside Sihanouk's Sangkum. Government attacks prevented it from participating in the 1962 election and drove it underground. Sihanouk habitually labeled local leftists the Khmer Rouge, a term that later came to signify the party and the state headed by Pol Pot, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ieng_Sary" title="Ieng Sary">Ieng Sary</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khieu_Samphan" title="Khieu Samphan">Khieu Samphan</a>, and their associates.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
During the mid-1950s, KPRP factions, the "urban committee" (headed by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tou_Samouth" title="Tou Samouth">Tou Samouth</a>), and the "rural committee" (headed by <a class="new" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sieu_Heng&action=edit&redlink=1" title="Sieu Heng (page does not exist)">Sieu Heng</a>), emerged. In very general terms, these groups espoused divergent revolutionary lines. The prevalent "urban" line, endorsed by North Vietnam, recognized that Sihanouk, by virtue of his success in winning independence from the French, was a genuine national leader whose neutralism and deep distrust of the United States made him a valuable asset in Hanoi's struggle to "liberate" South Vietnam. Champions of this line hoped that the prince could be persuaded to distance himself from the right wing and to adopt leftist policies. The other line, supported for the most part by rural cadres who were familiar with the harsh realities of the countryside, advocated an immediate struggle to overthrow the "<a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feudalist" title="Feudalist">feudalist</a>" Sihanouk. In 1959 Sieu Heng defected to the government and provided the security forces with information that enabled them to destroy as much as 90% of the party's rural apparatus. Although communist networks in Phnom Penh and in other towns under Tou Samouth's jurisdiction fared better, only a few hundred communists remained active in the country by 1960.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=4611343706898552392&postID=7310092308600719002" id="The_Paris_Student_Group" name="The_Paris_Student_Group"></a></div><h2 style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> The Paris Student Group</h2><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">During the 1950s, Khmer students in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris" title="Paris">Paris</a> organized their own communist movement, which had little, if any, connection to the hard-pressed party in their homeland. From their ranks came the men and women who returned home and took command of the party apparatus during the 1960s, led an effective insurgency against Sihanouk and Lon Nol from 1968 until 1975, and established the regime of Democratic Kampuchea.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
Pol Pot, who rose to the leadership of the communist movement in the 1960s, was born in 1928 (some sources say in 1925) in <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kampong_Thum_Province" title="Kampong Thum Province">Kampong Thum Province</a>, north of Phnom Penh. He attended a technical high school in the capital and then went to Paris in 1949 to study radio electronics (other sources say he attended a school for printers and typesetters and also studied civil engineering). Described by one source as a "determined, rather plodding organizer," he failed to obtain a degree, but, according to the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catholic" title="Catholic">Catholic</a> priest, Fr. <a class="new" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Fran%C3%A7ois_Ponchaud&action=edit&redlink=1" title="François Ponchaud (page does not exist)">François Ponchaud</a>, he acquired a taste for the classics of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_literature" title="French literature">French literature</a> as well as for the writings of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_Marx" title="Karl Marx">Marx</a>.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
Another member of the Paris student group was Ieng Sary. He was a Chinese-Khmer born in 1930 in South Vietnam. He attended the elite <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyc%C3%A9e_Sisowath" title="Lycée Sisowath">Lycée Sisowath</a> in Phnom Penh before beginning courses in commerce and politics at the <i><a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris_Institute_of_Political_Studies" title="Paris Institute of Political Studies">Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris</a></i> (more widely known as <i>Sciences Po</i>) in France. Khieu Samphan, considered "one of the most brilliant intellects of his generation," was born in 1931 and specialized in economics and politics during his time in Paris. In talent he was rivaled by Hou Yuon, born in 1930, who was described as being "of truly astounding physical and intellectual strength," and who studied economics and law. Son Sen, born in 1930, studied education and literature; Hu Nim, born in 1932, studied law.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">These men were perhaps the most educated leaders in the history of Asian communism. Two of them, Khieu Samphan and Hou Yuon, earned doctorates from the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Paris" title="University of Paris">University of Paris</a>; Hu Nim obtained his degree from the <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Phnom_Penh" title="University of Phnom Penh">University of Phnom Penh</a> in 1965. In retrospect, it seems enigmatic that these talented members of the elite, sent to France on government scholarships, could launch the bloodiest and most radical revolution in modern Asian history. Most came from landowner or civil servant families. Pol Pot and Hou Yuon may have been related to the royal family. An older sister of Pol Pot had been a concubine at the court of King <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sisowath_Monivong" title="Sisowath Monivong">Monivong</a>. Three of the Paris group forged a bond that survived years of revolutionary struggle and intraparty strife, Pol Pot and Ieng Sary married <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khieu_Ponnary" title="Khieu Ponnary">Khieu Ponnary</a> and <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khieu_Thirith" title="Khieu Thirith">Khieu Thirith</a> (also known as Ieng Thirith), purportedly relatives of Khieu Samphan. These two well-educated women also played a central role in the regime of Democratic Kampuchea.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
The intellectual ferment of Paris must have been a dizzying experience for young Khmers fresh from Phnom Penh or the provinces. A number sought refuge in the dogma of orthodox <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marxism-Leninism" title="Marxism-Leninism">Marxism-Leninism</a>. At some time between 1949 and 1951, Pol Pot and Ieng Sary joined the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Communist_Party" title="French Communist Party">French Communist Party</a>, the most tightly disciplined and <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stalinist" title="Stalinist">Stalinist</a> of Western Europe's communist movements. The party was also very anti-intellectual. In 1951 the two men went to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Berlin" title="East Berlin">East Berlin</a> to participate in a youth festival. This experience is considered to have been a turning point in their ideological development. Meeting with Khmers who were fighting with the Viet Minh (and whom they subsequently judged to be too subservient to the Vietnamese), they became convinced that only a tightly disciplined party organization and a readiness for armed struggle could achieve revolution. They transformed the <a class="new" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Khmer_Students%27_Association&action=edit&redlink=1" title="Khmer Students' Association (page does not exist)">Khmer Students' Association</a> (KSA), to which most of the 200 or so Khmer students in Paris belonged, into an organization for nationalist and leftist ideas. Inside the KSA and its successor organizations was a secret organization known as the Cercle Marxiste. The organization was composed of cells of three to six members with most members knowing nothing about the overall structure of the organization. In 1952 Pol Pot, Hou Yuon, Ieng Sary, and other leftists gained notoriety by sending an open letter to Sihanouk calling him the "strangler of infant democracy." A year later, the French authorities closed down the KSA. In 1956, however, Hou Yuon and Khieu Samphan helped to establish a new group, the <a class="new" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Khmer_Students%27_Union&action=edit&redlink=1" title="Khmer Students' Union (page does not exist)">Khmer Students' Union</a>. Inside, the group was still run by the Cercle Marxiste.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
The doctoral dissertations written by Hou Yuon and Khieu Samphan express basic themes that were later to become the cornerstones of the policy adopted by Democratic Kampuchea. The central role of the peasants in national development was espoused by Hou Yuon in his 1955 thesis, <i>The Cambodian Peasants and Their Prospects for Modernization</i>, which challenged the conventional view that urbanization and industrialization are necessary precursors of development. The major argument in Khieu Samphan's 1959 thesis, <i>Cambodia's Economy and Industrial Development</i>, was that the country had to become self-reliant and had to end its economic dependency on the developed world. In its general contours, Khieu's work reflected the influence of a branch of the "<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dependency_theory" title="Dependency theory">dependency theory</a>" school, which blamed lack of development in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_World" title="Third World">Third World</a> on the economic domination of the industrialized nations.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=4611343706898552392&postID=7310092308600719002" id="The_KPRP_Second_Congress" name="The_KPRP_Second_Congress"></a></div><h2 style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The KPRP Second Congress</h2><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">After returning to Cambodia in 1953, Pol Pot threw himself into party work. At first he went to join with forces allied to the Viet Minh operating in the rural areas of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kampong_Cham_Province" title="Kampong Cham Province">Kampong Cham Province</a> (Kompong Cham). After the end of the war, he moved to Phnom Penh under Tou Samouth's "urban committee" were he became an important point of contact between above-ground parties of the left and the underground secret communist movement. His comrades, Ieng Sary and Hou Yuon, became teachers at a new private high school, the Lycée Kambuboth, which Hou Yuon helped to establish. Khieu Samphan returned from Paris in 1959, taught as a member of the law faculty of the University of Phnom Penh, and started a left-wing, French-language publication, <i><a class="new" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=L%27Observateur&action=edit&redlink=1" title="L'Observateur (page does not exist)">L'Observateur</a></i>. The paper soon acquired a reputation in Phnom Penh's small academic circle. The following year, the government closed the paper, and Sihanouk's police publicly humiliated Khieu by beating, undressing and photographing him in public--as Shawcross notes, "not the sort of humiliation that men forgive or forget." Yet the experience did not prevent Khieu from advocating cooperation with Sihanouk in order to promote a united front against United States activities in South Vietnam. As mentioned, Khieu Samphan, Hou Yuon, and Hu Nim were forced to "work through the system" by joining the Sangkum and by accepting posts in the prince's government.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
In late September, 1960, twenty-one leaders of the KPRP held a secret congress in a vacant room of the Phnom Penh railroad station. This pivotal event remains shrouded in mystery because its outcome has become an object of contention (and considerable historical rewriting) between pro-Vietnamese and anti-Vietnamese Khmer communist factions. The question of cooperation with, or resistance to, Sihanouk was thoroughly discussed. Tou Samouth, who advocated a policy of cooperation, was elected general secretary of the KPRP that was renamed the <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Workers%27_Party_of_Kampuchea" title="Workers' Party of Kampuchea">Workers' Party of Kampuchea</a> (WPK). His ally, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuon_Chea" title="Nuon Chea">Nuon Chea</a> (also known as Long Reth), became deputy general secretary; however, Pol Pot and Ieng Sary were named to the Political Bureau to occupy the third and the fifth highest positions in the renamed party's hierarchy. The name change is significant. By calling itself a workers' party, the Cambodian movement claimed equal status with the <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnam_Workers%27_Party" title="Vietnam Workers' Party">Vietnam Workers' Party</a>. The pro-Vietnamese regime of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People%27s_Republic_of_Kampuchea" title="People's Republic of Kampuchea">People's Republic of Kampuchea</a> (PRK) implied in the 1980s that the September 1960 meeting was nothing more than the second congress of the KPRP.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
On <span title="1962-07-20"><span title="07-20"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/July_20" title="July 20">July 20</a></span>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1962" title="1962">1962</a></span>, Tou Samouth was murdered by the Cambodian government. In February 1963, at the WPK's second congress, Pol Pot was chosen to succeed Tou Samouth as the party's general secretary. Tou's allies, Nuon Chea and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keo_Meas" title="Keo Meas">Keo Meas</a>, were removed from the Central Committee and replaced by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Son_Sen" title="Son Sen">Son Sen</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vorn_Vet" title="Vorn Vet">Vorn Vet</a>. From then on, Pol Pot and loyal comrades from his Paris student days controlled the party center, edging out older veterans whom they considered excessively pro-Vietnamese.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
In July 1963, Pol Pot and most of the central committee left Phnom Penh to establish an insurgent base in <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotanah_Kiri" title="Rotanah Kiri">Rotanokiri</a> (Ratanakiri) Province in the northeast. Pol Pot had shortly before been put on a list of thirty four leftists who were summoned by Sihanouk to join the government and sign statements saying Sihanouk was the only possible leader for the country. Pol Pot and Chou Chet were the only people on the list who escaped. All the others agreed to cooperate with the government and were afterward under 24 watch by the police.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
The region Pol Pot and the others moved to inhabited by tribal minorities, the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khmer_Loeu" title="Khmer Loeu">Khmer Loeu</a>, whose rough treatment (including resettlement and forced assimilation) at the hands of the central government made them willing recruits for a guerrilla struggle. In 1965 Pol Pot made a visit of several months duration to North Vietnam and China. He probably received some training in China, which must have enhanced his prestige when he returned to the WPK's liberated areas. Despite friendly relations between Sihanouk and the Chinese, the latter kept Pol Pot's visit a secret from Sihanouk. In September 1966, the party changed its name in secret to the Kampuchean (or Khmer) Communist Party (KCP). The change in the name of the party was a closely guarded secret. Lower ranking members of the party and even the Vietnamese were not told of it and neither was the membership until many years later.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div>Nanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17149283539654033740noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4611343706898552392.post-83439647007247196432009-09-04T00:33:00.000-07:002009-09-04T00:33:07.315-07:00French colonial period: 1863-1953<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> In 1863, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambodia" title="Cambodia">Cambodia</a> under king <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norodom_of_Cambodia" title="Norodom of Cambodia">Norodom</a> became a protectorate of France. In October 1887, the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/France" title="France">French</a> announced the formation of the <i>Union Indochinoise</i> (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Indochina" title="French Indochina">Union of Indochina</a>), which at that time comprised <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambodia" title="Cambodia">Cambodia</a>, already an autonomous French possession, and the three regions of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnam" title="Vietnam">Vietnam</a> (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tonkin" title="Tonkin">Tonkin</a>, <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annam_%28French_colony%29" title="Annam (French colony)">Annam</a>, and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cochinchina" title="Cochinchina">Cochinchina</a>. In 1893, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laos" title="Laos">Laos</a> was annexed after the French threatened <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thailand" title="Thailand">Siam</a>'s King Chulalongkorn with war, thereby forcing him to give up the territory.</div><h2 style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">French colonial occupation</h2><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The seat of the Governor-General for the whole of French Indochina was based in Hanoi, which was situated in Tonkin (now northern Vietnam). Cambodia, being a constituent protectorate of French Indochina, was governed by the <i>Résident Supérieur</i> (Resident-General) for Cambodia, who was directly appointed by the Ministry of Marine and Colonies in Paris. The Resident-General was in turn assisted by Residents, or local governors, who were posted in all the provincial centers, such as, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battambang" title="Battambang">Battambang</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pursat" title="Pursat">Pursat</a>, <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odong" title="Odong">Odong</a>, and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siem_Reap" title="Siem Reap">Siem Reap</a>. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phnom_Penh" title="Phnom Penh">Phnom Penh</a>, the capital, was under the direct administration of the Resident-General.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
The Resident-General held considerable power, but the person in the position frequently wanted more. In 1897, the ruling Resident-General complained to Paris that the current king of Cambodia, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norodom_of_Cambodia" title="Norodom of Cambodia">King Norodom</a> was no longer fit to rule and asked for permission to assume the king's powers to collect taxes, issue decrees, and even appoint royal officials and choose crown princes. From that time, Norodom and the future kings of Cambodia were figureheads and merely were patrons of the Buddhist religion in Cambodia, though they were still viewed as god-kings by the peasant population. All other power was in the hands of the Resident-General and the colonial bureaucracy. Nonetheless, this bureaucracy was formed mostly of French officials, and the only Asians freely permitted were ethnic <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnamese_people" title="Vietnamese people">Vietnamese</a>, who were viewed as the dominant Asians in the Indochinese Union.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
In 1904, King Norodom died. Rather than pass the throne on to Norodom's sons, the French passed the succession to Norodom's brother <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sisowath_of_Cambodia" title="Sisowath of Cambodia">Sisowath</a>, whose branch of the royal family was more submissive and less nationalistic to French rule than Norodom's, who was viewed as the more nationalistic branch of the family. Likewise, Norodom was viewed as responsible for the constant Cambodian revolts against French rule. Another reason was that Norodom's favorite son, who he wanted to succeed him as king, <a class="new" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Yukanthor&action=edit&redlink=1" title="Yukanthor (page does not exist)">Prince Yukanthor</a>, had, on one of his trips to Europe, stirred up public opinion about French colonial brutalities in occupied Cambodia.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div class="thumb tleft" style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><div class="thumbinner" style="width: 342px;"><a class="image" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Thais_return_Battambang_to_King_Sisowath.jpg" title="Siem Reap, Battambang & Preah Vihear received by King Sisowath, 1907"><img alt="" class="thumbimage" height="255" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/6/6a/Thais_return_Battambang_to_King_Sisowath.jpg/340px-Thais_return_Battambang_to_King_Sisowath.jpg" width="340" /></a> <br />
<div class="thumbcaption">Siem Reap, Battambang & Preah Vihear received by King Sisowath, 1907</div></div></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Meanwhile, the rule of King Sisowath, and his son, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sisowath_Monivong" title="Sisowath Monivong">King Sisowath Monivong</a>, were peaceful, even though the monarchs were nothing but puppets and pliant instruments of the French. During Sisowath's reign, the French succeeded in getting Thailand's reformist king, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chulalongkorn" title="Chulalongkorn">King Chulalongkorn</a>, to sign a new treaty in 1907, which returned the northwestern provinces of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battambang" title="Battambang">Battambang</a> and <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siemreab" title="Siemreab">Siemreab</a> back to Cambodian rule. In this sense, the Sisowath branch of the family is seen in restoring Cambodian land, even though it all passed under oppressive French colonial rule.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><h2 style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Economy during the French colonial occupation</h2><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Not long after the French first established an autonomous presence in Cambodia in 1863, the French realized that their dream of Cambodia becoming the "Singapore of Indochina" was an illusion and that Cambodia had no hidden wealth. Thereafter, Cambodia's economy was not significantly modernized. France collected taxes efficiently, but otherwise brought few changes to the Cambodian village economy.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
Discrimination against non-Vietnamese by the French continued, especially when it was revealed that Cambodians paid the highest taxes per capita in Indochina. In 1916, a tax revolt bought tens of thousands of peasants to Phnom Penh to petition King Sisowath Monivong for a reduction in taxes. The French, who had thought the Cambodians were too quiet and indolent to organize a protest, were shocked. Despite the protest, King Sisowath Monivong could do nothing. In 1925, villagers killed a French resident who threatened to arrest tax delinquents.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
Some areas of the economy did develop under French rule. The French built some roads and railroads on Cambodian territory. While relatively few kilometers of railways were laid, one important line connected Phnom Penh and the Thai border through Battambang. The cultivation of <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubber" title="Rubber">rubber</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maize" title="Maize">corn</a> was economically important, and soon Battambang and Siemreab provinces became the rice bowls of Indochina. During the 1920s, Cambodia profited when rubber and corn were in demand, but after the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Depression" title="Great Depression">Great Depression</a> in 1929, Cambodia began to suffer, especially among rice cultivators whose falling incomes made then more than ever the victims of moneylenders.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
Industry was primarily designed to process raw materials for local use or for export. Immigration into Cambodia was considerable; and Cambodia became quite ethnically diverse. As in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burma" title="Burma">Burma</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malaysia" title="Malaysia">Malaysia</a>, which were both under <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom" title="United Kingdom">British</a> rule, foreigners dominated the work force of the economy. Vietnamese, despite their privileged position, became laborers on rubber plantations. Soon, many Vietnamese immigrants began to play important roles in the colonial economy as fisherman and businessmen. The Chinese had been living in Cambodia for centuries, and they dominated commerce before the French arrival. Under the French, this status quo remained the same, but the French placed restrictions on the Chinese. Nonetheless, Chinese merchants and bankers in Cambodia developed commercial networks that extended throughout Indochina to China as well.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=4611343706898552392" id="Emergence_of_Khmer_nationalism" name="Emergence_of_Khmer_nationalism"></a></div><h2 style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Emergence of Khmer nationalism</h2><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Unlike Vietnam, Cambodian nationalism was politically quiet during the early 1900s. This was probably so because of the reigning monarch and the way the French handled the monarchy. Khmer villages who were used to abuse of power believed that if the monarch was on the throne, Cambodia was fine as it was. At the same time, low literacy rates in Cambodia, which the French were reluctant to improve, stopped nationalist currents to spread as they were in Vietnam.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
However, Cambodian nationalism was emerging among the educated urban Khmer elite. When the French restored the monuments at <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angkor_Wat" title="Angkor Wat">Angkor Wat</a>, the pride of many Cambodians' was awakened at their country and their past history. Many of the new urban educated elite were graduates of the Cambodian History department at Lycee Sisowath in Phnom Penh. There, resentment at the way Vietnamese students were favored resulted in a petition to King Monivong in the 1930s. Significantly, the first major nationalists, members of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khmer_Krom" title="Khmer Krom">Khmer Krom</a>, were members of the Cambodian minority who lived in Vietnam. <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Son_Ngoc_Than" title="Son Ngoc Than">Son Ngoc Than</a> and <a class="new" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Pach_Choeun&action=edit&redlink=1" title="Pach Choeun (page does not exist)">Pach Choeun</a> began publishing <a class="new" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Nagaravatta&action=edit&redlink=1" title="Nagaravatta (page does not exist)">Nagaravatta</a> (Angkor Wat), the first Khmer newspaper. It mildly condemned French colonial policies, its corruption, its usury in rural areas, foreign domination of the economy, and also criticized the Vietnamese for their past imperialism and their privileged position in Indochina.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div class="thumb tright" style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><div class="thumbinner" style="width: 182px;"></div><div class="thumbinner" style="width: 182px;"><a class="image" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Cambodia_under_Japanese_occupation.svg" title="Flag of Cambodia under Japanese occupation"><img alt="" class="thumbimage" height="120" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/ae/Flag_of_Cambodia_under_Japanese_occupation.svg/180px-Flag_of_Cambodia_under_Japanese_occupation.svg.png" width="180" /></a> <br />
<div class="thumbcaption">Flag of Cambodia under Japanese occupation</div></div></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
The Khmer were lucky in escaping the suffering endured by most other Southeast Asian peoples during <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_II" title="World War II">World War II</a>. After the establishment of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vichy_France" title="Vichy France">Vichy regime</a> in France in 1940, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empire_of_Japan" title="Empire of Japan">Japanese</a> forces moved into Vietnam and displaced French authority. In mid-1941, they entered Cambodia but allowed Vichy French colonial officials to remain at their administrative posts. The pro-Japanese regime in Thailand, headed by Field Marshal <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plaek_Pibulsonggram" title="Plaek Pibulsonggram">Phibunsongkhram</a>, requested assurances from the Vichy regime that, in the event of an interruption of French sovereignty, Cambodian and Laotian territories formerly belong to Thailand would be returned to Bangkok's authority. The request was rejected. In December 1940 the <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French-Thai_War" title="French-Thai War">French-Thai War</a> erupted, and the Thai Burapha Army invaded Cambodia the following month. The French were hard-pressed to resist against the better-equipped Thai forces on the ground and in the air, but nevertheless managed to score a naval victory in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulf_of_Thailand" title="Gulf of Thailand">Gulf of Thailand</a> . </div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
At this point, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tokyo" title="Tokyo">Tokyo</a> intervened and compelled the French authorities to agree to a treaty ceding the province of Battambang and part of the province of Siemreab to Thailand in exchange for a small compensation. The Cambodians were allowed to retain Angkor. Thai aggression, however, had minimal impact on the lives of most Cambodians outside the north-western region. King Monivong died in April 1941. Although his son, Prince <a class="new" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Monichao&action=edit&redlink=1" title="Monichao (page does not exist)">Monichao</a>, had been considered the heir apparent, the French chose instead <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norodom_Sihanouk" title="Norodom Sihanouk">Norodom Sihanouk</a>, the great grandson of King Norodom. Sihanouk was an ideal candidate from their point of view because of his youth (he was nineteen years old), his lack of experience, and his pliability.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
Japanese calls of "Asia for the Asiatics" found a receptive audience among Cambodian nationalists, although Tokyo's policy in Indochina was to leave the colonial government nominally in charge. When a prominent, politically active Buddhist monk, <a class="new" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Hem_Chieu&action=edit&redlink=1" title="Hem Chieu (page does not exist)">Hem Chieu</a>, was arrested and unceremoniously defrocked by the French authorities in July 1942, the editors of <i>Nagaravatta</i> led a demonstration demanding his release. They, as well as other nationalists, apparently overestimated the Japanese willingness to back them, for the Vichy authorities quickly arrested the demonstrators and gave Pach Choeun, one of the <i>Nagaravatta</i> editors, a life sentence . The other editor, Son Ngoc Thanh, escaped from Phnom Penh and turned up the following year in Tokyo.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
In a desperate effort to enlist local support in the final months of the war, the Japanese dissolved the French colonial administration on <span title="1945-03-09"><span title="03-09"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/March_9" title="March 9">March 9</a></span>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1945" title="1945">1945</a></span>, and urged Cambodia to declare its independence within the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greater_East_Asia_Co-Prosperity_Sphere" title="Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere">Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere</a>. Four days later, King Sihanouk decreed an independent Kampuchea (the original Khmer pronunciation of Cambodia). Son Ngoc Thanh returned from Tokyo in May, and he was appointed foreign minister. On <span title="1945-08-15"><span title="08-15"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/August_15" title="August 15">August 15</a></span>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1945" title="1945">1945</a></span>, the day Japan surrendered, a new government was established with Son Ngoc Thanh acting as prime minister. When an <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allied" title="Allied">Allied</a> force occupied Phnom Penh in October, Thanh was arrested for <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collaborationism" title="Collaborationism">collaboration</a> with the Japanese and was sent into exile in France to remain under house arrest. Some of his supporters went to north-western Cambodia, then still under Thai control, where they banded together as one faction in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khmer_Issarak" title="Khmer Issarak">Khmer Issarak</a> movement, originally formed with Thai encouragement in the 1940s.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=4611343706898552392" id="Struggle_for_Khmer_unity" name="Struggle_for_Khmer_unity"></a></div><h2 style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Struggle for Khmer unity</h2><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Cambodia's situation at the end of the war was chaotic. The <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_French" title="Free French">Free French</a>, under General <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_de_Gaulle" title="Charles de Gaulle">Charles de Gaulle</a>, were determined to recover Indochina, though they offered Cambodia and the other Inchochinese protectorates a carefully circumscribed measure of self-government. Convinced that they had a "<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civilizing_mission" title="Civilizing mission">civilizing mission</a>," they envisioned Indochina's participation in a French Union of former colonies that shared the common experience of French culture. Neither the urban professional elites nor the common people, however, were attracted by this arrangement. For Cambodians of practically all walks of life, the brief period of independence, from March to October of 1945, had been enjoyable. The lassitude of the Khmer was a thing of the past.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
In Phnom Penh, Sihanouk, acting as head of state, was placed in a delicate position of negotiating with the French for full independence while trying to neutralize party politicians and supporters of the Khmer Issarak and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viet_Minh" title="Viet Minh">Viet Minh</a> who considered him a French collaborator. During the tumultuous period between 1946 and 1953, Sihanouk displayed the remarkable aptitude for political survival that sustained him before and after his fall from power in March 1970. The Khmer Issarak was an extremely heterogeneous <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guerrilla_warfare" title="Guerrilla warfare">guerrilla movement</a>, operating in the border areas. The group included <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indigenous_peoples_of_Asia" title="Indigenous peoples of Asia">indigenous</a> <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leftists" title="Leftists">leftists</a>, Vietnamese leftists, anti-monarchical nationalists (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khmer_Serei" title="Khmer Serei">Khmer Serei</a>) loyal to Son Ngoc Thanh, and plain bandits taking advantage of the chaos to terrorize villagers. Though their fortunes rose and fell during the immediate postwar period (a major blow was the overthrow of a left-wing friendly government in Bangkok in 1947), by 1954 the Khmer Issarak operating with the Viet Minh by some estimates controlled as much as 50 percent of Cambodia's territory.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
In 1946, France allowed the Cambodians to form political parties and to hold elections for a Consultative Assembly that would advise the monarch on drafting the country's constitution. The two major parties were both headed by royal princes. The Democratic Party, led by Prince <a class="new" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Youtevong&action=edit&redlink=1" title="Youtevong (page does not exist)">Sisowath Yuthevong</a>, espoused immediate independence, democratic reforms, and parliamentary government. Its supporters were teachers, civil servants, politically active members of the Buddhist priesthood, and others whose opinions had been greatly influenced by the nationalistic appeals of <i>Nagaravatta</i> before it was closed down by the French in 1942. Many Democrats sympathized with the violent methods of the Khmer Issarak. The Liberal Party, led by Prince <a class="new" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Norodom_Norindeth&action=edit&redlink=1" title="Norodom Norindeth (page does not exist)">Norodom Norindeth</a>, represented the interests of the old rural elites, including large landowners. They preferred continuing some form of the colonial relationship with France, and advocated gradual democratic reform. In the Consultative Assembly election held in September 1946, the Democrats won 50 of 67 seats.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
With a solid majority in the assembly, the Democrats drafted a constitution modeled on that of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Fourth_Republic" title="French Fourth Republic">French Fourth Republic</a>. Power was concentrated in the hands of a popularly elected National Assembly. The king reluctantly proclaimed the new constitution on May 6, 1947. While it recognized him as the "spiritual head of the state," it reduced him to the status of a constitutional monarch, and it left unclear the extent to which he could play an active role in the politics of the nation. Sihanouk would turn this ambiguity to his advantage in later years, however.<br />
</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">In the December 1947 elections for the National Assembly, the Democrats again won a large majority. Despite this, dissension within the party was rampant. Its founder, Sisowath Yuthevong, had died and no clear leader had emerged to succeed him. During the period 1948 to 1949, the Democrats appeared united only in their opposition to legislation sponsored by the king or his appointees. A major issue was the king's receptivity to independence within the French Union, proposed in a draft treaty offered by the French in late 1948. Following dissolution of the National Assembly in September 1949, agreement on the pact was reached through an exchange of letters between King Sihanouk and the French government. It went into effect two months later, though National Assembly ratification of the treaty was never secured.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
The treaty granted Cambodia what Sihanouk called "fifty percent independence": by it, the colonial relationship was formally ended, and the Cambodians were given control of most administrative functions. Cambodian armed forces were granted freedom of action within a self-governing autonomous zone comprising Battambang and Siemreab provinces, which had been recovered from Thailand after World War II, but which the French, hard-pressed elsewhere, did not have the resources to control. Cambodia was still required to coordinate foreign policy matters with the High Council of the French Union, however, and France retained a significant measure of control over the judicial system, finances, and customs. Control of wartime military operations outside the autonomous zone remained in French hands. France was also permitted to maintain military bases on Cambodian territory. In 1950 Cambodia was accorded diplomatic recognition by the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States" title="United States">United States</a> and by most non-communist powers, but in Asia only Thailand and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Korea" title="South Korea">South Korea</a> extended recognition.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
The Democrats won a majority in the second National Assembly election in September 1951, and they continued their policy of opposing the king on practically all fronts. In an effort to win greater popular approval, Sihanouk asked the French to release nationalist Son Ngoc Thanh from exile and to allow him to return to his country. He made a triumphant entry into Phnom Penh on October 29, 1951. It was not long, however, before he began demanding withdrawal of French troops from Cambodia. He reiterated this demand in early 1952 in <i>Khmer Krok</i> (Khmer Awake!) a weekly newspaper that he had founded. The newspaper was forced to cease publication in March, and Son Ngoc Thanh fled the capital with a few armed followers to join the Khmer Issarak. Branded alternately a communist and an agent of the United States <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Intelligence_Agency" title="Central Intelligence Agency">Central Intelligence Agency</a> (CIA) by Sihanouk, he remained in exile until <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lon_Nol" title="Lon Nol">Lon Nol</a> established the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khmer_Republic" title="Khmer Republic">Khmer Republic</a> in 1970.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=4611343706898552392" id="The_campaign_for_independence" name="The_campaign_for_independence"></a></div><h2 style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The campaign for independence</h2><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">In June 1952, Sihanouk announced the dismissal of his cabinet, suspended the constitution, and assumed control of the government as prime minister. Then, without clear constitutional sanction, he dissolved the National Assembly and proclaimed martial law in January 1953. Sihanouk exercised direct rule for almost three years, from June 1952 until February 1955. After dissolution of the assembly, he created an Advisory Council to supplant the legislature and appointed his father, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norodom_Suramarit" title="Norodom Suramarit">Norodom Suramarit</a>, as regent.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
In March 1953, Sihanouk went to France. Ostensibly, he was traveling for his health; actually, he was mounting an intensive campaign to persuade the French to grant complete independence. The climate of opinion in Cambodia at the time was such that if he did not achieve full independence quickly, the people were likely to turn to Son Ngoc Thanh and the Khmer Issarak, who were fully committed to attaining that goal. At meetings with the French president and with other high officials, Sihanouk was suggested as being unduly "alarmist" about internal political conditions. The French also made the thinly veiled threat that, if he continued to be uncooperative, they might replace him. The trip appeared to be a failure, but on his way home by way of the United States, Canada, and Japan, Sihanouk publicized Cambodia's plight in the media.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
To further dramatize his "royal crusade for independence," Sihanouk, declaring that he would not return until the French gave assurances that full independence would be granted. He then left Phnom Penh in June to go into self-imposed exile in Thailand. Unwelcome in Bangkok, he moved to his royal villa near the ruins of Angkor in Siemreab Province. Siemreab, part of the autonomous military zone established in 1949, was commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Lon Nol, formerly a right-wing politician who was becoming a prominent, and in time would be an indispensable Sihanouk ally within the military. From his Siemreab base, the king and Lon Nol contemplated plans for resistance if the French did not meet their terms.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
Sihanouk was making a high-stakes gamble, for the French could easily have replaced him with a more pliable monarch; however, the military situation was deteriorating throughout Indochina, and the French government, on July 3, 1953, declared itself ready to grant full independence to the three states of Cambodia, Vietnam, and Laos. Sihanouk insisted on his own terms, which included full control of national defense, the police, the courts, and financial matters. The French yielded: the police and the judiciary were transferred to Cambodian control at the end of August, and in October the country assumed full command of its military forces. King Sihanouk, now a hero in the eyes of his people, returned to Phnom Penh in triumph, and independence day was celebrated on <span title="1953-11-09"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/November_9" title="November 9">9 November</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1953" title="1953">1953</a></span>. Control of residual matters affecting sovereignty, such as financial and budgetary affairs, passed to the new Cambodian state in 1954.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div>Nanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17149283539654033740noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4611343706898552392.post-36530635560221268412009-09-04T00:13:00.000-07:002009-09-04T00:13:30.106-07:00Dark Ages: 1618-1863<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The <b>Dark Ages of Cambodia</b>, covers the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Cambodia" title="History of Cambodia">history of Cambodia</a> from the fifteenth to the nineteenth century, a period of continued decline and territorial loss. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambodia" title="Cambodia">Cambodia</a> enjoyed a brief period of prosperity during the sixteenth century because its kings, who built their capitals in the region southeast of the <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tonle_Sap" title="Tonle Sap">Tonle Sap</a> along the <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mekong_River" title="Mekong River">Mekong River</a>, promoted trade with other parts of Asia. This was the period when <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spain" title="Spain">Spanish</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portugal" title="Portugal">Portuguese</a> adventurers and missionaries first visited the country. But the Siamese conquest of the new capital at <a class="new" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Longvek&action=edit&redlink=1" title="Longvek (page does not exist)">Longvek</a> in 1594 marked a downturn in the country's fortunes and Cambodia became a pawn in power struggles between its two increasingly powerful neighbors, Siam and Vietnam. Vietnam's settlement of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mekong_Delta" title="Mekong Delta">Mekong Delta</a> led to its annexation of that area at the end of the seventeenth century. Cambodia thereby lost some of its richest territory and was cut off from the sea. Such foreign encroachments continued through the first half of the nineteenth century because Vietnam was determined to absorb Khmer land and to force the inhabitants to accept Vietnamese culture. </div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><h2 style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span class="mw-headline">Cambodia's Struggle for Survival, 1432-1863</span></h2><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The more than four centuries that passed from the abandonment of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angkor" title="Angkor">Angkor</a> around the mid-15th century to the establishment of a protectorate under the French in 1863 are considered by historians to be Cambodia's "Dark Ages," a period of economic, social, and cultural stagnation when the kingdom's internal affairs came increasingly under the control of its neighbors, the Thai (Siam) and the Vietnamese. By the mid-19th century, Cambodia had become an almost helpless pawn in the power struggles between <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siam" title="Siam">Siam</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnam" title="Vietnam">Vietnam</a> and probably would have been completely absorbed by one or the other if <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/France" title="France">France</a> had not intervened, giving Cambodia a colonially dominated "lease on life."</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Fear of racial and cultural extinction has persisted as a major theme in modern Cambodian thought and helps to explain the intense <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nationalism" title="Nationalism">nationalism</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xenophobia" title="Xenophobia">xenophobia</a> of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khmer_Rouge" title="Khmer Rouge">Khmer Rouge</a> during the 1970s. Establishment in 1979 of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People%27s_Republic_of_Kampuchea" title="People's Republic of Kampuchea">People's Republic of Kampuchea</a>, a Vietnamese-dominated <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satellite_state" title="Satellite state">satellite state</a>, can be seen as the culmination of a process of Vietnamese encroachment that was already well under way by the seventeenth century.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The process of internal decay and foreign encroachment was gradual rather than precipitous and was hardly evident in the fifteenth century when the Khmer were still powerful. Following the fall of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angkor_Thom" title="Angkor Thom">Angkor Thom</a>, the Cambodian court abandoned the region north of the <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tonle_Sap" title="Tonle Sap">Tonle Sap</a>, to Siam, never to return except for a brief interlude in the late sixteenth century.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> By this time however, the Khmer penchant for monument building had ceased. Older faiths such as <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahayana_Buddhism" title="Mahayana Buddhism">Mahayana Buddhism</a> and the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hindu" title="Hindu">Hindu</a> cult of the god-king had been supplanted by <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theravada_Buddhism" title="Theravada Buddhism">Theravada Buddhism</a>, and the Cambodians had become part of the same religious and cultural cosmos as the Siamese. This similarity did not prevent intermittent warfare between the two kingdoms, however. During the sixteenth century Cambodian armies, taking advantage of Siamese troubles with the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burma" title="Burma">Burmese</a>, unsuccessfully invaded the Siamese kingdom several times.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">In the meantime, following the abandonment of the Angkorian sites, the few remaining Khmer survivors, with Siamese help, established a new capital several hundred kilometers to the southeast on the site of what is now <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phnom_Penh" title="Phnom Penh">Phnom Penh</a>. </div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">This new center of power was located at the confluence of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mekong" title="Mekong">Mekong</a> and the Tonle Sab rivers. Thus, it controlled the river commerce of the Khmer heartland and the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laos" title="Laos">Laotian kingdoms</a> and had access, by way of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mekong_Delta" title="Mekong Delta">Mekong Delta</a>, to the international <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trade_route" title="Trade route">trade routes</a> that linked the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China" title="China">China</a> coast, the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_China_Sea" title="South China Sea">South China Sea</a>, and the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Ocean" title="Indian Ocean">Indian Ocean</a>. A new kind of state and society emerged, more open to the outside world and more dependent on commerce as a source of wealth than its inland predecessor. The growth of maritime trade with China during the <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ming_dynasty" title="Ming dynasty">Ming dynasty</a> (1368-1644) provided lucrative opportunities for members of the Cambodian elite who controlled royal trading monopolies. The appearance of Europeans in the region in the sixteenth century also stimulated commerce.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">King <a class="new" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ang_Chan&action=edit&redlink=1" title="Ang Chan (page does not exist)">Ang Chan</a> (1516-1566), one of the few great Khmer monarchs of the post-Angkorian period, moved the capital from Phnom Penh to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lovek" title="Lovek">Lovek</a>. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portugal" title="Portugal">Portuguese</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spain" title="Spain">Spanish</a> travelers who visited the city, located on the banks of the Tonle Sab, a river north of Phnom Penh, described it as a place of fabulous wealth. The products traded there included precious stones, metals, silk and cotton, incense, ivory, lacquer, livestock (including elephants), and rhinoceros horn (prized by the Chinese as a rare and potent medicine). By the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, Lovek contained flourishing foreign trading communities of Chinese, <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indonesians" title="Indonesians">Indonesians</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malays_%28ethnic_group%29" title="Malays (ethnic group)">Malays</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_people" title="Japanese people">Japanese</a>, <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabs" title="Arabs">Arabs</a>, Spanish, and Portuguese. They were joined later in the century by the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_people" title="English people">English</a> and the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutch_people" title="Dutch people">Dutch</a>.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Because the representatives of practically all these nationalities were pirates, adventurers, or traders, this was an era of stormy cosmopolitanism. Hard-pressed by the Siamese, to repay his debts, King Sattha (1576-94) surrounded himself with a personal guard of Spanish and Portuguese mercenaries, and in 1593 asked the Spanish governor of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippines" title="Philippines">Philippines</a> for aid. Attracted by the prospects of establishing a Spanish protectorate in Cambodia and of converting the monarch to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity" title="Christianity">Christianity</a>, the governor sent a force of 120 men, but Lovek had already fallen to the Siamese when they arrived the following year. The Spanish took advantage of the extremely confused situation to place one of Sattha's sons on the throne in 1597. Hopes of making the country a Spanish dependency were dashed, however, when the Spaniards were massacred two years later by an equally belligerent contingent of Malay mercenaries.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The Siamese, however, had dealt a fatal blow to Cambodian independence by capturing Lovek in 1594. With the posting of a Siamese <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_governor" title="Military governor">military governor</a> in the city, a degree of foreign political control was established over the kingdom for the first time. Cambodian chronicles describe the fall of Lovek as a catastrophe from which the nation never fully recovered. Siam ruled Cambodia for most of the next 300 years, finally losing Angkor Wat to the French in 1907 after holding it for over 450 years.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="" id="Domination_by_Siam_and_by_Vietnam" name="Domination_by_Siam_and_by_Vietnam"></a></div><h2 style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span class="editsection"></span><span class="mw-headline">Domination by Siam and by Vietnam</span></h2><div class="thumb tright" style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> <div class="thumbinner" style="width: 252px;"><a class="image" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:VietnamTrinhNguyen1.gif" title="Cambodia around the 1650s"><img alt="" class="thumbimage" height="416" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a9/VietnamTrinhNguyen1.gif" width="250" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"> Cambodia around the 1650s</div></div></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">More than their conquest of Angkor a century and a half earlier, the Siamese capture of Lovek marked the beginning of a decline in Cambodia's fortunes. One possible reason for the decline was the labor drain imposed by the Siamese conquerors as they marched thousands of Khmer peasants, skilled artisans, scholars, and members of the Buddhist clergy back to their capital of Ayutthaya. This practice, common in the history of Southeast Asia, crippled Cambodia's ability to recover a semblance of its former greatness. A new Khmer capital was established at Odongk (Udong), south of Lovek, but its monarchs could survive only by entering into what amounted to vassal relationships with the Siamese and with the Vietnamese. In common parlance, Siam became Cambodia's "father" and Vietnam its "mother."</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">By the late fifteenth century, the Vietnamese - who, unlike other Southeast Asian peoples, had patterned their culture and their civilization on those of China - had defeated the once powerful kingdom of Champa in central Vietnam. Thousands of Chams fled into Khmer territory. By the early seventeenth century, the Vietnamese had reached the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mekong_Delta" title="Mekong Delta">Mekong Delta</a>, which was inhabited by Khmer people. In 1620 the Khmer king <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chey_Chettha_II" title="Chey Chettha II">Chey Chettha II</a> (1618-28) married a daughter of <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nguyen_Phuc_Nguyen" title="Nguyen Phuc Nguyen">Nguyen Phuc Nguyen</a>, one of the <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nguyen_lords" title="Nguyen lords">Nguyen lords</a> (1558- 1778), who ruled southern Vietnam for most of the period of the <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_dynasty" title="Le dynasty">Le dynasty</a> (1428-1788). Three years later, Chey Chettha allowed the Vietnamese to establish a custom-house at <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prey_Nokor" title="Prey Nokor">Prey Nokor</a>, near what is now <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ho_Chi_Minh_City" title="Ho Chi Minh City">Ho Chi Minh City</a> (until 1975, Saigon). By the end of the seventeenth century, the region was under Vietnamese administrative control, and Cambodia was cut off from access to the sea. Trade with the outside world was possible only with Vietnamese permission.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">There were periods in the seventeenth and the eighteenth centuries, when Cambodia's neighbors were preoccupied with internal or external strife, that afforded the beleaguered country a breathing spell. The Vietnamese were involved in a lengthy civil war until 1672 (see the <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trinh-Nguyen_War" title="Trinh-Nguyen War">Trinh-Nguyen War</a> for details), but upon its conclusion the <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nguyen_Lords" title="Nguyen Lords">Nguyen Lords</a>, who ruled in the south, promptly annexed sizable areas of Cambodian territory in the region of the Mekong Delta. For the next one hundred years they used the alleged mistreatment of Vietnamese colonists in the delta as a pretext for their continued expansion. By the end of the eighteenth century, they had extended their control to include the area encompassed in the late 1980s by the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (Vietnam).</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Siam, which might otherwise have been courted as an ally against Vietnamese incursions in the eighteenth century, was itself involved in a new conflict with Burma. In 1767 the Siamese capital of Ayutthaya was besieged and destroyed. The Siamese quickly recovered, however, and soon reasserted their dominion over Cambodia. The youthful <a class="new" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Khmer_king&action=edit&redlink=1" title="Khmer king (page does not exist)">Khmer king</a>, <a class="new" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ang_Eng&action=edit&redlink=1" title="Ang Eng (page does not exist)">Ang Eng</a> (1779-96), a refugee at the Siamese court, was installed as monarch at Odongk by Siamese troops. At the same time, Siam quietly annexed Cambodia's three northernmost provinces. In addition, the local rulers of the northwestern provinces of Batdambang and Siemreab (Siemreap) became vassals of the Siamese king, and these areas came under the Siamese sphere of influence.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">A renewed struggle between Siam and Vietnam for control of Cambodia in the nineteenth century resulted in a period when Vietnamese officials, working through a puppet Cambodian king, ruled the central part of the country and attempted to force Cambodians to adopt Vietnamese customs. Several rebellions against Vietnamese rule ensued. The most important of these occurred in 1840 to 1841 and spread through much of the country. After <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siamese-Vietnamese_War_%281841-1845%29" title="Siamese-Vietnamese War (1841-1845)">two years of fighting</a>, Cambodia and its two neighbors reached an accord that placed the country under the joint suzerainty of Siam and Vietnam. At the behest of both countries, a new monarch, Ang Duong (1848-59), ascended the throne and brought a decade of peace and relative independence to Cambodia.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">In their arbitrary treatment of the Khmer population, the Siamese and the Vietnamese were virtually indistinguishable. The suffering and the dislocation caused by war were comparable in many ways to similar Cambodian experiences in the 1970s. But the Siamese and the Vietnamese had fundamentally different attitudes concerning their relationships with Cambodia. The Siamese shared with the Khmer a common religion, mythology, literature, and culture. The Chakri kings at Bangkok wanted Cambodia's loyalty, tribute and land, but they had no intention of challenging or changing its people's values or way of life. The Vietnamese viewed the Khmer people as barbarians to be civilized through exposure to Vietnamese culture, and they regarded the fertile Khmer lands as legitimate sites for colonization by settlers from Vietnam.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="" id="The_French_Protectorate_1863-1953" name="The_French_Protectorate_1863-1953"></a></div><h2 style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span class="editsection"></span><span class="mw-headline">The French Protectorate 1863-1953</span></h2><div class="rellink noprint relarticle mainarticle" style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Main article: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colonial_Cambodia" title="Colonial Cambodia">Colonial Cambodia</a></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">France's interest in Indochina in the nineteenth century grew out of its rivalry with Britain, which had excluded it from India and had effectively shut it out of other parts of mainland Southeast Asia. The French also desired to establish commerce in a region that promised so much untapped wealth and to redress the Vietnamese state's persecution of Catholic converts, whose welfare was a stated aim of French overseas policy. The Nguyen dynasty's repeated refusal to establish diplomatic relations and the violently anti-Christian policies of the emperors Minh Mang (1820- 41), Thieu Tri (1841-47), and Tu Duc (1848-83) impelled the French to engage in gunboat diplomacy that resulted, in 1862, in the establishment of French dominion over Saigon and over the three eastern provinces of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cochinchina" title="Cochinchina">Cochinchina</a> (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mekong_Delta" title="Mekong Delta">Mekong Delta</a>) region.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">In the view of the government in Paris, Cambodia was a promising backwater. Persuaded by a missionary envoy to seek French protection against both the Thai and the Vietnamese, King Ang Duong invited a French diplomatic mission to visit his court. The Thai, however, pressured him to refuse to meet with the French when they finally arrived at Odongk in 1856. The much-publicized travels of the naturalist Henri Mouhot, who visited the Cambodian court, rediscovered the ruins at Angkor, and journeyed up the Mekong River to the Laotian kingdom of Luang Prabang from 1859 to 1861, piqued French interest in the kingdom's alleged vast riches and in the value of the Mekong as a gateway to China's southwestern provinces. In August 1863, the French concluded a treaty with Ang Duong's successor, Norodom (1859-1904). </div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">This agreement afforded the Cambodian monarch French protection (in the form of a French official called a résident--in French resident) in exchange for giving the French rights to explore and to exploit the kingdom's mineral and forest resources. Norodom's coronation, in 1864, was an awkward affair at which both French and Thai representatives officiated. Although the Thai attempted to thwart the expansion of French influence, their own influence over the monarch steadily dwindled. In 1867 the French concluded a treaty with the Thai that gave the latter control of Batdambang Province and of Siemreab Province in exchange for their renunciation of all claims of suzerainty over other parts of Cambodia. Loss of the northwestern provinces deeply upset Norodom, but he was beholden to the French for sending military aid to suppress a rebellion by a royal pretender.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">In June 1884, the French governor of Cochinchina went to Phnom Penh, Norodom's capital, and demanded approval of a treaty with Paris that promised far-reaching changes such as the abolition of slavery, the institution of private land ownership, and the establishment of French résidents in provincial cities. Mindful of a French gunboat anchored in the river, the king reluctantly signed the agreement. Local elites opposed its provisions, however, especially the one dealing with slavery, and they fomented rebellions throughout the country during the following year. Though the rebellions were suppressed, and the treaty was ratified, passive resistance on the part of the Cambodians postponed implementation of the reforms it embodied until after Norodom's death.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-0"></sup></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-0"></sup></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-0"></sup></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-0"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_ages_of_Cambodia#cite_note-0"><span></span><span></span></a></sup></div>Nanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17149283539654033740noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4611343706898552392.post-13161021485526047722009-09-04T00:06:00.000-07:002009-09-04T00:06:05.404-07:00Khmer Empire: 802-1431<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;">The <b>Khmer Empire</b> was the second largest <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empire" title="Empire">empire</a> of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southeast_Asia" title="Southeast Asia">South East Asia</a> (the largest empire is <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Srivijaya" title="Srivijaya">Srivijaya</a>), based in what is now <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambodia" title="Cambodia">Cambodia</a>. The empire, which seceded from the kingdom of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chenla" title="Chenla">Chenla</a>, at times ruled over and/or vassalised parts of modern-day <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laos" title="Laos">Laos</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thailand" title="Thailand">Thailand</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnam" title="Vietnam">Vietnam</a>, <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myanmar" title="Myanmar">Myanmar</a>, and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malaysia" title="Malaysia">Malaysia</a>. During the formation of the empire, Khmer had close cultural, political and trade relations with <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Java" title="Java">Java</a>, and later with <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Srivijaya" title="Srivijaya">Srivijaya</a> empire that lay beyond Khmer's southern border. Its greatest legacy is <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angkor" title="Angkor">Angkor</a>, which was the capital during the empire's zenith. Angkor bears testimony to the Khmer empire's immense power and wealth, as well as the variety of belief systems that it patronised over time. </div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
The empire's official religions included <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hinduism" title="Hinduism">Hinduism</a> and <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahayana_Buddhism" title="Mahayana Buddhism">Mahayana Buddhism</a>, until <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theravada_Buddhism" title="Theravada Buddhism">Theravada Buddhism</a> prevailed after its introduction from <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sri_Lanka" title="Sri Lanka">Sri Lanka</a> in the 13th century. Modern satellites have revealed Angkor to be the largest pre-industrial urban center in the world, larger than modern day New York. The history of Angkor as the central area of settlement of the historical kingdom of Kambuja is also the history of the Khmer from the 9th to the 15th centuries.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;">From Kambuja itself - and so also from the Angkor region - no written records have survived other than stone inscriptions. Therefore the current knowledge of the historical Khmer civilization is derived primarily from:</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"></div><ul style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><li>archaeological excavation, reconstruction and investigation</li>
<li>inscriptions on stela and on stones in the temples, which report on the political and religious deeds of the kings</li>
<li>reliefs in a series of temple walls with depictions of military marches, life in the palace, market scenes and also the everyday lives of the population</li>
<li>reports and chronicles of Chinese diplomats, traders and travellers.</li>
</ul><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;">The beginning of the era of the Khmer kingdom of Angkor is conventionally dated to 802. In this year, king Jayavarman II had himself declared "Chakravartin" (king of the world).</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"></div><h2 style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;">History</h2><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=4611343706898552392" id="Jayavarman_II_-_the_founder_of_Angkor" name="Jayavarman_II_-_the_founder_of_Angkor"></a></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"></div><h3 style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"> Jayavarman II - the founder of Angkor</h3><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jayavarman_II" title="Jayavarman II">Jayavarman II</a> lived as a prince at the court of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sailendra" title="Sailendra">Sailendra</a> in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Java" title="Java">Java</a>, whether as a royal hostage of Java's vassal kingdom, or for his education (or both), has not yet been established. Thus he brought the art and culture of Javanese Sailendran court to Cambodia. After he eventually returned to his home, the former kingdom of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chenla" title="Chenla">Chenla</a>, he quickly built up his influence, conquered a series of competing kings, and in 790 became king of a kingdom called "Kambuja" by the Khmer. In the following years he extended his territory and eventually established his new capital of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hariharalaya" title="Hariharalaya">Hariharalaya</a> near the modern Cambodian town of Roluos. He thereby laid the foundation of Angkor, which was to arise some 15 km to the northwest. In 802 he declared himself Chakravartin, in a ritual taken from the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/India" title="India">Indian</a>-Hindu tradition. Thereby he not only became the divinely appointed and therefore uncontested ruler, but also simultaneously declared the independence of his kingdom from <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Java" title="Java">Java</a>. Jayavarman II died in the year 834.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=4611343706898552392" id="Yasodharapura_-_the_first_city_of_Angkor" name="Yasodharapura_-_the_first_city_of_Angkor"></a></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"></div><h3 style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;">Yasodharapura - the first city of Angkor</h3><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;">Jayavarman II's successors continually extended the territory of Kambuja. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indravarman_I" title="Indravarman I">Indravarman I</a> (reigned 877 - 889) managed to expand the kingdom without wars, and he began extensive building projects, thanks to the wealth gained through trade and agriculture. Foremost were the temple of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preah_Ko" title="Preah Ko">Preah Ko</a> and irrigation works. He was followed by his son <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yasovarman_I" title="Yasovarman I">Yasovarman I</a> (reigned 889 - 915), who established a new capital, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yasodharapura" title="Yasodharapura">Yasodharapura</a> - the first city of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angkor" title="Angkor">Angkor</a>.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;">The city's central temple was built on <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phnom_Bakheng" title="Phnom Bakheng">Phnom Bakheng</a>, a hill which rises around 60 m above the plain on which Angkor sits. Under Yasovarman I the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Baray" title="East Baray">East Baray</a> was also created, a massive water reservoir of 7.5 by 1.8 km.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"></div><div class="thumb tright" style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><div class="thumbinner" style="width: 152px;"><a class="image" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Cambodia-buddha-11thcentury.jpg" title="11th century Cambodian sculpture of the Buddha"><img alt="" class="thumbimage" height="200" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f7/Cambodia-buddha-11thcentury.jpg/150px-Cambodia-buddha-11thcentury.jpg" width="150" /></a> <br />
<div class="thumbcaption">11th century Cambodian sculpture of the Buddha</div></div></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"></div><div class="thumb tright" style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><div class="thumbinner" style="width: 182px;"><a class="image" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Bayon_Angkor_Relief1.jpg" title="A 12 or 13th century relief at the Bayon temple in Angkor depicts the Khmer army going to war against the Cham."><img alt="" class="thumbimage" height="135" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5b/Bayon_Angkor_Relief1.jpg/180px-Bayon_Angkor_Relief1.jpg" width="180" /></a> <br />
<div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a class="internal" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Bayon_Angkor_Relief1.jpg" title="Enlarge"><br />
</a></div>A 12 or 13th century relief at the Bayon temple in Angkor depicts the Khmer army going to war against the Cham.</div></div></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
At the beginning of the 10th century the kingdom split. Jayavarman IV established a new capital at <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koh_Ker" title="Koh Ker">Koh Ker</a>, some 100 km northeast of Angkor. Only with <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rajendravarman_II" title="Rajendravarman II">Rajendravarman II</a> (reigned 944 - 968) was the royal palace returned to Yasodharapura. He took up again the extensive building schemes of the earlier kings and established a series of temples in the Angkor area; not the least being the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Mebon" title="East Mebon">East Mebon</a>, on an island in the middle of the East Baray, and several Buddhist temples and monasteries. In 950 the first war took place between Kambuja and the kingdom of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Champa" title="Champa">Champa</a> to the east (in the modern central <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnam" title="Vietnam">Vietnam</a>).</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
From 968 to 1001 reigned the son of Rajendravarman II, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jayavarman_V" title="Jayavarman V">Jayavarman V</a>. After he had established himself as the new king over the other princes, his rule was a largely peaceful period, marked by prosperity and a cultural flowering. He established a new capital near Yashodharapura, Jayenanagari. At the court of Jayavarman V lived philosophers, scholars and artists. New temples were also established: the most important of these are <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banteay_Srei" title="Banteay Srei">Banteay Srei</a>, considered one of the most beautiful and artistic of Angkor, and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ta_Keo" title="Ta Keo">Ta Keo</a>, the first temple of Angkor built completely of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandstone" title="Sandstone">sandstone</a>.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
After the death of Jayavarman V a decade of conflict followed. Kings reigned only for a few years, and were successively violently replaced by their successors until eventually <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suryavarman_I" title="Suryavarman I">Suryavarman I</a> (reigned 1010 - 1050) gained the throne. His rule was marked by repeated attempts by his opponents to overthrow him and by military conquests. In the west he extended the kingdom to the modern <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lopburi" title="Lopburi">Lopburi</a> in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thailand" title="Thailand">Thailand</a>, in the south to the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kra_Isthmus" title="Kra Isthmus">Kra Isthmus</a>. At Angkor, construction of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Baray" title="West Baray">West Baray</a> began under Suryavarman I, the second and even larger {8 by 2.2 km) water reservoir after the Eastern Baray.No one knows if he had children or wives</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=4611343706898552392" id="Suryavarman_II_-_Angkor_Wat" name="Suryavarman_II_-_Angkor_Wat"></a></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"></div><h3 style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"> Suryavarman II - Angkor Wat</h3><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
The 11th century was a time of conflict and brutal power struggles. Only with <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suryavarman_II" title="Suryavarman II">Suryavarman II</a> (reigned 1113 - 1150) was the kingdom united internally and extended externally. Under his rule, the largest temple of Angkor was built in a period of 37 years: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angkor_Wat" title="Angkor Wat">Angkor Wat</a>, dedicated to the god <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vishnu" title="Vishnu">Vishnu</a>. Suryavarman II conquered the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mon_people" title="Mon people">Mon</a> kingdom of <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haripunjaya" title="Haripunjaya">Haripunjaya</a> to the west (in today's central Thailand), and the area further west to the border with the kingdom of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bagan" title="Bagan">Bagan</a> (modern <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burma" title="Burma">Burma</a>), in the south further parts of the <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malay_peninsula" title="Malay peninsula">Malay peninsula</a> down to the kingdom of <a class="new" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Grahi&action=edit&redlink=1" title="Grahi (page does not exist)">Grahi</a> (corresponding roughly to the modern Thai province of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nakhon_Si_Thammarat" title="Nakhon Si Thammarat">Nakhon Si Thammarat</a>), in the east several provinces of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Champa" title="Champa">Champa</a> and the countries in the north as far as the southern border of modern <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laos" title="Laos">Laos</a>. Suryavarman II's end is unclear.<br />
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The last inscription, which mentions his name in connection with a planned invasion of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnam" title="Vietnam">Vietnam</a>, is from the year 1145. He probably died during a military expedition between 1145 and 1150. There followed another period in which kings reigned briefly and were violently overthrown by their successors. Finally in 1177 Kambuja was defeated in a naval battle on the Tonle Sap lake by the army of the Chams, and was incorporated as a province of Champa.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=4611343706898552392" id="Jayavarman_VII_-_Angkor_Thom" name="Jayavarman_VII_-_Angkor_Thom"></a></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"></div><h3 style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"> Jayavarman VII - Angkor Thom</h3><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a class="image" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Premongol.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;" title="Map of Khmer empire under Jayavarman VII."><img alt="" class="thumbimage" height="200" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4d/Premongol.png/250px-Premongol.png" width="283" /></a></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
The future king <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jayavarman_VII" title="Jayavarman VII">Jayavarman VII</a> (reigned 1181-1219) was already a military leader as prince under previous kings. After the Cham had conquered Angkor, he gathered an army and regained the capital, Yasodharapura. In 1181 he ascended the throne and continued the war against the neighbouring eastern kingdom for a further 22 years, until the Khmer defeated <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Champa" title="Champa">Champa</a> in 1203 and conquered large parts of its territory.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;">Jayavarman VII stands as the last of the great kings of Angkor, not only because of the successful war against the Cham, but also because he was no tyrannical ruler in the manner of his immediate predecessors, because he unified the empire, and above all because of the building projects carried out under his rule.<br />
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The new capital now called <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angkor_Thom" title="Angkor Thom">Angkor Thom</a> (literally: "Great City") was built. In the centre, the king (himself a follower of <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahayana_Buddhism" title="Mahayana Buddhism">Mahayana Buddhism</a>) had constructed as the state temple the Bayon, with its towers bearing faces of the <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boddhisattva" title="Boddhisattva">boddhisattva</a> <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avalokiteshvara" title="Avalokiteshvara">Avalokiteshvara</a>, each several metres high, carved out of stone. Further important temples built under Jayavarman VII were <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ta_Prohm" title="Ta Prohm">Ta Prohm</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banteay_Kdei" title="Banteay Kdei">Banteay Kdei</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neak_Pean" title="Neak Pean">Neak Pean</a>, as well as the reservoir of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Srah_Srang" title="Srah Srang">Srah Srang</a>. Alongside, an extensive network of streets was laid down, which connected every town of the empire. Beside these streets 121 rest-houses were built for traders, officials and travellers. Not least of all, he established 102 hospitals.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=4611343706898552392" id="Zhou_Daguan_-_the_last_blooming" name="Zhou_Daguan_-_the_last_blooming"></a></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"></div><h3 style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"> Zhou Daguan - the last blooming</h3><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;">After the death of Jayavarman VII, his son <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indravarman_II" title="Indravarman II">Indravarman II</a> (reigned 1219-1243) ascended the throne. Like his father, he was a Buddhist, and completed a series of temples begun under his father's rule. As a warrior he was less successful. In the year 1220 the Khmer withdrew from many of the provinces previously conquered from <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Champa" title="Champa">Champa</a>. In the west, his <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thai_people" title="Thai people">Thai</a> subjects rebelled, established the first Thai kingdom at <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sukhothai_kingdom" title="Sukhothai kingdom">Sukhothai</a> and pushed back the Khmer. In the following 200 years, the Thais would become the chief rivals of Kambuja. Indravarman II was succeeded by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jayavarman_VIII" title="Jayavarman VIII">Jayavarman VIII</a> (reigned 1243-1295).<br />
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In contrast to his predecessors, he was a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hindu" title="Hindu">Hindu</a> and an aggressive opponent of Buddhism. He destroyed most of the Buddha statues in the empire (archaeologists estimate the number at over 10,000, of which few traces remain) and converted Buddhist temples to Hindu temples. From the outside, the empire was threatened in 1283 by the <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mongol" title="Mongol">Mongols</a> under <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kublai_Khan" title="Kublai Khan">Kublai Khan</a>'s general <a class="new" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sagatu&action=edit&redlink=1" title="Sagatu (page does not exist)">Sagatu</a>. The king avoided war with his powerful opponent, who at this time ruled over all <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China" title="China">China</a>, by paying annual tribute to him. Jayavarman VIII's rule ended in 1295 when he was deposed by his son-in-law <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Srindravarman" title="Srindravarman">Srindravarman</a> (reigned 1295-1309). The new king was a follower of <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theravada_Buddhism" title="Theravada Buddhism">Theravada Buddhism</a>, a school of Buddhism which had arrived in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southeast_Asia" title="Southeast Asia">southeast Asia</a> from <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sri_Lanka" title="Sri Lanka">Sri Lanka</a> and subsequently spread through most of the region.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
In August of 1296, the Chinese diplomat <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhou_Daguan" title="Zhou Daguan">Zhou Daguan</a> arrived at Angkor, and remained at the court of king Srindravarman until July 1297. He was neither the first nor the last Chinese representative to visit Kambuja. However, his stay is notable because Zhou Daguan later wrote a detailed report on life in Angkor. His portrayal is today one of the most important sources of understanding of historical Angkor. Alongside descriptions of several great temples (the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bayon" title="Bayon">Bayon</a>, the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baphuon" title="Baphuon">Baphuon</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angkor_Wat" title="Angkor Wat">Angkor Wat</a>, for which we have him to thank for the knowledge that the towers of the Bayon were once covered in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gold" title="Gold">gold</a>), the text also offers valuable information on the everyday life and the habits of the inhabitants of Angkor. this was a good source for the emperor</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=4611343706898552392" id="Decline_and_the_end_of_Angkor" name="Decline_and_the_end_of_Angkor"></a></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"></div><h3 style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"> Decline and the end of Angkor</h3><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;">There are few historical records from the time following Srindravarman's reign. The last known inscription on a pillar is from the year 1327. No further large temples were established. Historians suspect a connection with the kings' adoption of <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theravada_Buddhism" title="Theravada Buddhism">Theravada Buddhism</a>: they were therefore no longer considered "devarajas", and there was no need to erect huge temples to them, or rather to the gods under whose protection they stood. The retreat from the concept of the devaraja may also have led to a loss of royal authority and thereby to a lack of workers. The water-management apparatus also degenerated, meaning that harvests were reduced by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flood" title="Flood">floods</a> or <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drought" title="Drought">drought</a>. While previously three rice harvests per years were possible - a substantial contribution to the prosperity and power of Kambuja - the declining harvests further weakened the empire.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
Its western neighbour, the first Thai kingdom of <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sukhothai_kingdom" title="Sukhothai kingdom">Sukhothai</a>,after repelling Angkorian hegemony, was conquered by another stronger Thai kingdom in the lower <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chao_Phraya" title="Chao Phraya">Chao Phraya</a> Basin, <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayutthaya_kingdom" title="Ayutthaya kingdom">Ayutthaya</a>, in 1350. From the fourteenth century, Ayutthaya became Angkor's rival. According to its accounts, Ayutthaya launched several attacks. Eventually it was said, Angkor was subjugated. Siamese army drew back, leaving Angkor ruled by local nobles, loyal to Ayutthaya. The story of Angkor faded from historical accounts from then on. The territory, later called 'Cambodia' and 'South Vietnam' was ruled by Siam for many centuries, until the arrival of French explorers and their systematic overthrow of local governors.<br />
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To this day, many locations throughout Vietnam and Cambodia have Thai (Tai/Dai) names. Siam Reap (Siam Border) and Talay Sab (big lake) in Cambodia, Dalat (market) in S. Vietnam, Dinh Biec (wet earth) in N. Vietnam being examples.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;">NOTE: There is evidence that the <a class="new" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=%22Black_Death%22&action=edit&redlink=1" title=""Black Death" (page does not exist)">"Black Death"</a> had an impact on the situation described above, as the "plague" first appeared in China around 1330 and reached Europe around 1345. Most seaports along the line of travel from China to Europe felt the impact of the disease, which had a severe impact on life throughout South East Asia.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
The new centre of the Khmer kingdom was in the southwest, at U-Thong (named for the first King of Ayutthaya), in the region of today's <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phnom_Penh" title="Phnom Penh">Phnom Penh</a>. However, there are indications that Angkor was not completely abandoned. One line of Khmer kings could have remained there, while a second moved to Phnom Penh to establish a parallel kingdom. The final fall of Angkor would then be due to the transfer of economic - and therewith political - significance, as Phnom Penh became an important trade centre on the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mekong" title="Mekong">Mekong</a>. Costly construction projects and conflicts over power between the royal family sealed the end of the Khmer empire.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
<a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecological" title="Ecological">Ecological</a> failure and <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infrastructural" title="Infrastructural">infrastructural</a> breakdown is a new alternative answer to the end of the Khmer Empire. The Great Angkor Project believe that the Khmers had an elaborate system of reservoirs and canals used for trade, travel and irrigation. The canals were used for the harvesting of rice. As the population grew there was more strain on the water system. Failures include water shortage and flooding. To adapt to the growing population, trees were cut down from the Kulen hills and cleared out for more rice fields. That created rain runoff carrying sediment to the canal network. Any damage to the water system would leave an enormous amount of consequences.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
In any event, there is evidence for a further period of use for Angkor. Under the rule of king <a class="new" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Barom_Reachea_I&action=edit&redlink=1" title="Barom Reachea I (page does not exist)">Barom Reachea I</a> (reigned 1566 - 1576), who temporarily succeeded in driving back the Thai, the royal court was briefly returned to Angkor. From the 17th century there are inscriptions which testify to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japan" title="Japan">Japanese</a> settlements alongside those of the remaining Khmer.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"></div><div class="thumb tright" style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><a class="image" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Japan_angkor.JPG" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" title="A plan of Angkor Wat created by a Japanese pilgrim from c. 1623 to 1636"><img alt="" class="thumbimage" height="162" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0e/Japan_angkor.JPG/180px-Japan_angkor.JPG" style="cursor: move;" width="180" /></a><div class="thumbinner" style="width: 182px;"> <br />
<div class="thumbcaption" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: left;"><div class="magnify"><a class="internal" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Japan_angkor.JPG" title="Enlarge"></a><span style="font-size: x-small;">A plan of Angkor Wat created by a Japanese pilgrim from c. 1623 to 1636</span></div></div></div></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"></div>Nanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17149283539654033740noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4611343706898552392.post-81572929942767584572009-09-03T23:53:00.000-07:002009-09-03T23:53:18.173-07:00Chenla: 550-802<b>Chenla</b> (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khmer_language" title="Khmer language">Khmer</a>: <span lang="km">ចេនឡា</span>), known as <i>Zhenla</i> (<a class="extiw" href="http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E7%9C%9F" title="wikt:真">真</a><a class="extiw" href="http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E8%85%8A" title="wikt:腊">腊</a>) in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_language" title="Chinese language">Chinese</a> and <i>Chân Lạp</i> in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnamese_language" title="Vietnamese language">Vietnamese</a> (which is the Sino-Vietnamese pronunciation of 真腊), was an early <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khmer_people" title="Khmer people">Khmer</a> kingdom.<br />
At first a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vassal" title="Vassal">vassal</a> state to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Funan" title="Funan">Funan</a> (circa AD 550), over the next 60 years it achieved its independence and eventually conquered all of Funan, absorbing its people and culture. The weakening of the Funan state at this time can largely be explained by distant events: the collapse of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Empire" title="Roman Empire">Roman Empire</a> and subsequently trade routes between the Mediterranean and China.<br />
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In 613, <a class="new" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Isanapura&action=edit&redlink=1" title="Isanapura (page does not exist)">Isanapura</a> became the first capital of the new empire. Chenla later divided into northern and southern states, known as "Chenla of the Land" and "Chenla of the Sea," respectively. The <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Champasak_Province" title="Champasak Province">Champassak</a> province of modern-day <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laos" title="Laos">Laos</a> was the center of the northern part, while the territory of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mekong_Delta" title="Mekong Delta">Mekong Delta</a> and the coast belonged to the southern part. Several smaller states broke off from Northern and Southern Chenla in 715, further weakening the region.<br />
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<h2>History</h2>Khmers, who are believed to be vassals of Funan had reached the <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mekong_River" title="Mekong River">Mekong River</a> from the northern <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Menam_River" title="Menam River">Menam River</a> via the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mun_River" title="Mun River">Mun River</a> Valley. Chenla, their first independent state developed out of Funan, absorbing Funanese influence.<br />
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Ancient Chinese records mention two kings, <a class="new" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Shrutavarman&action=edit&redlink=1" title="Shrutavarman (page does not exist)">Shrutavarman</a> and <a class="new" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Shreshthavarman&action=edit&redlink=1" title="Shreshthavarman (page does not exist)">Shreshthavarman</a> who ruled at the capital <a class="new" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Shreshthapura&action=edit&redlink=1" title="Shreshthapura (page does not exist)">Shreshthapura</a> located in modern day southern Laos. The immense influence on the identity of Cambodia to come was wrought by the Khmer Kingdom of <a class="new" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bhavapura&action=edit&redlink=1" title="Bhavapura (page does not exist)">Bhavapura</a>, in the modern day Cambodian city of <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kompong_Thom" title="Kompong Thom">Kompong Thom</a>. Its legacy was its most important sovereign, <a class="new" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ishanavarman&action=edit&redlink=1" title="Ishanavarman (page does not exist)">Ishanavarman</a> who completely conquered the kingdom of Funan during 612-628. He chose his new capital at the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sambor_Prei_Kuk" title="Sambor Prei Kuk">Sambor Prei Kuk</a>, naming it Ishanapura.<br />
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After the death of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jayavarman_I" title="Jayavarman I">Jayavarman I</a> in 681, turmoil came upon the kingdom and at the start of the 8th century, the kingdom broke up into many principalities. <a class="new" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Pushkaraksha&action=edit&redlink=1" title="Pushkaraksha (page does not exist)">Pushkaraksha</a>, the ruler of <a class="new" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Shambhupura&action=edit&redlink=1" title="Shambhupura (page does not exist)">Shambhupura</a> announced himself as king of the entire <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kambuja" title="Kambuja">Kambuja</a>. Chinese chronicles proclaim that in the 8th century, Chenla was split into land Chenla and water Chenla. During this time, <a class="new" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Shambhuvarman&action=edit&redlink=1" title="Shambhuvarman (page does not exist)">Shambhuvarman</a> son of Pushkaraksha controlled most of water Chenla until the 8th century which the <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malayans" title="Malayans">Malayans</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Javanese_people" title="Javanese people">Javanese</a> dominated over many Khmer principalities.Nanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17149283539654033740noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4611343706898552392.post-83361631028458276022009-09-03T23:27:00.000-07:002009-09-03T23:44:05.648-07:00Funan Empire: 68-550<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: #999999; font-size: small;"></span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Funan" title="Funan">Funanese</a> Empire reached its greatest extent under the rule of Fan Shih-man in the early <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3rd_century" title="3rd century">third century</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malaysia" title="Malaysia">Malaysia</a> and as far west as <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burma" title="Burma">Burma</a>. The Funanese established a strong system of mercantilism and commercial monopolies that would become a pattern for empires in the region. Fan Shih-man expanded the fleet and improved the Funanese bureaucracy, creating a quasi-feudal pattern that left local customs and identities largely intact, particularly in the empire's farther reaches. C.E., extending as far south as </span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b>Funan</b> was an ancient pre-<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angkor" title="Angkor">Angkor</a> <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indianized_kingdom" title="Indianized kingdom">Indianized</a> kingdom located around the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mekong_Delta" title="Mekong Delta">Mekong Delta</a>. The ethno-linguistic nature of the people ; wether they were mostly <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mon-Khmer" title="Mon-Khmer">Mon-Khmer</a> or <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Austronesian" title="Austronesian">Austronesian</a>, is the subject of much discussion among specialists.It is believed to have been established in the first century C.E. in the <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mekong_delta" title="Mekong delta">Mekong delta</a>, which today is <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnam" title="Vietnam">Vietnamese</a> territory, although extensive human settlement in the region may have gone back as far as the 4th century B.C.E. Though regarded by Chinese envoys as a single unified empire, Funan may have been a collection of city-states that sometimes warred with one another and at other times constituted a political unity. At its height, Funan and all its principalities covered much of mainland <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southeast_Asia" title="Southeast Asia">Southeast Asia</a>, including within its scope the territory of modern day <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambodia" title="Cambodia">Cambodia</a> and <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_Vietnam" title="Southern Vietnam">Southern Vietnam</a>, as well as parts of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laos" title="Laos">Laos</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thailand" title="Thailand">Thailand</a> and <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myanmar" title="Myanmar">Myanmar</a>, and extending into the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malay_Peninsula" title="Malay Peninsula">Malay Peninsula</a>.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Little is known about Funan, except that it was a powerful trading state, as evidenced by the discovery of <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_empire" title="Roman empire">Roman</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China" title="China">Chinese</a>, and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/India" title="India">Indian</a> goods during archaeological excavations at the ancient port of <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oc_Eo" title="Oc Eo">Oc Eo</a> in southern <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnam" title="Vietnam">Vietnam</a>.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-3"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Funan#cite_note-3"> </a></sup>The capital, initially located at Vyadhapura (<i>City of the Hunter</i>) near the modern Cambodian town of Banam in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prey_Veng_Province" title="Prey Veng Province">Prey Veng Province</a>, may have been moved to Oc Eo at a later time.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-4"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Funan#cite_note-4"> </a></sup> Most of what is known about Funan is from records by Chinese and Cham sources dating from the third to sixth centuries and from archaeological excavations. No archaeological research has been conducted on this state in Cambodia's Mekong Delta in several decades, and it is precisely this region that reputedly housed the capitals of Funan.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b>Origin </b></span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">The race and language of the Funanese are not known, but Chinese records dating from the third century C.E. reveals the same origin myth of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khmer_people" title="Khmer people">Khmer people</a> that survives in modern Khmer folklore.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-6"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Funan#cite_note-6"> </a></sup>In a tenth-century document of the Chinese official Rang Tai's visit to Funan in the middle of the third century C.E. records one of the earliest variants of the legend. In it, Rang Tai learned that the original sovereign of Funan was a woman named Liu-Ye. According to the story, Kaundinya had been given instruction in a dream to take a magic bow from a temple and to embark on a journey. He did so and went to Cambodia, where a local queen (Liu-ye) launched an attack on the Brahmin's boat. With the aid of the divine bow, Kaundinya repelled the attack and persuaded the defeated queen to marry him. Their lineage became the royal dynasty of Funan. A similar account is recorded in the seventh century <i>History of Chin</i>.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">Although the Chinese records shows bias, similar names have been recorded in stone inscriptions at <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Son" title="My Son">My Son</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naga" title="Naga">naga</a> king. A Khmer inscription from the tenth century described the ruling line as descendants of Sri-Kaudinya and the daughter of Soma.The same origin myth in modern Khmer folklore gives the name Preah Thaong to the prince and Neang Neak to the queen. In this version, Preah Thaong arrives by sea to an island marked by a giant thlok tree, native to Cambodia. On the Island, he found the home of the nagas and met Neang Neak, daughter of the naga king. He married her with blessing from her father and returned to the human world. The naga king drank the sea around the island and gave the name Kampuchea Thipdei, which in Sanskrit <i>(Kambuja Dhipati)</i> translates into the king of Kambuja. In another version, it is stated that Preah Thaong fights Neang Neak. The continuation of the same origin myth implies that modern Khmers are descendants of the Funanese people. dating to A.D. 657. In this Cham version, the prince is known as Kaudinya and the queen as Soma, the daughter of the </span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">The first Khmer inscription dated shortly after the fall of Funan and those dating to later dates are concentrated in southern Cambodia suggests that the Khmers already inhabited lowland Cambodia.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The Australian archaeologist,Michael Vickery, has said: “on present evidence it is impossible to assert that Funan as an area and its dominant groups were anything but Khmer”.</span></div><h2 style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">History</span></h2><div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The Funanese Empire reached its greatest extent under the rule of Fan Shih-man in the early third century C.E., extending as far south as present-day <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malaysia" title="Malaysia">Malaysia</a> and as far west as present-day <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myanmar" title="Myanmar">Myanmar</a>. The Funanese established a strong system of mercantilism and commercial monopolies that would become a pattern for empires in the region. Fan Shih-man expanded the fleet and improved the Funanese bureaucracy, creating a quasi-feudal pattern that left local customs and identities largely intact, particularly in the empire's further reaches.</span></div><h2 style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Organization</span></h2><div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Keeping in mind that Funanese records did not survive into the modern period, much of what is known came from archaeological excavation. Excavations yielded discoveries of brick wall structures, precious metals and pottery from southern Cambodia and Vietnam. Also found was a large canal system that linked the settlements of Angkor Borei and coastal outlets; this suggests a highly organized government.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Charles_Holcombe_p._280_19-0"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Funan#cite_note-Charles_Holcombe_p._280-19">[20]</a></sup> Funan, a complex and sophisticated society with a high population density, advanced technology, and a complex social system dominated the area of Cambodia because of the Khmer people's ability to produce food in Cambodia's fertile plains.</span></div><h2 style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Culture</span></h2><div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Funanese culture was a mixture of native beliefs and Indian ideas. The kingdom is said to have been heavily influenced by <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_culture" title="Indian culture">Indian culture</a>, maybe through intermediary kingdoms like <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dvaravati" title="Dvaravati">Dvaravati</a> or <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melayu_Kingdom" title="Melayu Kingdom">Malayu</a>, and to have employed Indians for state administration purposes. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanskrit" title="Sanskrit">Sanskrit</a> was the language at the court, and the Funanese advocated <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hindu" title="Hindu">Hindu</a> and, after the fifth century, <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhist" title="Buddhist">Buddhist</a> religious doctrines. Records show that taxes were paid in silver, gold, pearls, and perfumed wood. K'ang T'ai reported that the Funanese practiced slavery and that justice was rendered through <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trial_by_ordeal" title="Trial by ordeal">trial by ordeal</a>, including such methods as carrying a red-hot iron chain and retrieving gold rings and eggs from boiling water.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">Archaeological evidence largely corresponds to Chinese records. the Chinese described the Funanese as people who lived on stilt houses, cultivated rice and sent tributes of gold, silver, ivory and exotic animals.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">K'ang T'ai's report was unflattering to Funanese civilization, though Chinese court records show that a group of Funanese musicians visited China in 263. The Chinese emperor was so impressed that he ordered the establishment of an institute for Funanese music near <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanking" title="Nanking">Nanking</a>. The Funanese were reported also to have extensive book collections and archives throughout their country, demonstrating a high level of scholarly achievement.</span></div><h2 style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Economy</span></h2><div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Funan was <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southeast_Asia" title="Southeast Asia">Southeast Asia</a>'s first great economy. The Kingdom was rich because of trade and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agriculture" title="Agriculture">agriculture</a>. Funan grew wealthy because it dominated the <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isthmus_of_Kra" title="Isthmus of Kra">Isthmus of Kra</a>, the narrow portion of the Malay peninsula where merchants transported trade goods between <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China" title="China">China</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/India" title="India">India</a>. They use their profits to construct an elaborate system of water storage and irrigation. Citizens lived relaxed lifestyles. The Funanese population was concentrated mainly along the <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mekong_River" title="Mekong River">Mekong River</a>: the area was a natural region for the development of an economy based on <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aquaculture" title="Aquaculture">fishing</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rice" title="Rice">rice cultivation</a>. The Funanese economy depended on <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rice" title="Rice">rice</a> surpluses produced by an extensive inland <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irrigation" title="Irrigation">irrigation</a> system. <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maritime_trade" title="Maritime trade">Maritime trade</a> also played an extremely important role in the development of Funan. Archaeological remnants of what was the kingdom's main port, <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oc_Eo" title="Oc Eo">Oc Eo</a>, were found to include <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Rome" title="Ancient Rome">Roman</a> as well as <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persian_Empire" title="Persian Empire">Persian</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_India" title="History of India">Indian</a>, and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greeks" title="Greeks">Greek</a> artifacts.The German classical scholar Albrecht Dihle believed that Funan’s main port, identified with Oc Eo, was the Kattigara referred to by the second century Alexandrian geographer Ptolemy as the emporium where merchants from the Chinese and Roman empires met to trade. Dihle believed that Oc Eo best fitted the details given by Ptolemy of a voyage made by a Graeco-Roman merchant named Alexander to Kattigara, situated at the easternmost end of the maritime trade route from the eastern Roman Empire. </span></div><h2 style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Legacy</span></h2><div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">King Fan Shih-man, the greatest king of Funan, and his successors sent ambassadors to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China" title="China">China</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/India" title="India">India</a>. The kingdom likely accelerated the process of Indianization into <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southeast_Asia" title="Southeast Asia">Southeast Asia</a>. Later kingdoms of Southeast Asia emulated the Funanese court.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">During its golden age, Funan controlled modern-day southern Vietnam, Cambodia, central Thailand, northern Malaysia, and southern Myanmar. Although Funan collapsed under the pressure of neighboring <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chenla" title="Chenla">Chenla</a>, its capital Vyadhapura remained the largest and most important urban center in the region until <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angkor_Thom" title="Angkor Thom">Angkor Thom</a>.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The Funan kingdom had an efficient navy and rose to prosperity by regulating the sea trade between <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China" title="China">China</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/India" title="India">India</a>. Funan collapsed in the sixth century and was absorbed by the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chenla" title="Chenla">Chenla</a> kingdom who are undeniably <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khmer_people" title="Khmer people">Khmers</a>. Funan is held to be the first Khmer kingdom and the forerunner of the mighty <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khmer_Empire" title="Khmer Empire">Khmer Empire</a>. The Khmers and the Funanese share the same origin myth and under Funan, Cambodia became an indianized polity which had a profound effect on its culture. and </span></div><h2 style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Relations</span></h2><div class="thumb tright" style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><div class="thumbinner" style="width: 302px;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a class="image" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Asia_400ad.jpg" title="Asia in AD 400, showing Funan and its neighbors."><img alt="" class="thumbimage" height="183" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/8/80/Asia_400ad.jpg/300px-Asia_400ad.jpg" width="300" /></a></span> <br />
<div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><span style="font-size: small;">Asia in AD 400, showing Funan and its neighbors.</span></div></div></div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">The French historian <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Coed%C3%A8s" title="George Coedès">George Coedès</a> once hypothesized a relation between the rulers of Funan and the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sailendra" title="Sailendra">Sailendra</a> dynasty of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indonesia" title="Indonesia">Indonesia</a>. Coedès believed that the title of "mountain lord" used by the kings of Sailendra may also have been used by the kings of Funan, since the name "Funan" is related to the Khmer "phnom," which means "mountain."<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-24"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Funan#cite_note-24"> </a></sup>Other scholars have rejected this hypothesis, pointing to the lack of evidence in early Cambodian epigraphy for the use of any such titles. The Funanese also traded with the Liang dynasty of southern China.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">Little is known about Funan's political history apart from its relations with <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China" title="China">China</a>. A brief conflict is recorded to have happened in the 270s, when Funan and its neighbour, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Champa" title="Champa">Champa</a>, joined forces to attack the area of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tonkin" title="Tonkin">Tongking</a> (which was under chinese control at the time), located in what is now modern <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_Vietnam" title="Northern Vietnam">Northern Vietnam</a>. In 357, Funan became a vassal of China, and would continue as such until its disintegration in the sixth century. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chenla" title="Chenla">Chenla</a>, a vassal of Funan eventually absorbed Funan entirely.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
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</span>Nanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17149283539654033740noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4611343706898552392.post-43579178265749432472009-09-03T23:18:00.001-07:002009-09-03T23:47:09.510-07:00History of Cambodia<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Archaeological evidence indicates that parts of the region now called <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambodia" title="Cambodia">Cambodia</a> were inhabited from around 1000-2000 BCE by a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neolithic" title="Neolithic">Neolithic</a> culture that may have migrated from South Eastern China to the Indochinese Peninsula. By the first century CE, the inhabitants had developed relatively stable, organized societies which had far surpassed the primitive stage in culture and technical skills. The most advanced groups lived along the coast and in the lower Mekong River valley and delta regions in houses constructed on stilts where they cultivated rice, fished and kept domesticated animals. </span></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Recent research has unlocked the discovery of artificial circular <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earthworks" title="Earthworks">earthworks</a> dating to Cambodia's <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neolithic" title="Neolithic">Neolithic</a> era.<a class="external text" href="http://muse.jhu.edu/demo/asian_perspectives/v039/39.1albrecht.pdf" rel="nofollow" title="http://muse.jhu.edu/demo/asian_perspectives/v039/39.1albrecht.pdf">1</a> The <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khmer_people" title="Khmer people">Khmer people</a> were one of the first inhabitants of South East Asia. They were also among the first in <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_East_Asia" title="South East Asia">South East Asia</a> to adopt religious ideas and political institutions from <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_subcontinent" title="Indian subcontinent">India</a> and to establish centralized kingdoms surrounding large territories. The earliest known kingdom in the area, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Funan" title="Funan">Funan</a>, flourished from around the first to the sixth century AD. This was succeeded by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chenla" title="Chenla">Chenla</a>, which controlled large parts of modern <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambodia" title="Cambodia">Cambodia</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnam" title="Vietnam">Vietnam</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laos" title="Laos">Laos</a>, and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thailand" title="Thailand">Thailand</a>.</span></div>Nanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17149283539654033740noreply@blogger.com0