NORODOM SIHANOUK

NORODOM SIHANOUK

By MEY Sopheakdei

1922: born in Phon Penh to Princes Norodom Suramarit, a king’s grandson, and Princes Sisowath Kossomak, daughter of the reigning king.

1941: Chosen by French to succeed his grandfather as king.

1945: Accepts short-lived independence from Japanese occupying army; after five months, French return, reassert control.

1946: With French advice, Sihanouk issues constitution that permits political parties.

1949: Cambodia accepts “50 percent independence” from France.

1952: Sihanouk embarks on one-man Crusade for Independence.

1953: French grant full independence to Cambodia

1955: Sihanouk abdicates throne in favor of his father; founds political movement, the Sangkum, which them sweeps national elections.

1955-1970: Sangkum monopolizes political power in Cambodia.

1960: King Suramrit dies; Sihanouk becomes Cambodian chief of state.

1963: Sihanouk suspends U.S. aid to Cambodia

1970: Sihanouk is overthrown, while abroad, by his own government. Almost immediately sets up a government-in-exile in Beijing, allied with Communists, in bid to regain power.

1973: Sihanouk visits Cambodai briefly, meets Communist leaders.

1975: Returns home after Communist victory as figurehead chief of state.

1976: Resigns office, is placed under house arrest in Phnom Penh.

1979: Released to plead cause of Communists at the United Nations after Vietnamese capture of Phnom Penh; goes into exile in China and North Korea.

1982: Sihanouk joins coalition government-in-exile with Communists and former prime minister Son Sann.

1985-1989: Resigns from and rejoins coalition several times. Presides over several fruitless international meetings on “Cambodian Problem.”

1989: Forces loyal to Sihanouk from “non-Communist resistance” with Son Sann troops. Cambodia engulfed in civil war.

1991:

6-10-2004: Sihanouk abdicates the throne

15-10-2012. Sihanouk dies in Beijing.

4-2-2013: Sihanouk is cremated.