Flag of the People's Republic of Kampuchea

The Kampuchea Khmer United Front for National Salvation (KUFNS; km, រណសិរ្សសាមគ្គីសង្គ្រោះជាតិកម្ពុជា), often simply referred to as Salvation Front or by its French acronym FUNSK (''Front Uni National pour le Salut du Kampuchéa''), was the nucleus of a new Cambodian regime that would topple the Khmer Rouge and later establish the

People's Republic of Kampuchea The People's Republic of Kampuchea (PRK), UNGEGN: , ALA-LC: ; vi, Cộng hòa Nhân dân Campuchia was a partially recognised state in Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as So ...

(PRK).

History

Its foundation took place on 2 December 1978 in

Kratié Province Kratié (also transliterated Kracheh) may refer to: * Kratié (town), a town in Kratié Commune, Cambodia * Kratié Commune, a commune in Kratié District, Cambodia * Kratié District, a district in Kratié Province, Cambodia * Kratié Province, a p ...

near the border with

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

at a meeting of seventy dissident Cambodians determined to overthrow Pol Pot's government. Heng Samrin was voted as leader of the front and within a few weeks its influence spread widely on both sides of the border. The front was a heterogeneous

Cambodia Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia, spanning an area of , bordered by Thailan ...

n politico-military organization that legitimized the

Vietnamese invasion of Cambodia Vietnamese may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Vietnam, a country in Southeast Asia ** A citizen of Vietnam. See Demographics of Vietnam. * Vietnamese people, or Kinh people, a Southeast Asian ethnic group native to Vietnam ** Over ...

, precipitating the ensuing defeat of the Khmer Rouge's

Democratic Kampuchea Kampuchea ( km, កម្ពុជា ), officially known as Democratic Kampuchea (DK; km, កម្ពុជាប្រជាធិបតេយ្យ ) from 5 January 1976, was a one-party totalitarian state which encompassed modern-day Camb ...

. It brought about the foundation of the new state named 'People's Republic of Kampuchea' and the reconstruction of the shattered and desperately impoverished country. This organization has undergone various name changes as it has expanded and adapted to the different historical realities in Cambodia.

The Salvation Front (1978-1981)

Politically the Salvation Front (FUNSK) was a pro-

Hanoi Hanoi or Ha Noi ( or ; vi, Hà Nội ) is the capital and second-largest city of Vietnam. It covers an area of . It consists of 12 urban districts, one district-leveled town and 17 rural districts. Located within the Red River Delta, Hanoi is ...

umbrella organization of the Marxist Kampuchean People's Revolutionary Party (KPRP) opposed to the

Communist Party of Kampuchea The Communist Party of Kampuchea (CPK),, UNGEGN: , ALA-LC: ; french: Parti communiste du Kampuchea also known as the Khmer Communist Party,

—also known as the ''

Angkar The Communist Party of Kampuchea (CPK),, Romanization of Khmer#UNGEGN, UNGEGN: , Romanization of Khmer#ALA-LC Romanization Tables, ALA-LC: ; french: Parti communiste du Kampuchea also known as the Khmer Communist Party,Kratie that had been liberated from the Khmer Rouge by Cambodian Communists and Khmer Rouge defectors. The latter didn't share Pol Pot's growing

personality cult A cult of personality, or a cult of the leader, Mudde, Cas and Kaltwasser, Cristóbal Rovira (2017) ''Populism: A Very Short Introduction''. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 63. is the result of an effort which is made to create an id ...

and his increasingly anti-Vietnamese policies. Many felt personally threatened by the bloody purges in Eastern Cambodia in 1977, especially after

So Phim So Phim was a Khmer Issarak, No. 3 of the Permanent Bureau and of the Military Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Kampuchea, deputy head of the People's National Liberation Armed Forces of Kampuchea, secretary of East Zone ...

's murder at the hand of members of the pro-Pol Pot faction. The date of the Salvation Front's foundation was 2 December 1978, in what Khmer socialist militants called a "Reunion Congress". The aim of the FUNSK was to expand as a Cambodian front in order to overthrow Pol Pot's regime of terror. The Salvation Front drew eleven points for the reconstruction of the country. These points would be used after the establishment of the PRK to motivate Cambodians to support the rebuilding efforts and the pro-Soviet structure of the new state to keep the revolution alive with a moderate, pragmatic and humane approach compared to the Khmer Rouge. Although the front was largely controlled by KPRP communists, it included quite a few non-communists in its leadership, such as Cambodian

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

religious figures, as well as women. The Central Committee of FUNSK at its foundation was then made up of 15 individuals with Heng Samrin as Chairman,

Chea Sim Chea Sim ( km, ជា ស៊ីម; 15 November 19328 June 2015) was a Cambodian politician. He was President of the Cambodian People's Party from 1991 to 2015, President of the National Assembly of Cambodia from 1981 to 1998 (Vice President fr ...

as vice president, Ros Samay as secretary general. Revolutionary People's Council decreed on 8 January 1979: Heng Samrin (Chairman), Vice Chairman:

Pen Sovan Pen Sovan ( km, ប៉ែន សុវណ្ណ; 15 April 1936 – 29 October 2016) was a Cambodian politician and revolutionary who served as the Prime Minister of the Hanoi-backed People's Republic of Kampuchea from 27 June to 5 December 1981. ...

. Headed by Heng Samrin, Revolutionary People's Council of Kampuchea includes

Hun Sen Hun Sen (; km, ហ៊ុន សែន, ; born 5 August 1952) is a Cambodian politician and former military commander who has served as the prime minister of Cambodia since 1985. He is the longest-serving head of government of Cambodia, and ...

(Foreign Affairs), Keo Chenda (Culture and Information), Mot Sakun (Economy), Chea Sim (Interior), Pen Sovan (Defense), Nu Beng (Health and Social Affairs), and Chan Ven (Education).

Kampuchean United Front for National Construction and Defence (1981-2006)

In 1981, two years after the liberation of Phnom Penh, the Salvation Front was renamed "Kampuchean United Front for National Construction and Defence", ''Front d'union pour l'édification et la défense de la patrie du Cambodge '' (KUFNCD or UFCDK). Years after the establishment of the People's Republic of Kampuchea, the Front remained as the main political organization of the pro-Hanoi Cambodian state. The front's role in the political life of the nation was officially established in the PRK Constitution, which stated in Article 3 that "The Kampuchean Front for National Construction and the revolutionary mass organizations constitute a solid support base of the state, encouraging the people to fulfill their revolutionary tasks." Honorary Chairman: Heng Samrin Chairman:

Solidarity Front for Development of the Cambodian Motherland (2006 – present)

On the 5th congress of the Kampuchean United Front for National Construction and Defence, held in Phnom Penh, on 29 April 2006, the name of the KUFNCD was changed to "Solidarity Front for Development of the Cambodian Motherland", ''Front de solidarité pour le développement de la Patrie du Cambodge'' (SFDCM). This organization, so important in its heyday, has lost much of its original relevance in Cambodian present-day politics. Chairman: Heng Samrin Honorary Chairman:

Tasks

The Front's specific missions were to transmit party policies to the masses, to act as an ombudsman, and to mobilize the people around the regime's efforts to consolidate the so-called "worker-peasant alliance." The front's cadres were required to stay in close touch with the people, to report their needs and problems to authorities, and to conduct mass campaigns to generate support for the regime, or to lead "emulation" drives to spur the population to greater efforts in pursuit of specific goals. The cadres were also responsible for organizing networks of Salvation Front activists in villages and in communes and for coordinating their functions with cadres of various mass organizations. Often this involved long indoctrination sessions and getting villagers to paint banners and hoardings related to the Salvation Front propaganda. This created some resentment in the eyes of the people who perceived that the effort could have been directed towards more productive work.Soizick Crochet, ''Le Cambodge'', Karthala, Paris 1997, The Front also was responsible for conducting "activities of friendship," which were aimed at improving the climate for close cooperation with "the Vietnamese people and the Vietnamese army and experts." Another major function of the front was to reeducate Buddhist monks so that they would "discard the narrow-minded views of dividing themselves into groups and factions" and would participate more actively in the revolutionary endeavors of the Salvation Front. Presently the Solidarity Front for Development of the Cambodian Motherland (SFDCM), the Salvation Front's latest avatar, organizes national and international events, such as

sports venue A sports venue is a building, structure, or place in which a sporting competition is held. A stadium (plural: stadiums or stadia) or arena is a place or venue for sports or other events and consists of a field or stage either partly or completely ...

s and

trade fair A trade fair, also known as trade show, trade exhibition, or trade exposition, is an exhibition organized so that companies in a specific industry can showcase and demonstrate their latest products and services, meet with industry partners and ...

s on behalf of the Cambodian government.

Organizations

Among the more important mass organizations affiliated with the KUFNCD as an umbrella organization were the following: * Kampuchean Federation of Trade Unions (KFTU). It had 62,000 members in December 1983 and was officially described as "the training school of the working class for economic and administrative management". * Kampuchean People's Revolutionary Youth Union (KPRYU), an important reservoir of candidate members for the KPRP and "a school of Marxism" for people between the ages of fifteen and twenty-six. As of March 1987, when the Youth Union held its Second National Congress, there were more than 50,000 members in villages, factories, enterprises, hospitals, schools, public offices, and the armed forces. *Kampuchean Revolutionary Youth Association (KRYA), an 800,000- member group for children (aged 9 to 16). *Kampuchean Young Pioneers Organization (KYPO), a 450,000-member group for preschoolers under the general guidance of the KPRYU and the KRYA, both part of the

Pioneer movement A pioneer movement is an organization for children operated by a communist party. Typically children enter into the organization in elementary school and continue until adolescence. The adolescents then typically join the Young Communist League ...

. *Kampuchean Revolutionary Women's Association (KRWA), which claimed 923,000 members as of October 1983.

Commemorative dates

All the organizations under the KUFNCD held rallies to arouse public awareness on national commemorative occasions such as the following: *Kampuchea-Vietnam Solidarity Day on 18 February. * Day of Remembrance observed on 20 May. *Day of Solidarity between the People and the Army celebrated on 19 June.

Bibliography

*Bekaert, Jacques, ''Cambodian Diary, Vol. 1: Tales of a Divided Nation 1983-1986'', White Lotus Press, Bangkok 1997, , * Gottesman, Evan, ''Cambodia after the Khmer Rouge: Inside the politics of Nation Building''. * Vickery, Michael, ''Cambodia : 1975-1982'', Boston: South End Press, 1984

References

External links

A Country Study: CambodiaMargaret Slocomb, ''The K5 Gamble: National Defence and Nation Building under the People's Republic of Kampuchea''
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