Cambodia, a small Southeast Asian country of about fifteen million people, is generally known to the outside world for its two seemingly contrasting historical episodes, namely the great civilization during the Angkorean period and the more recent bloody Khmer Rouge regime.
Home to the Angkor Wat Temple, considered the largest religious edifice in the world, Cambodia was once the Khmer Empire, which dominated most of mainland Southeast Asia during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. The eventual rise of Siam (now Thailand) and Việt Nam as powerful neighbors helped perpetuate the decline of Cambodia. By the early nineteenth century, Cambodia had become a tributary state to both Siam and Việt Nam. In 1863, Cambodia became a French protectorate (and eventually a colony), which would last for ninety years. The French served as a power to relinquish Siam’s and Việt Nam’s control over Cambodia, regain some former Cambodian territories, and restore the famous Angkor ruins. The French also introduced modern infrastructure and an educational system in the country, albeit at a much slower pace compared to their activities in French-ruled Cochin-China (southern Việt Nam). They did little to create a liberal ruling system for Cambodia, and indirectly, the French presence helped foster the emergence of a communist movement in the country.
