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The Kingdom of Kampuchea, March–October 1945: Japanese–sponsored Independence in Cambodia in World War II

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 August 2009

David P. Chandler
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Extract

On 12 March 1945, three days after Japanese forces had swept the French from power in Indo-China, Cambodia's young king, Norodom Sihanouk, declared his country's independence, noting as he did so that it would now be known in French as “Kampuchea” rather than as “Cambodge”. The proclamation, made on Japanese advice, ushered in a seven–month interregnum between periods of French control.

Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Southeast Asian Studies , Volume 17 , Issue 1 , March 1986 , pp. 80 - 93
Copyright
Copyright © The National University of Singapore 1986

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References

This paper was prepared for a conference sponsored by the Australian Historical Association held at the University of Melbourne in August 1984. I am grateful for the comments that arose when it was delivered, and for Ben Kiernan's detailed criticisms. Before writing the paper, I benefited from discussions with David Marr and Masaya Shiraishi.

1 Ollivier, R., “Le protectorat francais au Cambodge” (Ph.D. dissertation, University of Paris, 1969), p. 198Google Scholar.

2 Kiernan, Ben, “Origins of Khmer Communism”, Southeast Asian Affairs 1981 (Singapore, 1982), pp. 161–80Google Scholar.

3 Rajabangsavatar brah norodom Sihanouk ‘Royal chronicle of Norodom Sihanouk’ (hereafter RNS), microfilm available from the Centre for East Asian Studies in Tokyo. For a general discussion of this text, see Chandler, David P., “Cambodian Royal Chronicles, 1927–1949: Kingship and Historiography at the End of the Colonial Era” in Perception of the Past in Southeast Asia, ed. Reid, A. and Marr, D. (Singapore, 1979), pp. 207–217Google Scholar. For the interregnum period, the chronicle takes the form of documents copied successively, without comment, and often out of chronological order. For example, events of October 1945 appear ten pages ahead of events in August (RNS, pp. 551 and 561). This disorder, and the lack of commentary, strongly suggests that the texts themselves, e.g., of speeches or proclamations, have been accurately set down.

4 I am grateful to Mme Porée Maspero for allowing me to consult this document while visiting her and her husband in Mormoiron, Vaucluse, in November 1983. I am also grateful to her for comments about the period at that time, and in private correspondence.

5 In August 1981, Major General Channa Samudvijana kindly donated his collection of the papers of Son Ngoc Thanh to the Centre of Southeast Asian Studies, Monash University. It is hoped that translations of some of these papers will be published independently in the near future.

6 Interview with Laau Touk, North Melbourne, 20 September 1984.

7 Reddi, V.M., A History of the Cambodian Independence Movement, 1863–1955 (Tirupati, 1971)Google Scholar.

8 See Earl Mountbatten of Burma, Post Surrender Tasks: Section E of Report to the Combined Chiefs of Staff (London, 1969), p. 289Google Scholar; and Kirby, S. Woodburn, The War Against Japan, Vol. 5 (London, 1969), pp. 303–304Google Scholar.

9 See particularly Isoart, Paul (ed.), Indochine 1940–1945 (Paris, 1982), pp. 41–53Google Scholar; Fillieux, Claude, Merveilleux Cambodge (Paris, 1962), pp. 335–40Google Scholar; and Smith, R. B., “The Japanese Period in Indo-China and the Coup of 9th March 1945”, Journal of Southeast Asian Studies IX, 2 (1978): 268–301CrossRefGoogle Scholar. See also Tramonis, Paul' perceptive memoir of this period, Camille (Bainville sur Mer, 1966), pp. 125ffGoogle Scholar.

10 Porée-Maspero, “Journal”, 10 March 1945.

11 Interview with Laau Thouk, 20 September 1984.

12 Porée-Maspero, “Journal”, 10 March 1945; and Tramoni, op. cit., p. 134.

13 Interview with Laau Thouk.

14 Ollivier, “Le protectorat”, p. 213. See Gautier, G., Jeune Cambodge (Phnom Penh, 1943), passim.Google Scholar, for a defense of the proposals.

15 RNS, 507.

16 Sihanouk, Norodom, Souvenirs doux et amers (Paris, 1981), p. 86Google Scholar.

17 RNS, pp. 504–505; Ollivier, p. 209; Porée-Maspero, “Journal”, 20 March 1945, and interview with Laau Thouk, 20 September 1984.

18 For a description of this period in Indo-China, see Angladeete, Andre, “La vie quotidienne en Indochine de 1939 à 1946”, Mondes et cultures 30 (03, 1979): 467–98Google Scholar.

19 See Gautier, Jeune Cambodge, op. cit.; and Gautier, G., Le fin de I'Indochine francaise (Paris, 1978)Google Scholar.

20 France. Archives d'outremer (Rue Oudinot, Paris; hereafter AOM/P), 121/1101 (undated), “Reseignements sur les gouvernements pro-japonais”.

21 See Mul, Bunchhan, Kuk niyobay (Political Prison) (Phnom Penh, 1971), pp. 257–58Google Scholar.

22 Son Ngoc Thanh papers, “Etat civil”, in Thanh's hand, can be proved to be dating from 1944 (with later additions in pencil), corroborated with other sources.

23 An analysis of the content of Nagara Vatta (1937–42) would fill an important gap in Cambodian historiography. Except for issues allegedly produced in 1945, which have not been sighted, nearly the entire run of the paper is held by the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris.

24 On the demonstration, see Reddi, , A History, pp. 85 ffGoogle Scholar, and Mul, Bunchhan, Kuk Niyobay, pp. 49–62Google Scholar. For a tendentious account, see Sihanouk, Norodom, Souvenirs doux et amers, pp. 75–77Google Scholar. The demonstration is also discussed in Porée-Maspero, “Journal”, 20 July 1942. Laau Thouk (Interview, 20 September 1984) claims to have encountered part of the demonstration on his way to work.

25 On the date of Thanh's return, see RNS, p. 546 and Ollivier, p. 209.

26 Son Ngoc Thanh papers, “Le Parti Nationaliste Khmer pour l'indépendence du Cambodge”, undated typescript, probably composed in August 1942, corrected in Thanh's hand.

27 Son Ngoc Thanh papers; the letters are dated 22 February, 3 March, 10 April, 26 April and 25 July, 1943.

28 Son Ngoc Thanh papers, letter of 10 April 1943.

29 See, for example, Son Ngoc Thanh papers, “Raisons de l'antagonisme khmer-thailandais” dated 18 May 1943 and “L' Indochine dans la sphere de la Grande Asie Orientale”, dated 25 June 1943.

30 On later interpretations of Cambodian history, see Chandler, David P., “Seeing Red: Perceptions of Cambodian History in Democratic Kampuchea”, in Revolution and its Aftermath in Kampuchea, eds., Chandler, David P. and Kiernan, Ben (New Haven, 1983), pp. 34–56Google Scholar.

31 See McCoy, Alfred W. (ed.), Southeast Asia Under Japanese Occupation (New Haven, 1980)Google Scholar.

32 RNS, p. 507.

33 See Chandler, David P., “The Tragedy of Cambodian History”, Pacific Affairs, Vol. 52/3 (Fall, 1979): 410–19CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

24 RNS, pp. 542–45.

35 RNS, p. 545.

36 RNS, p. 546; Ollivier, p. 208n; Sihanouk, , Souvenirs, pp. 99–105Google Scholar.

37 See Lefeber, Walter, “Roosevelt, Churchill and Indo-China”, American Historical Review 80 (1975): 1277–95Google Scholar, and Hess, Gary R., “Franklin D. Roosevelt and Indo-China”, Journal of American History 59 (1972): 353–68CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

38 AOM/P 125/1117, “Bulletins et télégrammes”: Lt. Col. Stagnard, “Note de reseignement”.

39 AOM/P 124/1091, “Notes sur la situation en Indochine: Septembre 1944”.

40 See de Grauclade, H., Le reveil du peuple khmer (Hanoi, 1935)Google Scholar. For a less optimistic view, see de Pourtalès, G., Nous, à qui rien n'appartient (Paris, 1931), pp. 131ffGoogle Scholar. According to Mme Poré-Maspero (personal communication) the number of French administrators fluent in Khmer increased significantly in the 1930s.

41 See Detweiler, D. S. and Burdick, C. B. (eds.), War in Asia and the Pacific 1937–1949 (New York, 1980), vol. 6, map 6Google Scholar, which shows the Japanese military zones in Indo-China as of May 1945.

42 The formation of the militia was announced in the official (French-language) newspaper, Cambodge on 17 July 1945 (Michael Vickery, personal communication). FOM (Aix-en-Provence; hereafter AOM/A) Cambodge 2 F 29 (4), p. 5, estimates the strength of the Cambodian militia at 3,000 men, roughly equivalent to the number of Japanese posted to Cambodia. Hardly any of these were armed. Reddi, A History, quotes the militia's leader as saying, “I am convinced that myself and my compatriots are the best Cambodian troops because we have been chosen among the intellectuals” (p. 94).

43 RNS, p. 533 estimates the crowd on this occasion at 30,000.

44 Chatterji had served with Chandra Bose's Indian National Army (INA) since 1943. He became foreign minister of the Free India Provisional Government in January 1945. See Lebra, Joyce, Jungle Alliance: Japan and the Indian National Army (Singapore, 1971), pp. 145–46Google Scholar.

45 On the coup, see Ollivier, p. 225, AOM/A 7 F 29 (4), p. 9, and Sihanouk, , Souvenirs, pp. 106–109Google Scholar. See also Mul, Bunchhan, Charet Khmaer (Khmer Mores) (Phnom Penh, 1974), pp. 19–20Google Scholar, which refers to the coup as a “revolution” (padevat).

46 RNS, p. 549.

47 Ollivier, p. 226.

48 Kiernan, “Origins”, pp. 179–80.

49 Keng Vannsak, interview with Ben Kiernan, Paris, 12 August 1979. Vannsak asserted that “around twenty” students stayed up all night to see what happened in the coup, about which they apparently had some foreknowledge.

50 Porée-Maspero, “Journal”, 11 August 1945.

51 Porée–Maspero, “Journal”, 13 August 1945.

52 See Devilliers, Philipe, Histoire du Vietnam de 1940 à 1952 (Paris, 1952), pp. 140–41Google Scholar; and Porter, D. Gareth, “Imperialism and Social Structure in Twentieth Century Vietnam” (Ph.D. dissertation, Cornell University, 1976), p. 158Google Scholar.

53 RNS, pp. 564–65.

54 RNS, p. 566. The leafletting is noted in the chronicle immediately after Thanh's programme, even though it occurred a week later.

55 Porée-Maspero, “Journal”, 16 October 1945. RNS, p. 570 reports that on 11 October, the day after the anniversary of the Chinese revolution in 1911, a dinner was given for French, British and Cambodian officials by Chinese entrepreneurs in Phnom Penh.

56 RNS, p. 568. See also Ollivier, p. 232, and Sihanouk, , Souvenirs, pp. 110–11Google Scholar.

57 See Allen, Louis, “Studies in the Japanese Occupation of Southeast Asia, 1944–1945”, Durham University Journal 64 (1972): 120–32Google Scholar; Rosie, George, The British in Vietnam (London, 1970)Google Scholar; and Thorne, Christopher, “Indo-China and Anglo-American Relations 1942–1945”, Pacific Historical Review 45 (02, 1946): 73–96CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

58 Gracey's remarks, made in 1953, appear in the discussion following Hall, Melvin, “Aspects of the Present Situation in Indo-China”, Journal of the Central Asiatic Society 40 (1953): 213–14Google Scholar. Col. Hall, an American officer, commented on this occasion that “I have some questions as to whether the average Vietnamese soldier, like the average American negro soldier, will obey and follow his Vietnamese officers to the death”.

59 Sihanouk, , Souvenirs, p. 112Google Scholar; SNT papers, letter from Pann Yun to President Felix Gouin of France, 17 April 1946 mentions the mission.

60 RNS, p. 533; Reddi, , A History, p. 108Google Scholar; Ben Kiernan, interview with Nguyen Thanh Son, Ho Chi Minh City, 28 October 1980.

61 Anthony Barnett (personal communication) drawing on his interview with Col. Murray in 1982.

62 Porée-Maspero, “Journal”, 7 November 1945.

63 RNS, p. 561. The prince was accompanied by his parents, and twenty palace guards.

64 Ollivier, p. 242. See also Realités cambodgiennes, 9 and 16 July 1967. Porée-Maspero, “Journal”, 17 October 1945, points out that Thanh's chauffeur, unattended, escaped to warn Thanh's cabinet members, some of whom, including Pach Chhoeun, fled the country to escape arrest.

65 RNS, p. 562.

66 RNS, p. 573.

67 Porée-Maspero, “Journal”, 27 October 1945.

68 The monk's name was used for a Viet Minh training camp inside Cambodia in the early 1950s. Interest in him revived under the Khmer Republic in 1970–75, and briefly under the PRK in 1979.

69 See Chandler, David P., “The Assassination of resident Bardez”, Journal of the Siam Society (JSS) (07, 1982): 35–49Google Scholar.

70 Gellner, Ernest, Nations and Nationalism (Oxford, 1983), p. 124Google Scholar. As late as 28 September 1945, before the situation in Saigon became so critical, General Gracey had favoured forming an alliance with Son Ngoc Thanh along the lines of the one being worked out in Burma at this time with Aung San. See Velentine, Daniel B., “The British Facilitation of the French Re-Entry into Vietnam” (Ph.D. dissertation, University of California, 1974), p. 365nGoogle Scholar.

71 Tramoni, op. cit., p. 226 reports that when he returned to Phnom Penh at the end of 1945, after his internment under the Japanese, he noticed that “everything had changed. The Cambodians held the reins themselves, and we found ourselves at the margin, without knowing what this would involve … we sensed the irreversability of the situation, all the more when our Cambodian friends didn't come to see us as they had done in the past. Oh, when we met, they were friendly enough, to be sure. But a certain reticence, something vague, a sort of mist was floating between them and ourselves…. Did they cherish their independence, which had fallen out of the sky?…. In effect, the past had evaporated forever”.

72 At that time, La Liberté, a French-language newspaper in Phnom Penh, reported that in September 1945, Cambodian customs police had intercepted a Vietnamese barge, containing arms, as it crossed into Cambodia from Vietnam, at Neak Luong. The crew of the barge, flashing a laissez-passer issued by Son Ngoc Thanh, had stated that the arms were destined for Vietnamese workers on Cambodia's rubber plantations: La Liberté, 21 March 1952. For a slightly different versions, see Christian, Pierre, “Son Ngoc Thanh”, Indochine-Sud-Est Asiatique (07, 1952): 48Google Scholar. The possibility that these reports were “planted” by French authorities should not be discounted, but they make sense in the context of Thanh's behaviour in September, 1945.