Republic of Khmer

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សាធារណរដ្ឋ ខ្មែរ
Sathéaranakrâth Khmer
Republic of Khmer
1970-1975
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Official language Khmer
Capital Phnom Penh
Form of government republic
Head of state Cheng Heng (1970–1972)
Lon Nol (1972–1975)
Saukam Khoy (acting, 1975)
Head of government Lon Nol (1970-1972)
surface 181,040 (already in 1970 barely two thirds of this, then only Phnom Penh in 1975) km²
currency Cambodian riel
National anthem បទចំរៀង នៃ សាធារណរដ្ឋ ខ្មែរ
Bâthcâmriăng nưi Sathiărônârôdth Khmér
anthem of the Khmer Republic
Time zone UTC + 7h
LocationCambodia.svg
Map of Cambodia - Base CIA.png

The Khmer Republic (Khmer: សាធារណរដ្ឋ ខ្មែរ , Sathéaranakrâth Khmer , French: République khmère ) existed from 1970 to 1975 on part of what is now Cambodia , after Prince Norodom Sihanouk was ousted by General Lon Nol in a coup . After the defeat of the Khmer Republic in the Cambodian Civil War , the victorious Khmer Rouge proclaimed the Democratic Kampuchea in 1975 .

history

General Lon Nol, President of the Khmer Republic

Sihanouk, who had abdicated as king in 1955 in favor of his father, continued to rule the country as head of state. After Cambodia gained independence during the Vietnam War, he tried to pursue a policy of neutrality. However , the war spread to Cambodia through the Ho Chi Minh Trail and supply depots of the Viet Minh in the east of the country. After the United States initially limited itself to bombing in the east of the country, Cambodian officers under General Lon Nol overthrew Sihanouk with American help and proclaimed the Khmer Republic . The US believed that the Sihanouk government had not acted decisively enough against the Viet Minh. South Vietnamese and American troops now supported the government units now known as FANK ( Forces armées nationales khmères ) in the country in the fight against the rebels of the Khmer Rouge , the Viet Minh and the North Vietnamese People's Army (NVA).

On March 10, 1972, shortly before the Constituent Assembly could pass a new constitution, Lon Nol announced its dissolution and forced Cheng Heng, who had been the nominal head of state since the fall of Sihanouk, to transfer his office to him. On the second anniversary of the coup, Lon Nol announced his new office, but held the post of prime minister and defense minister at the same time. On June 4, 1972, he was elected President of the Khmer Republic in an obviously fraudulent election. By the constitution ratified on April 30th and still changed by Lon Nol, the parties that had been founded since the proclamation of the republic were largely disempowered and de facto insignificant.

Saukam Khoy, Lon Nol's successor as president, arrives on the USS Okinawa, on which he fled on April 12, 1975.

In January 1973, hope arose that the war would soon end when the Paris Peace Agreement ended the war in South Vietnam and Laos. As a result, on January 29th, Lon Nol unilaterally announced a ceasefire for the whole country. However, the Khmer Rouge ignored this offer of peace and started new offensive operations. By March, losses, desertions and low volunteer numbers had reduced the manpower of FANK to such an extent that Lon Nol introduced conscription . In April, however, communist troops were able to penetrate into the suburbs of Phnom Penh for the first time . However, several American air strikes were able to force them to retreat and inflicted heavy losses on them as they retreated into the country. During 1973 the most radical supporters around Pol Pot and Son Sen took over the leadership of the Khmer Rouge. The relationship between the Khmer Rouge and Vietnam deteriorated noticeably. The situation in the Khmer Republic became increasingly desperate in the course of 1974.

On January 1, 1975, the Khmer Rouge launched their final offensive to conquer the besieged Cambodian capital. The fighting was fought with extreme severity as the soldiers of the FANK expected the worst in the event of a capture due to the many rumors of the atrocities of the Khmer Rouge and therefore fought to the end. Lon Nol resigned from office after a series of defeats and left the country on April 1st. Saukam Khoy succeeded him as President of the Khmer Republic, but fled to the USS Okinawa on April 12th . A seven-member military council under General Sak Sutsakhan took over government power in the republic. On April 17, 1975 at ten o'clock in the morning, General Mey Si Chan announced on the radio that all FANK troops should cease fighting as negotiations on the surrender of Phnom Penh were ongoing. This ended the Cambodian civil war and the Khmer Rouge proclaimed the Democratic Kampuchea . Almost immediately, they began forcing all residents to leave the city and driving them into the countryside, which later led to the Khmer Rouge genocide.

Loss of territory

Since the end of 1970, large areas in the north and east of Cambodia were no longer under the control of the Khmer republic

The Khmer Republic never controlled the entire territory of the former kingdom during its entire existence. As early as 1970, the rebellious Khmer Rouge ruled almost all areas east of the Mekong, around a third of Cambodia in total, and the invasion of US and South Vietnamese troops did nothing to change that. At the end of 1971 and beginning of 1972 the Khmer Rouge already ruled over half of the country with a quarter of the population, in contrast, at the end of 1972 the republic controlled barely a third of Cambodia, in which the majority of the population lived. According to other sources, the Khmer Rouge ruled four fifths of the country as early as 1971, six sevenths in 1972 and nine tenths of the territory in 1974 with three quarters of the population. Since 1973 the republic was in fact limited to Phnom Penh and parts of the north-west of Cambodia along a connecting road to Thailand, from 1974 and 1975 only to the completely enclosed capital, whose population, however, in view of the large number of refugees, rose to 2 million in 1973 and finally to 1975 3 million people had grown.

Heads of State of the Khmer Republic

Surname Taking office Term expires Remarks
Cheng Heng March 21, 1970 March 10, 1972 Head of state; in power through coup
Lon Nol March 10, 1972 April 1, 1975 President; military ruler
Saukam Khoy April 1, 1975 April 12, 1975 acting president
Sak Sutsakhan April 12, 1975 April 17th 1975 Chairman of the Supreme Committee

See also

Cambodian Civil War

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Chandler: The Tragedy of Cambodian History: Politics, War, and Revolution Since 1945. 1993, pp. 222f.
  2. ^ Sutsakhan and Test: The Khmer Republic at War and the Final Collapse. 1989, p. 89.
  3. ↑ Isaacs and Hardy: Pawns of War: Cambodia and Laos. 1987, p. 100.
  4. ^ Ponchaud: Cambodia: Year Zero. 1978, p. 7.
  5. ^ A b Gustav Fochler-Hauke (Ed.): Der Fischer Weltalmanach 1971 , page 346. Fischer, Frankfurt (Main) 1970
  6. ↑ a b c d Munzinger Archive / IH-Zeitarchiv, Cambodscha 7/84, page 3f
  7. ^ A b Gustav Fochler-Hauke (ed.): Der Fischer Weltalmanach 1972 , page 376. Fischer, Frankfurt (Main) 1971
  8. ↑ a b Walter Markov , Alfred Anderle, Ernst Wurche: Small Encyclopedia World History , Volume 1, Page 586 (Kampuchea). Bibliographical Institute Leipzig 1979
  9. ↑ Gustav Fochler-Hauke (Ed.): Der Fischer Weltalmanach 1973 , page 389f. Fischer, Frankfurt (Main) 1972
  10. ↑ Gustav Fochler-Hauke (Ed.): Der Fischer Weltalmanach 1975 , page 383. Fischer, Frankfurt (Main) 1974
  11. ↑ a b Gustav Fochler-Hauke (ed.): Der Fischer Weltalmanach 1974 , page 380f. Fischer, Frankfurt (Main) 1973