November 2023

On November 9, 2023, Cambodia will celebrate 70 years of independence. To mark the occasion, Secret Indochina revisits the circumstances which led to Cambodia’s independence and the key role played by Norodom Sihanouk, former king and statesman.

Crowned in 1941, Sihanouk abdicated in 1955 to get into politics, which he could not do as monarch according to the Cambodian Constitution. He served as head of the state until March 18, 1970, when Lon Nol staged a successful coup d’état. That was not the end of Sihanouk. He was re-crowned King in 1993, subsequently retiring in 2003 after a unique life of political deaths and renaissance unheard of in any other monarchy.

Norodom Sihanouk directed 19 films during his life. One titled An Ambition Reduced to Ashes (1995) reveals the most insight into the king’s view of himself and his legacy. The film tells the story of a young prince educated by a guru and master, who took special care that the prince should ascend the throne one day and become the equal of the greatest Cambodian kings, including King Jayavarman VII.

In the film, the prince is only partly human; he is also of divine essence. As a future God-King, he is advised to stay far apart from humans. However, he falls in love with a peasant girl in the countryside and is tempted to become wholly human, even though this would prevent him from being incarnated into a great king.

The guru intervened and explained to the young girl that if she and the prince express their love physically, the young prince would revert to his true age, his body would be reduced to ashes, and his mission to become the greatest king of Cambodia would never be fulfilled. Unable to resist the girl’s beauty, the prince makes physical love with the young girl. At the end of the night his body transforms into that of a very old man and he dies, reduced to smoking ashes.

In this and other films, Sihanouk is clearly undergoing self-reflection and analysis. He sees himself as someone who was destined to achieve the greatest ambition, but in some sense could not fulfill it. While Sihanouk had no illusions about himself, he lived an extraordinary life; indeed, he lived many lives in one. His life can be compared to a stage where he simultaneously played many parts: king, statesman, filmmaker, writer, musical composer, and epicurean, to name a few.

It is difficult to put together all the aspects of Sihanouk’s personality. One thing is certain: An outstanding politician and statesman, he was passionate in service to Cambodia, and eventually would interfere in the most tragic way in decisive periods of modern Cambodia.

The King

King Monivong died on April 23, 1941. The council of the crown then selected Prince Norodom Sihanouk as King of Cambodia, following the rule set by France’s Vichy regime at the time.

When Norodom Sihanouk ascended the throne in September 1941, it began like a fairy tale. The Cambodian monarchy is not hereditary, and the king is not required to be the son of the preceding king. It is an elected monarchy, with the king chosen from numerous princes – generally from the Norodom or Sisowath branches of the royal family – and elected by the Royal Council of the Crown.

The Royal Council of the Crown, however, was merely an instrument in the hands of the real political power. So, when Norodom Sihanouk became the king in 1941, the question of why he was chosen was the equivalent of asking why the French wanted Sihanouk to be the king. As a joke, the wife of the governor-general of Indochina, Admiral Jean Decoux, allegedly responded “because he was a very cute boy.”

For Admiral Decoux, aside from Sihanouk’s cuteness, he was the perfect candidate to be king. Sihanouk loved enjoying himself with cars, sports, parties, and dancing, and he was smart enough to persuade the French that he wasn’t concerned with politics at all. He was chosen because the French believed he wasn’t interested in power; the old illusion “He’ll do what we want him to do” revealed an incredible political blindness. Later, Sihanouk wrote about this period of his life when he was chosen to become the King: “My first reaction was of fear, of fright, I broke into tears.”

Sihanouk demonstrated that he had a talent for waiting and seizing the opportunity when it arose, and the French soon discovered their mistake. On March 11, 1945, under pressure from Japanese troops, Sihanouk abrogated the 1863 and 1884 French protectorate treatises and de facto proclaimed Cambodian independence.

There was a fly in the ointment: the Japanese had installed Son Ngoc Than as prime minister. He was a very popular personality who went into exile in Tokyo after organizing anti-French demonstrations in Phnom Penh in July 1942. In theory, the French collaborationist Vichy regime and Japan were allies, and Japanese troops could have entered French Indochina without resistance. In reality, however, Franco-Japanese relations were mainly based on mutual distrust. French Indochina did not fit into Japan’s vision of a southeast Asia that was part of greater East Asian sphere of co-prosperity, and the choice of the radical nationalist Son Ngoc Than was much more convenient for the Japanese than the somewhat ambiguous Sihanouk.

The opposition between Sihanouk and Son Ngoc Than played a significant role in Cambodian politics from 1945 to 1993. Son Ngoc Than was an ideologue who wanted to translate his vision into reality at any cost, while Sihanouk was a pragmatist who knew better than to indulge in wishful thinking. One was no less nationalist than the other, but the difference between the two men lay in the ability to think within the realms of possibility. Sihanouk knew very well that the time was not ripe for independence, as he had a much better understanding of the international situation than Son Ngoc Than. Events proved that Sihanouk had been correct.

In 1946, the French returned, placed Son Ngoc Than under arrest, and exiled him in France. Sihanouk, meanwhile, was confirmed in his functions, with divided views. On the one hand, he was viewed as “clean” because he had abrogated the protectorate treaties under the influence of the Japanese. From the other perspective, he had been a willing victim of the Japanese, and his frequent denials were another paradoxical way to make it clear that the events of March 11, 1945, were just a final rehearsal.

The road to independence

Sihanouk spent 1946 to 1952 asking for French concessions and pleading for Cambodia’s independence. Independence seemed to be within arm’s reach; the 1st Indochinese conflict had begun in what is today Vietnam.

In Cambodia, the situation was characterized by a growing unrest due to the Khmer Issarak (Free Khmer) nationalist uprising and the Indochinese Communist Party. The Democratic Party, like the Communist party, sought the total independence of Cambodia as a major part of its program.

The question that remained was a decisive one for the future of Cambodia: Who would achieve independence?

Once more, Sihanouk played a major role. In 1951, thanks to his intercession, his old enemy Son Ngoc Than was released by the French and returned to Cambodia. The stakes were high because Son Ngoc Thanh’s radicalism resonated with a big part of Cambodia’s population, and he was a major obstacle for Sihanouk. The game that followed was a three-act masterpiece directed by Sihanouk that showcased his talents:

1. He invited Son Ngoc Thanh to negotiate with him. For a radical who built his life on a zero-concession principle, negotiation was in essence a dangerous game.

2. When Sihanouk didn’t offer him a prominent place, a disappointed Son Ngoc Thanh rejoined the Khmer Issarak in February 1952. Sihanouk appeared then to the world as the only peaceful solution.

3. In June 1952, when he had to beat the Khmer Issarak by a nose, Sihanouk launched the Royal Crusade to Independence and went to Paris, Washington, and Bangkok with the message “Negotiate with me now.”

The French were wise enough to listen to him, and Cambodia became an independent state on November 9, 1953, with formal international recognition following in July 1954. Sihanouk once again proved to be a superior chess player who was several moves ahead of his adversaries.

It was not enough for Sihanouk to be the father of Independence. He was also a king in a constitutional monarchy where a king was supposed to reign quietly and not govern. It was difficult to imagine that someone like Sihanouk would be satisfied with unveiling primary schools and receiving bunches of flowers. Sihanouk wanted to govern. Of course, it would be ridiculous to think that he wanted power for power; Sihanouk had a vision that required the application of power.

The head of the State

Sihanouk devised a solution that was almost inconceivable, like most episodes of his life. On February 27, 1955, he abdicated in favor of his father Suramarit. Now a mere citizen, Sihanouk launched his Sangkum Reastr Niyum, often translated as Popular Socialist Community, an impressive mixture of nationalism, neutralism, socialism, and Buddhism.

As prince, king, and head of state, the people’s vision of Sihanouk was always strong and uncompromising, engendering faithful followers and implacable enemies. It is difficult to evaluate such a complex and outsized personality. For analysts, the many-sided aspects of his character and numerous activities generate confusion: what does a filmmaker have to do with statesmanship? Sihanouk’s personality is not a paradox, rather his life and deeds display an incredible capacity to integrate paradoxes into an art of governing.

Jean-Michel Filippi.