1863-1941 French colonial rule in Cambodia is relatively stable due to French patronage of the King and because popular challenges to authority are smothered. During the early part of the 20th century, the westernisation of Cambodian life intensifies and the French exercise a particularly strong control over Cambodian rulers until a less cooperative monarch, Norodom Sihanouk, accedes to the throne.

Sihanouk, independence and neutrality (1941-1970)

1941 Following the death of King Sisowath Monivong, his eighteen-year-old nephew, Norodom Sihanouk is installed as King by the French colonial authority.
1945 Japanese occupying force removes French colonial officials from their posts and urges Sihanouk to declare Cambodia's independence. The French regain control over Cambodia when World War II ends.
1946-47 The anti-Sihanouk Democrat Party wins Cambodia's first multi-party elections and control of the National Assembly. Real power remains in the hands of the French and the King.
1948-49 Sihanouk asserts increasing control over domestic politics and wins greater control from the French over military and foreign affairs.
1950-51 Fearing communist expansionism, the US begins to pour military aid into Southeast Asia. Pro-Sihanouk, right-wing parties begin to compete with the Democrat Party. The Cambodian communist party, forerunner of the Khmer Rouge is formed, supported by the Vietnamese communists.
1952-53 Sihanouk launches a bloodless coup against his government, with French support. Appointing himself Prime Minister, he promises full independence within three years. A concerted campaign begins to suppress the Democrats, radicalizing many young Khmers. Cambodia gains independence in 1953.
1955 The revival of the Democrats leads Sihanouk to abdicate and form a political movement, Sangkum Reastr Niyum (People's Socialist Community), which captures all seats in the National Assembly. His aging father, Suramarit, becomes King and chief of state. Sihanouk declares Cambodia neutral, but accepts US military and economic aid.
1958 Sangkum maintains dominance after National Assembly elections. Sihanouk's government survives several foreign-inspired attempts to overthrow it.
1960 King Suramarit dies and Sihanouk becomes chief of state again. His mother serves as monarch for ceremonial purposes.
1962-63 Sangkum again dominates National Assembly elections. Pol Pot becomes secretary of the communist party, which is still legal. Fearing a Sihanouk crackdown, Pol Pot and other leftist leaders take to the jungle. Relations cool with the US and Sihanouk stops accepting aid.
1965 The Vietnam War intensifies. Sihanouk continues to proclaim Cambodian neutrality, severing diplomatic relations with the US. Desperate to keep Cambodia out of the war, he allows the North Vietnamese to maintain bases in Cambodia. They in turn urge the anti-Sihanouk Khmer communists to delay launching their armed struggle.
1968-69 The communists (increasingly referred to as the Khmer Rouge by Sihanouk) officially launch their armed struggle and within two years control half the country. Sihanouk restores diplomatic ties with the US. President Nixon authorizes secret bombing of eastern Cambodia to destroy North Vietnamese military bases and supply routes.

War and social upheaval (1970-87)

1970 While abroad, Sihanouk is deposed by his government which is unhappy with his foreign and economic policies. General Lon Nol remains Prime Minister, declares Cambodia a republic and renews military ties with the US. Sihanouk seeks refuge in Beijing and considers an alliance with the communists. Lon Nol launches two disastrous attacks against the Vietnamese. The US and South Vietnam invade eastern Cambodia in pursuit of North Vietnamese forces.
1973 The US air force carpet-bombs large sections of eastern Cambodia, delaying an imminent Khmer Rouge victory and keeping the dying Lon Nol regime in power. The US Congress halts further bombing.
1975 Phnom Penh falls to the Khmer Rouge on 17 April. Democratic Kampuchea (DK) is founded and the population is ordered to evacuate all urban centers and form agricultural collectives. Intellectuals and other 'enemies of the revolution', including monks, are summarily executed. North and South Vietnam are re-unified after the fall of Saigon.
1976 A new Constitution abolishing private property and organized religion is created. Sihanouk returns from Beijing but is soon placed under house arrest in Phnom Penh by the DK leadership which remains concealed from the outside world.
1977 DK receives military aid from China. Internal purges of dissidents begin. A number of DK commanders, including Hun Sen, flee to Vietnam where they are groomed as a government in exile. Vietnam launches attacks into Cambodia following border disputes.
1978 Famine is widespread throughout Cambodia. Many people flee to Thailand. Over one million Cambodian's have by now died from hunger, disease and execution. Pol Pot rejects talks with the Vietnamese. On Christmas Day Vietnam begins its offensive to 'liberate' the Cambodian people from the DK regime.
1979 Phnom Penh quickly falls. The entire DK leadership escapes and Sihanouk is flown to Beijing. Large numbers of Cambodians head for the Thai border. The Vietnamese-backed People's Republic of Kampuchea (PRK), of socialist orientation, is established. The Vietnamese disregard a UN resolution calling for them to leave Cambodia and the Khmer Rouge keep Cambodia's UN seat. Former Prime Minister Son Sann creates an anti-PRK armed movement based on the Thai border which comes to be called the Khmer People's National Liberation Front (KPLNF).
1980-81 The Khmer Rouge regroup in the north under Pol Pot. Some 100,000 Vietnamese troops remain in Cambodia to prop up the PRK. Under pressure from the Chinese and other foreign powers, Sihanouk creates a resistance front called FUNCINPEC. The international community isolates Cambodia economically and politically to punish Vietnam. Evidence begins to emerge of the huge scale of Khmer Rouge atrocities from 1975-79.
1982 Under pressure from the US and ASEAN, the Coalition Government of Democratic Kampuchea (CGDK) - a tripartite 'resistance' movement comprising the Khmer Rouge, FUNCINPEC and Son Sann's KPLNF - is formed in exile. Sihanouk becomes its President and his son, Prince Ranariddh, assumes leadership of FUNCINPEC. With western military support a guerrilla war is launched against the People's Republic of Kampuchea.
1983-86 The resistance factions are pushed back onto Thai territory by PRK and Vietnamese troops. Military stalemate sets in. Completely isolated, Cambodia is among the world's poorest countries. A young Hun Sen is named Prime Minister of the PRK in 1986.

The struggle for peace (1987-1991)

1987 Sihanouk holds talks with Hun Sen in Paris marking the start of serious efforts to resolve Cambodia's conflict. The possibility of forming a coalition government between the PRK, FUNCINPEC and the KPLNF, excluding the Khmer Rouge, is rejected by the US and China.
1988 The four Cambodian factions meet face to face for the first time at the Jakarta Informal Meeting (JIM) hosted by Indonesia in July.
1989 A second meeting between the factions takes place in February. Faced with the loss of Soviet patronage, Vietnam begins withdrawing its troops from Cambodia. The PRK changes its name to the State of Cambodia (SoC) and tentatively embarks on some political and economic reforms. Nineteen countries, the UN and the four factions meet at the Paris Conference on Cambodia. The factions are not yet ready to make serious concessions for peace.
1990 The US government announces it will no longer permit the Khmer Rouge to hold Cambodia's UN seat. China reduces its aid to the Khmer Rouge. As pressure grows on the four Cambodian parties, they accept a framework for a political settlement proposed by the five permanent members of the Security Council. The Cambodian parties form the Supreme National Council (SNC) which is to be the unique legitimate body and source of authority in Cambodia throughout a transitional period.
1991 The factions declare their first cease-fire for 12 years in June. King Sihanouk joins the SNC and is elected as its President. At an August meeting the key obstacles to a political settlement are ironed out. The Paris agreements are signed by the four Khmer factions, 19 countries and the UN Secretary General on 23 October in Paris. Soon after, the UN Security Council authorizes establishment of a peacekeeping mission to oversee implementation of the agreements.

Implementing the agreements (1991-93)

1991
November: Sihanouk returns to Cambodia for the first time since 1978. FUNCINPEC and the SoC announce a formal political alliance, designed to bolster their joint position in the elections, but it soon collapses. The first UN personnel arrive in Cambodia. Khieu Samphan, the Khmer Rouge representative to the SNC, is nearly lynched by an angry mob in Phnom Penh.

1992
March: Yasushi Akashi, the UN Secretary General's special representative for Cambodia arrives, marking the first day of UNTAC's deployment. The UN begins repatriating some 350,000 Cambodians from Thailand.
June: The cantonment, disarmament and demobilization of the military factions begins. The Khmer Rouge refuses to participate. The UN rejects a Khieu Samphan proposal linking its regroupment and cantonment with the dismantling of the Phnom Penh government.
August-September: The electoral law is promulgated by Akashi in consultation with the SNC and registration of political parties begins. Khieu Samphan states that sanctions of any sort against the Khmer Rouge would 'jeopardise the integrity' of the agreements. Voter registration begins.
November-December: The Khmer Rouge maintains it will not participate in elections until the 'neutral political environment' called for in the Paris agreements has been created. UNTAC effectively suspends the demobilization process. The Khmer Rouge begins a concerted campaign to intimidate UNTAC as it completes its military deployment across Cambodia.
1993
January-March: Voter registration is completed. SoC political intimidation directed at members of FUNCINPEC and other opposition parties increases sharply. Akashi expresses dissatisfaction with the political environment. Some 100 ethnic Vietnamese are massacred by the Khmer Rouge in several attacks on villages.
April: The UN Security Council strongly condemns Khmer Rouge attacks resulting in five UNTAC deaths. Akashi denounces the SoC for obstructing implementation of the electoral law. The six-week electoral campaign begins. Widespread political violence by the SoC continues.
May: Voting takes place peacefully. Turnout is extremely high and the UN declares the elections free and fair. FUNCINPEC and the Buddhist Liberal Democratic Party (BLDP), the political movement of the KPLNF, agree to accept the results unconditionally, but the SoC reserves its final position.
June: Final election results are released. FUNCINPEC wins 45.2% of the vote, the SoC's Cambodia People's Party (CPP) - 38.7% and the BLDP 3.7%. Hun Sen rejects the results, threatening secession of several eastern provinces as well as violence. UNTAC and the international community stand by as Sihanouk convinces FUNCINPEC, the CPP and the BLDP to share power. A provisional government is formed while the new Constitution is drafted.
September: Sihanouk is reinstated as King and promulgates the new Constitution. Cambodia becomes a constitutional monarchy with the King as head of state. Prince Ranariddh and Hun Sen are appointed 'first' and 'second' Prime Ministers respectively of the Royal Government.
October-December: The new government launches a major offensives against the Khmer Rouge. By the end of the year UNTAC completes its withdrawal from Cambodia. FUNCINPEC ministers complain of CPP dominance in the government.

The peace unravels (1994-97)

1994
January-March: FUNCINPEC Finance Minister, Sam Rainsy, initiates anti-corruption reforms without support from the Prime Ministers. Khmer Rouge strongholds of Anlong Veng and Pailin are gained by the government but are soon lost again.
April-June: The Khmer Rouge almost captures Battambang city. Sihanouk's attempts at peace talks with the Khmer Rouge fail when it refuses a cease-fire. Tensions rise within FUNCINPEC as Rainsy and Foreign Minister Prince Siruvudh publicly voice differences with Ranariddh.
July: A coup attempt is alleged and the CPP plotters including Prince Chakrapong, Ranariddh's half-brother, are exiled. Hun Sen criticizes as 'unconstitutional' Sihanouk's proposal to resume power if asked to do so by the government.
September-October: Rumours abound that Hun Sen is to be replaced by his deputy Sar Kheng. A crackdown on government critics leaves one newspaper editor dead. Rainsy is removed as Finance Minister and Prince Siruvudh resigns as Foreign Minister out of solidarity. The CPP further asserts its dominance within the coalition. Renewed fighting with the Khmer Rouge leaves some 90,000 people internally displaced.

1995
January-February: Seven thousand Khmer Rouge soldiers defect to the government. FUNCINPEC officials openly complain about the CPP stranglehold over the sub-provincial administration.
March-April: Hun Sen and Ranariddh call on the UN to 'phase out' its human rights office in Cambodia. In Paris, Hun Sen warns international donors not to place political conditions on aid. Amnesty International publishes a stinging criticism of human rights violations in Cambodia.
May-June: Rainsy is expelled from FUNCINPEC and soon after loses his seat in the National Assembly without a formal vote being taken. The BLDP splits into two separate parties after tensions between party leader Son Sann and his deputy Ieng Mouly come to a head.
October: The CPP and FUNCINPEC agree a fairer distribution of power at district level. Ranariddh openly criticizes CPP dominance of the judiciary.
November-December: Sam Rainsy forms the Khmer Nation Party (KNP), to the government's great displeasure. Prince Siruvudh is arrested on a trumped-up charge of plotting to assassinate Hun Sen and stripped of parliamentary immunity. Sihanouk negotiates exile for him in France.

1996
February: The Cambodian army advances on Khmer Rouge-controlled Pailin again. The Khmer Nation Party splits into two after internal disputes.
March-April: At a FUNCINPEC party congress, Ranariddh lashes out at the CPP's continuing monopoly of power, signaling a deep split in the governing coalition. Logging deals signed by the government with foreign companies are widely criticized. Hun Sen strongly warns Ranariddh not to withdraw from the coalition.
May: Politically-motivated violence rises sharply. The IMF is unhappy that logging revenues are not reaching the Ministry of Finance and freezes its financial support.
August: As the Prime Ministers continue to bicker, rumors circulate that some FUNCINPEC members plan to defect to the CPP. Ranariddh urges unity in the party. Ieng Sary, the former number two in the Khmer Rouge, defects with thousands of his troops to the government side, though reaches an agreement allowing him to maintain effective control over his stronghold in Pailin.

CONTINUATION