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After the fall of the Khmer Empire, Cambodia stagnated, mired in warfare and political intrigue. In the 19th century, there was struggle with Vietnam: Cambodia appealed to Thailand for help while Siam and Vietnam struggled over the land. In the end, a treaty was signed for French protection of Cambodia. This began a period of French colonization, which can still be seen in the architecture and some towns where French can still be heard.
During World War II, Cambodia was occupied by Japan. Cambodia gained independence from the French in 1953 and became a constitutional monarchy, although the delta of the Mekong River, which contained lots of ethnic Khmer people, remained in Vietnamese control. During the Vietnam War, Cambodia maintained neutrality but with some communist sympathies.
In 1970, there was a coup. U.S. involvement is unproven, but the incoming government immediately began to support the U.S. and force Vietnamese communists to leave. In retaliation, they began to fight the new government, beginning the Cambodian civil war. This conflict was initially between the army and North Vietnamese communists. The Vietnamese communists eventually became the Cambodian communists known as the Khmer Rouge. The United States and the Republic of Vietnam also joined in bombing Cambodia to slow the communists. In 1975, the Khmer Rouge launched a massive offensive, and after 117 days of fighting, the Khmer Republic fell, and the U.S. ended its aid to Cambodia.
The communist Khmer Rouge modeled itself after Maoist China. It sent everyone to rural work projects to improve agricultural production. It rejected any Western influences, including medicine and education. Doctors, lawyers, intellectuals and ethnic minorities were targeted, but many ethnic Khmers were killed as well. It is thought that about 2 million people were killed during the Khmer Rouge rule—a quarter of the population. Tuol Sleng was a school turned jail/execution center that had a grand total of eight survivors and about 20,000 people killed.
In 1978, Vietnamese troops invaded and set up a pro-Soviet state that essentially answered to the Vietnamese army. In 1981, an opposition force was created that was recognized by the United Nations, while Vietnam faced economic sanctions from the UN and Western countries for its refusal to withdraw from Cambodia.
It wasn’t until 1989 that peace talks began in Paris. A constitutional monarchy was restored in 1993 with a coup following in 1997 to remove the man who was co-prime minister to the current Cambodian prime minister. Unfortunately, Pol Pot, leader of the Khmer Rouge, died before he could ever face trial for his crimes.
The current prime minister has been in power since 1985. He is a former Khmer Rouge member and current member of the Cambodia Peoples Party. Although there are elections every five years, he intends to stay in power until he is much older; however, the election in 2013 was contested. Cambodia also has a king; however, it seems that Prime Minister Hun Sen makes a majority of the policy.
This government has been criticized for everything from human rights violations to corruption. It is the second most corrupt government in Asia. The Corruption Transparency Index scored the country 21/100 (0 being the worst, the US scoring 74/100). In addition, about six million people live on less than a dollar per day.
Interestingly, about 50 percent of the population is under the age of 25, and from 2001-2010 Cambodia’s GDP grew by 7.7 percent making it one of the quickest growing economies in the world. Tourism and some serious investing by China and foreign aid has played a part in that.
The combination of a current government, tons of foreign aid, and a young, poor population (many with a significant interest in education and improving their living conditions) will make for an interesting next few years for Cambodia.