Norodom Sihanouk

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Norodom Sihanouk , 1922–, king of Cambodia (1941–55, 1993–2004). Sihanouk was educated in Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City) and Paris and was elected king by a royal council in 1941. During World War II he was held a virtual prisoner by Japanese occupation forces. After the war he adopted (1947) a constitution that made Cambodia a limited monarchy and achieved (1949) some autonomy for his country within the French Union . Following the first elections (1950), however, Sihanouk dissolved the assembly and ruled by decree. He became prime minister as well as king in 1951 and appointed a cabinet made up largely of members of the royal family. He campaigned for complete independence, which was finally granted in 1953.

In 1955 he abdicated in favor of his father, Norodom Suramarit, but retained the premiership and control of the Popular Socialist Community party, which he had founded. As premier he took Cambodia out of the French Union. After his father's death (1960) he again became head of state, although not king. Initially neutral in foreign affairs, he broke (1965) diplomatic relations with the United States when Cambodians were killed during South Vietnamese and U.S. incursions in the Vietnam War .

In Mar., 1970, Sihanouk was overthrown by a rightist coup led by Lon Nol , who opposed his policy of allowing Viet Cong and North Vietnamese troops to use Cambodian territory. He set up a government in exile in Beijing. When the Khmer Rouge won control of Cambodia, Sihanouk returned (1975) as head of state but in 1976 was placed under house arrest. In 1981–82, once again in exile, he forged a coalition with the Khmer Rouge and others to oppose the Cambodian government imposed by the Vietnamese after their 1978 invasion. After a UN-sponsored peace treaty came into effect (1991), Sihanouk returned to Cambodia, now allied with Premier Hun Sen and opposed to the Khmer Rouge. He became head of state (1991) and, under a new constitution, king (1993). He abdicated in 2004 in favor of his son Norodom Sihamoni.

Bibliography: See his memoirs, My War With the CIA (1973); see also J. Lacouture, The Demigods (tr. 1970).

Sihanouk, Norodom (b. 31 Oct. 1922). King of Cambodia 1941–55, 1993– ; President of Cambodia 1960–70, 1975–6, 1991–3 Born Prince Samdech Preah at Pnom Penh, he was placed on the throne in 1941 by the French Governor-General on the death of his grandfather. He was subsequently closely supervised by the French authorities. In 1946, when the expelled French returned, he extended a careful welcome, and despite nationalist resistance, he chose to cooperate with them in order to gain eventual independence. This was finally granted in 1953, in the context of the Indochina War. He abdicated in favour of his father and became Prime Minister. He built up his own political movement, and suppressed all other parties, which gave him control of Cambodian affairs until 1970. He steered a neutral course between the USA and the USSR, which became all the more difficult after the outbreak of the Vietnam War.

In 1970 he was deposed in a US-backed coup by Lon Nol. He was offered asylum by Zhou Enlai ( Chou En-lai) in China, where he founded the National United Front of Cambodia. He returned in 1975 and became nominal head of state under Pol Pot, but in 1976 was put under house arrest. He went into exile again after the Vietnamese invasion in 1979. In 1982 he became President of an exiled coalition government, in alliance with the Khmer Rouge. He thus gradually managed to unite the opposition parties behind him, and be accepted by the UN as the official representative of the country. In a remarkable comeback, after the Vietnamese withdrawal from the country he was able to return as interim President from 1991. He was proclaimed King, albeit with largely ceremonial powers, in 1993.

Sihanouk, Norodom (1922– ) Cambodian king (1941–55; 1993– ), Prime Minister (1955–60), and head of state (1960–70; 1975–76). Two years after Cambodian independence (1953) Sihanouk abdicated in order to become Premier, passing the throne to his father Prince Norodom Suramarit (died 1960). On his father's death, Prince Sihanouk proclaimed himself head of state, a position he retained until a US-backed military coup ten years later. Sihanouk was reinstated by the Khmer Rouge in 1975, only to be removed the following year. After serving as President of the government-in-exile (1982–89), he was appointed head of state by the provisional government and subsequently crowned for the second time (1993).

Norodom Sihanouk (1922– ) Cambodian statesman, king (1941–55, 1993– ), prime minister (1955–60) and head of state (1960–70, 1975–76, 1991–93). In 1965, he broke off diplomatic relations with the USA because of US military involvement in Indochina. In 1970, a right-wing military coup deposed Sihanouk. He returned from exile when the Khmer Rouge assumed power in 1975, first supporting then opposing their regime. In 1979, after the Vietnamese invasion, Sihanouk formed a government-in-exile. In 1991, he returned to Cambodia. In 1993, UN peace-keepers withdrew and Sihanouk was reinstated as a constitutional monarch. His son, Ranariddh, was ousted by his co-premier, Hun Sen, in 1997.

Norodom Sihanouk see Sihanouk, Norodom .