Cambodian events

By Sutphinnas

  • Infiltration of Cambodia

    French sources reported that Viet Minh guerrillas had infiltrated Cambodia and opened and arms-smuggling corridor to Thailand.

  • Independence

    Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia became independent states in a French union.

  • Communist party was set up

    King Norodom Sihanouk gained independence for Cambodia from French. Pol Pot helped set up the Communist Party.

  • SEATO , a sister organization to NATO, was created under Manila pact be the Southeast Asia collectiv

    SEATO , a sister organization to NATO, was created under Manila pact be the Southeast Asia collective defensive Treaty, to stop communist spread in Southeast Asia. The United States, Australia, France, Great Britain, New Zealand, the Philippines, Pakistan, and Thailand signed the mutual defense treaty. SEATO dissolved in 1977.

  • Transfer of rulers

    King Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia put his father on the throne and assumed the position of prime minister. Sihanouk had renounced the throne to run in Cambodia’s first elections.

  • Fleeting from war

    The Laos government fled to Cambodia as the capital city of Vientiane was engulfed in war.

  • American troops

    American troops began the largest offensive of the war, near the Cambodian border. In order to deny the Vietcong cover, and allow men to see through the dense vegetation, herbicides were dumped on the forests near the South Vietnamese borders as well as Cambodia and Laos

  • Cambodia Admitted

    Cambodia admitted that the Viet Cong used their country for sanctuary.

  • Bombing

    The US Air Force dropped 539,129 tons of bombs on Cambodia and killed some 700,000 people. The bombing drove rural people into the cities and caused a collapse of the agricultural system that contributed to the rise of the Khmer Rouge and a famine that was later blamed on the Khmer Rouge.

  • Bombing

    President Nixon ordered secret plans for the bombing of Cambodia.

  • A dispatch

    A dispatch filed from Saigon described looting by US soldiers at the Cambodian town of Snuol. The mention of looting was removed by an editor in New York before the story was transmitted to newspapers in the United States. An AP story was killed by Wes Gallagher, general manager of the new service.

  • Twenty Killed

    Twenty people were killed in Cambodia when a bomb went off that was meant for the Cambodian President Lon Nol.

  • “Secret” Bombing

    The U.S select bombing of Cambodia came to a haunt, making the official end to 12 years of American combat in Indochina.

  • US Removing Personnel

    The US removed its embassy personnel from Phnom Penh. Some of Cambodia’s most senior government ministers, Including the Acting President, Saukham Khoy, were among the evacuees.

  • Thai Government

    The Thai government returned 26 refugees to Cambodia saying that they are a threat to national security. The government said some 70,000 refugees in Thailand who escaped Communist rule in other Indochina states, including 10,000 Cambodians, would also not be permitted to stay.

  • The Vietnamese

    The Vietnamese army captured the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh overthrowing the Khmer Rouge government. The People’s Party, a Hanoi installed Khmer Rouge faction, took power with Hun Sen as prime minister and Heng Samrin as president. This finally ended the mass genocide depicted in the 1984 film "The Killing Fields." The Khmer Rouge retreated into sanctuaries along the Thai border, set up bases and picked up support from Thailand and China.

  • Khmer Rouge

    The Khmer Rouge and 2 non-Communist groups formed a resistance coalition with Sihanouk as a figurehead leader. The UN recognized it as the government of Cambodia.

  • Peace Plan

    Five permanent members of U.N Security Council agreed on peace plan for Cambodia

  • Major Offensive

    In Cambodia government soldiers made a major offensive to destroy the remnants of the Khmer Rouge guerrillas, whose numbers were disintegrating due to defections and internal fighting.

  • Sealed Boarders

    Thailand sealed its border with Cambodia, recalled its ambassador and sent military planes to evacuate hundreds of terrified Thais after rioters looted and torched its embassy in the Cambodian capital.