Cambodia: KHMER's A SANDWICH BETWEEN SIEM & YUON (1of2)[FR]

Added: Jan 22, 2008

From: AhmekKhmer

Duration: 6:0

KHMER is a good sandwich on silver plate between Siamese and Vietnamese. THE ANGKOR Empire fell apart after its last great ruler, Jayavarman VII died. For the next five centuries, Cambodia was alternately controlled by Siam and Vietnam. The country gained stability when it became part of the French colony of Indochina in 1884. France protected Cambodia from more invasions by Siam and Vietnam. "Although it is fruitful to study Cambodian political history from a Cambodian perspective, the country's location, topography, and demographic weakness have meant that its fate for over two hundred years has been entangled with Thailand and Vietnam." There is a tradition Cambodian expression: "Between the tiger and crocodile." Its basic meaning is obvious-to be a difficult position. But the Cambodia saying has a geographic and historical meaning, too. In this sense, it describes the position that the Cambodian people fell they have occupied for centuries, sandwiched between two larger, more powerful nations, Thailand and Vietnam. A long history of conflict with the tiger on the west and the crocodile on the east has given the Cambodians as profound fear of being overrun of being abolished as a people. The memory of this period had remained deeply impressed in Cambodian consciousness, for while the Vietnamese exercised control over the kingdom, ruling for a time through a puppet queen, they sought to transform the country into an approximation of their own. The prerogatives of the royal family were attacked, an attempt was made to substitute the Vietnamese style of provincial administration for the existing Cambodian structure, and Cambodian officials were ordered to dress in the same manner as Vietnamese mandarins. At the same time, large numbers of Cambodian peasants were forced into corvee labor as the Vietnamese developed the canal and drainage system in their southern provinces. Finally, as the Vietnamese exercised control over Cambodia they acted against Buddhist, the national religion that commanded the respect of prince and peasants alike. By the desecrating pagodas and persecuting monks, the Vietnamese struck at a central element of Cambodia identity. The harshness of the regime the Vietnamese imposed on Cambodia sparked a major rebellion in 1840, which for a time seemed likely to threaten Vietnam's control. But although the force of the rebellion faded the following year, renewed Thai interest in the affairs of its eastern neighbors spelt an end to the exclusive influence that the Vietnamese court at Hue had been able to exercise over Cambodian affairs. Between 1841 and 1848, Thailand gradually asserted its influence over Cambodia, backing the accession to the throne of its chosen nominee, King Ang Doung. He was the last Cambodian to rule free of direct foreign control until 1953. Largely in response to French pressure, and still concerned not to anger the Thai king, Norodom grudgingly signed a protectorate treaty with France in August 1863. Under the treaty's terms, Norodom ceded control of his country's foreign relations to France in return for French protection of Cambodia, recognition of the king's sovereignty, and a pledge to assist him to maintain order within the kingdom. After one abortive attempt to disengage from the treaty, Norodom accepted its terms and was finally crowned king of Cambodia in June 1864. He was Sihanouk's great grand father, a man whom the prince has idealized throughout his life as a great Cambodian patriot. Thais and Vietnamese always called Khmer, "barbarians and uncivilized." But why are Khmer lands getting smaller and smaller so far so worse? As King Norodom Sihanouk clearly told to his Khmer children on TVK between 1993 and 1994 in a clear demonstration: "My children, you are fighting among yourselves. Look, our land is getting closer and closer to Phnom Penh now from the West (Thais) and East (Vietnamese)." He disappointedly continued his statement. "You said, you follow your King all the ways, but when you go home, you go on your own instead!"

Channel: Education

Tags: ang  cambodia  doung  jayavarman  king  siam  vii  yuon 

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