Cambodia & History: The kingdom's long and difficult road to independence

Tomorrow, Saturday 9 November 2024, the kingdom will celebrate the 71st anniversary of its independence from the French colonial power.

Vincent Auriol and Norodom Sihanouk

As Norodom Sihanouk often liked to point out, the independence he obtained from France was the fruit of a long process that began in 1946 and was marked by sometimes difficult negotiations with the protectorate authorities.

In an article published in the weekly Réalités Cambodgiennes at the end of 1958, and again in a brochure published by the palace entitled ‘L'action royale pour l'Indépendance du Cambodge 1941 - 1995’, Norodom Sihanouk analysed the context in which he began his fight for independence:

‘... Some people are my enemies, either because they belong to the opposition parties, or because my policy of neutrality and friendship with countries such as the People's Republic of China displeases them greatly.’

‘They believe they have to write, proclaim and repeat incessantly that I have usurped the title of Father of Cambodian Independence. I would like to stress here that I have never solicited or claimed this title, contrary to the malicious allusions made by people such as the American Martin F. Herz, a former member of the US embassy, in his book ‘A Short history of Cambodia’.

‘This title was given to me by my people. I am not interested in having it or losing it, what matters to me is to be in accordance with my conscience as a patriot, as a King, responsible for the destiny of his country, and to have fulfilled my duty without fail’.

French colonisation (1863-1953)

In 1863, King Norodom signed an agreement with France, which established a protectorate over the kingdom and gradually integrated the country into its colonial empire. France's takeover of Cambodia was part of the process of colonising the three countries of Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, which together formed French Indochina for just under a century. In 1862, France imposed a treaty on Vietnam, ceding Saigon, eastern Cochinchina and its rights over Cambodia.

The protectorate regime reserved foreign relations for France and gave French citizens the right to settle and trade freely throughout the kingdom. In 1867, in exchange for Siam's recognition of the French protectorate, France undertook not to annex Cambodia to Cochinchina and agreed to recognise Siam's control over the provinces of Battambang and Angkor.

King Norodom

Between 1863 and the start of the protectorate, France allowed Norodom to run the country's internal affairs as an absolute monarch, with some hesitations, as in 1884 when the French government under Jules Ferry, convinced that the king was holding back reforms, imposed a much stricter protectorate, similar to that imposed on the Emperor of Annam (the name given to Vietnam at the time).

However, a popular uprising finally forced the French to back down. Norodom, who had transferred his capital from Oudong to Phnom Penh, was keen to modernise, following in the footsteps of his predecessor Ang Duong: he abolished a certain number of mandarin posts, which consisted mainly of privileges with no quid pro quo in terms of services rendered, fixed salaries for civil servants, with a ban on direct payment from tax revenues, and intended to abolish slavery.

But all these reforms aroused strong opposition from the court and forced the king to temporise. In 1897, Paul Doumer, the new Governor General of Indochina, wrote:

‘After forty years of French protectorate over Cambodia, economic progress has been insignificant, if not nil’.

Prince Sisowath

When Norodom died in 1904, the succession fell to his brother, Prince Sisowath, a favourite of the French. A supporter of modernisation, he favoured Doumer's policy of building infrastructure. Relations with the colonial power improved when France obtained the return of the western provinces from Siam in 1904 and 1907.

In 1927, Sisowath died and was succeeded by his eldest son Monivong. The two sovereigns maintained fairly friendly relations with the French. The two administrations, French and Cambodian, continued to share power.

School exams in the 1920s

In the first part of the 20th century, the French built a number of infrastructures (roads, the Phnom Penh-Battambang railway, the port of Phnom Penh, hospitals), but development took place within the framework of the Indochinese Union. In practice, this meant that Cambodians had very little representation in Hanoi's central administrations.

In Cambodia itself, despite the very modest development of the education system, Cambodian administrative executives are trained, but the technical executives are essentially Vietnamese, while the traders are most often Chinese. There are more Vietnamese or Pondicherry nationals than Cambodians in the administrations that report directly to the Indochina government, such as customs and justice.

The school system, of which the pagoda schools are still the basis, is slowly developing, but this is only primary education. In 1937, Cambodia still only had 1,000 schools, including 813 pagoda schools, with 49,500 pupils for a population of 3 million.

One ‘positive’ aspect of colonisation was that the demographic data was more or less reliable. The first census in 1921 counted 2.3 million inhabitants. In 1937, Cambodia still had no secondary education worthy of the name: Cambodians from wealthy families had to take their baccalaureate in Saigon. In 1937, there were 631 students enrolled at the Indochinese University in Hanoi. Of these, only three were Cambodian.

The Second World War and independence

On the eve of the Second World War, the French had no plans to allow Cambodia to become independent in the near future. Independence movements remained modest. The fight for independence was led by Son Ngoc Thanh. Charles Meyer summed up the situation when he wrote:

‘Between the French and the Cambodians, there was more cohabitation than domination...’.

After aerial bombardments at the end of 1940, Thailand launched a ground offensive in January 1941. The French forces - including two battalions of Cambodian riflemen - counter-attacked and were victorious in the naval battle of Koh Chang. However, under pressure from the Japanese, France had to cede the provinces of Battambang and Siem Reap to Thailand in May 1941.

During the Second World War, the Japanese allowed the Vichy government to administer the various countries of French Indochina, while encouraging Cambodian nationalism.

It fell to Admiral Jean Decoux, Governor General of Indochina, to manage the succession to Monivong, who died in 1941. His choice was Norodom Sihanouk, a nineteen-year-old prince who remained closely surrounded by his French advisers.

The young king

On 9 March 1945, a Japanese coup put an abrupt end to French domination. Cambodia enjoyed a brief period of independence before French rule was restored. On 12 March, Sihanouk denounced the protectorate. Son Ngoc Thanh, who had taken refuge in Japan, returned to Phnom Penh, became Minister of Foreign Affairs and pushed the government to move closer to Japan. A nationalist and anti-colonialist movement.

Son Ngoc Thanh proclaimed himself Prime Minister in August with Japanese support. There was extreme confusion until the Japanese capitulation and beyond. Sihanouk finally made contact with the French, inviting them to come and restore the protectorate. French and British troops entered Phnom Penh and, on 15 October 1945, General Leclerc entered Phnom Penh and arrested Son Ngoc Thanh.

1947, the King at the Water Festival

After the defeat of Japan, Cambodia was recognised by France as an autonomous kingdom within the French Union. In 1949, a new treaty with France once again granted the country protectorate status. At this time, the kingdom was experiencing intense internal struggles between the king and the legislature.

Following numerous quarrels with the ruling Democratic Party, Norodom Sinahouk decided to dissolve the National Assembly in January 1953. Sihanouk, having come out on top, has since occupied a central position on the political chessboard.

During the Indochina War, Cambodia was threatened by the Việt Minh and its Khmer Issarak allies, but remained, of the three countries of French Indochina, the one that suffered least from the communist guerrilla independence movement. It was Sihanouk who succeeded in obtaining independence, by endeavouring to negotiate with the French on terms acceptable to all parties.

The independence process

On 9 February 1953, His Majesty left the Kingdom and travelled to France to demand Cambodian independence from the French Head of State. From La Napoule, in France, on 5 March 1953, the King sent a letter to M. Vincent Auriol, explaining the need for France to broaden the scope of Khmer independence.

From La Napoule on 18 March 1953, then from Fontainebleau on 3 April 1953, the King wrote two more letters to M. Vincent Auriol and the French government to add to his views on Cambodian independence and to ask the French government to hasten the solution.

Faced with the reluctance of the French government, His Majesty left France on 11 April for Canada and the United States, where he campaigned for his country's independence.

Phnom Penh in the 1950s

The royal declaration published in the New York Times moved the whole world and forced the French government to negotiate with Norodom Sihanouk's personal representative, Penn Nouth. The negotiations resulted in a proposal by France to grant Cambodia certain important concessions. On 14 May 1953, the King returned to Cambodia to meet Penn Nouth.

To his people, who accorded him the honours of a triumph and hero, His Majesty officially promised in a speech on 17 May 1953 that he would give his life to achieve 100% independence.

On 13 June 1953, the King went into voluntary exile in Thailand, after having, in a proclamation, drawn the world's attention to the failure to satisfy the legitimate aspirations of the Cambodian nation, a failure which could have tragic consequences both for Cambodia and for the free world.

Agreements

After obtaining the full attention of all the free nations to the demands and events in Cambodia, Norodom Sihanouk returned to his homeland and set up his headquarters in the Autonomous Sector, made up of the provinces of Siem Reap, Battambang and Kompong Thom. The military autonomy of these provinces had been acquired by Cambodia thanks to a claim made by His Majesty in 1949 for Siem Reap and Kompong Thom, and in 1952 for Battambang. The King declared that he would not return to his capital until France had agreed to transfer to Cambodia the last attributes of its independence.

To support his crusade, the king then created the Mouvement des Forces Vives (Movement of Living Forces), which was later to play a greater role. Negotiations conducted in Phnom Penh in accordance with royal directives and under the leadership of Penn Nouth were a complete success.

On 29 August 1953, the agreement on the transfer of judicial powers was signed. On 29 August 1953, the agreement on the transfer of police powers was signed. Finally, on 17 October 1953, the agreement establishing Cambodian military sovereignty over the entire Kingdom was signed. At the same time, full diplomatic sovereignty was negotiated through an exchange of letters between the French and Cambodian governments.

Cambodian independence effective and total

On 8 November 1953, HM Norodom Sihanouk returned to his capital. Along the 300-kilometre route, the frenzied Cambodian people gave him an unprecedented triumph. On 9 November 1953, eight months before the Geneva Conference, the ceremony marking the withdrawal of French power from Cambodia took place in front of the Royal Palace.

General de Langlade solemnly handed over his command to His Majesty. The Forces and Staff withdrew from the Kingdom. Cambodian independence became effective and total. During the Geneva Accords, the Prince was able to refuse any concessions to the Khmer Issarak, who had to lay down their arms or evacuate Cambodia to take refuge in North Vietnam.

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Sources :

A. Dauphin-Meunier, Histoire du Cambodge, PUF, Paris, 1961, 1983

Philippe Devillers, article Encyclopédia Universalis, 2000

Alain Forest, Le Cambodge et la colonisation française : Histoire d’une colonisation sans heurts (1897 – 1920), vol. 1, Éditions L’Harmattan, coll. “Centre de documentation et de recherches sur l’Asie du Sud-Est et le monde insulindien”, 1er mars 1993, 546 p. (ISBN 9782858021390)

Charles Meyer, Derrière le sourire khmer, Plon, 1971

François Ponchaud, Brève histoire du Cambodge, Magellan & Cie 2014.

Illustrations : Archives françaises d'outre-mer