Cambodian irredentism

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Map of Greater Cambodia, showing usual irredentist claims with their name in light red and actual Cambodian territory in dark red Cambodia Irrendentism.jpg
Map of Greater Cambodia, showing usual irredentist claims with their name in light red and actual Cambodian territory in dark red

Cambodian irredentism is a nationalist movement in Cambodia that refers to the land that used to be part of the Khmer Empire. The movement is aimed against Thai, Vietnamese, and Laotian control over the territories. Both official and unofficial Cambodian claims on territories viewed as having been under some form of Cambodian sovereignty are rhetorically tied back to an accused expansionism.

Contents

History

Up until the establishment of the Thai and Laotian states, the Khmer Empire was the major land power and a dominant force in mainland Southeast Asia. The territory of Cambodia encompassed most of what would be now Thailand, Laos, part of Myanmar and Southern Vietnam; in an extent, it encroached to even mainland Malaysia. [1] However, subsequent problems and turmoils, as well as the rapid advance by the Vietnamese, Laotians and Thais brought Cambodia's empire into a declining state. Among all, the Thais and the Vietnamese were seen to have done the most harm to Cambodia, causing significant physical traumas for the people of the nation. [2] In order to survive, Cambodia came under a French protectorate, only to find itself being grouped within Vietnamese-dominated French Indochina, and with the French favoring Vietnamese instead of Cambodians. At the outbreak of the First Indochina War Khmer irredentism began to rise. [3] Nonetheless, it was not officially espoused until 1970 when Lon Nol overthrew the monarchy and replaced it with a Republic, where it became increasingly nationalistic and chauvinist, leading to the persecution and massacres of ethnic Vietnamese and Chams. [3] The Khmer Rouge later inherited these nationalistic sentiments which were part of the driving force for the persecution and massacres of Vietnamese in Cambodia as a part of the Cambodian Genocide, and which was one the motivations for Khmer Rouge incursions in Vietnam and occupations of Vietnamese territories which resulted in several massacres of Vietnamese civilians, the most notorious of which was the Ba Chúc massacre. [4]

Modern irredentism


Mekong Delta

The Cambodians hold a significant amount of hostility to Vietnam with regard to their loss of the Mekong Delta to the Vietnamese in history, and the subsequent enforced Vietnamization and conflicts which Vietnam repeatedly occupied the country, French favoritism to the Vietnamese, and the lack of cultural commonalities with Vietnam being part of the Sinosphere while Cambodia belongs to the Indosphere. This often drew Cambodian nationalist sentiments with the desire to reclaim territory from Vietnam. [5] [6] Both Lon Nol and Pol Pot utilized this grievance in order to spread Cambodian irredentism. [3]

Currently, Cambodian irredentists still feel strongly attached to the region, and as a result, they believe it is a lost territory which should be returned to Cambodia. The expression of this sentiment has frequently ignited various protests, notably the 2013–2014 Cambodian protests, and Vietnam is frequently blamed for all of the turmoil and problems which occur within Cambodia, partly because Hun Sen is closely affiliated with Vietnam. [7] This sentiment has sometimes driven Cambodia to forge close ties with China, a country which Vietnam has a strong feeling of enmity towards due to the fact that it was ruled by China for over one thousand years. [8]

In addition to the Mekong Delta, Cambodian nationalists seek to reclaim Phú Quốc, which Cambodians frequently call "Koh Trol", based on their belief that it was part of Cambodian territory before it was annexed by Vietnam, and it often attracts a number of Cambodian celebrities. [9] [10]

Thailand

While tensions with Thailand are now receiving lesser attention, many Cambodians nonetheless have a long-standing hostility in regard to Thailand, due to the fact that most of Thailand used to be under Khmer control until the rise of the Sukhothai Kingdom, and subsequent conflicts which started the demise of Cambodia as a regional power and repeated Thai occupations of Cambodia. [11] [12] Therefore, a strong anti-Thai sentiment developed in Cambodia fueled by a persistent historical misconception among educated Thais and the ruling class that distinguishes a so-called Khom ethnic group and Khmer as separate peoples—a distinct Thai narrative known only to Thais—perpetuated to mask the significant historical influence of the Khmer on Thai culture, thereby resulting in a form of historical negationism. [13] [14] [15]

Cambodia and Thailand also engaged in border disputes from 2008 to 2011 with regard to Preah Vihear Temple. Eventually, Cambodia acquired the temple following the dispute. [16] There is also irredentism against Thailand with regard to Northern Khmer people, where Cambodians still see them part of Cambodian nation, and that lower part of northeastern Thailand should have been Cambodian. [17] [18]

Laos

Cambodian irredentism in Laos mainly focuses on the provinces of Champasak and Attapeu in Southern Laos. [19] The unclear border delimitation between the two countries led to some sporadic tensions from 2017 to 2019. [20] In 2019, Cambodia and Laos removed troops from the disputes area surrounding Stung Treng. [21]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stung Treng province</span> Province of Cambodia

Stung Treng is a province of Cambodia in the northeast. It borders the provinces of Ratanakiri to the east, Mondulkiri and Kratié to the south and Kampong Thom and Preah Vihear to the west. Its northern boundary is Cambodia's international border with Laos. The Mekong River bisects the province. The province is mostly covered by forest, but logging and fishing put high pressure on the forest and fishery reserves.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cambodia</span> Country in Southeast Asia

Cambodia, officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country in Mainland Southeast Asia. It borders Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the north, Vietnam to the east, and has a coastline along the Gulf of Thailand on the southwest. It spans an area of 181,035 square kilometres, and has a population of about 17 million. Its capital and most populous city is Phnom Penh.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Third Indochina War</span> Wars in Indochina following the American withdrawal from Vietnam

The Third Indochina War was a series of interconnected armed conflicts, mainly among the various communist factions over strategic influence in Indochina after Communist victory in South Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia in 1975. The conflict primarily started due to continued raids and incursions by the Khmer Rouge into Vietnamese territory that they sought to retake. These incursions would result in the Cambodian–Vietnamese War in which the newly unified Vietnam overthrew the Pol Pot regime and the Khmer Rouge, in turn ending the Cambodian genocide. Vietnam had installed a government led by many opponents of Pol Pot, most notably Hun Sen, a former Khmer Rouge commander. This led to Vietnam's occupation of Cambodia for over a decade. The Vietnamese push to completely destroy the Khmer Rouge led to them conducting border raids in Thailand against those who had provided sanctuary.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Military history of Vietnam</span>

Army and warfare made their first appearance in Vietnamese history during the 3rd millennium BC. Throughout thousands of years, wars played a great role in shaping the identity and culture of people inhabited the land which is modern day Vietnam. Vietnam is considered one of the most peace-loving countries in Southeast Asia, and there is even greater belief that Vietnam can be the most peace-loving country in Southeast Asia and one of the most peaceful countries in most peaceful country in Asia and the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Preah Vihear Temple</span> Ancient Khmer temple in Cambodia

Preah Vihear Temple is an ancient Hindu temple built by the Khmer Empire, located on top of a 525-metre (1,722 ft) cliff in the Dângrêk Mountains, in the Preah Vihear province of Cambodia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ethnic groups in Cambodia</span>

The largest of the ethnic groups in Cambodia are the Khmer, who comprise 95.8% of the total population and primarily inhabit the lowland Mekong subregion and the central plains. The Khmer historically have lived near the lower Mekong River in a contiguous arc that runs from the southern Khorat Plateau where modern-day Thailand, Laos and Cambodia meet in the northeast, stretching southwest through the lands surrounding Tonle Sap lake to the Cardamom Mountains, then continues back southeast to the mouth of the Mekong River in southeastern Vietnam.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cambodia–Vietnam relations</span> Bilateral relations

Cambodia–Vietnam relations take place in the form of bilateral relations between the Kingdom of Cambodia and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. The countries have shared a land border for the last 1,000 years and share more recent historical links through being part of the French colonial empire. Both countries are members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cambodian–Thai border dispute</span> 2008–2011 international dispute

The Cambodian–Thai border dispute began in June 2008 as part of a century-long dispute between the Kingdom of Cambodia and the Kingdom of Thailand involving the area surrounding the 11th-century Preah Vihear Temple, in the Dângrêk Mountains between Choam Khsant District, Preah Vihear Province of northern Cambodia and the Kantharalak District, Sisaket Province of northeastern Thailand.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cambodia–Thailand relations</span> Bilateral relations

Bilateral relations between Cambodia and Thailand date to the 13th century during the Angkor Era. The Thai Ayutthaya Kingdom gradually displaced the declining Khmer Empire from the 14th century, French protectorateship separated Cambodia from modern Thailand at the turn of the 19th–20th centuries, and diplomatic relations between the modern states were established on 19 December 1950.

The following lists events that happened during 2011 in Cambodia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Khmer nationalism</span> Form of nationalism found in Cambodia

Khmer nationalism is a form of nationalism found in Cambodia, that asserts that Khmers (Cambodians) are a nation and promotes the cultural unity of the Khmer (Cambodian) race.

Anti-Vietnamese sentiment involves hostility or hatred that is directed towards Vietnamese people, or the state of Vietnam. This may be due to negative perceptions created by historical wars or xenophobic sentiments that emerged from the event of refugee Vietnamese. National or regional discrimination can also occur.

The United Front for the Liberation of Oppressed Races waged a nearly three decade long insurgency against the governments of North and South Vietnam, and later the unified Socialist Republic of Vietnam. The FULRO insurgents represented the interests of indigenous Muslim and Hindu Cham, Montagnards, and Buddhist Khmer Krom against the ethnic Kinh Vietnamese. They were supported and equipped by China and Cambodia according to those countries' interests in the Indochina Wars.

Anti-Khmer sentiment is a sentiment against Cambodia, the Khmers, overseas Khmer, or Khmer culture. As the Khmers are dominant in Cambodia, it can be attributed to anti-Cambodian sentiment and hatreds against Cambodians.

Vietnamese irredentism, also known as Ideology of Greater Vietnam, sometimes may be referred to as Baiyue Nationalism is an irredentist and nationalist claim concerning redemption of former territories of Vietnam and territories outside Vietnam that the Vietnamese have inhabited for centuries. Notable claims are usually made concerning territories of Laos, Cambodia, and Liangguang of China.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cambodia–Thailand border</span> International border

The Cambodia–Thailand border is the international border between Cambodia and Thailand. The border is 817 km (508 mi) in length and runs from the tripoint with Laos in the north-east to the Gulf of Thailand in the south.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cambodia–Laos border</span> International border

The Cambodia–Laos border is the international border between Cambodia and Laos. The border is 555 km in length and runs from the tripoint with Thailand in the west to tripoint with Vietnam in the east.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cambodia–Vietnam border</span> International border

The Cambodia–Vietnam border is the international border between the territory of Cambodia and Vietnam. The border is 1,158 km in length and runs from the tripoint with Laos in the north to Gulf of Thailand in the south.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Pailin</span> Last battle of the Khmer Rouge

The battle of Pailin also known as the Siege of Pailin is an armed conflict which extended from 1989 to 1997 as the last military act of the Cambodian Civil War which took place in the Northwest of Cambodia in the last military stronghold of the Khmer Rouge.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dangrek genocide</span>

The Dangrek genocide, also known as the Preah Vihear pushback, is a border incident which took place along the Dangrek Mountain Range on the Thai-Cambodian border which resulted in the death of many mostly Sino-Khmer refugees who were refused asylum by the Kingdom of Thailand in June 1979.

References

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