"March of the Khmer Republic" ( km, ដំណើរនៃសាធារណរដ្ឋខ្មែរ, ; french: La Marche de la République Khmère) was the

national anthem A national anthem is a patriotic musical composition symbolizing and evoking eulogies of the history and traditions of a country or nation. The majority of national anthems are marches or hymns in style. American, Central Asian, and European n ...

of the

Khmer Republic The Khmer Republic ( km, សាធារណរដ្ឋខ្មែរ, ; french: République khmère) was a pro-United States military-led republican government of Cambodia that was formally declared on 9 October 1970. The Khmer Republic wa ...

from 1970 to 1975. The song is often attributed to groups of students, led by Hang Thun Hak, at the Royal University of Fine Arts in

Phnom Penh Phnom Penh (; km, ភ្នំពេញ, ) is the capital and most populous city of Cambodia. It has been the national capital since the French protectorate of Cambodia and has grown to become the nation's primate city and its economic, indus ...

, but academic sources say it was written and composed by the Buddhist monk activist Khieu Chum, a student of

Hem Chieu Hem Chieu ( km, ហែម ចៀវ; 1898 - 1943) was a Cambodian Buddhist monk and a prominent figure in the development of Khmer nationalism. Chieu was a professor at the Higher School of Pali in Phnom Penh, and strongly objected to attempts by ...

. The song was adopted as the national anthem of the newly founded Khmer Republic on 9 October 1970 after the overthrow of the monarchy. After the end of the Republic due to the Khmer Rouge victory in 1975, the song ceased to be the national anthem and was officially replaced in 1976 by the Khmer Rouge anthem " Victorious Seventeenth of April". The "enemy" in the first line of the second stanza is a reference to the invasion of Cambodia by the North Vietnamese communists that began on 29 March 1970, just eighteen days after the coup, at the request of the Khmer Rouge's second in command,

Nuon Chea Nuon Chea ( km, នួន ជា; born Lao Kim Lorn; 7 July 1926 – 4 August 2019), also known as Long Bunruot ( km, ឡុង ប៊ុនរត្ន) or Rungloet Laodi ( th, รุ่งเลิศ เหล่าดี), was a Cambodian co ...

, and had completely overrun the northeast of Cambodia by the time the Republic was declared that October.

Lyrics

References

External links

MIDI file
{{National Anthems of Asia 1970 songs Historical national anthems Cambodian songs