Cambodia - a history

Although I am flying in and out of Ho Chi Minh City, Cambodia is where I spent most of my time. One often hears that Cambodia is how Vietnam was 20-30 years ago, and although its neighbour does have profound similarities, Cambodia's first impression is of greater poverty, higher inequality, more corruption, slower growth, fewer Western influences, and generally more set back in terms of development. To lay the foundation of my adventures, here follows a brief introduction to Cambodia:

Cambodia bears one of the most volatile histories in the world. Jayavarman II pronounced himself God King (Devaraja in Sanskrit), marking the beginning of the Angkorian period of the Khmer Empire. At the end of the 9th century, the new king established his capital at the Angkor site and began the process of building the city which today is popularly known as Angkor Wat (although this is only the name of a single temple there). From there the Khmer Empire ruled most of South-East Asia for some 500 years up until the 15th century, except for a 4 year period between 1177-1181, when the city was sacked, but subsequently recaptured. In 1431, wars with neighbouring kingdoms took its toll and the city was invaded once again, forcing the Khmer society to move south and relocate their capital there. The frail state of the Khmers resulted in numerous civil wars and struggles for power, and with the continuing rise of Thailand and Siam, Cambodia was relegated to a puppet state until they accepted a French protectorate in 1863, eventually bringing the state under French control and moving the capital to its current location at Phnom Penh.

Following WWII, the Cambodian king Norodom Sihanouk succeeded in receiving independence from the reluctant French in 1953. He abdicated 2 years year after, established his own political party and set up elections in 1955, and won all 92 seats. Although he claimed Cambodian neutrality in the increasing struggle between North and South Vietnam in the 1960's, domestic politics became increasingly polarized with each side being supported by either North Vietnam or South Vietnam / America. Sihanouk's attempt to appease both sides ended up alienating both, especially since he allowed Viet Cong bases to set up in Cambodia. When the right-leaning general Lon Nol deposed the former king in a coup in 1970, it plunged Cambodia into civil war.

Whether the United States actively assisted the coup is unclear, but with the Viet Cong now fearing for their bases in Cambodia and increasing their presence, America moved the war across the border. Frequent carpet bombings of suspected bases up until 1975 left an estimated 500.000 Cambodians dead. It was thus not difficult for the opposing Communist Party of Kampuchea (known as the Khmer Rouge) to utilize its propaganda machine to recruit locals to its cause, either by claiming to fight for an equal communist society, the ousted Sihanouk (who was now the royal leader after the death of his father, who took over after the abdication), or simply peace. As the American army felt the toll of the Vietnam war, the supply of ammunition and aid to Lon Nol diminished, and two weeks before Saigon was invaded, the Khmer Rouge, led by Pol Pot, captured the capital of Phnom Penh on April 17th, 1975.

This marked the beginning of one of the bloodiest genocides in human history. Starting immediately, the Khmer Rouge attempted to socially engineer a purely agrarian-based Communist society, completely self-sufficient, and without any hint of capitalism. People were driven from the city into the countryside and forced into slave labour in the fields. With the motto of "Better kill an innocent than let a guilty live", the regime killed thousands of intellectuals, political opponents, minorities, alleged traitors (most of whom were probably innocent), and anyone whom disobeyed the word of the party. Forced labour and famine from a lack of central planning know-how killed many from over-exhaustion and malnutrition, and increasing paranoia of the leaders resulted in scores more being executed for a number of arbitrary reasons, not least false confessions under extensive daily torture. The total number of dead is impossible to determine, but a conservative estimate is over 2 million from a population of less than 8 million. One in four Cambodians died at the hands of their countrymen over 3 years and 9 months before a Vietnamese blitzkrieg took Phnom Penh on January 7th, 1979.

Since then, Cambodia has attempted to rebuild its society. It has seen rapid economic growth, not least fuelled by tourism to the capital and to Siem Reap, the gateway to the Angkor temples, but these two bubbles do not fairly represent the country as a whole. The horrors of the past permeate the country, for example undiscovered minefields, but the Khmer's (who now constitute 90% of Cambodians) unbreakable spirit shines through via their friendliness, optimism and entrepreneurial spirit. A truly inspiring attitude to what, at first glance, seems an amazing place.