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Khmer Republic
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Khmer Republic
Satharanakrth Khmer
19701975
Contents
1 Background
2 Coup
3 Declaration of the Khmer Republic and the
formation of FANK
4 Political history of the Khmer Republic
4.1 1972: Removal of Sirik Matak
4.2 1973: Ceasefire and the suspension
of the National Assembly
4.3 1974: Fall of Odong
4.4 End of the regime
5 See also
6 References
7 External links
Flag
Coat of arms
Motto
Sirphip Smphip Pitrphip Vdthnphip ning
Sophmngkl
"Liberty, Equality, Fraternity, Progress and Happiness"
Anthem
Background
Formally declared on 9 October 1970, the Khmer
Republic was a right-wing proUnited States
military-led government headed by General Lon Nol
and Prince Sisowath Sirik Matak that took power in the
18 March 1970 coup against Prince Norodom
Sihanouk, then the country's head of state.
The main causes of the coup were Norodom Sihanouk's
toleration of North Vietnamese activity within
Cambodia's borders, allowing heavily armed
Vietnamese Communist outfits de facto control over
vast areas of eastern Cambodia. Another important
factor was the dire state of the Cambodian economy, an
indirect result of Sihanouk's policies of pursuing
neutrality through virulent anti-Americanism.[2]
With the removal of Sihanouk, the existing Kingdom of
Cambodia became a republic, although the throne had
been officially vacant for some years since the death of
King Norodom Suramarit. The character of the new
regime was right-wing and nationalist; most
significantly, it ended Sihanouk's period of covert
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Capital
Phnom Penh
Languages
Khmer (official)
French
Religion
Buddhism
Government
Unitary parliamentary
constitutional republic
with military
dictatorship
President
- 19701972
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- 19721975
- 1975
Speaker of the House
- 19701971
Prime Minister
- 19701971
- 19711972
- 1972
- 19721973
- 1973
- 19731975
Lon Nol
Saukam Khoy (acting)
Legislature
Parliament
Historical era
- Coup d'tat
- Fall of Phnom Penh
Cold War
18 March 1970
17 April 1975
Population
- 1975 est.
7,952,000-8,102,000[1]
Currency
Cambodian riel
Today part of
In Tam
Lon Nol
Sisowath Sirik Matak
Son Ngoc Thanh
Hang Thun Hak
In Tam
Long Boret
Cambodia
Coup
For more details on this topic, see Cambodian coup of 1970.
Sihanouk himself claimed that the coup was the result of an alliance between his longstanding enemy, the
exiled right-wing nationalist Son Ngoc Thanh, the politician Prince Sisowath Sirik Matak (depicted by
Sihanouk as a disgruntled rival claimant to the Cambodian throne) and the CIA, who wished to install a
more US-friendly regime.[3] There is in fact little if any evidence of CIA involvement in the coup, although
it seems that sections of the US military establishment notably the Army Special Forces may have had
some involvement in terms of offering support and training to the plotters after being approached by Lon
Nol.[4]
While Sihanouk was out of the country on a trip to France, anti-Vietnamese rioting took place in Phnom
Penh, during which the North Vietnamese and NLF embassies were sacked.[5] It seems likely that this
rioting was at least tolerated, and possibly actively organised, by Lon Nol, the Prime Minister, and his
deputy Prince Sirik Matak. On 12 March, the prime minister closed the port of Sihanoukville through
which weapons were being smuggled to the NLF 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.[6]
Despite these actions, which directly contradicted Sihanouk's policy of partial tolerance of North
Vietnamese activity, it appears that Lon Nol himself had great personal reluctance to depose the Head of
State: he initially may merely have wanted Sihanouk to apply more pressure to the North Vietnamese. He
initially refused to commit to the plan; to convince him, Sirik Matak who appears to have had a coup in
mind from the start played him a tape-recorded press conference from Paris, in which Sihanouk threatened
to execute them both on his return to Phnom Penh.[7] However, the Prime Minister remained uncertain, with
the result that Sirik Matak, accompanied by three army officers, compelled a weeping Lon Nol to sign the
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On 9 October Sihanouk was condemned to death in absentia by a military court; his mother, Queen
Kossamak the symbolic representative of the monarchy under Sihanouk's regime was placed under
house arrest, and his wife Monique was sentenced to life imprisonment.[7] The new regime simultaneously
declared the Khmer Republic, and a new constitution was eventually to be adopted in 1972. Sihanouk, in the
meantime, had formed GRUNK, a Beijing-based government-in-exile incorporating the communists and
dedicated to the Republic's overthrow; he declared Lon Nol to be a "complete idiot" and characterised Sirik
Matak as "nasty, perfidious, a lousy bastard".[10]
The relatively small royal army, which at the time of the coup had around 35,000 troops (in accordance with
Sihanouk's stated policy of neutrality), was greatly expanded. Reorganising as FANK, the republican army
had grown to around 150,000 men as early as the end of 1970, mainly through voluntary enlistment as Lon
Nol sought to capitalise on a wave of anti-Vietnamese sentiment.[11] The US also implemented its
programme of structured military aid and assistance in training, and flew in several thousand Khmer Serei
and Khmer Kampuchea Krom militia, trained in South Vietnamese bases. The Joint Chiefs insisted on
massive expansion of FANK to over 200,000 men, despite concerns at the severe negative effect this would
have on Cambodia's economy, while the Military Equipment Delivery Team, led by General Theodore C.
Mataxis, demanded the 'Americanisation' of the army's French-influenced internal structures, in spite of the
chaos this caused in the supply chain.[12]
Despite the US aid, FANK (commanded by General Sosthne Fernandez) was seriously handicapped by
corruption, particularly by officers claiming salaries for non-existent troops, and military incompetence.
Although one of the FANK commanders the former rebel Prince Norodom Chantaraingsey, who was
coaxed out of military retirement by Lon Nol to raise FANK's 13th Brigade was to have considerable
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success in 'pacifying' the area around the strategic Highway 4 and the Kirirom Plateau, the majority of its
generals had little military experience or ability. The large-scale FANK offensives against the Vietnamese,
Operations Chenla I and II, ended in heavy defeat despite the conspicuous bravery of the individual
Cambodian infantrymen.
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forces who had previously carried out much of the fighting against FANK, as in Operation Chenla I and II
gradually and deliberately scaled back their presence within Cambodian borders, leaving mainly logistical
and support staff. Their place was taken by native Cambodian communist forces of the CPNLAF, which had
been greatly increased when Sihanouk gave his support to the insurgency, rural Cambodians remaining
overwhelmingly pro-Sihanouk.
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While Sirik Matak, Long Boret, Lon Non and several other politicians remained in the capital in an attempt
to negotiate a ceasefire, the Khmer Rouge finally entered the city on 17 April. Within a few days they had
executed many representatives of the old regime, and the Khmer Republic had effectively come to an end.
During its brief existence it had received almost exactly one million dollars of US military and economic aid
a day.[25]
The final area held by the Republic in any form was the Preah Vihear Temple in the Dngrk Mountains,
which FANK forces still occupied in late April 1975.[26] It was finally taken by the Khmer Rouge on 22
May.
See also
Khmer National Armed Forces (FANK)
Cambodian Civil War
Khmer Republic at the 1972 Summer Olympics
References
1. Sharp, Bruce (April 1, 2005). "Counting Hell: The Death Toll of the Khmer Rouge Regime in Cambodia".
Retrieved January 21, 2013.
2. Milton Osborne, Sihanouk, Prince of Light, Prince of Darkness. Silkworm 1994. ISBN 978-0-8248-1639-1.
3. Norodom Sihanouk, My War with the CIA, Pantheon (1972). ISBN 978-0-394-48543-0, p.37
4. Kiernan, B. How Pol Pot came to power, Yale University Press (2004). ISBN 978-0-300-10262-8, p.300
5. Shawcross, W. (1981). Sideshow: Kissinger, Nixon, and the Destruction of Cambodia. New York: Washington
Square Books. p. 118. ISBN 0-671-23070-0.
6. Sutsakhan, Lt. Gen. S. The Khmer Republic at War and the Final Collapse Washington DC: U.S. Army Center of
Military History, 1987, Part 1, p. 42. (http://www.vietnam.ttu.edu/star/images/239/2390505001A.pdf) See also
Part 1 (http://www.vietnam.ttu.edu/star/images/239/2390505001A.pdf)Part 2 (http://www.vietnam.ttu.edu
/star/images/239/2390505001B.pdf)Part 3 (http://www.vietnam.ttu.edu/star/images/239/2390505001C.pdf).
7. Marlay, R. and Neher, C. (1999). Patriots and tyrants. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 165. ISBN 978-0-8476-8442-7.
8. Kiernan, p.302
9. Shawcross, p.163
10. Marlay, p.166
11. Kiernan, p.303
12. Shawcross, pp.190-194. The US insistence on requisition forms being printed in English, rather than the dual
French and Khmer forms previously used, meant that quartermasters had to be recruited from the Philippines.
13. Leifer, M. Selected Works on Southeast Asia, Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (no ISBN), p.418
14. Sorpong Peou, Intervention and Change in Cambodia. MacMillan (2000). ISBN 978-0-312-22717-3, p.52
15. Kiernan, p.347
16. Kamm, H. Cambodia: report from a stricken land, Arcade (1998). ISBN 978-1-61145-126-9, pp.110-112
17. Kiernan, p.346
18. Kahin, G. Southeast Asia: a testament, Routledge (2003). ISBN 978-0-415-29975-6, p.310
19. Clymer, K. J. (2004). The United States and Cambodia, 1969-2000. Routledge. p. 55. ISBN 978-0-415-32602-5.
20. Clymer, p.65
21. Kiernan, p.348
22. Clymer, p.71
23. Shawcross, p.293
24. Shawcross, p.367
25. Kiernan, p.413
26. Fenton, J. To the bitter end in Cambodia (http://www.newstatesman.com/society/2007/11/khmer-rouge-takenend-thailand), New Statesman, 25-04-75
External links
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