1. Cambodia

2. 1863: French Protectorate Cambodians are descendents of the Angkor
Empire which was at its
peak during the 10th-13th
century. But with attacks
from present day Thailand
and Viet Nam the empire
declined. Soon after, the
King placed Cambodia
under French rule and
became part of French
Indochina in 1887.

3. 1941: A New King When Norodom passed away in 1904, the throne was not
passed onto his sons but to
his brother Sisowath.
Sisowath ruled until 1941
when Norodom Sihanouk
becomes king. Also during
this time, Cambodia is
occupied by Japan during
WWII. With a new king,
Cambodians felt that they
should not be under control
by the French anymore.

4. 1953: Independence In 1946, the French granted
Cambodia self government
with the French Union. A
constitution was drawn up in
1947 and a treaty was signed
in 1949 making Cambodia an
associated state with France.
However, King Norodom
Sihanouk wanted complete
independence and was
awarded it in 1953.

5. 1955-1960: The Ins and Outs In 1955, King Norodom
Sihanouk abdicates his
throne and gives it to his
father to rule. Norodom
Sihanouk seeks a political
career and becomes a
premier. However, his
father passes away in 1960
and his mother, Queen
Kossamak Nearireak takes
over. Later, Norodom
Sihanouk becomes king
again.

6. 1970: Take Your Sides Throughout the Viet Nam war,
Sihanouk remained neutral to
both sides. He allowed North Viet
Nam to use Cambodian ports and
allowed the US to bomb Viet Cong
hideouts in Cambodia. However,
the Cambodians grew discontent
with this. While Sihanouk was
abroad, General Lon Nol led a
military coup to overthrow
Sihanouk.

7. 1975: Year Zero In 1975, the Khmer Rouge led by Pot Pot
overthrew Lon Nol and took over Cambodia. He
renames Cambodia as Kampuchea. They
believed that Cambodians will be laborers
working on a one federation of collective farms.
The Khmer Rouge wanted to get rid of any
intellectuals, educated people and anybody
against their ideas and communism. Hundreds
of thousands of the educated middle-classes are
tortured and executed in special centers. Others
starve, or die from disease or exhaustion. The
total death toll during the next three years is
estimated to be at least 1.7 million.

8. 1979: Vietnamese Invasion In 1978, Viet Nam decided to
invade Cambodia and take
control of the country. The
Vietnamese overthrew the Khmer
Rouge and drove them to the
Thai jungles. The Vietnamese
tried to install a puppet
government and reconstruct the
country. However, Pol Pot’s
regime destroyed the land,
ruined the economy and he killed
all of the potential intellectuals
that could have jumpstarted the
country again.

9. 1985: Starting Over While the Khmer Rouge hid in
the Thai jungles, the US were
giving them help. The Khmer
Rouge continued to fight Viet
Nam to gain control of
Cambodia again. In 1985, Hun
Sen was elected as prime
minister, and peace talks
immediately began. In 1989,
Viet Nam withdrew its last
troops out of Cambodia.

10. 1991: Peace? In 1991, a peace treaty was signed by all opposing
parties. However, the
treaty called for all groups
to be disarmed and the
Khmer Rouge refused.
With that, Sihanouk
denounced the Khmer
Rouge and aligned himself
with Hun Sen. Norodom
Sihanouk again became
Head of state.

11. 1993: Democratic Elections
In 1993, the first ever
Democratic elections were held.
The Royalist FUNCINPEC party
won the most seats and Hun
Sen’s Cambodian People's Party
came in second. A coalition
government is formed with
FUNCINPEC's Prince Norodom
Ranariddh as prime minister
and Hun Sen as deputy prime
minister. The monarchy is
restored, and Sihanouk
becomes king again.

12. 1997: Only One Can Rule The coalition government of
Norodom Ranariddh and Hun
Sen was crumbling. Hun Sen
set up a coup and replaced
Ranariddh with Ung Huot.
The coup delayed Cambodia’s
membership with ASEAN.
Also, in 1997, the Khmer
Rouge was falling apart and
Pol Pot was imprisoned. He
later died in 1998.

13. 2001: Justice Begins In 2001, the Cambodian
Senate approved a law which
created a tribunal. This
would allow the Khmer Rouge
leaders to be tried for their
war crimes. With the
Japanese financially
supporting the tribunal,
justice can be served.

14. 2004: Like Father, Like Son In October 2004, King
Norodom Sihanouk abdicated
his throne in favor of his son.
A nine member council
elected Norodom Sihamoni
to the throne a week later.
King Norodom Sihamoni is
the reigning king today.

15. 2005: The Green Light The tribunal had encountered many
problems. There were no
funds going towards it
and the Khmer Rouge
leaders were getting old.
Some feared that they
might die before being
tried. However in 2005,
The UN gave the green
light to start the
tribunal.

16. 2007: Justice is Served In 2007, trials began for the most notorious
leaders of the Khmer
Rouge. Nuon Chea was
arrested in September
and is being tried for
his crimes. And in
November, the tribunal
holds its first public
hearing with Comrade
Duch.