History of Cambodia: From the Khmer Rouge to Nowadays

Cambodia is a former French protectorate incorporated into French Indochina. Cambodia gained independence on 9 November 1953, at the end of the war in Indochina and became a constitutional monarchy (since 1947) directed by King Norodom Sihanouk. The country has a policy of neutrality regarding the Vietnam war, but in fact supported the Democratic Republic of Vietnam in 1966, leaving transit through its territory for troops and supplies to the National Front for the Liberation of Vietnam.

In 1967-68, an insurgency fomented by the Khmer Rouge, the Maoist-inspired communist rebels, resolved the King to entrust in August 14, 1969, the leadership of government to general Lon Nol.

With the support of China, the Khmer Rouge trigger a war against government forces. In addition to this civil war, the country was embroiled in the Vietnam War. In 1970 the Khmer Rouge were going to win, but the United States intervened and temporarily save the republican regime (April-June 1970). But when in 1973 the United States disengaged from the region their air strikes failed to stop the communist threat. The Khmer Rouge of Pol Pot, backed by communist China took Phnom Penh on 17 April 1975 and installed a Maoist regime.

The organization of the Khmer Rouge then applied the communism, even more radically than the Soviets and the Maoists, in particular to cleanse the country of urban civilization. Cities, like Phnom Penh on the night of 17 to 18 April 1975 are emptied of their inhabitants, sent to rehabilitation in the countryside. The quantification of the number of victims is a difficult job and on which historians have not yet reached a consensus. The figure of 1.7 million direct and indirect victims are most commonly admitted.

In 1979, Vietnam invaded Cambodia and caused the destruction of rice fields, causing the collapse of the Khmer Rouge regime. The Vietnamese authorities installed a government close to their interests and reorganized the country according to the Laotian and Vietnamese model.

The current Prime Minister Hun Sen, placed in power by Vietnam, is leading the country since that time, and stayed in power through three successive elections in a climate of political violence. The main opposition Sam Rainsy fled to Paris in 2005. King Norodom Sihanouk, returned head of state has abdicated a second time in 2004 in favor of his younger son Norodom Sihamoni, a former classical dancer and ambassador of Cambodia to UNESCO in Paris.

Cambodia is now facing a series of painful choices. Its economy, which still depends heavily on international aid (in 2001, one third of the state budget came from international donors), suffers from corruption.

Since his arrival Prime Minister Hun Sen has moved closer to both China and the United States. Thus, two American naval bases were opened in all discretion few years ago near Sihanoukville and the U.S. embassy, recently built in central Phnom Penh, lies in its magnitude. Moreover, a policy of intensive english teaching has also been undertaken since the accession of Mr. Hun Sen. English is truly indispensable to operate in the country, even in hotels or shops belonging to local people. In shops and hotels, prices are in U.S. dollars, and most transactions are conducted in that currency (like the fee to leave the country, for example.)

Currently the tourism sector and textiles are the major industries of the country.