1922–2012
○ Died in Beijing in
Cambodian king and united-front leader
In June 1982 he joined the Khmer Rouge and Son Sann's KPNLF in an anti-Vietnamese coalition government and became its president, retaining Cambodia's UN seat.
King, head of state and prime minister of Cambodia. He came to the throne in 1941 under French colonial rule, led the country to independence in 1953, abdicated in 1955 to enter politics and was removed in 1970. Held under house arrest under the Khmer Rouge in 1975–1979, he led a resistance coalition allied with the Khmer Rouge in 1982–1991, was restored as king in 1993 and abdicated again in 2004.
Also known as: Prince Sihanouk · Samdech Euv · King-Father Sihanouk
Activities and affiliations
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1941–1955
Cambodia state institutionsKing of Cambodia, first reignMain
Monarchs and royalty -
1955–1970
Political and party leadership
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1960–1970
Cambodia state institutionsChief of State of Cambodia
Government and administration -
1981–1991
Political and party leadership
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1993–2004
Cambodia state institutionsKing of Cambodia, second reign
Monarchs and royalty
Career Timeline
- 1941–1955King of Cambodia
- 1955–1960Led the Sangkum and served as prime minister and head of state
- 1960–1970Head of state
- 1981Founded the resistance party FUNCINPEC
- 1982–1987President of the Coalition Government of Democratic Kampuchea (CGDK)
- 1991–1993Chairman of the Supreme National Council
- 1993–2004King of Cambodia
Related historical events
- 1975–1979Democratic Kampuchea and the 1979 regime changeleader of the resistance coalition FUNCINPECCambodia's king and leader of the National United Front, he became president of the coalition government in 1982 and came to symbolize its awkward alliance with the Khmer Rouge.
- 1978–1979The Sino-Vietnamese WarFormer Cambodian kingOne pillar of the coalition China rallied against the Vietnamese occupation.
Exile resistance coalition and international recognition, 1979–1991
When Vietnamese forces took Phnom Penh in January 1979 and the Khmer Rouge regime collapsed, Sihanouk was released from house arrest and went into exile again. Britannica records that he broke with the Khmer Rouge while denouncing the Vietnamese invasion, and that from residences in China and North Korea he led a coalition of anti-Vietnamese resistance forces. In March 1981 he founded FUNCINPEC, a royalist resistance party, with a small armed wing, the Armée Nationale Sihanoukiste (ANS).
The coalition was a product of great-power interests. According to Wikipedia, after the Khmer Rouge was overthrown Deng Xiaoping proposed that Sihanouk co-operate with the Khmer Rouge to topple the Vietnamese-backed government; Sihanouk rejected this, opposing the genocidal policies the Khmer Rouge had pursued in power. The ANS, however, depended on Chinese military aid, and after mediation by Deng and Singapore's Lee Kuan Yew, FUNCINPEC, Son Sann's Khmer People's National Liberation Front (KPNLF) and the Khmer Rouge formed the Coalition Government of Democratic Kampuchea (CGDK) in June 1982.
The signing ceremony was held in Kuala Lumpur on 22 June 1982, with Sihanouk as president, Son Sann as prime minister and Khieu Samphan as foreign secretary. The CGDK was renamed the National Government of Cambodia in 1990 and, until its dissolution in 1993, was for most of its existence the UN-recognized representative of Cambodia. This followed Western states blocking Eastern Bloc proposals to replace the Vietnamese-installed government's representation, a contest marked by the UN General Assembly vote of 14 November 1979 (91 against, 29 in favour, 26 abstentions). North Korea also recognized the CGDK, and at their Pyongyang meeting on 10 April 1986 Kim Il-sung assured Sihanouk that it would continue to regard him as Cambodia's legitimate head of state.
The balance within the coalition was unequal. Vietnamese offensives in 1984 and 1985 severely weakened the two non-communist factions as military players, leaving the Khmer Rouge, whose National Army of Democratic Kampuchea was the largest force, as the CGDK's sole military force of importance. In 1987 Sihanouk took a leave of absence from the presidency, a move that raised hopes in Hanoi and Moscow that he would leave the coalition. In the same period FUNCINPEC and the KPNLF drew some military and financial support from the United States as part of the Reagan Doctrine.
The contest over Cambodia's UN seat was a product of Cold War alignments, and Sihanouk occupied a contradictory position: making political use of the Khmer Rouge while keeping his distance from it. As talks proceeded between the CGDK and the Vietnamese-backed government ahead of the 1991 Paris peace agreements, Sihanouk ended 13 years of exile on 14 November 1991 and returned as president of Cambodia's Supreme National Council.