http://travel-t-o-cambodia.blogspot.com/2011/10/short-history-of-cambodia-and-culture.html
Short History Of Cambodia and Culture
Travel tips for your trip to Cambodia Hotel Maps Famous Places in Cambodia helps you to make your trip to Cambodia in the holiday a Splendid One
Although Cambodia had a rich and powerful past under the Hindu state
of Funan and the Kingdom of Angkor, by the mid-19th century the
country was on the verge of dissolution. After repeated requests for
French assistance, a protectorate was established in 1863. By 1884,
Cambodia was a virtual colony; soon after it was made part of the
Indochina Union with Annam, Tonkin, Cochin-China, and Laos.
France continued to control the country even after the start of World
War II through its Vichy government. In 1945, the Japanese dissolved
the colonial administration, and King Norodom Sihanouk declared an
independent, anti-colonial government under Prime Minister Son Ngoc
Thanh in March 1945. This government was deposed by the Allies in
October. Many of Son Ngoc Thanh's supporters escaped and continued
to fight for independence as the Khmer Issarak.
Although France recognized Cambodia as an autonomous kingdom
within the French Union, the drive for total independence continued,
resulting in a split between those who supported the political tactics of
Sihanouk and those who supported the Khmer Issarak guerrilla
movement. In January 1953, Sihanouk named his father as regent and
went into self-imposed exile, refusing to return until Cambodia gained
genuine independence.
Independence was finally achieved in 1953, after which Norodom Sihanouk was appointed king. His first reign lasted until the 1970s, when a coup d’etat and the Khmer Rouge led to years of repression and the execution of tens of thousands. Following a period of Vietnamese occupation, Sihanouk returned to the throne in 1993. His son, the current monarch, took over following his father’s abdication in 2004. Politically, Hun Sen and the extreme-left Cambodian People’s Party have been in power since a disputed election in 1998.
