Historic Events in Cambodia

By sweet6

  • Freed from France

    King Norodom Sihanouk declared indépendance, the Cambodians had wanted this to happen for a long time. They didn't like being under France's rule. It took sixteen months to accomplish getting freedom.

  • Sihanouk Becomes Head of State

    Sihanouk's father died, so he became head of state.

  • U.S. Bombing Campaign

    The U.S. started a bombing campaign in Cambodia towards the North Vietnamese.

  • Lon Nol Takes Over

    Lon Nol had overthrown Sihanouk, he also took over the Khmer Rouge and sent them to war. The soldiers got sent to attack the North Vietnamese in Cambodia.

  • Middle-class Death

    A lot of middle-class people in Cambodia died in between 1975 through 1978. Some of them were tortured, starved, executed, and some starved. The estimate is that there were over 1.7 million people dead.

  • Lon Nol is Overthrown

    The Khmer Rouge lead by Pol Pot overthrew Lon Nol. Sihanouk became head of state. The country then became re-named Kampuchea

  • The Communists Take Control

    The communist party of Kampuchea took over Cambodia on April 17, 1975. After the communists took over, Khmer Rouge sent around two million people to work in agriculture, which caused many people to die. They created the state of Democratic Kampuchea and it ruled until January 1979.

  • Peace Agreement

    The peace treaty was signed in Paris. Sihanouk became the head of state.

  • Boycott

    Khmer Rouge boycotted the elections that were held in May of 1992.

  • Vietnam War

    Vietnam has always been one of Cambodia's enemies. They started a war in 1977. Vietnam overthrew Khmer Rouge. Many of Khmer Rouge's members had escaped to Thailand. Cambodia was fighting back, which caused a lot of death to Cambodians.

  • Death

    Pol Pot died in his hideout that was in the jungle. He died of heart failure.

  • Elections

    Hun Sen became the Prime Minister. Ranariddh became the president of the National Assembly.

  • The Bridge

    The first bridge over the Mekong River was created and opened. It joined the east and west parts of Cambodia together.

  • Upset with Thailand

    There were riots. There was a newspaper that stated that a Thai actress said that the Angkor Wat temple belonged to Thailand. The information was false.

  • Re-elected

    Hun Sen got re-elected in 2004 by parlimiment.

  • Death of Ta Mok

    Ta Mok was one of the top leaders in the Khmer Rouge organization, he died at the age of eighty. He was a military chief.

  • Sam Rainsy

    Sam Rainsy was a Cambodian activist, politician, and economist. He was arrested in 2006 and sentenced to eighteen months in jail. He was sent to jail for criminal defamation.

  • Thai Troops and Cambodian Soldiers Shooting

    Two soldiers died in a shooting with Thai soldiers. One Thai soldier dies from wounds a little after the fight.

  • Cambodia Charges Two Thai Citizens

    Two Thai citizens were caught by Cambodians and were arrested. The citizens had crossed the border, but the Cambodians accused them of spying too.

  • Activist Down

    Chut Wutty was an environmental activist, and he was outspoken and shot dead by military police.

  • Heart Attack

    The Former Cambodian King Norodom Sihanouk died of a heart attack in 2012 at the age of eighty-nine.

  • Factories

    Workers had only been getting half of the wages. There had been some uncertain people. The workers had shown up for work one day, but the factory was closed and no managers were there. What was going on was illegal. The workers were entitled to complete payment. That factory was a producer for H&M and Walmart.

  • Workers Returned Home

    Cambodian workers from Thailand had come back to Cambodia after rumors about the new military junta will "crack down" on the illegal migrants.

  • Ceasefire

    In 2016 the Prime Minister Hun Sen called a political "ceasefire."

  • Kem Sokha

    Kem Sohka was an opposition leader. He was arrested at his house for treason.

  • Citations

    https://www.worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/asia/cambodia/khtimeln.htm http://timemapper.okfnlabs.org/cleanclothes/cambodia-timeline#11 https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/cambodia/history-lon-nol.htm https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/chut-wutty-prominent-environmental-activist-shot-dead-in-koh-kong-1816/

  • Citations

    https://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/08/world/asia/in-cambodia-a-harsh-crackdown.html http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-23257699 http://endgenocide.org/learn/past-genocides/the-cambodian-genocide/ http://www.cambodiatribunal.org/history/cambodian-history/khmer-rouge-history/ http://articles.latimes.com/2011/may/16/travel/la-tr-killingfieldstimeline-20110516