Home > Colonial Cambodia
History of Cambodia
1 The French colonial period
In October 1887, the French proclaimed the Union Indochinoise ( Indochina Union), comprising Cambodia and the three constituent regions of Vietnam: Tonkin, Annam, and Cochinchina. Laos was added to the Indochina Union after being separated from Thai suzerainty in 1893. Cambodia's chief colonial official, responsible to the Union's governor general and appointed by the Ministry of Marine and Colonies in Paris, was the Résident Supérieur (Resident General). Residents, or local governors, were posted in all the principal provincial centers. In 1897 the incumbent Resident General complained to Paris that King Norodom I was no longer capable of ruling and received permission to assume the king's authority to issue decrees, collect taxes, and appoint royal officials. Norodom and his successors were left with hollow, figurehead roles as head of state and as patron of the Buddhist religion. The colonial bureaucracy expanded rapidly. French nationals held the highest positions, but even on the lower rungs of the bureaucracy Cambodians found few opportunities because the colonial government preferred to hire Vietnamese.
When Norodom died in 1904, the French passed over his sons and set his brother Prince Sisowath Yuthevong (1904-1927) on the throne. Sisowath's branch of the royal family was considered more cooperative than that of Norodom because the latter was viewed as partly responsible for the revolts of the 1880sEvents and Trends About 300 000 Swedes emigrate to the United States. First Boer War First commercial production and sales of phonographs and phonograph recordings. First steel frame construction "sky-scrapers" The New Imperialism Science and technology J and because Norodom's favorite son, Prince Yukanthor , had stirred up publicity abroad about French colonial injustices. During their generally peaceful reigns, Sisowath and his son Monivong (1927-1941) were pliant instruments of French rule. A measure of the monarchs' status was the willingness of the French to provide them annually with complimentary rations of opiumOpium is a narcotic drug which is obtained from the unripe seed pods of the opium poppy Papaver somniferum L. or the synonym paeoniflorum . To harvest opium, the skin of the ripening pods is scored by a sharp blade. The slashes exude a white, milky latex,. One of the few highlights of Sisowath's reign was French success in getting Thailand's King ChulalongkornKing Chulalongkorn the Great or Rama V (royal name Phra Chula Chomklao Chaoyuhua ( September 20, 1853 October 23, 1910) was the fifth king of the Chakri dynasty of Thailand. He is regarded as one of the greatest kings of Thailand. Chulalongkorn was born S to sign a new treaty in 1907Events January events January 6 Maria Montessori opens her first school and daycare center for working class children in Rome Casa dei Bambini in San Lorenzo). January 14 An earthquake in Kingston, Jamaica kills more than a 1,000 January 23 Charles Curtis returning the northwestern provinces of BattambangBattambang (also Batdambang is a province of Cambodia. It is in the northwest of the country, and its capital is Battambang. Cambodia's second-largest city is an elegant riverside town, home to some of the best-preserved colonial architecture in the count and Siemreab to Cambodia.
