Asian History - Cambodia

8/8/2019 Asian History - Cambodia

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Cambodias Rise From Its Turbulent Past

Benthe van Arnhem

Honey Chang

Chhay Lin Lim

Nikki Na

Dimple Sokartara

Ruben Zorge

02-12-2010

ASIAN HISTORY

Mr. Shreeniwas


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Table of Content

Introduction 3

The Khmer Empire & Angkor Wat 4

Cambodia under French colonial empire 7

Cambodian civil war 1970-1975 10

Khmer Rouge 14

Vietnamese Invasion of Cambodia 18

Cambodias current situation 20

Bibliography 26


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Introduction

Cambodia is a country with clearly many contrasts. It is a country, the size of four times the

Netherlands and with a population of 14,5 million people, in South-East-Asia that has had experienced

centuries of war and turmoil. At one point, Cambodia was an empire which territory spread over

current Thailand, Vietnam and Myanmar. In the 19th century, Cambodia became a colony of France,

and gained its independence in 1954. Years of civil war, turmoil, and political corruption follwed asCambodia began governing itself. Bordering to Vietnam, Cambodia became a merely a tool for the

United States in their fight against communist Vietnam. Internal power struggles followed and the

Khmer Rouge came in power in 1975. The regime ended in 1979 with Vietnamese invasion. Massive

famine spread over whole Cambodia and within just one decade nearly two million Cambodians died.

This is merely an estimation as nobody really knows how many people have died. Also, it is not clear

which were the parties involved in the killings and how many each party has contributed to this

devastating history. It is estimated that the secret bombings of Cambodia by the United States alone

has killed 700.000 people. It is in the benefit of all the parties to keep the truth tellers silent.

Landmines still scatter the nation, serving as dangerous remnants of war en resulting in an alarmingly

high number of disabled people. The government is weak and in many aspects ineffective. Illegal

activities as children sex trade continues. The economy remains in shambles and has to be built upfrom the ground.

The breathtaking temples of Angkor and its disturbing past are truly two contrasting sides of

Cambodia.


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The Khmer Empire & Angkor Wat

The Khmer Empire was known as one of the most powerful empires in Southeast Asia, based in whatis now called Cambodia. The empire grew out of the former kingdom Chenla and at times rules overparts of modern-day Laos, Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar and Malaysia. Its greatest legacy is Angkorwhich witnesses to the Khmer Empires immense power and wealth, as well as the variety of belief

systems that it patronized over time. The empires official religions included Hinduism and MahayanaBuddhism, until Theravada Buddhism prevailed after its introduction from Sri Lanka in the 13thcentury. The history about the Khmer Empire and Angkor Wat go so deep and went through so muchthat no written records have survived other than stone inscriptions. The main information we todayhave do primarily come from:

- Archaeological reconstruction and investigation- Stone inscriptions- Relief 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- Reports and chronicles of Chinese diplomats, traders and travelers

The birth of the Khmer Empire was estimated to be in 802 BC when Jayavarman II declared himself

as chakravartin, which means king of the world, on Phnom Kulen. There were some factors that led tothe rise of the Khmer Empire and the prosperity of Angkor Wat:

- Location of Angkor Wat- The influences of religion- The control of water resources

These points will be discussed later as we go on with the history of the kings of the Khmer Empire.

Jayavarman II: The founder of Angkor

The first data on Jayavarman II, dating 1053 BC, came from K. 235 stone inscription on a stele inSdok Kok Thom temple which is to be found in Isan region. It recounts two and a half centuries of

service that members of the temple provided to the Khmer court, mainly as chief chaplains of theHindu religion.Jayavarman II was a prince who lived at the court of Sailendra in Java (todays Indonesia) and broughtback to his home the art and culture of Javanese Sailendran court to Cambodia. After he eventuallyreturned to his home, the former kingdom of Chenla, he quickly built up his influence, conquerd aseries of competing kings, and in 790 BC became king of a kingdom called Kambuja by the Khmer.In the following years he extended his territory and eventually established his new capital ofHariharalaya near the modern Cambodian town of Roluos. He thereby laid the foundation of Angkor,which was to arise some 15 km to the northwest. When he declared himself as chakravartin in 802 BChe not only became the uncontested ruler, but also declared the independence of his kingdom fromJava. Jayavarman II died in the year 834 BC and he was succeeded by his son Jayavarman III.Jayavarman III died in 877 C.E. and was succeeded by Indravarman I and so on until 24 kings ruledthe Khmer Empire.

Yasovarman: Establisher of Yasodharapura, the first city of Angkor

Jayavarman IIs successors continually extended the territory of what was then called Kambuja.Indravarman I (ruled during 877-889 BC) managed to expand the kingdom without wars. Thanks tothe wealth gained through trade and agriculture he began extensive building projects, foremost werethe temple of Preah Ko and irrigation works. After his death he was followed by his son Yasovarman I(ruled during 889-915 BC), who established the fist city of Angkor called Yasodharapura. On a hill,called Phnom Bakheng, which rises around 60 m above the plain on which Angkor sits, the citys


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central temple was build. Yasovarman I also created the East Baray, which is a massive water

reservoir of 7.5 by 1.8 km.

The peaceful act of expanding the kingdom without wars and extending the Khmer terroritycame to an end in 950 BC when the kingdom of Champa (modern central Vietnam) began torevolt and the first war between these kingdoms took place. The Khmer Empire lost a share of

their ground but went on ruling in Kambuja. From 968 to 1001 BC Jayavarman V ruled with alargely peaceful period, marked by prosperity and a cultural flowering. He established a newcapital called Jayenanagari and a lot of new temples as the Mahayana Buddhism andHinduism were still the two main religions.

After the death of Jayavarman V a decade of conflict followed. Kings ruled only for a fewyears and were violently replaced by their successors. From 1010 until 1050 BC SuryavarmanI ruled and tried to bring peace into the Khmer civilization. He built the construction of theWest Baray which is the second largest water reservoir (8 by 2.2 km) after the Eastern Baray.

Suryavarman II: The largest temple Angkor Wat

The attempt of a peaceful kingdom failed and the 11th century continued to be a time ofconflict and brutal power struggles. Only when Suryavarman II (ruled during 1113-1150 BC)the kingdom was united internally and extended externally. Under his rule the largest templeAngkor Wat was built in a period of 37 years dedicated to the god Vishnu. This ruler was seenas one of the greatest not only because of the building of Angkor Wat but also because of theterritories he conquered. From the Mon kingdom of Haripunjaya to the west (todays centralThailand) and the area further west to the border with the kingdom of Bagan (modern Burma).Down south further parts of the Malay peninsula and several provinces of Champa in the east.Suryavarman IIs end is unclear, however in the last inscription his name and the plannedinvasion of Vietnam in 1145 BC were mentioned and connected. Some say that he diedduring a failed military expedition in Dai Viet territory around 1145 and 1150.

The Khmer Empire versus the kingdom of Champa

After Suryavarman IIs death his successors took over the Empire, however there were a lotof fights because of all the territories that were conquered. In 1177 BC Kambuja was defeatedin a battle on the Tonl Sap lake by the army of the Chams, and was incorporated as a

province of Champa. In 1181 Jayavarman VII took over with a lot of experience as being amilitary leader as prince under previous kings before being king. He gathered an army andregained the capital, Yasodharapura. He continued the war against the neighbouring easternkingdom for 22 years until the Khmer defeated Champa in 1203.

Fall of the Khmer Empire

With the ongoing fights between the conquered places, the changes in religion and the decreasing

power of the Khmer kings, the Empire began to fall. The introduction to Theravada Buddhism played

a big role in the changes of religion. The previous belief system of the Khmers before was Hinduism

and Mahayana Buddhism, which had no say against the concept of god-king. However, Theravada

Buddhism prevailed and challenged this concept because it taught people to seek self-enlightenment

which led to the people not committing themselves wholeheartedly to the king. All the maintenance

were being neglected, for example, the irrigation system was not as efficient so the Empires

productivity and economy diminished greatly. As neighbouring city states were becoming more


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powerful the roads in Kambuja also served the Empires downfall. It became weaker and weaker and

other empires took advantage of that such as Ayutthaya who used the roads to invade Angkor in 1431

where the Khmer Empire lost the fight and with Jayavarman Paramesvara being the last king it fell

down.


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Cambodia under French colonial Empire

Cambodia before French influence

The period before Cambodia became a French colony can be characterized as stagnancy. Although

there werent many occasions going on, Cambodia got more contact with other countries. Because of

the river Mekong in Cambodia which, was a central trading place. Because of weak authority andseveral wars with Thailand people from Cambodia didnt get any advantage of central trading place

Mekong.

In the 16th century Thailand constantly has been assaulted by Birma. Ang Chan (king of Cambodia)

took advantage of this; he recaptured west Cambodia and transferred the capital Phnom Penh to

Lovek.

In the second half of the 16th century Portuguese missionaries enter Cambodia. Cambodia believed that

they would get some help form the Portuguese against Thai occupation. Unfortunately, Lovek became

part of Thailand again and they didnt get any support. After that, Cambodia came in a period of dark

centuries, because it lies between two powerful neighbor countries Thailand and Vietnam who fought

wars over Cambodian territory. The weak kings of Cambodia one time search for protection fromThailand and the other time from Vietnam.

Ang Eng became king in 1779. Under his reign Thailand got more grip on Cambodia and a couple of

Cambodian province were occupied. At the same time the Vietnamese conquer the Mekong-delta,

whereby Cambodia lost its passage to the sea.

Cambodia becomes a colony (1864-1953)

In the 19th century Cambodia suffered more and more due to extremely warfare between Vietnam and

Thailand. Soon after the coronation of Norodom(1860-1904). Cambodia had to give away the

provinces Siem Reap, Battambang and Sisophon to Thailand.To prevent Cambodia from its twopowerful neighbors, Norodom invited France to make Cambodia its protectorate. Many Cambodiansbelieved that this brilliant act actually saved Cambodia from disappearing. In 1864 Norodom signed

the protectorate convention with France.

Cambodia didnt improve through this protectorate. In 1884 France forced Norodom to sign a

convention, which included Cambodia would be a colony of France for the coming ninety years. The

governance of Cambodia was miserable and the economic profits went to the French.

Cambodia entered the Union of Indo-China together with Vietnam and Laos in 1887. The reason why

France wanted to colonize Cambodia was that they were interested in Vietnam. Due to the France

influence, neighbor countries couldnt align with the Khmer area anymore.

France took advantage of the colony and used it as a market for their industry. The rice fields and

rubber plantations provided many exports products. France has promised democracy and economic

development to the population. But they didnt keep their promises. This was a tough period for the

population. The farmers had to pay high taxes and were forced to work. There was no education and

there was a poor infrastructure. The population regularly came in revolt against France, but the French

easily got this under control.


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France wasnt really that interested in Laos. On economic expert there wasnt enough to get from

Laos. There were no metallic and they werent interested in the mountainous farming cultivation. They

saw Vietnam as most profitable country. Although they didnt make any profits from Laos, they also

obliged this population to work for them.

Cambodia becomes independent

After World War II many countries in South-East Asia became independent. In 1907 France made a

convention with Thailand, which included; the provinces Siem Reap, Battambang and Sisophon are

part of the Khmer area again.

After World War II and the Japanese occupation in 1940 France tried to move on with their

governance like they did in the past. But they got a lot of resistance from different local rebel groups.

The local rebel groups had discovered the weaknesses of France and they desired to independency. In

1940 Norodom Sihanouk became king and revealed as a diplomat, who claimed independency of his

own country. In 1946 Norodom Sihanouk made an agreement which stated that Cambodia will be a

part of the France Union. Gradually he got more independency for his country.

In 1952 Sihanouk made himself a prime-minister and changed the government. He tried to get a lot of

support from the world for his initiative acts. In 1953 the France government did propose Cambodia,

Laos and Vietnam to be independent. On the first side they keep on fighting but after a great military

defeat in 1954 in Dien Bien Phu, a conflict in Indochina where France got beaten by Vietnam.

Norodom signed a peace agreement and Indochina came independent. This was the end of the first

War in Indochina where France had a big roll. Despite of the independency the welfare didnt grow

and there were still problems. The political situation wasnt stable. The civil service was

inexperienced.


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Results of the French colony

The colonialism from Cambodia and other Indo-China countries didnt have any economic, policy or

social advantage. In the thirties France manage great cotton and rubber plantations. Because the

independent farmers refused to do labour work, France imported labour workers from Vietnam.

Although the Cambodian farmers didnt have own fields to their availability, rent and large

landownership were an unknown phenomenon, so there was nodisability of land.

Cambodia was an insignificant supplier of raw materials and

also they didnt play a roll as French customer of industrial

products. After a century, France has changed its colonial

policy. They invested more in Indo-China and the economy

made slowly developments.

French influences

The French colonialism has had an influence on the Cambodian

culture. Many classic colonial buildings were constructed

including the Police station, the Hotel Le Royal and the large

villas around the Royal palace (French Area). By the 1930s the

canals had been filled and turned into garden boulevards, which

are now parks along Sihanouk Boulevard.

Independence from France came in 1954, issuing in a period of considerable urban and commercial

development and the beginning of the distinctive New Khmer Architecture, reflected in existing

structure such as the Independence Monument and Chaktomuk Theatre.

A typical matter you can find in Cambodia nowadays is French bread.

Independence

monument

Hotel le Royal

in Phnom Penh


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Cambodia Civil War 1970-1975

The Cambodian civil war was a conflict between the Khmer Rouge and the government forces of

Cambodia called the Khmer Republic in 1970 till 1975.

- The Khmer Rouge was influenced by their allies the Democratic Republic of Vietnam and the

Viet Cong.

- The Vietcong was a political organization and army in South Vietnam that fought the U.S. and

South Vietnamese government during the Vietnam war.

The Vietnam war and the government forces of Cambodia were supported by the United States and

the Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam).

Influence

The influence for Cambodia's Civil War was the conflict that occurred in Vietnam that was divided

into North and South Vietnam. North Vietnam supported by communist allies and South Vietnam by

the U.S.

The Vietcong was a political organization and army in South Vietnam that fought the U.S. And South

Vietnamese government during the Vietnam war.

The Vietminh was a national independence movement that opposed the U.S. In the Vietnam War and

was led by Ho Chi Minh. Who later proclaimed the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North

Vietnam). North Vietnam was a communist state.

The Vietcong was a communist controlled army that fought a guerilla war against anti-communist

forces in South Vietnam.

North Vietnam was led by the People's Army of Vietnam and fought U.S. Army and South vietnamese

army.

The North Vietnamese army (People's Army of Vietnam) were involved because they had Base Areas

and sanctuaries in Eastern Cambodia for extra military effort in South Vietnam. These communist

Base Areas were protected by Cambodian neutrality since their establishment in 1966.

The U.S. Were involved because they needed the time to withdraw from the South-East Asia and to

protect the South-Vietnamese regime, which was a U.S. Ally.

This conflict in Cambodia, between the two opposing sides from the Vietnam war, led to five years of

U.S. Aerial bombing campaigns and direct material and financial aid. Which brought the destructionof the Cambodian economy and starvation of the population.


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Cambodian Coup of 1970

The Khmer Republic was declared on Oct 9 1970 and was a pro- US military-led government with

Lon Nol as its general and prince Sirik Matak. They took power on March 18 1970 coup against the

Head of State, Prince Sihanouk.

Subsequently Prime Minister Lon Nol became effective Head of State.

The coup ended Sihanouk's period of cooperation with the North Vietnamese regime and the Viet

Cong and it aligned Cambodia with South Vietnam.

The reasons for the coup was that by 1969, Lon Nol and his rightists thought that Sihanouk's actions

were getting unacceptable.Sihanouk tolerated the stay of the Viet Cong and Vietnam People's Army

within Cambodian borders. He also had negotiated a secret arrangement with Hanoi whereby in return

for the guaranteed purchase of rice at inflated prices, the port of Sihanoukville was opened for

weapons shipments to the Vietcong.

Lon Nol's appointee as Prime minister was Sirik Matak, an US-friendly nationalist, who thought to

have suggested to assassinate Sihanouk.

On March 12 1970 Sirik Matak cancelled Sihanouks trade agreement with North Vietnam; Lon Nol

closed the port of Sihanoukville to the North Vietnamese and gave them and ultimatum. That

ultimatum was that all PAVN/NLF forces were to withdraw from Cambodia within 3 days on March

15 or face military action. This was impossible and did not happen.

On 18 March Lon Nol requested that the National Assembly vote on the future of the prince's

leadership of the nation. Sihanouk lost his power and Lon Nol was granted emergency powers. Sirik

Matak kept his function as Prime Minister.

The majority of the middle class and educated had become frustated about the actions of the prince

Sihanouk and welcomed the change of government. Together with the military they celebrated the

return of American military and financial aid. There were also demonstrations occuring by 40 000

peasants but they were spread out by contigents of the armed forces. This led to the massacre of the

vietnamese population in Cambodia. Most of the population, urban and rural, took their anger out on

the Vietnamese. Lon Nol called for 10 000 volunteers to help out Cambodia's poorly-equiped 30 000-

man army and managed to recruit over 70 000 man. In towns and villages all over Cambodia, soldiers

and civillians sought out their Vietnamese neighbors in order to murder them. On 15 April, 800

Vietnamese bodies floated down the Mekong river and into South Vietnam.

In an apology towards the Vietnamese Lon Nol stated that 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.


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FUNK and GRUNK

On May 5 the National United Front of Kampuchea(FUNK) and the Gouvernement Royal d'Union

Nationale du kampuchea (GRUNK) were established by Sihanouk. He 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." He allied himself with the Khmer Rouge, the North Vietnamese and the NLF. Militaryoperations by GRUNK were led by Pol Pot. This was done by Sihanouk because he wanted to get

revenge against those who had betrayed him. Peasants, who were motivated by loyalty to the

monarchy , joined forces with the FUNK. The Khmer Rouge, had gained many members and was

positioned to become a major player in he civil war. The Khmer Rouge began to defeat Lon Nol's

army on the battlefields with aid from by the Vietnamese. By the end of 1972, the Vietnamese

withdrew from Cambodia and turned the great responsibilities for the war over to the CPK.

This change in the government allowed the opportunity for the destruction of the communist Base

Areas

Cambodian incursion

On 29 April 1970, South Vietnamese and U.S. units held a Cambodian Campaign which were a series

of military operations conducted in eastern Cambodia. These operations were conducted by the Army

of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) and U.S. Forces and ended on 30 June. The target of the

campaign was to defeat approximately 40 0000 troops of the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) and

the National front for the Liberation of South Vietnam (NLF aka Viet Cong) who had their Base Areas

in Cambodia.

The North Vietnamese reacted by launching an own offensive against FANK (Khmer National Armed

Forces, armed forces of the Khmer Republic) in order to protect and expand their Base Areas and

logistical system. They took over the entire northeastern third of he country after defeating FANK

forces. The Khmer Rouge also established territories in the south and southwestern parts of the

country, operating independently from the North Vietnamese.

Operation Chenla II

On 21 Jan 1971 Cambodian military FANK conducted an operation named Chenla II. Their goal was

to clear Route 6 of enemy forces and therefore open communications with Kompong Thom,

Cambodia's second largest city, which has been isolated from the capital for more than a year. After

the succesful operation, retaking Kompong Thom, when FANK formation were moving towards

enemy territory, they were exposed by PAVN and Khmer rouge forces and heavily attacked. Though it

was successful, the army of FANK were severely weakened by the counterattack.


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Khmer Republic 1972-1975

From 1972 through 1974, the war was active along FANK's lines of communications north and south

of Cambodia. U.S. Air Force started supplying FANK troops with direct air support. The communists

occupied one-half of Cambodia and had cut all the land routes leading to and from the capital of

Phnom Penh . On 28 January 1973, the Paris Peace Accord was signed, Lon Nol announced a

unilateral cease-fire and it stopped U.S. airstrikes. The bombing resumed on 9 February because theKhmer Rouge ignored this and carried on fighting. Then in March the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff

proposed a much expanded bombing campaign. During 1973 (Freedom deal) aircraft dropped 250 000

tons of bombs (high explosives) that forced the communists back into the countryside.

On the last day of the Operation Freedom Deal, 250 000 tons of bombs had been dropped on the

Khmer Republic.

1973

Massive US bombing raids in Cambodia are terminated by act of Congress. More than a million

people and two-thirds of Cambodia's draught animals have been killed, wounded or maimed since bombing started in 1965. The US has dropped 2 756 941 tons of bombs, ore than all the bombs

dropped by the Allies during World War II, in 230,516 sorties on 113,716 sites. Nearly half the

population have been uprooted and displaced within their own country.


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Khmer Rouge

The Rise of the Khmer Rouge

Cambodia was still a colony of France in the 1940s. In this period the country attempted to be a free

independent state which was obtained in the year 1953. It was also during this decade that communism

became popular as well. Probably without the rise of communism in Cambodia, the Khmer Rougecould have never been successful.

In the 1930s, there was a party formed, which was called the Indochinese Communist Party (ICP). The

ICP existed of members from Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos and after the occupation by France

finally ended, this party took the initiative to form the United Issarak Front in Cambodia.

By no coincidence most of its members were from the ICP. This party who was lead by Son Ngoc

Minh controlled almost a half of Cambodia by 1952. However, politically, the country was still

technically under the control of Norodom Sihanoukthe King of Cambodia, and the government of

the Khmer Republic.

The ICP divided in 1951 its party into the Vietnam Workers Party, the Lao Itsala, and theKampuchean Peoples Revolutionary Party (KPRP). The latter party broke into an "urban committee"

and a "rural committee" in the mid 1950s, and this caused a burst in the country between urban

"leftist" policies and rural "right wing" policies. The partys supporters were split accordingly between

these two groups.

The Khmer Rouges origin thus occurred in the early 1950s. A man, born in Cambodia by the name of

Saloth Sar, better known as Pol Pot, who had spent its time in France as a student and who became a

member of the French Communist Party returned to Cambodia in 1953 and joined a clandestine

communist movement, the Second Congress of the KPRP, and began his rise up the ranks to become

one of the world's most infamous dictators. With this status he had the unique opportunity to be a type

of mediator, or middle man, between the Communism movement and other leftist groups. This role

allowed him to gain popularity with the people. However, as Sihanouk was still the leader of

Cambodia, Pol Pot opposed him as the King of the country. He believed in a Communist doctrine and

ruling, and wanted to replace him.

What were the reasons the Khmer Rouge was formed? The Khmer Rouge supported a doctrine against

the rich, and believed that money should be distributed in equal proportions throughout the population.

Pol Pot and his adherents believed that the population should work for the government. The idea was

that individuals would work for the government and the "common good", and that the government

would provide their citizens with food and shelter. This was exemplified by the farms that the Khmer

Rouge instituted after they gained control of the government.

During the 1960s, Pot left Cambodia and went to North Vietnam. The purpose of the visit was to seekassistance from the Vietnam government with the idea to overthrow the current rulers of Cambodia.

Pot started a revolution against the Cambodian government, beginning an insurgency campaign in

1968. This was also known as the Cambodian Civil War. Specifically, this divided the country into

Khmer Rouge supporters and their allies, against the Cambodian government, the Khmer Republic.

The Khmer Rouge was supported by Northern Vietnam, and provided the party with shelter and

weapons in their fight against the government. Cambodia was unable to combat the insurgence,

primarily because of Vietnams military aid. After two years, the party announced itself as the


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"Communist Party of Kampuchea". Popular support grew for the party because in March 1970,

Marshal Lon Nol, a Cambodian politician who had previously served as prime minister and his pro-

American associates staged a successful coup to depose the King of Cambodia, Sihanouk, as head of

state. At this period, the Khmer Rouge had gained many members and was positioned to become a

major player in the civil war of Cambodia due to its alliance with Sihanouk. Their forces were led by

Pol Pot, who was assigned CPK's party secretary and leader in 1963. The Khmer Rouge began to

defeat Lon Nol's army on the battlefields with aid from by the Vietnamese. By the end of 1972, the

Vietnamese withdrew from Cambodia and turned the great responsibilities for the war over to the

CPK.

By early 1973, about 85 percent of Cambodian territory was in the hands of the Khmer Rouge, and

Lon Nol's army was almost unable to go on the offensive. However, from January to August 1973, the

Khmer Republic government, with assistance from the US, was able to continue fighting the Khmer

Rouge for two more years and dropped about half a million tons of bombs on Cambodia, which may

have killed as many as 300,000 people. Many who resented the bombings or had lost family members

joined the Khmer Rouge's revolution.

On April 17, 1975 there came an end after five years of foreign interventions, bombardment, and civil

war in Cambodia. On this date, Phnom Penh, the capital city of Cambodia, fell to the communist

forces.

The Zero Years

In 1975 is was official, the Khmer Rouge took power and forced citizens of Phnom Penh and other

important towns, more than two million people in total, to move to the countryside to undertake

agricultural work. The Khmer Rouge started to realize their radical Maoist and Marxist-Leninist based

transformation program at this time. Their main goal was to transform Cambodia into an agricultural,

classless society by depopulating cities and forcing the urban population ("New People") into the

countryside in which there was no financial difference between people, no rich, no poor, and no

exploitation. They told residents that they would be moved only about "two or three kilometers"outside the city and would return in "two or three days". Some witnesses say they were told that the

evacuation was because of the "threat of American bombing" and that they did not have to lock their

houses since the Khmer Rouge would "take care of everything" until they returned. These were not the

first evacuations of civilian populations by the Khmer Rouge. Similar evacuations of populations

without possessions had been occurring on a smaller scale since the early 1970s. Thousands of people

died during the evacuations.

The entire population was forced to become farmers in labor camps. To accomplish this, they

abolished money, free markets, private property, foreign clothing styles, religious practices, and

traditional Khmer culture which resulted in the complete halt of almost all economic activity. Leisure

activities were severely restricted. People throughout the country, including the leaders of the CPK,

had to wear black costumes, which were their traditional revolutionary clothes. Even public schools,

hospitals, pagodas, mosques, churches, universities, shops and government buildings were shut or

turned into prisons, stables, reeducation camps and granaries. The purpose of this policy, as Pol Pot

envisioned it, was to turn Cambodians into "Old People" through agricultural labor.

The ideology the Khmer Rouge spread among its civilians was that only pure people were qualified to

build the revolution. Immediately after seizing power, they arrested and killed thousands of soldiers,

military officers and civil servants from the Khmer Republic regime led by Marshal Lon Nol, whom

they did not regard as "pure." Over the next three years, they executed hundreds of thousands of


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intellectuals; city residents; minority people such as the Cham, Vietnamese and Chinese; and many of

their own soldiers and party members, who were accused of being traitors. Many were held in prisons,

where they were detained, interrogated, tortured and executed. The most important prison in

Cambodia, known as S-21, held approximately 14,000 prisoners while in operation. Only about 12

survived.

It is important to know that the leadership of the Khmer Rouge remained largely unaltered from the1960s to the end of the 1990s so the opportunity that there would be a turn in the policy of the regime

from any potential new leader was very small. The leaders were mostly from middle-class families and

had been educated at French universities. During their four years in power, the actions by the Khmer

Rouge resulted in massive deaths trough executions, work exhaustion, illness, and starvation.

This was a time where everyone was deprived of their fundamental rights. People were not allowed to

go beyond their cooperative. The regime strictly forbade anyone to gather and hold discussions. If

three people gathered and talked, they could be accused of being enemies and arrested or executed.

Even family relationships not sanctioned by the state were also banned, and family members could be

put to death for communicating with each other as well. In any case, family members were often

relocated to different parts of the country with all postal and telephone services abolished.

The Khmer Rouge asked all Cambodians to believe, obey and respect only Angkar Padevat, which

was to be everyone's "mother and father."

The Khmer language has a complex system of usages in which they define speakers' rank and social

status. During the rule of the Khmer Rouge, these usages were abolished. People were encouraged to

call each other "friend" or "comrade", and to avoid traditional signs of devotion such as bowing or

folding the hands in salutation. Their language was also transformed in other ways as the Khmer

Rouge invented new terms. People were told to forge a new revolutionary character that they were the

"instruments" of the ruling body known as "Angkar" (The Organization), and that nostalgia for pre-

revolutionary times could result in execution.

In the year 1976 the CPK came with a "Four-Year Plan," and under the terms Cambodians were

expected to produce three tons of rice per hectare throughout the country; before the Khmer Rouge

era, the average was only one ton per hectare. This meant that people had to grow and harvest rice all

12 months of the year. In most regions, the Khmer Rouge forced people to work more than 12 hours a

day without rest or adequate food. They did not believe in western medicine but instead favored

traditional peasant medicine; many died as a result. Moreover, the total lack of agricultural knowledge

by the former city dwellers made famine inevitable. Rural dwellers were often unsympathetic or too

frightened to assist them. Such acts as picking wild fruit or berries was seen as "private enterprise" and

punished by death.

A lot of Cambodians requested asylum by crossing the border into Thailand. From there, they were

transported to refugee camps such as Sa Kaeo or Khao-I-Dang, the only camp allowing resettlement incountries such as the United States, France, Canada, and Australia. In some refugee camps such as Site

8, Phnom Chat or Ta Prik the Khmer Rouge cadre controlled food distribution and restricted the

activities of international aid agencies.


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Fall of the Khmer Rouge

By the end of 1977, clashes broke out between Cambodia and Vietnam. The once-formidable KR

soldiers offered weak opposition to the Vietnamese. Many of them were purged and demoralized, sick

of killing their own people and far from loyal to the regime in Phnom Penh. As the Vietnamese

withdrew, so thousands of Khmers fled with them, taking refuge across the frontier in Vietnam.

Among those who deserted at this time was a young Khmer Rouge commander called Hun Sen.Subsequently, in collaboration with the Vietnamese, he began to build a Cambodian liberation army

with the aim of overthrowing Pol Pot and establishing a regime friendly to Vietnam in Phnom Penh.

Khmer Rouge misrule came to a sudden end in December 1978 when Vietnam sent its forces rolling

across the Cambodian frontier, seizing Phnom Penh on January 7, 1979 and forcing the discredited

DK leadership to take refuge in camps along the Thai border. The Vietnamese were accompanied by

around 20,000 members of the Vietnamese-backed Cambodian liberation army as well as Hun Sen

himself and other Cambodian opponents of the Khmer Rouge regime.

The United Nations voted to give the resistance movement against communists, which included the

Khmer Rouge, a seat in its General Assembly. From 1979 to 1990, it recognized them as the only

legitimate representative of Cambodia.

There followed a cynical period of nine years when the regime established by the Vietnamese which

everyone, including most Cambodians, saw as a major improvement on DK was made an

international pariah, while the Khmer Rouge guerrillas received military and food aid from an unlikely

collection of backers including China, USA, Britain and Thailand.

In 1982, the Khmer Rouge formed a coalition with Prince Sihanouk, who was exiled in China after the

Cambodian Civil War, and the non-communist leader Son Sann to create the Triparty Coalition

Government. In Phnom Penh, on the other hand, Vietnam helped to create a new government - the

Peoples Republic of Kampuchea - led by Heng Samrin.

In September 1989 Vietnam finally withdrew its forces from Cambodia, handing over control to theUnited Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC). In May 1993, following UN-organised

elections, Cambodia officially became a constitutional monarchy with King Sihanouk as head of state.

The KR opted out of the elections, however, and this led to more years of intermittent warfare during

which the KR was gradually worn down. The KR leader, Pol Pot, died in 1998, while the last KR

diehard, military leader Ta Mok, was captured in northern part of Cambodia and taken to trial in

Phnom Penh in early 1999.

The Khmer Rouge continued to exist until 1999 when all of its leaders had defected to the Royal

Government of Cambodia, been arrested, or had died. As a consequence, the power of the once

greatly feared KR was broken forever.


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Vietnamese Invasion of Cambodia

Vietnam use to be allies with the Khmer Rouge, in fact, parts of the Khmer army had been trained by

the Vietnamese. During the Khmer Rouge regime they started growing apart because Cambodia took

several islands of Thailand that were held by Vietnam and they crossed the Vietnamese borders in

several locations. The Cambodian army also slaughtered Vietnamese civilians along their borders and

claimed territory, which Vietnam was trying to recapture. This led to a small border war between

Cambodia and Vietnam in 1977.

In 1978 the Vietnamese army invaded Cambodia and overthrew the khmer rouge regime in

less than 4 weeks, some Khmer Rouge soldiers just gave up because they were sick of killing

their own men. Pol pot fled to the Thai-Cambodian border where he maintained a small

khmer army and continued to have a big influence in the organization and ordered arrests and

killings within the ranks of the Khmer rouge. Pol pot tried to hang on to his power and the

recognition of the United Nations as the rightful regime of Cambodia. Among those who

deserted at this time was a young Khmer Rouge commander called Hun Sen. Subsequently, in

collaboration with the Vietnamese, he began to build a Cambodian liberation army with the

aim of overthrowing Pol Pot and establishing a regime friendly to Vietnam in Phnom Penh.

The Vietnamese reasons for overthrowing the Khmer rouge regime were in the name of

human rights and many people viewed them as heroes for rescuing the Cambodian people.

However after the liberation the Vietnamese became the invader when they occupied

Cambodia for 10 years. Under Vietnamese occupation, torture and forced labor were

common.

On January 10, 1979, the Vietnamese installed Heng Samrin as head of state in the new

People's Republic of Cambodia. The Vietnamese Army continued to pursue Khmer Rouge

forces.

Vietnamese also occupied the best housing and lived as a tiny elite. However the new regime

was still viewed as an improvement in comparison to the regime of the Khmer Rouge. Heng

Samrin Vietnamese regime had to keep fighting because a remainder of the Khmer Rouge's

military forces had managed to establish themselves in some regions.

In 1981 the pro-Vietnamese Peoples Revolutionary Party wins the elections and the

international community refuses to recognize the new government.

The United Nations voted to give the resistance movement against communists, which

included the Khmer Rouge, a seat in its General Assembly. From 1979 to 1990, it recognized

them as the only legitimate representative of Cambodia. Therefore the Khmer Rouge and

prime minister Sihanouk remain in their seats at the United Nations.

In September 1989 Vietnam finally withdrew its forces from Cambodia, handing over control

to the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC). In May 1993, following

UN-organised elections, Cambodia officially became a constitutional monarchy with King

Sihanouk as head of state while Hun Sen remains prime minister. Hun Sen use to be part of

Sihanouks communist regime and was a sergeant in the Khmer Rouge living in Vietnam

during the genocide. He has one glass eye, and injury sustained during the Phnom Penh


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offensive in 1975 with the Khmer Rouge. During the elections of 1993 Hun Sen lost the

elections but he refused to step down. He became co-prime minister together with Norodom

Ranariddh, the son of Sihanouk. In 1997 the tensions grew high when Norodom Ranariddt

began to collaborate with the remaining Khmer Rouge rebels. (with whom he had allied

against Hun Sens backed Vietnamese government) His goal was to have them absorbed into

the ranks. In response Hun Sen had him replaced with Ung Huot. They ruled together until1998 when Hun Sens party won the elections and he became sole prime minister again.

The KR opted out of the elections, however, and this led to more years of intermittent warfare

during which the KR was gradually worn down. The KR leader, Pol Pot, died in 1998 a year

after he was placed under house arrest by the Ta Mok Khmer Rouge part. A little while later

the last KR military leader Ta Mok, was captured in the northern part of Cambodia and taken

to trial in Phnom Penh in early 1999. The Khmer Rouge continued to exist until 1999 when

all of its leaders had defected to the Royal Government of Cambodia, been arrested, or had

died. As a consequence, the power of the once greatly feared KR was broken forever.

Hun Sen is currently the longest serving leader in Asia. He is still in power and is married andhas 6 children. 3 boys and 3 girls of which one girl has been adopted. In October 2007, Hun Sen

made a surprise announcement at a graduation ceremony, in front of an audience of nearly 3000, that

his adopted daughter was a lesbian. He had taken legal steps to disown Malis and to prevent her from

receiving any inheritance. Nonetheless, he asked the audience to accept homosexuals.


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Cambodias current situation

The atrocities in the past are still visible in nowadays Cambodia. Its traces can be easily found when

looking at the poor infrastructure. Many roads and buildings still bear the consequences of conflicts, as

the war instruments have left non erasable damage. 30 years of continuous turmoil and war have also

left its marks in the societys demographics. It is estimated that there are more than 6 million

landmines left in Cambodia, which makes it the country with the highest landmines density. One out

of 300 people is an amputee and 50% of the population is aged under 15. Its economic system has also

been destroyed. From an economics point of view, war is always costly as it destroys human and

physical capital, and it displaces population, and creates health and famine crises. This chapter is

divided in two sections; one, the mental health of Cambodian refugees, and two, Cambodias current

economic situation.

Mental Health of Cambodian Refugees

When mentioning Cambodia, the words that often come to mind for those who are somewhat familiar

with the countrys history are political instability, civil conflict, war, genocide and

persecution.

Due to the traumatic past in Cambodia, the country is having one of Asias worst mental health crises.

Cambodian psychiatrist Sotheara Chhim, who is heading the Dutch funded Transcultural Psychosocial

Oganization (TPO), puts the problem like this: In my opinion I think the past plays a very important

role in attributing to the problem. I think every Cambodian is like a glass carrying some water,

meaning the traumatic past. If more water is put in, the glass fills easier than an empty glass

(VOANews, 2010). According to a study of the TPO, 35% of Cambodians suffer from some kind of

psychiatric problem with over 10% suffering from major depression while most of the population are

too young to remember the war atrocities. There are also about 40 psychiatrists for a population of 14

million people, 10 of whom reside outside Phnom Penh.

Also Cambodians who have fled the war and who have been settling down in foreign countries sufferfrom severe mental problems. Marshall et al. (2005) have conducted a research on the long-term

mental health of Cambodian trauma exposed-refugees years after permanent resettlement in host

countries. Studying a population sample of 490 Cambodian refugees residing in Long Beach,

California, who had lived during some portion of the Khmer Rouge regime, Marshall et al. have come

to the conclusion that despite their arrival in the United States approximately 2 decades ago, the

refugees community had high rates of psychiatric disorders related to traumas. These psychiatric

disorders are due to the intensive amounts of trauma exposures. The rates of trauma exposure of the

research sample are shown in table 1.


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Table 1: Rates of trauma exposure (N=490)*

This has raised questions whether the mental health resources in the community provide insufficientcare. The asylum policies for future refugees should be evaluated as they should not only remove

vulnerable populations from life threatening danger, but also promote the health of these refugees

(Marshall et al., p. 578). This is not just a community problem. It is also the problem for society as a

whole. According to a study that was published in May 2008 in the American Journal of Psychiatry,

major mental disorders cost the United States at least $193 billion annually in lost earnings alone. This

is not taking into consideration the costs of treatments, social security payments, and homelessness. As

expected, many of the Cambodian refugees have no marketable skills. The majority rely on social

security and speak little or no English at all. Many were uneducated farmers during their lifetime in

Cambodia and were even illiterate in their native language.

In another study on mental health, and then particularly on major depressions among Afghan refugees

from the war with the Soviet Union that started in 1979, Lipson and Omidian (1993) had found similar

results. Many refugees were described as having sleep disturbances, memory problems, headaches,

constant worry, flashbacks of bad memories, depression, dizziness, and anger. All these symptoms fall

under the major depressive disorder, according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental

Disorder IV. Mental disorders are not only prevalent among the first generation of Cambodian

refugees, but also among the second. Parenting skills are negatively affected by the mental health of

the parents, and so their children are indirectly affected by the war their parents have witnessed.

Another issue is the language barrier. 91,6% of Cambodian households in the United States do not


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speak English at home and 53,5% of Cambodians reported their English speaking ability as less than

very well (We the people: Asians in the United States 2004). This inability to communicate

effectively makes the parenting skills impaired. Recent studies also have shown that depression is very

common among Cambodian children. 9% of children will experience a major depressive episode by

the age of 14, and by the time they graduate from high school the likelihood will increase to 20%

(School-Based Program Teaches Skills That Stave Off Depression 2003).

These are serious problems, and it is important for patients with mental disorders to find professional

help.


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Cambodias economic situation

The Cambodian economy has expanded greatly during the last decade with an annual average of 9,4%.

In 2005 its economy peaked at 13,5% and grew at double digit rates throughout 2006 and 2007, until it

drops to 6,7% in 2008. In 2009 the economy declined by 2% and estimations are a growth of 4,8% in

2010. See table 2 for Cambodias Real GDP growth.

Table 2

Year 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010*

Real GDP

growth

8,8% 8,1% 6,6% 8,5% 10,3% 13,5% 10,8% 10,2% 6,7% -2% 4,8%

*Estimate

At first it was thought that Cambodia would not be greatly affected by the global economic crisis due

the lack of a developed banking system and because it was not considered to be fully integrated into

the global financial system. However, this has not been the case. The economy was mostly thriving on

growth in tourism, construction, agriculture, and garments. All of these sectors have been hit hard induring the period of the economic crisis. The International Monetary Fund has reported that the

garment industry has declined with 5%, the tourism industry with 6%, and the construction industry

with 2% (UNDP, 2010). It is believed that in reality these numbers are heavily understated. One clear

indicator of Cambodias huge decline is the fall in Foreign Direct Investment by 47% in the year 2009.

There is high risk of laid-off workers. Between September 2008 and March 2009, there were 63.000

net job losses in the garments sector alone. Bankrupt textile companies have left Cambodia without

paying workers salaries.

In addition, approximately 200.000 more migrant workers are likely to return to Cambodia. Many of

these have been working in Thailand and Malaysia. In addition to all this, the Cambodian labour

market has an estimated 250.000 new entrants yearly. I believe that the full consequence of the crisis

on Cambodia will be much more severe than most forecasts. The main cause for this will be the real

estate market which can bankrupt Cambodian banks. Cambodia has had experienced its first

construction boom in 1.000 years. Property agents have reported that property prices have doubled

between 2004 and 2007, which was Asias second-fastest growth rate after China. With many people

seeing opportunity to make money, this market had been mainly fuelled by speculation. Everybody

was buying and selling property. The largest project announced for Phnom Penh is CamKo city, which

is to be a World City. It would be entirely financed by Korean investors. More and more Chinese,

Taiwanese, Singaporean, Korean, Japanese and Malaysian investors have becoming active on the

Cambodian real estate market.

But in the last six months real estate values have dropped about 30-40%. Also 30-40% of construction

projects have been postponed or cancelled, resulting in more job losses. The overexposure of banks tothe property sector could lead to a large deterioration in credit quality and a need for recapitalization.

Some clients have already made panicked withdrawals resulting in falling deposits for banks. There is

also the threat of non repayment of outstanding loans due to the economic downfall. Cambodias

biggest bank, Canadia, is facing the serious possibility of bankruptcy.

Looking at the solvency of Cambodias economy, we can see that Cambodia is still not self-sustaining.

Imports are exceeding exports by over 40% meaning that Cambodia is running huge budget deficits

that can only be financed by debt. Foreign debt has increased from 829million USD in 2003 to a


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staggering 4.266million USD in 2009. See table 3 for import and export numbers and see table 4 for

statistics on foreign debt.

Table 3: Cambodian import and export

Import Export

Table 4: Foreign debt

Year Foreign Debt (Billions US$)

2003 0.829

2004 2.4

2005 2.4

2006 0.8

2007 3.664

2008 3.89

2009 4.266

As these figures show, the Cambodian economy is still very much relying on foreign donors. In June

2010 donors have promised another 1,1billion USD in aid. For a country that has 2,0billion USD in

government budgets the aid goes a long way. On December 16, 2008, the Chinaview, had reported that

experts were predicting that the Cambodian real estate market would recover by 2010. So far the

recovery hasnt settled in yet, and with a dire outlook on the global economy there is little hope that

the Cambodian real estate market will bounce very soon. To add to the Cambodian miserable

economy, food prices have inflated tremendously this year. The global food prices of 2007 and 2008


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may even be exceeded in the new future. The rising price of food is a serious issue in any country

where food expenditure accounts for about 70% of total household expenditure of 40% of the

population. 35% of the population live under the poverty rate as can be seen in table 5. It is estimated

by the World Bank that a 10% increase of the rice price would increase the national poverty rate by

0,5% (United Nations Cambodia 2008, p. 2). 20% of Cambodians live under the food poverty line,

which means that they eat less than 2100 calories per day.

Table 5: Population % under poverty rate

The main source of development for Cambodia would be an increase in FDI, but as long as the world

remains in an economic slump there is no chance that foreign countries are willing to invest as much

in Cambodia as in previous years.


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Bibliography

Chandararot, K., Sina, S., Dannet, L., Rapid assessment of the impact of the financial crisis in

Cambodia,ILO Asia-Pacific Working Paper Series, 2009

Reedy, J., The mental health conditions of Cambodian refugee childen and adolescents, 2007

UNDPs response to the global economic crisis Cambodia, 2010

Documents

Asian History - Cambodia