The People's Republic of Kampuchea (PRK),
UNGEGN
The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names (UNGEGN) is one of the nine expert groups of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and deals with the national and international standardization of geographical names. ...
: ,
ALA-LC
ALA-LC (American Library AssociationLibrary of Congress) is a set of standards for romanization, the representation of text in other writing systems using the Latin script.
Applications
The system is used to represent bibliographic information by ...
: ; 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 Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical south-eastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of mainlan ...
supported by
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 ...
which existed from 1979 to 1989. It was founded in
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 ...
by the
, a group of Cambodian
communists
Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...
who were dissatisfied with the
Khmer Rouge due to its oppressive rule of Cambodia and defected from it after the
overthrow of
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 ...
,
Pol Pot's government. Brought about by an
invasion from Vietnam, which routed the Khmer Rouge armies, it had Vietnam and the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
as its main allies.
The PRK failed to secure
United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...
endorsement due to the diplomatic intervention of China, the United Kingdom, the United States and the
ASEAN
ASEAN ( , ), officially the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, is a political and economic union of 10 member states in Southeast Asia, which promotes intergovernmental cooperation and facilitates economic, political, security, militar ...
countries. The Cambodian seat at the United Nations was held by the
Coalition Government of Democratic Kampuchea
The Coalition Government of Democratic Kampuchea (CGDK; km, រដ្ឋាភិបាលចំរុះកម្ពុជាប្រជាធិបតេយ្យ, ''Roathaphibal Chamroh Kampuchea Pracheathipatai''), renamed in 1990 to the N ...
, which was the Khmer Rouge in coalition with two non-communist guerrilla factions. However, the PRK was considered the ''
de facto
''De facto'' ( ; , "in fact") describes practices that exist in reality, whether or not they are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms. It is commonly used to refer to what happens in practice, in contrast with ''de jure'' ("by la ...
'' government of Cambodia between 1979 and 1993, albeit with limited international recognition outside of the
Soviet Bloc.
Beginning May 1989, the PRK restored the name "Cambodia" by renaming the country State of Cambodia (SOC) during the last four years of its existence in an attempt to attract international sympathy. However, it retained most of its leadership and one-party structure while undergoing a transition and eventually giving way to the restoration of the
Kingdom of 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 Thailand t ...
. The PRK/SOC existed as a
communist state
A communist state, also known as a Marxist–Leninist state, is a one-party state that is administered and governed by a communist party guided by Marxism–Leninism. Marxism–Leninism was the state ideology of the Soviet Union, the Comi ...
from 1979 until 1991, the year in which the ruling single party abandoned its
Marxist–Leninist ideology.
Under Vietnamese control, the PRK was established in the wake of the total destruction of the country's institutions, infrastructure and intelligentsia wreaked by Khmer Rouge rule.
[Sorpong Peou, ''Intervention & change in Cambodia; Towards Democracy?'', ]
Historical background
The PRK was established in January 1979 as a result of a process that began with Khmer Rouge belligerence.
Khmer Rouge directs its hostility against Vietnam
Initially, communist North Vietnam was a strong ally of the Khmer Rouge while it was fighting against
Lon Nol
Marshal Lon Nol ( km, លន់ នល់, also ; 13 November 1913 – 17 November 1985) was a Cambodian politician and general who served as Prime Minister of Cambodia twice (1966–67; 1969–71), as well as serving repeatedly as defence min ...
's
Khmer Republic during the 1970–1975 civil war. Only after the Khmer Rouge took power things began to turn sour, when on 1 May 1975 (the day after
Saigon fell), Khmer Rouge soldiers raided the islands of
Phu Quoc
Phu or ''variation'', may refer to:
Places
*Phủ, prefecture in 15th–19th century Vietnam
People Given name
*Phu Dorjee (died 1987), first Indian to climb Mount Everest without oxygen
*Phu Dorjee Sherpa (died 1969), first Nepali to climb Mount ...
and
Tho Chau, killing more than five hundred Vietnamese civilians; following the attack, the islands were swiftly recaptured by Hanoi. Even then, the first reactions of the Vietnamese were ambiguous, and it took Vietnam a long time to react with force, for the first impulse was to arrange matters diplomatically "within the family sphere".
Massacres of ethnic Vietnamese and of their sympathisers, as well as destruction of Vietnamese Catholic churches,
[Milton Osborne, ''Sihanouk, Prince of Light, Prince of Darkness.'' Silkworm 1994] by the Khmer Rouge took place sporadically in Cambodia under the
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 ...
regime, especially in the Eastern Zone after May 1978. By early 1978 the Vietnamese leadership decided to support internal resistance to Pol Pot and the Eastern Zone of Cambodia became a focus of insurrection. In the meantime, as 1978 wore on, Khmer Rouge bellicosity in the border areas surpassed Hanoi's threshold of tolerance. War hysteria against Vietnam reached bizarre levels within Democratic Kampuchea as Pol Pot tried to distract attention from bloody inner purges.
In May 1978, on the eve of
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 Eastern Zone uprising,
Radio Phnom Penh declared that if each Cambodian soldier killed thirty Vietnamese, only 2 million troops would be needed to eliminate the entire Vietnamese population of 50 million. It appears that the leadership in Phnom Penh was seized with immense territorial ambitions, i.e., to recover
Kampuchea Krom
Kampouchea Krom ( km, កម្ពុជាក្រោម, ; "Lower Cambodia") is the region variously known as Southern Vietnam, Nam Bo, and the former French Cochinchina. Bordering present-day Cambodia, the region is positioned in Cambodian ...
, a region in the
Mekong Delta which they regarded as Khmer territory. In November, pro-Vietnamese Khmer Rouge leader
Vorn Vet
Vorn Vet ( km, វ៉ន វេត; 1929–1978) born Sok Thuok (), was a Cambodian politician who served as deputy prime minister for the economy of Democratic Kampuchea. He was murdered at the S-21 security camp in 1978.
References
...
led an unsuccessful
coup d'état
A coup d'état (; French for 'stroke of state'), also known as a coup or overthrow, is a seizure and removal of a government and its powers. Typically, it is an illegal seizure of power by a political faction, politician, cult, rebel group, m ...
and was subsequently arrested, tortured and executed. Incidents escalated along all of Cambodia's borders. There were now tens of thousands of Cambodian and Vietnamese exiles on Vietnamese territory, and even so Hanoi's response was half-hearted.
Salvation Front
The Kampuchean United Front for National Salvation (KUFNS or FUNSK) was an organisation that would be pivotal in overthrowing the Khmer Rouge and establishing the PRK/SOC state. The Salvation Front was a heterogeneous group of communist and non-communist exiles determined to fight against Pol Pot and rebuild Cambodia. Led by
Heng Samrin and
Pen Sovann, both Khmer Rouge
defectors,
the organization occupied a zone liberated from the Khmer Rouge after the purge of the Eastern Zone. The front's foundation was announced by
Radio Hanoi on 3 December 1978.
Of the Salvation Front's fourteen central committee members, the top two leaders —Heng Samrin, president, and
Joran Pollie, vice-president— had been "former"
Kampuchean Communist Party (KCP) officials; others were former
Khmer Issarak
The Khmer Issarak ( km, ខ្មែរឥស្សរៈ, or 'Independent Khmer') was a "loosely structured" anti- French and anti-colonial independence movement. The movement has been labelled as “amorphous”. The Issarak was ...
as well as "
Khmer Viet Minh" - members who had lived in exile in Vietnam.
Ros Samay, secretary general of the KUFNS, was a former KCP "staff assistant" in a military unit.
The government of Democratic Kampuchea lost no time in denouncing the KUFNS as "a Vietnamese political organisation with a Khmer name", because several of its key members had been affiliated with the KCP.
[Frings, K. Viviane, ]
Rewriting Cambodian History to 'Adapt' It to a New Political Context: The Kampuchean People's Revolutionary Party's Historiography (1979–1991)
'' in Modern Asian Studies, Vol. 31, No. 4. (October 1997), pp. 807–846. Despite being dependent on Vietnamese protection and the backing of the Soviet Union behind the scenes, the KUFNS had an immediate success among exiled Cambodians. This organisation provided a much-needed rallying point for Cambodian leftists opposed to Khmer Rouge rule, channeling efforts towards positive action instead of empty denunciations of the genocidal regime. The KUFNS provided as well a framework of legitimacy for the ensuing invasion of Democratic Kampuchea by Vietnam and the subsequent establishment of a pro-Hanoi regime in Phnom Penh.
Vietnamese invasion
Vietnamese policymakers finally opted for a military solution and, on 22 December 1978, Vietnam launched its offensive with the intent of overthrowing
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 ...
. An invasion force of 120,000-150,000, consisting of combined armour and infantry units with strong artillery support, drove west into the level countryside of Cambodia's southeastern provinces. After a seventeen-day blitzkrieg, Phnom Penh fell to the advancing Vietnamese on 7 January 1979. The retreating
Armed Forces of Democratic Kampuchea (RAK) and Khmer Rouge cadres burned rice granaries, which, along with other causes, provoked a severe famine all over Cambodia beginning in the last half of 1979 and which lasted until mid-1980.
On 1 January 1979, the Salvation Front's central committee proclaimed a set of "immediate policies" to be applied in the areas
liberated from the Khmer Rouge. First the communal kitchens were abolished and some
Buddhist monks
A ''bhikkhu'' (Pali: भिक्खु, Sanskrit: भिक्षु, ''bhikṣu'') is an ordained male in Buddhist monasticism. Male and female monastics ("nun", ''bhikkhunī'', Sanskrit ''bhikṣuṇī'') are members of the Sangha (Buddhist ...
would be brought to every community to reassure the people.
[Michael Vickery, ''Cambodia 1975–1982'', Silkworm Books 2000, ] Another of these policies was to establish "people's self-management committees" in all localities.
These committees would form the basic administrative structure for the
Kampuchean People's Revolutionary Council (KPRC), decreed on 8 January 1979, as the central administrative body for the PRK. The KPRC served as the ruling body of the Heng Samrin regime until 27 June 1981, when a new Constitution required that it be replaced by a newly elected Council of Ministers.
Pen Sovann became the new prime minister. He was assisted by three deputy prime ministers – Hun Sen, Chan Sy, and Chea Soth.
Establishment of the People's Republic of Kampuchea (1979–1989)
On 8 January 1979, after the DK army had been routed and Phnom Penh captured by Vietnamese troops the day before, the KPRC proclaimed that the new official name of Cambodia was the People's Republic of Kampuchea (PRK). The new administration was a
pro-Soviet government supported by a substantial Vietnamese military force and civilian advisory effort.
Despite the Vietnam-sponsored invasion and control, and the loss of independence that went along with it, the new order was welcomed by almost the entire Cambodian population due to the Khmer Rouge's brutality. However, there was some plundering of the almost empty capital of Phnom Penh by Vietnamese forces, who carried the goods on trucks back to Vietnam. This unfortunate behaviour would in time contribute to create a negative image of the invaders.
[Soizick Crochet, ''Le Cambodge'', Karthala, Paris 1997, ] Heng Samrin was named head of state of the PRK, and other Khmer
communists
Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...
that had formed the
Kampuchean People's Revolutionary Party, like
Chan Sy
Chan Sy, also spelt Chan Si, ( km, ចាន់ ស៊ី; 1932 – 26 December 1984) was a Cambodian politician who served as the Prime Minister of the People's Republic of Kampuchea from 1982 until his death in 1984.
Biography
Chan Sy was ...
and
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 ...
, were prominent from the start.
As events in the 1980s progressed, the main preoccupations of the new regime would be survival, restoring the economy, and combating the Khmer Rouge insurgency by military and political means.
The PRK was a communist state. It continued the socialist revolution that had been started by DK, but abandoning the Khmer Rouge's radical policies and channelling the efforts of building
socialism
Socialism is a left-wing Economic ideology, economic philosophy and Political movement, movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to Private prop ...
through more pragmatic channels in line with the policies marked by the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
and the
Comecon
The Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (, ; English abbreviation COMECON, CMEA, CEMA, or CAME) was an economic organization from 1949 to 1991 under the leadership of the Soviet Union that comprised the countries of the Eastern Bloc#List of s ...
. Very soon it would be one of the six countries regarded as socialist, and not just developing, by the USSR.
Regarding ethnic minorities, the People's Republic of Kampuchea was committed to respect Cambodia's national diversity, which brought some welcome relief to the ethnic
Thai
Thai or THAI may refer to:
* Of or from Thailand, a country in Southeast Asia
** Thai people, the dominant ethnic group of Thailand
** Thai language, a Tai-Kadai language spoken mainly in and around Thailand
*** Thai script
*** Thai (Unicode block ...
,
Vietnamese
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
** Overse ...
,
Cham
Cham or CHAM may refer to:
Ethnicities and languages
*Chams, people in Vietnam and Cambodia
**Cham language, the language of the Cham people
***Cham script
*** Cham (Unicode block), a block of Unicode characters of the Cham script
*Cham Albania ...
and the "
montagnards
Montagnard (''of the mountain'' or ''mountain dweller'') may refer to:
* Montagnard (French Revolution), members of The Mountain (''La Montagne''), a political group during the French Revolution (1790s)
** Montagnard (1848 revolution), members of t ...
" of the northeast. The
Chinese ethnic minority, however, perceived as an "arm of the hegemonists" continued to be oppressed, even though many of its members, mainly among the trader community, had endured great suffering under the Khmer Rouge. The speaking of
Mandarin
Mandarin or The Mandarin may refer to:
Language
* Mandarin Chinese, branch of Chinese originally spoken in northern parts of the country
** Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Mandarin, the official language of China
** Taiwanese Mandarin, Stand ...
and
Teochew was severely restricted, in much the same manner as under Pol Pot.
Restoration of cultural and religious life
![Bundesarchiv Bild 183-1986-0722-019, Bernau, Gaststudenten der Gewerkschaftshochschule](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6d/Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-1986-0722-019%2C_Bernau%2C_Gaststudenten_der_Gewerkschaftshochschule.jpg)
One of the main official acts of the PRK was a partial restoration of
Buddhism
Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religions, Indian religion or Indian philosophy#Buddhist philosophy, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha. ...
as the state religion of Cambodia and temples were gradually reopened to accommodate the
monks
A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedica ...
and to resume a certain measure of traditional religious life. In September 1979 seven old monks were officially reordained at
Wat Unnalom in Phnom Penh, and these monks gradually reestablished the Cambodian ''
sangha
Sangha is a Sanskrit word used in many Indian languages, including Pali meaning "association", "assembly", "company" or "community"; Sangha is often used as a surname across these languages. It was historically used in a political context t ...
'' between 1979 and 1981. They began rebuilding the community of monks in Phnom Penh and later in the provinces, reordaining prestigious monks who had been formerly senior monks. They were not allowed, however, to ordain young novices. Repair works were started in about 700
Buddhist temples and monasteries, of the roughly 3,600 that had been destroyed or badly damaged by the Khmer Rouge. By mid-1980 traditional
Buddhist festival
Japanese, Burmese, Tibetan, Indian, Nepalese, Bhutanese, Chakma, Marma and Barua festivals often show the influence of Buddhist culture. Pagoda festivals in Myanmar are one example. In Tibet, India and Bhutan these festivals may include the ...
s began to be celebrated.
[Charles F. Keyes, Laurel Kendall & ]Helen Hardacre
Helen Hardacre (born May 20, 1949) is an American Japanologist. She is the Reischauer Institute Professor of Japanese Religions and Society at the Departement of East Asian Languages and Civilization, Harvard University.
Biography
Hardacre was bo ...
, ''Asian visions of authority'', Joint Committee on Southeast Asia
The DK had exterminated many Cambodian intellectuals, which was a difficult obstacle for Cambodia's reconstruction, when local leaders and experts were most needed. Among the surviving educated urban Cambodians who could have helped the struggling country to its feet, many opted to flee the Socialist state and flocked to the refugee camps to emigrate to the West.
The PRK's administration was technically unequipped and the state bureaucracy that had been destroyed by the Khmer Rouge was rebuilt slowly. The PRK managed to reopen the ''École de formation des cadres administratifs et judiciels'', where in 1982 and 1986 training programmes were conducted.
To rebuild the nation's intelligentsia, a number of Cambodians were sent to Eastern Bloc countries to study during the PRK's reconstruction period.
[Margaret Slocomb, ''The People's Republic of Kampuchea, 1979–1989: The revolution after Pol Pot'' ] Despite its efforts in the educational field, the PRK/SOC would struggle with the general lack of education and skills of Cambodian party cadres, bureaucrats and technicians throughout its existence.
Cambodian cultural life began also slowly to be rebuilt under the PRK. Movie houses in Phnom Penh were re-opened, screening at first films from
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 ...
, the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
, Eastern European socialist countries and
Hindi movies from India. Certain films that did not fit with the pro-Soviet designs of the PRK, such as
Hong Kong action cinema, were banned in Cambodia at that time.
The domestic film industry had suffered a severe blow, for a large number of Cambodian filmmakers and actors from the 1960s and 1970s had been killed by the Khmer Rouge or had fled the country. Negatives and prints of many films had been destroyed, stolen, or missing and the films that did survive were in a poor state of quality. Cambodia's film industry began a slow comeback starting with ''
Kon Aeuy Madai Ahp'' ( km, កូនអើយ ម្តាយអាប), also known as ''Krasue mother'', a
horror movie
Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear or disgust in its audience for entertainment purposes.
Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements include monsters, ap ...
based on
Khmer folklore
Cambodian literature ( km, អក្សរសាស្ត្រខ្មែរ, ), also Khmer literature, has a very ancient origin. Like most Southeast Asian national literatures its traditional corpus has two distinct aspects or levels:
*The ...
about
''Ahp'', a popular local
ghost, the first movie made in Cambodia after the Khmer Rouge era. The restoration of cultural life during the PRK was only partial though; there were socialist-minded restrictions hampering creativity that would only be lifted towards the end of the 1980s under the SOC.
Propaganda
The PRK relied heavily on
propaganda to motivate Cambodians for reconstruction, to promote unity and to establish its rule. Large billboards were displayed with patriotic slogans and party members taught the eleven points of the
Kampuchean National United Front for National Salvation (FUNSK) to assembled adults.
Survivors of Democratic Kampuchea rule lived in fear and uncertainty, lest the feared Khmer Rouge returned. Most Cambodians were psychologically affected and declared emphatically that they would not be able to survive another DK regime. The PRK government strongly encouraged such sentiments, for much of its legitimacy lay in having liberated Cambodia from
Pol Pot's yoke. As a consequence, gruesome displays of skulls and bones, as well as photographs and paintings of Khmer Rouge atrocities, were set up and used as a pro-government propaganda tool. The most important museum about the Khmer Rouge era was located at the
Tuol Sleng
The Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum ( km, សារមន្ទីរឧក្រិដ្ឋកម្មប្រល័យពូជសាសន៍ទួលស្លែង) or simply Tuol Sleng ( km, ទួលស្លែង, link=no, ; lit. "Hill of ...
DK prison and was named "Tuol Sleng Museum of Genocidal Crimes", now
Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum
The Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum ( km, សារមន្ទីរឧក្រិដ្ឋកម្មប្រល័យពូជសាសន៍ទួលស្លែង) or simply Tuol Sleng ( km, ទួលស្លែង, link=no, ; lit. "Hill of ...
.
The annual
Day of Remembrance, also known as "Day of Hatred" against the Khmer Rouge was instituted as part of the PRK's propaganda. Among the slogans chanted on the Day of Remembrance, one of the most often repeated was "We must absolutely prevent the return of the former black darkness" in Khmer.
Reconstruction hampered
At least 600,000 Cambodians had been displaced during the Pol Pot era when cities had been emptied. After the Vietnamese invasion freed them, most Cambodians who had been forcefully resettled elsewhere in the countryside returned to the cities or to their original rural homesteads. Since families had been disrupted and separated, many Cambodians freed from their communes wandered over the country searching for family members and friends.
Following the invasion there were severe famine conditions in the country, with some estimates reaching 500,000.
Traditional farming had been so severely interfered with that it took time to be established anew. Meanwhile, the Khmer Rouge commune system had completely collapsed, following which there were no jobs and not enough food to eat. It took six months to begin the gradual repopulation of Phnom Penh, as electricity, water and sewage systems were reestablished and street repair and removal of garbage were undertaken.
The destruction of Cambodian social institutions during the "Year Zero" period (1975–1979) had been thorough. It had left the PRK with little to start with, for there were no police, no schools, no books, no hospitals, no post and telecommunications, no legal system and no broadcasting networks, either for television or radio, whether state-owned or private.
To compound the situation for Cambodia, the Western nations, China and the ASEAN states refused to provide reconstruction assistance directly to the new regime.
[David P. Chandler, ''A history of Cambodia'', Westview Press; Allen & Unwin, Boulder, Sydney, 1992] Owing to US and China's opposition to the international recognition of the PRK, the
United Nations relief and rehabilitation agencies were not allowed to operate within Cambodia by the
UN authorities.
The little development help that was available came only from the
Eastern Bloc nations; among these only the
Socialist Republic of Romania
The Socialist Republic of Romania ( ro, Republica Socialistă România, RSR) was a Marxist–Leninist one-party socialist state that existed officially in Romania from 1947 to 1989. From 1947 to 1965, the state was known as the Romanian Peop ...
would refuse assistance to the PRK.
The bulk of international help and aid from Western nations would be diverted to refugee camps along the
Thai
Thai or THAI may refer to:
* Of or from Thailand, a country in Southeast Asia
** Thai people, the dominant ethnic group of Thailand
** Thai language, a Tai-Kadai language spoken mainly in and around Thailand
*** Thai script
*** Thai (Unicode block ...
border.
Refugee situation
![Cambodia anti-PRK border camps](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c1/Cambodia_anti-PRK_border_camps.png)
Faced with a destroyed country and lack of international aid, large numbers of distraught Cambodians flocked to the Thai border in the years that followed. There, international help provided by different international aid organisations, many of them backed by the United States, was available.
At one point, more than 500,000 Cambodians were living along the Thai-Cambodian border and more than 100,000 in holding centres inside Thailand.
More than US$400 million was provided between 1979 and 1982, of which the United States, as part of its
Cold War political strategy against communist Vietnam, contributed nearly $100 million. In 1982, the US government had initiated a covert aid program to the non-communist resistance (NCR) amounting to $5 million per year, ostensibly for non-lethal aid only. This amount was increased to $8 million in 1984 and $12 million in 1987 and 1988.
In late 1988, the United States pared back
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...
funding to $8 million, following reports that $3.5 million had been diverted by the Thai military. At the same time, the Reagan Administration gave new flexibility to the funds, permitting the NCR to purchase US-made weapons in
Singapore
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...
and other regional markets. In 1985, the United States established a separate, overt aid program to the non-communist resistance which came to be known as the Solarz Fund after one of its chief sponsors,
Rep. Stephen Solarz. The overt aid program channelled about $5 million per year to the non-communist resistance through
USAID
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is an independent agency of the U.S. federal government that is primarily responsible for administering civilian foreign aid and development assistance. With a budget of over $27 bi ...
.
Meanwhile, a sizeable portion of Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge forces regrouped and received a continuous and abundant supply of military equipment from China, channelled across
Thailand
Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...
with the co-operation of the
Royal Thai Armed Forces
The Royal Thai Armed Forces (RTARF) ( th, กองทัพไทย; ) are the armed forces of the Kingdom of Thailand.
The nominal head of the Thai Armed Forces (จอมทัพไทย; ) is the King of Thailand. The armed forces are ...
.
Along with other armed factions, the Khmer Rouge launched a relentless military campaign against the newly established People's Republic of Kampuchea state from the refugee camps and from hidden military outposts along the Thai border. Even though the Khmer Rouge was dominant, the non-communist resistance included a number of groups which had formerly been fighting against the Khmer Rouge after 1975.
These groups included
Lon Nol
Marshal Lon Nol ( km, លន់ នល់, also ; 13 November 1913 – 17 November 1985) was a Cambodian politician and general who served as Prime Minister of Cambodia twice (1966–67; 1969–71), as well as serving repeatedly as defence min ...
-era soldiers —-coalesced in 1979–80 to form the
Khmer People's National Liberation Armed Forces
The Khmer People's National Liberation Armed Forces (KPNLAF) was the military component of the Khmer People's National Liberation Front (KPNLF) a political front organized in 1979 in opposition to the Vietnamese-installed People's Republic of Kampu ...
(KPNLAF)— which pledged loyalty to former Prime Minister
Son Sann
Son Sann ( km, សឺន សាន, ; 5 October 191119 December 2000) was a Cambodian politician and anti-communist resistance leader who served as the 22nd Prime Minister of Cambodia (1967–68) and later as President of the National As ...
, and
Moulinaka (Mouvement pour la Libération Nationale du Kampuchea), loyal to
Prince Norodom Sihanouk. In 1979, Son Sann formed the
Khmer People's National Liberation Front
The Khmer People's National Liberation Front (KPNLF, km, រណសិរ្សរំដោះជាតិប្រជាជនខ្មែរ) was a political front organized in 1979 in opposition to the Vietnamese-installed People's Republic of ...
(KPNLF) to lead the political struggle for Cambodia's independence. Prince Sihanouk formed his own organisation,
FUNCINPEC
The National United Front for an Independent, Neutral, Peaceful and Cooperative Cambodia,; french: Front uni national pour un Cambodge indépendant, neutre, pacifique et coopératif commonly referred to as FUNCINPEC,, ; is a royalist politic ...
, and its military arm, the
Armée Nationale Sihanoukienne (ANS) in 1981.
Fraught with both internal and mutual discord, the non-communist groups opposing the PRK, were never very effective, so that all through the civil war against the
KPRAF/
CPAF the only seriously organised fighting force against the state was the former Khmer Rouge militia, ironically labelled as the "
Resistance". This armed faction would wreak much havoc in Cambodia even after the restoration of the monarchy, well into the 1990s.
This protracted civil war would bleed Cambodia's energies throughout the 1980s. Vietnam's occupation army of as many as 200,000 troops controlled the major population centres and most of the countryside from 1979 to September 1989, but Heng Samrin's regime's 30,000 KPRAF troops were plagued by poor morale and widespread desertion owing to low pay and poverty. Men were directly needed in their family farms as they were being rebuilt and there was much work to do.
Civil war
![Cambodia-mountainsW5](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6d/Cambodia-mountainsW5.JPG)
Disoriented Cambodian refugees from refugee camps in
Aranyaprathet
Aranyaprathet (Thai: อรัญประเทศ) is a town (''thesaban mueang'') in Sa Kaeo province in eastern Thailand . It covers the entire ''tambon'' of Aranyaprathet, in Aranyaprathet district. As of 2005, the town has 16,937 inhabitant ...
, Thailand, were forcefully sent back across the border beginning in 1980 and many of them ended up in areas under Khmer Rouge control.
The process was organised by pro-Democratic Kampuchea cadres, but it was presented to the press as "voluntary". The undermining of the People's Republic of Kampuchea was supported by the United States government, who took a dim view of the existing pro-Vietnamese Cambodian regime, as well as countries like
Malaysia
Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...
, Thailand and Singapore, whose representative exhorted the dispirited refugees to "go back and fight."
The civil war followed a
wet season
The wet season (sometimes called the Rainy season) is the time of year when most of a region's average annual rainfall occurs. It is the time of year where the majority of a country's or region's annual precipitation occurs. Generally, the sea ...
/
dry season
The dry season is a yearly period of low rainfall, especially in the tropics. The weather in the tropics is dominated by the tropical rain belt, which moves from the northern to the southern tropics and back over the course of the year. The te ...
rhythm after 1980. The heavily armed Vietnamese forces conducted offensive operations during the dry seasons, and the Chinese-backed insurgency held the initiative during the rainy seasons. In 1982, Vietnam launched a major offensive against the main Khmer Rouge base at
Phnom Malai in the
Cardamom Mountains
The Cardamom Mountains ( km, ជួរភ្នំក្រវាញ, ; th, ทิวเขาบรรทัด, ), or the Krâvanh Mountains, is a mountain range in the south west of Cambodia and Eastern Thailand. The majority of the range ...
. But this operation met with little success.
In the
1984–85 dry season offensive, the Vietnamese again attacked base camps of all three anti-PRK groups. This time the Vietnamese succeeded in eliminating the Khmer Rouge camps in Cambodia and drove the insurgents into neighbouring Thailand.
Before retreating the Khmer Rouge laid down numerous
landmine
A land mine is an explosive weapon, explosive device concealed under or on the ground and designed to destroy or disable enemy targets, ranging from combatants to vehicles and tanks, as they pass over or near it. Such a device is typically d ...
s and cut down giant trees to block roads in the thick jungle along the Thai-Cambodian border causing heavy
deforestation
Deforestation or forest clearance is the removal of a forest or stand of trees from land that is then converted to non-forest use. Deforestation can involve conversion of forest land to farms, ranches, or urban use. The most concentrated ...
.
The Vietnamese concentrated on consolidating their gains through the
K5 Plan
The K5 Plan ( km, ផែនការក៥), K5 Belt or K5 Project, also known as the Bamboo Curtain, was an attempt between 1985 and 1989 by the government of the People's Republic of Kampuchea to seal Khmer Rouge guerrilla infiltration routes ...
, an extravagant and labour-intensive attempt to seal guerrilla infiltration routes into the country by means of trenches, wire fences, and
minefields along virtually the entire Thai-Cambodian border.
The K5 border defence project, designed by Vietnamese general
Lê Đức Anh
Lê Đức Anh (1 December 1920 – 22 April 2019) was a Vietnamese politician and general who served as the fourth President of Vietnam from 1992 to 1997. He previously led the Vietnamese forces in Cambodia throughout the 1980s. He was regarde ...
, commander of the Vietnamese forces in Cambodia, irritated Cambodian farmers and ended up being psychologically counterproductive for the PRK. Large swathes of formerly inaccessible
tropical forest
Tropical forests (a.k.a. jungle) are forested landscapes in tropical regions: ''i.e.'' land areas approximately bounded by the tropic of Cancer and Capricorn, but possibly affected by other factors such as prevailing winds.
Some tropical fore ...
s were destroyed, leaving a negative
ecological
Ecology () is the study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and their physical environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere level. Ecology overlaps wi ...
legacy.
Despite the help of the Vietnamese Army, as well as of Soviet, Cuban and Vietnamese advisers, Heng Samrin had only limited success in establishing the PRK regime in the face of the ongoing civil war. Security in some rural areas was tenuous, and major transportation routes were subject to interdiction by sporadic attacks. The presence of Vietnamese throughout the country and their intrusion into Cambodian life added fuel to the traditional Cambodian anti-Vietnamese sentiment.
In 1986, Hanoi claimed to have begun withdrawing part of its occupation forces. At the same time, Vietnam continued efforts to strengthen its client regime, the PRK, and its military arm, the
Kampuchean People's Revolutionary Armed Forces
The Kampuchean People's Revolutionary Armed Forces (KPRAF), also the Khmer People's Revolutionary Armed Forces were the armed forces of the People's Republic of Kampuchea, the ''de facto'' government of Cambodia 1979–1990. It was formed with m ...
(KPRAF). These withdrawals continued over the next two years, although actual numbers were difficult to verify. Vietnam's proposal to withdraw its remaining occupation forces in 1989–90—one of the repercussions of the dismemberment of the Soviet bloc
as well as the result of the US and Chinese pressure—forced the PRK to begin economic and constitutional reforms in an attempt to ensure future political dominance. In April 1989, Hanoi and Phnom Penh announced that final withdrawal would take place by the end of September the same year.
Transition and State of Cambodia (1989–1992)
On 29–30 April 1989, the National Assembly of the PRK, presided by Hun Sen, held a meeting in order to make some, at first, largely cosmetic constitutional changes. The name "People's Republic of Kampuchea" was officially changed to the State of Cambodia (SOC)—a name that had been previously used right after the
1970 coup—reintroducing the blue colour in the Cambodian flag and other state symbols, although the
coat of arms
A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement, which in its ...
remained almost the same. The national anthem and the military symbols were also changed.
The name "Kampuchean People’s Revolutionary Armed Forces" (KPRAF) were changed to "Cambodian People's Armed Forces" (CPAF). Capital punishment was officially abolished and
Buddhism
Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religions, Indian religion or Indian philosophy#Buddhist philosophy, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha. ...
, which had been partially reestablished by the PRK in 1979, was fully reintroduced as the national religion, by which the restriction was lifted on the
ordination of men under 50 years old and
Buddhist traditional chanting was resumed in the media. Following the complete normalisation of traditional religious life, Buddhism became extremely popular in Cambodia, experiencing a widespread revival.
Intending to liberalise Cambodia's economy, a set of laws on "Personal Ownership" and "Free Market Orientation" was passed as well. The new Constitution stated that Cambodia was a
neutral
Neutral or neutrality may refer to:
Mathematics and natural science Biology
* Neutral organisms, in ecology, those that obey the unified neutral theory of biodiversity
Chemistry and physics
* Neutralization (chemistry), a chemical reaction in ...
and
non-aligned state. The ruling party also announced that there would be negotiations with the groups of the opposition.
[Cambodia in the 1980s ]
The State of Cambodia lived through a time of dramatic transitions triggered by the
collapse of communism
The Revolutions of 1989, also known as the Fall of Communism, was a revolutionary wave that resulted in the end of most communist states in the world. Sometimes this revolutionary wave is also called the Fall of Nations or the Autumn of Natio ...
in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. There was a reduction in Soviet aid to Vietnam which culminated in the withdrawal of the Vietnamese occupying forces. The last Vietnamese troops were said to have left Cambodia on 26 September 1989 but probably they did not leave until 1990. Many Vietnamese civilians also returned to Vietnam in the months that followed, lacking confidence in the ability of the PRK's new avatar to control the situation after the Vietnamese military had left.
Despite the quite radical changes announced by Hun Sen, the SOC state stood firm when it came to the one party rule issue. The leadership structure and the executive remained the same as under the PRK, with the party firmly in control as the supreme authority. Accordingly, the SOC was unable to restore Cambodia's monarchical tradition. Although the SOC reestablished the prominence of monarchical symbols, like the grand palace in Phnom Penh, that was as far as it would go for the time-being, especially since
Norodom Sihanouk had steadfastly associated himself with the CGDK, the opposition coalition against the PRK that included the Khmer Rouge.
In mid-1991, however, succumbing to a number of pressures both within and outside of the country, the government of the State of Cambodia signed an agreement that recognised Prince Norodom Sihanouk as head of state. By late 1991 Sihanouk made an official visit to the SOC and both Hun Sen and Chea Sim took a leading role in the welcoming ceremony.
Still, fissures appeared on the monolithic structure that the State of Cambodia was trying to preserve. Revolutionary idealism was replaced by practical cynicism, so that corruption increased. Cambodian state resources were sold without benefitting the state and high placed civil and military individuals in key posts of authority enriched themselves by pocketing whatever benefits they could grab. The result of this moral breakdown was that students revolted in the streets of Phnom Penh in December 1991. The police opened fire and eight people died in the confrontations.
Conditions for
ethnic Chinese
The Chinese people or simply Chinese, are people or ethnic groups identified with China, usually through ethnicity, nationality, citizenship, or other affiliation.
Chinese people are known as Zhongguoren () or as Huaren () by speakers of s ...
improved greatly after 1989. Restrictions placed on them by the former PRK gradually disappeared. The State of Cambodia allowed ethnic Chinese to observe their particular religious customs and Chinese language schools were reopened. In 1991, two years after the SOC's foundation, the
Chinese New Year was officially celebrated in Cambodia for the first time since 1975.
Peace agreement
Peace negotiations between the Vietnam-backed regime in Cambodia and its armed opposition groups had begun formally and informally after the mid-1980s. The negotiations were extremely difficult, for the Khmer Rouge stubbornly insisted in the dismantlement of the PRK/SOC's administration before any agreement could be reached, while the PRK/SOC leadership made it a point of excluding the Khmer Rouge from any future provisional government.
Finally it would be outside historical events, in the form of the
Fall of Communism
The Revolutions of 1989, also known as the Fall of Communism, was a revolutionary wave that resulted in the end of most communist states in the world. Sometimes this revolutionary wave is also called the Fall of Nations or the Autumn of Nat ...
and the ensuing collapse of Soviet support for Vietnam and the PRK, that would bring the PRK/SOC to the negotiating table.
The haphazard efforts towards conciliation in Cambodia culminated in the Paris Agreements in 1991, in which
United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...
-sponsored free and fair elections were scheduled for 1993. As a result, the
United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia
The United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC) ar, سلطة الأمم المتحدة الانتقالية في كمبوديا, italics=off zh, , italics=offfrench: Autorité provisoire des Nations unies au Cambodgerussian: Орг ...
(UNTAC) was established at the end of February 1992 to supervise the
cease-fire
A ceasefire (also known as a truce or armistice), also spelled cease fire (the antonym of 'open fire'), is a temporary stoppage of a war in which each side agrees with the other to suspend aggressive actions. Ceasefires may be between state act ...
and the ensuing general election.
The one-party system in the PRK/SOC
The "Kampuchean (or Khmer) People's Revolutionary Party" (KPRP) was the sole ruling party in Cambodia from the foundation of the pro-Vietnam republic in 1979, as well as during the transitional times under the SOC in 1991, when it was renamed the
Cambodian People's Party
The Cambodian People's Party (CPP), UNGEGN: , ALA-LC: ; is a Cambodian political party which has ruled Cambodia since 1979.
Founded in 1951, it was originally known as the Kampuchean People's Revolutionary Party (KPRP)., UNGEGN: , ALA-LC: ...
(CPP) at the beginning of the UN-sponsored peace and reconciliation process.
Many members of the Kampuchean People's Revolutionary Party were former Khmer Rouge members who had fled to Vietnam after witnessing the wholesale destruction of Cambodian society as a result of the regime's radical
agrarian socialist
Agrarian socialism is a political ideology that promotes “the equal distribution of landed resources among collectivized peasant villages” This socialist system places agriculture at the center of the economy instead of the industrialization ...
and xenophobic policies. Several prominent KPRP members, including
Heng Samrin and
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 ...
, were Khmer Rouge cadres near the Cambodian-Vietnamese border who participated in the Vietnamese invasion that toppled the Khmer Rouge.
Founded in June 1981, the KPRP began as a firmly
Marxist–Leninist
Marxism is a left-wing to far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand class relations and social conflict and a dialect ...
party within the PRK. However, in the mid-1980s it took on a more reformist outlook when some members pointed out problems with
collectivisation
Collective farming and communal farming are various types of, "agricultural production in which multiple farmers run their holdings as a joint enterprise". There are two broad types of communal farms: agricultural cooperatives, in which member- ...
and concluded that private property should play a role in Cambodian society. The extreme collectivisation of the Khmer Rouge had caused severe burn-out and distrust among farmers, who refused to work collectively as soon as the threat of the Khmer Rouge disappeared from the liberated areas.
Therefore, PRK government policies had to be implemented carefully to win back the rural population's trust and to alleviate the prevailing conditions of poverty.
This led eventually to the effective reinstitutionalisation of the traditional Cambodian family economy and to some more radical change of policies regarding privatisation during the State of Cambodia time (1989–1993). Despite the watered-down ideology the KPRP/CPP remained firmly in control of Cambodia until 1993.
Among the most significant policy shifts of the SOC was putting aside
Marxism–Leninism
Marxism–Leninism is a communist ideology which was the main communist movement throughout the 20th century. Developed by the Bolsheviks, it was the state ideology of the Soviet Union, its satellite states in the Eastern Bloc, and various c ...
as the party's ideology in 1991. This move effectively marked the end of the socialist revolutionary state in Cambodia, a form of government which had begun in 1975 when the Khmer Rouge took over.
Hun Sen, the current Prime Minister of Cambodia, was a key figure in the KPRP and is the current leader of its successor party, the CPP, a party that no longer lays claim to socialist credentials.
International relations
Eastern Bloc
![Bundesarchiv Bild 183-U1219-0047, Bez](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e0/Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-U1219-0047%2C_Bez.Suhl%2C_Solidarit%C3%A4t_mit_Kambodscha.jpg)
After the KPRC proclaimed in January 1979 that the new official name of Cambodia was the "People's Republic of Kampuchea" (PRK), the newly established government notified the
United Nations Security Council
The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international peace and security, recommending the admission of new UN members to the General Assembly, an ...
that it was the sole legitimate government of the Cambodian people.
Vietnam was the first country to recognise the new regime, and Phnom Penh immediately restored diplomatic relations with
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 ...
. On 18 February, Heng Samrin on behalf of the PRK and
Phạm Văn Đồng
Phạm Văn Đồng (; 1 March 1906 – 29 April 2000) was a Vietnamese politician who served as Prime Minister of North Vietnam from 1955 to 1976. He later served as Prime Minister of Vietnam following reunification of North and South Vietnam ...
on behalf of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam signed a twenty-five-year
Treaty of Peace, Friendship and Cooperation.
The
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
,
East Germany
East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...
,
Bulgaria
Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...
,
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...
,
Czechoslovakia
, rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי,
, common_name = Czechoslovakia
, life_span = 1918–19391945–1992
, p1 = Austria-Hungary
, image_p1 ...
,
Hungary
Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the ...
,
Laos,
Mongolia
Mongolia; Mongolian script: , , ; lit. "Mongol Nation" or "State of Mongolia" () is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south. It covers an area of , with a population of just 3.3 million, ...
,
Cuba
Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...
,
South Yemen,
Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...
,
Ethiopia
Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...
,
Congo,
Benin
Benin ( , ; french: Bénin , ff, Benen), officially the Republic of Benin (french: République du Bénin), and formerly Dahomey, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the nort ...
, and other
Eastern Bloc states, as well as a number of Soviet-friendly developing countries, like India, followed Vietnam in recognizing the new regime. By January 1980, twenty-nine countries had recognized the PRK, yet nearly eighty countries continued to recognize the Khmer Rouge.
In turn, the regime's symbols, slogans and ideology, the military uniform and insignia largely copied Soviet-style patterns.
Despite the previous international outcry and concern surrounding Pol Pot's DK regime's gross
human rights violation
Human rights are moral principles or normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for certain standards of hum ...
s it would prove difficult for the PRK/SOC government to gain international recognition beyond the Soviet Bloc sphere.
United Nations
A draft resolution by the People's Republic of China sought to condemn Vietnam in the UN Security Council after its invasion for "its acts of armed invasion and aggression against
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 ...
, acts which ... cause serious damage to the lives and property of the Kampuchean people".
As a result of the vehement campaign against the PRK, the Khmer Rouge retained its UN seat despite its genocidal record. Cambodia would be represented at the UN by
Thiounn Prasith, Pol Pot and
Ieng Sary
Ieng Sary ( km, អៀង សារី; 24 October 1925 – 14 March 2013) was a Cambodian politician who was the co-founder and senior member of the Khmer Rouge. He was a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Kampuchea le ...
's crony since their
student days in Paris. The seat of Democratic Kampuchea's regime lasted for three years at the United Nations after the fall of Pol Pot's regime in Cambodia. Only in 1982 it would be renamed as '
Coalition Government of Democratic Kampuchea
The Coalition Government of Democratic Kampuchea (CGDK; km, រដ្ឋាភិបាលចំរុះកម្ពុជាប្រជាធិបតេយ្យ, ''Roathaphibal Chamroh Kampuchea Pracheathipatai''), renamed in 1990 to the N ...
'.
The CGDK would hold the seat until 1993, when the SOC gave way to the restoration of the Cambodian monarchy.
To refer to Cambodia as a state, the
General Assembly of the United Nations
The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA or GA; french: link=no, Assemblée générale, AG) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as the main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ of the UN. Curr ...
continued using the terms "Democratic Kampuchea" and "Kampuchea" for over a decade. It decided to start using the term "Cambodia" only at the 45th session in 1990, when the transitional phase of the SOC was well on its way.
China, East Asia and the West
The government of the
People's Republic of China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
, which had consistently supported the Khmer Rouge, quickly labelled the PRK as "Vietnam's
puppet state
A puppet state, puppet régime, puppet government or dummy government, is a state that is ''de jure'' independent but ''de facto'' completely dependent upon an outside power and subject to its orders.Compare: Puppet states have nominal sove ...
" and declared it unacceptable. Thailand
and Singapore were very vocal in their opposition to Vietnamese expansion and influence; the Singaporean representative stated that recognition of the PRK would "violate the UN's
non-intervention principle."
International forums, like
ASEAN
ASEAN ( , ), officially the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, is a political and economic union of 10 member states in Southeast Asia, which promotes intergovernmental cooperation and facilitates economic, political, security, militar ...
meetings and the UN General Assembly would be used to condemn the PRK and the genocide of the Khmer Rouge was removed from the centre stage of attention and
Pol Pot effectively won the support of the US and most of Europe against Vietnam.
China and most Western governments, as well as a number of African, Asian and Latin American states repeatedly backed the Khmer Rouge in the U.N. and voted in favour of DK retaining Cambodia's seat in the organisation at the expense of the PRK. British Prime Minister
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. She was the first female British prime ...
famously explained she believed that there were some among the Khmer Rouge "more reasonable" than Pol Pot.
[Gittings, John (22 December 2000)]
"Son Sann".
''The Guardian''. Retrieved 12 November 2012.
The government of Sweden, however, had to change its vote in the U.N. and to withdraw support for the Khmer Rouge after a large number of Swedish citizens wrote letters to their elected representatives demanding a policy change towards Pol Pot's regime. France remained neutral on the issue, claiming that neither side had the right to represent Cambodia at the UN.
In the years that followed, the United States, under the staunch anti-Soviet "
rollback
In political science, rollback is the strategy of forcing a change in the major policies of a state, usually by replacing its ruling regime. It contrasts with containment, which means preventing the expansion of that state; and with détente, w ...
" strategy of the
Reagan Doctrine
The Reagan Doctrine was stated by United States President Ronald Reagan in his State of the Union address on February 6, 1985: "We must not break faith with those who are risking their lives—on every continent from Afghanistan to Nicaragua—to ...
would support what it perceived as "
anti-communist resistance movements" in Soviet-allied nations. The largest movement fighting Cambodia's communist government was largely made up of members of the former Khmer Rouge regime, whose human rights record was among the worst of the 20th century. Therefore, Reagan authorised the provision of aid to a smaller Cambodian resistance movement, a coalition called the
Khmer People's National Liberation Front
The Khmer People's National Liberation Front (KPNLF, km, រណសិរ្សរំដោះជាតិប្រជាជនខ្មែរ) was a political front organized in 1979 in opposition to the Vietnamese-installed People's Republic of ...
,
[Far Eastern Economic Review, 22 December 1988, details the extensive fighting between the U.S.-backed forces and the Khmer Rouge.] known as the KPNLF and then run by
Son Sann
Son Sann ( km, សឺន សាន, ; 5 October 191119 December 2000) was a Cambodian politician and anti-communist resistance leader who served as the 22nd Prime Minister of Cambodia (1967–68) and later as President of the National As ...
; in an effort to force an end to the Vietnamese occupation. Eventually, the Vietnamese withdrew, and Cambodia's communist regime accepted a democratic transition. Then, under
United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...
supervision, free elections were held.
Ben Kiernan claimed that the US had offered support to the Khmer Rouge after the Vietnamese invasion.
Other sources have disputed these claims, and described "extensive fighting" between the US-backed forces of the
Khmer People's National Liberation Front
The Khmer People's National Liberation Front (KPNLF, km, រណសិរ្សរំដោះជាតិប្រជាជនខ្មែរ) was a political front organized in 1979 in opposition to the Vietnamese-installed People's Republic of ...
and the Khmer Rouge.
Constitution
First draft
On 10 January 1980, the People's Revolutionary Council named
Ros Samay to lead a council to draft the Constitution. He carefully wrote it in Khmer using clear and easy language whenever possible, mindful that every Cambodian should understand it. He took the constitutions of Vietnam, East Germany, the USSR,
Hungary
Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the ...
and
Bulgaria
Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...
, as well as previous Cambodian constitutions (Kingdom of Cambodia,
Khmer Republic), as a reference. Since Ros Samay's draft failed to please the Vietnamese, he was publicly discredited and his draft scrapped.
Constitution approved by Vietnam
The wording of the PRK's constitution stressed the relations between the PRK regime and Vietnam. Prime Minister
Pen Sovann acknowledged that the Vietnamese "insisted on changing some clauses they didn't agree with". Finally, on 27 June 1981, a new Constitution was promulgated that pleased the Vietnamese. It defined Cambodia as "a democratic state...gradually advancing toward socialism." The transition to socialism was to take place under the leadership of the Marxist–Leninist KPRP. The Constitution explicitly placed Cambodia within the
Soviet Union's orbit. The country's primary enemies, according to the Constitution, were "the Chinese expansionists and hegemonists in Beijing, acting in collusion with United States imperialism and other powers."
While technically guaranteeing a "broad range of civil liberties and fundamental rights", the Constitution placed a number of restrictions. For example, "an act may not injure the honor of other persons, nor should it adversely affect the mores and customs of society, or public order, or national security." In line with the principle of socialist collectivism, citizens were obligated to carry out "the state's political line and defend collective property."
The Constitution also addressed principles governing culture, education, social welfare, and public health. Development of language, literature, the arts, and science and technology was stressed, along with the need for cultural preservation, tourist promotion, and cultural co-operation with foreign countries.
Provisions for state organs were in the constitutional chapters dealing with the National Assembly, the Council of State, the Council of Ministers, the local people's revolutionary committees, and the judiciary. Fundamental to the operation of all public bodies was the principle that the Marxist–Leninist KPRP served as the most important political institution of the state. Intermediary linkages between the state bureaucracy and grass-roots activities were provided by numerous organisations affiliated with the
Kampuchean (or Khmer) United Front for National Construction and Defense (KUFNCD).
Constitution of the SOC
The constitution was revised in 1989 to accommodate the market-oriented policies of the newly formed "State of Cambodia". This state was basically a continuation of the PRK regime adapted to the new realities dictated by the collapse of the Soviet bloc, when
Mikhail Gorbachev reduced to a minimum Soviet support for Vietnam and Cambodia. Suddenly the Cambodian leadership found itself scrambling for favour abroad, which included the need to open its markets, the gradual abandoning of its original pro-Soviet stance and the pressure to find some accommodation with the factions warring against it.
The PRK's Constitution had not made any mention of a Head of State, perhaps reserving this role for
Sihanouk
Norodom Sihanouk (; km, នរោត្តម សីហនុ, ; 31 October 192215 October 2012) was a Cambodian statesman, Sangkum and FUNCINPEC politician, film director, and composer who led Cambodia in various capacities throughout his ...
.
The State of Cambodia Constitution, however, stated that the President of the Council of State would be the "Head of State of Cambodia".
Government structure
An administrative infrastructure functioning under the Marxist–Leninist KPRC was more or less in place between 1979 and 1980. With the promulgation of the Constitution in June 1981, new organs, such as the National Assembly, the Council of State, and the Council of Ministers, assumed certain functions that the KPRC had provided. These new bodies evolved slowly. It was not until February 1982 that the National Assembly enacted specific laws for these bodies.
Despite the presence of Vietnamese advisors, the government of the PRK was made up entirely of Cambodian KUFNS members. Initially the Vietnamese advisors, like
Lê Đức Thọ
Lê Đức Thọ (; 14 October 1911 – 13 October 1990), born Phan Đình Khải in Nam Dinh Province, was a Vietnamese revolutionary, general, diplomat, and politician. He was the first Asian to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, jointly with ...
, had promised that they would not interfere with Cambodian internal affairs. However, as soon as the PRK was formed and the KUFNS was in power, Lê Đức Thọ, acting as liaison chief between Hanoi and Phnom Penh, broke his promise. Henceforward the members of the Government of the PRK had to walk a narrow path between Cambodian nationalism and "Indochinese solidarity" with Vietnam, which meant making sure they didn't irritate their Vietnamese patrons.
PRK government members, no matter how highly placed, who offended the Vietnamese, whether intentionally or not, were swiftly denounced and purged. Among these were Ros Samai, Pen Sovann and
Chan Sy
Chan Sy, also spelt Chan Si, ( km, ចាន់ ស៊ី; 1932 – 26 December 1984) was a Cambodian politician who served as the Prime Minister of the People's Republic of Kampuchea from 1982 until his death in 1984.
Biography
Chan Sy was ...
. The latter, a founding member of the KUNFS who had reached the post of Prime Minister, died in mysterious circumstances in 1984 in Moscow.
The National Assembly
The "supreme organ of state power" was the National Assembly, whose deputies are directly elected for five-year terms. The assembly's 117 seats were filled on 1 May 1981, the date of the PRK's first elections. (The KUFNS had nominated 148 candidates.) The voter turnout was reported as 99.17 percent of the electorate, which was divided into 20 electoral districts.
During its first session in June, the assembly adopted the new Constitution and elected members of the state organs set up under the Constitution. The assembly had been empowered to adopt or to amend the Constitution and the laws and to oversee their implementation; to determine domestic and foreign policies; to adopt economic and cultural programs and the state budget; and to elect or to remove its own officers and members of the Council of State and of the Council of Ministers. The assembly also was authorised to levy, revise, or abolish taxes; to decide on amnesties; and to ratify or to abrogate international treaties. As in other socialist states, the assembly's real function is to endorse the legislative and administrative measures initiated by the Council of State and by the Council of Ministers, both of which serve as agents of the ruling KPRP.
The National Assembly met typically twice a year. During the periods between its sessions, legislative functions were handled by the Council of State. Bills were introduced by the Council of State, the Council of Ministers, the assembly's several commissions (legislative committees), chairman of the KUFNCD, and heads of other organisations. Individual deputies were not entitled to introduce bills.
Once bills, state plans and budgets, and other measures were introduced, they were studied first by the assembly's commissions. Then they went to the assembly for adoption. While ordinary bills were passed by a simple majority, constitutional amendments required a two-thirds majority. The Council of State had to promulgate an adopted bill within thirty days of its passage. Another function of the assembly was to oversee the affairs of the Council of Ministers, which functions as the cabinet. Assembly members were not entitled to call for votes of confidence in the cabinet. Conversely, the Council of Ministers was not empowered to dissolve the National Assembly.
The Constitution stated that in case of war or under "other exceptional circumstances," the five-year life of the Assembly may be extended by decree. In 1986 the assembly's term was extended for another five years, until 1991.
Chairman National Assembly (1985): Chea Sim
Vice chairmen: Math Ly, Tep Vong, Nu Beng
The Council of State
The National Assembly elected seven of its members to the Council of State. The chairman of the council served as the head of state, but the power to serve as ex officio supreme commander of the armed forces was deleted from the final draft of the Constitution.
The council's seven members were among the most influential leaders of the PRK. Between sessions of the National Assembly, the Council of State carried out the assembly's duties. It may appoint or remove (on the recommendation of the Council of Ministers) cabinet ministers, ambassadors, and envoys accredited to foreign governments. Foreign diplomatic envoys presented their letters of accreditation to the Council of State.
Council of State(1985):
Chairman: Heng Samrin
Vice-chairman:
Say Phouthang
Say Phouthang ( th, ใส่ ภูทอง; ; d. 2016) was a Cambodian politician and a leader during the People's Republic of Kampuchea
The People's Republic of Kampuchea (PRK), UNGEGN: , ALA-LC: ; vi, Cộng hòa Nhân dân Campuchia ...
The Council of Ministers
The government's top executive organ was the Council of Ministers, or cabinet, which in late 1987 was headed by Hun Sen (as it had been since January 1985). Apart from the prime minister (formally called chairman), the Council of Ministers had two deputy prime ministers (vice chairmen) and twenty ministers. The National Assembly elected the council's ministers for five-year terms.
The Council of Ministers met weekly in an executive session. Decisions made in the executive sessions were "collective," whereas those in the plenary sessions were by a majority. Representatives of KUFNCD and other mass organisations, to which all citizens may belong, were sometimes invited to attend plenary sessions of the council "when
t was
T, or t, is the twentieth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''tee'' (pronounced ), plural ''tees''. It is deri ...
discussing important issues." These representatives could express their views but they were not allowed to vote.
Government ministries were in charge of agriculture; communications, transport, and posts; education; finance; foreign affairs; health; home and foreign trade; industry; information and culture; interior; justice; national defence; planning; and social affairs and invalids. In addition, the cabinet includes a minister for agricultural affairs and rubber plantations, who was attached to the Office of the Council of Ministers; a minister in charge of the Office of the Council of Ministers; a secretary general of the Office of the Council of Ministers, who was also in charge of transport and of Khmer-Thai border defence networks; a director of the State Affairs Inspectorate; and the president-director general of the People's National Bank of Kampuchea.
Council of Ministers (1985):
Chairman: Hun Sen (and Minister Foreign Affairs)
Vice chairmen: Chea Soth, Bou Thang, Kong Sam,
Tea Banh
Tea Banh ( km, ទៀ បាញ់ ; born 5 November 1945) is a Cambodian politician who is the current Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for National Defence of Cambodia. He is a former general and a member of the Cambodian People's Party an ...
, Say Chhum
The Judiciary
The restoration of law and order was one of the more pressing tasks of the Heng Samrin regime. Since 1979 the administration of justice was in the hands of people's revolutionary courts that were set up hastily in Phnom Penh and in other major provincial cities. A new law dealing with the organisation of courts and with the Office of Public Prosecutor was promulgated in February 1982. Under this law, the People's Supreme Court became the highest court of the land.
The judicial system comprised the people's revolutionary courts, the military tribunals, and the public prosecutors' offices. The Council of Ministers, on the recommendations of local administrative bodies called people's revolutionary committees, appointed judges and public prosecutors.
Administrative divisions
In late 1987, the country was divided into eighteen provinces (''khet'') and two special municipalities (''krong''), Phnom Penh and
Kampong Saom, which were under direct central government control.
The provinces were subdivided into about 122 districts (srok), 1,325 communes (''khum''), and 9,386 villages (''phum''). The subdivisions of the municipalities were wards (''sangkat'').
Local People's Revolutionary Committees
An elective body, consisting of a chairman (president), one or more vice chairmen, and a number of committee members, ran each people's revolutionary committee. These elective bodies were chosen by representatives of the next lower level people's revolutionary committees at the provincial and district levels.
At the provincial and district levels, where the term of office was five years, committee members needed the additional endorsement of officials representing the KUFNCD and other affiliated mass organisations. At the commune and ward level, the members of the people's revolutionary committees are elected directly by local inhabitants for a three-year term.
Before the first local elections, which were held in February and March 1981, the central government appointed local committee officials. In late 1987, it was unclear whether the chairpersons of the local revolutionary committees reported to the Office of the Council of Ministers or to the
Ministry of Interior
An interior ministry (sometimes called a ministry of internal affairs or ministry of home affairs) is a government department that is responsible for internal affairs.
Lists of current ministries of internal affairs
Named "ministry"
* Ministry ...
.
Armed forces
![Fin Flash of Cambodia (1989–1992)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/69/Fin_Flash_of_Cambodia_%281989%E2%80%931992%29.svg)
The regular armed forces of the People's Republic of Kampuchea were the Kampuchean People's Revolutionary Armed Forces (KPRAF). These were needed to project internationally the image of the new pro-Hanoi administration in Phnom Penh as a legitimate sovereign state. Raising such an indigenous force was not too difficult for the Vietnamese occupiers at the time, because the Vietnamese already had experience training and co-ordinating the army in neighbouring
Laos.
The KPRAF was formed initially from militias, former Khmer Rouge members, and conscripts. KPRAF troops were trained and supplied by the Vietnamese armed forces. But owing to a lack of proper training and weapons, meagre salaries and mass desertions, the fledgling KPRAF was not an effective fighting force and the bulk of the fighting against the CGDK forces was left in the end to the army of the occupiers, the
Vietnam People's Army
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 ...
.
The Khmer Rouge forced the Vietnamese to employ guerrilla warfare as one of their tactics. As years went by the Vietnamese suffered damaging casualties, and the persistent civil war debilitated Cambodia and hampered reconstruction efforts. The Khmer Rouge gained confidence that they could keep swiping away Vietnamese armies, and the Vietnamese found out how easy it is to become the prey rather than the predator. In fact some books have called this "Vietnam's Vietnam War".
The KPRAF was answerable to two organisations below the Council of State, namely, the Ministry of National Defense and the General Staff. Veterans from the Eastern Zone revolution, especially those from
Kampong Cham,
Svay Rieng, as well as people who had been educated in Vietnam after the
1954 Geneva Conference
The Geneva Conference, intended to settle outstanding issues resulting from the Korean War and the First Indochina War, was a conference involving several nations that took place in Geneva, Switzerland, from 26 April to 20 July 1954. The part ...
held important positions in the Ministry of National Defense.
Control of the KPRAF military establishment and its adherence to the political orthodoxy of the Kampuchean (or Khmer) People's Revolutionary Party (KPRP) were ensured by a party network, superimposed upon the national defence structure, that extended downward to units at all echelons.
The KPRAF developed also a system of
military justice, with
military tribunal
Military justice (also military law) is the legal system (bodies of law and procedure) that governs the conduct of the active-duty personnel of the armed forces of a country. In some nation-states, civil law and military law are distinct bod ...
s, as well as a network of
military prison
A military prison is a prison operated by a military. Military prisons are used variously to house prisoners of war, unlawful combatants, those whose freedom is deemed a national security risk by the military or national authorities, and members ...
s.
In 1989 began the transition that culminated in the 1991 Paris Peace Agreements. After the name of the People's Republic of Kampuchea had been officially changed to State of Cambodia (SOC), the KPRAF were renamed the Cambodian People's Armed Forces (CPAF). Following the 1993 elections the CPAF were absorbed into a new national army of Royalist, Nationalist and CPAF troops.
See also
*
Cold War § Third World escalations
*
*
Kampuchean People's Revolutionary Armed Forces
The Kampuchean People's Revolutionary Armed Forces (KPRAF), also the Khmer People's Revolutionary Armed Forces were the armed forces of the People's Republic of Kampuchea, the ''de facto'' government of Cambodia 1979–1990. It was formed with m ...
*
K5 Plan
The K5 Plan ( km, ផែនការក៥), K5 Belt or K5 Project, also known as the Bamboo Curtain, was an attempt between 1985 and 1989 by the government of the People's Republic of Kampuchea to seal Khmer Rouge guerrilla infiltration routes ...
*
Modern Cambodia
After the fall of the Pol Pot regime of Democratic Kampuchea, Cambodia was under Vietnamese occupation and a pro-Hanoi government, the People's Republic of Kampuchea, was established. A civil war raged during the 1980s opposing the government's Kam ...
*
Politics of Cambodia
*
Cambodian–Vietnamese War
The Cambodian–Vietnamese War ( km, សង្គ្រាមកម្ពុជា-វៀតណាម, vi, Chiến tranh Campuchia–Việt Nam), known in Vietnam as the Counter-offensive on the Southwestern border ( vi, Chiến dịch Phản ...
*
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 ...
Notes
References
Bibliography
*Bekaert, Jacques, ''Cambodian Diary, Vol. 1: Tales of a Divided Nation 1983–1986'', White Lotus Press, Bangkok 1997, , & ''Vol. 2: A Long Road to Peace 1987–1993'', White Lotus Press, Bangkok 1998,
*Harris, Ian, ''Buddhism in Extremis: The Case of Cambodia,'' in Buddhism and Politics in Twentieth-Century Asia, edited by Ian Harris, 54–78 (London, New York: Pinter, 1999).
*Gottesman, Evan, ''Cambodia after the Khmer Rouge: Inside the politics of Nation Building''.
*
Kiernan, Ben
Benedict F. "Ben" Kiernan (born 1953) is an Australian-born American academic and historian who is the Whitney Griswold Professor Emeritus of History, Professor of International and Area Studies and Director of the Genocide Studies Program at Ya ...
and Caroline Hughes (eds). ''Conflict and Change in Cambodia.'' Critical Asian Studies 34(4) (December 2002)
*Silber, Irwin,
Kampuchea: The Revolution Rescued', Oakland, 1986
*Volkmann, Toby Alice , ''Cambodia 1990.'' Special edition. Cultural Survival Quarterly 14(3) 1990
External links
National anthem of the PRK (tune)Puangthong Rungswasdisab, ''Thailand's Response to the Cambodian Genocide''Kenneth J. Conboy, ''Hanoi's Newest Friend: Tokyo''
{{DEFAULTSORT:People's Republic of Kampuchea
Former countries in Cambodian history
Kampuchea
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 Thailand t ...
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 ...
Republicanism in Cambodia
1970s in Cambodia
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Wars involving Vietnam
Wars involving Cambodia
Sino-Vietnamese War
Military occupation
Non-Aligned Movement
States and territories established in 1979
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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 ...
Former countries in Southeast Asia
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