Lon Nol - Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia

Lon Nol

President of the Khmer Republic

In office

March 10, 1972 April 1, 1975

Prime Minister Sisowath Sirik Matak

Son Ngoc Thanh

Hang Thun Hak

In Tam

Long Boret

Preceded by Cheng Heng

Succeeded by Saukam Khoy (acting)

23rd Prime Minister of Cambodia

In office

August 14, 1969 March 11, 1971

President Norodom Sihanouk

Cheng Heng (acting)

Deputy Sisowath Sirik Matak

Preceded by Penn Nouth

Succeeded by Sisowath Sirik Matak

In office

October 25, 1966 May 1, 1967

Lon NolFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Marshal Lon Nol (Khmer: ; November 13, 1913 November 17, 1985) was a Cambodian politician and generalwho served as Prime Minister of Cambodia twice (196667;196971), as well as serving repeatedly as Defense Minister.He led a military coup against Prince Norodom Sihanouk in1970 and became the self-proclaimed President of the newlycreated Khmer Republic, ruling until 1975. He was thefounder and leader of the short-lived Social Republican Party,and commander-in-chief of the Khmer National ArmedForces.

Contents

1 Early life2 Employment in the colonial government3 In the administration of Sihanouk, 1955704 The 1970 Coup5 The Khmer Republic and the Civil War6 Exile7 Political views8 See also9 References10 Bibliography

Early life

Nol was born in Prey Veng Province on November 13, 1913,

to a family of mixed ChineseKhmer descent.[2] His fatherLon Hin, was the son of a Khmer Krom from Tay Ninh

Province[3] who later served as a district chief in Siem Reapand Kampong Thom, after making a name for himself

'pacifying' bandit groups in Prey Veng.[4] His maternal

grandfather was a Chinese immigrant from Fujian province[5]

who later became the governor of Prey Veng.[3] Nol waseducated in the relatively privileged surroundings of theLyce Chasseloup-Laubat in Saigon, followed by theCambodian Royal Military Academy.

Employment in the colonialgovernment

Lon Nol - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lon_Nol

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President Norodom Sihanouk

Preceded by Norodom Kantol

Succeeded by Son Sann

Leader of the Social Republican Party

In office

June 15, 1972 April 1, 1975

Preceded by Position established

Succeeded by Position abolished

Minister of Defense

In office

19681969

Prime Minister Son Sann

Penn Nouth

Personal details

Born November 13, 1913

Prey Veng, Cambodia

Died November 17, 1985 (aged 72)

Fullerton, California, U.S.

Resting place Loma Vista Memorial Park

Political party Social Republican Party

Other political

affiliations

Sangkum (until 1970)

Spouse(s) Sovanna Lon[1]

Children 9

Alma mater Cambodian Royal Military

Academy

Military service

Allegiance Cambodia

Khmer Republic

Service/branch Khmer National Army

Years of

service

19521975

Rank Field marshal

Commands Commander-in-Chief of the

Khmer National Armed Forces

Battles/wars First Indochina War

Nol found employment with the French colonial civil servicein 1937. He became a magistrate, and soon proved himself asan efficient enforcer of French rule against a series of

anti-colonial disturbances in 1939.[4] By 1946, he had risento the post of Governor of Kratie Province. He became anassociate of King Norodom Sihanouk, and by the late 1940s,when he set up a right-wing, monarchist, pro-independencepolitical group, was becoming increasingly involved in thedeveloping Cambodian political scene. Joining the army in1952, he carried out military operations against the VietMinh.

After independence, Nol's nationalist Khmer Renovationparty (along with small right-wing parties headed by SamSary and Dap Chhuon) became the core of the Sangkum, the

organisation set up by Sihanouk to fight the 1955 elections.[6]

In the administration of Sihanouk,195570

Nol was appointed the Army Chief of Staff in 1955, andcommander-in-chief of the armed forces in 1960, as well asserving as Defence Minister. At the time, he was a trustedsupporter of Sihanouk, his police being instrumental in thesuppression of the small, clandestine communist movementin Cambodia. He was appointed deputy Premier in 1963.While Sihanouk in an attempt to distance his country fromthe effects of the Second Indochina War was pursuing aforeign policy of "extreme neutrality", which involvedassociation with China and toleration of North Vietnameseactivity on the eastern borders, Nol remained friendlytowards the United States, and indicated that he regretted the

ending of US aid after 1963.[7]

The 1966 parliamentary elections represented a major shift inthe balance of power towards Lon Nol and the rightistelements of the Sangkum, as conservative and right-wing

candidates were overwhelmingly elected.[8] Lon Nol becamePrime Minister, and the following year his troops were usedby Sihanouk to carry out a savage repression of a leftist-inspired revolt, the Samlaut Uprising, in BattambangProvince.

Nol was injured in a car crash later in 1967, and temporarilyretired from politics. In 1968, however, he returned asMinister of Defence and in 1969 became Prime Minister asecond time, appointing the vocally anti-Sihanouk, andpro-US politician Prince Sisowath Sirik Matak as his deputy.


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Lon Nol with U.S. Vice President Spiro

Agnew in Phnom Penh, 1970.

The 1970 Coup

Sihanouk later claimed that the 1970 coup against him was theresult of an alliance between his longstanding enemy, exiledpolitician Son Ngoc Thanh and Sirik Matak, with CIA support and

planning.[9] Irrespective of any claims to the contrary, there is no

concrete evidence of CIA involvement in the 1970 coup.[10][11][12]

It seems likely that Lon Nol initially intended to strengthen hisposition against the North Vietnamese with the ultimate aim ofpreventing their troops (and those of the Viet Cong) from operatingwithin Cambodian borders, and wished to apply pressure on

Sihanouk to achieve this.[13] However, events rapidly developed farbeyond the original plan, and with the encouragement of SirikMatak who wished to see Sihanouk deposed as Head of State Lon Nol was ultimately to engineer Sihanouk's removal.

While Sihanouk was abroad during March 1970, there were anti-Vietnamese riots in Phnom Penh. On 12March, Lon Nol and Sirik Matak closed the port of Sihanoukville, through which weapons were beingsmuggled to the Viet Cong, to the North Vietnamese and issued an ultimatum: all PAVN (North Vietnamese)

and NLF (Viet Cong) forces were to withdraw from Cambodian soil within 72 hours or face military action.[14]

Lon Nol initially refused to countenance Sihanouk being deposed as Head of State; to force his hand, SirikMatak played him a tape-recorded press conference from Paris, in which Sihanouk blamed them for the unrest

and threatened to execute them both on his return to Phnom Penh.[15] However, the Prime Minister remaineduncertain as to whether to instigate a vote in the National Assembly. On the night of 17 March, Sirik Matak,accompanied by three army officers, went to the Prime Minister's residence and compelled a weeping Lon Nol

to sign the necessary documents at gunpoint.[16]

A vote was taken in the National Assembly on 18 March in which Sihanouk was stripped of his power. GeneralLon Nol assumed the powers of the Head of State on an emergency basis. On 28 and 29 March there werelarge-scale popular demonstrations in favour of Sihanouk in several provincial cities, but Lon Nol's forces

suppressed them, causing several hundred deaths.[17] The Khmer Republic was formally declared that October,and Sihanouk who had formed a government-in-exile, the GRUNK, incorporating the Khmer Rougecommunists was condemned to death in absentia. In the meantime duirng the Cambodian Campaign of April1970,US and South Vietnamese forces entered Cambodian territory in pursuit of North Vietnamese and VietCong troops.

The Khmer Republic and the Civil War

The Khmer Republic (19701975) was founded in order to do away with Cambodia's widespread corruptionand to restore Cambodia's sovereignty in its eastern regions, occupied by Vietnamese communist insurgents as aresult of Sihanouk's "neutrality" policies. Despite its high aims, the republic proved disastrous both militarilyand politically. Lon Nol's health started to decline after he suffered a stroke in February 1971. His rule becameincreasingly erratic and authoritarian: he appointed himself Marshal (a title previously unknown in Cambodia)in April 1971, and in October suspended the National Assembly, stating he would "no longer play the game ofdemocracy". Backed by his forceful, ambitious younger brother General Lon Non, Nol succeeded in reducingthe influence of Sirik Matak, In Tam and the other coup leaders. He also insisted on directing many of theKhmer National Armed Forces (French: Forces Armes Nationales Khmres FANK) operations personally.


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Flag of the Khmer Republic.

Lon Nol's full presidential title in Khmer was Lok Brathaneathibtei LonNol (President Lon Nol).

In time Lon Nol's regime became completely dependent upon largequantities of American aid that towards the end were not backed by thepolitical and military resolve needed to effectively help the beleaguered

republic.[18] By 1975, the government was eventually reduced to holdinglittle more than Phnom Penh and the Preah Vihear Temple in thenorthern border with Thailand. The FANK was quickly running out ofammunition. Lon Nol was increasingly dependent on the advice ofsoothsayers and Buddhist mystics: at one point during a Khmer Rougeassault on Phnom Penh, he sprinkled a circular line of consecrated sand in order to defend the city. Finally, on 1April, he resigned and fled the country into exile, as his name was the first on a list of people the Khmer Rougehad vowed to execute.

Exile

The first priority of the Khmer Rouge after conquering Cambodia and overthrowing the Khmer Republic was to

execute all its leaders and high officials without delay,[18] a fate that Lon Nol escaped.

Lon Nol fled from Cambodia to Indonesia and then to the United States; first settling in Hawaii and in 1979 inFullerton, California. He lived with his second wife Sovanna Lon and several of his nine children until his death

from a heart problem on November 17, 1985 at St. Jude Medical Center.[19]

Political views

Despite his actions in deposing Sihanouk, Nol was a firm believer in traditional Cambodian hierarchy: after

Sihanouk had been removed he prostrated himself at the Queen Mother's feet in order to ask forgiveness.[20] Hetermed his ideology, a blend of chauvinist nationalism and mysticism, as 'Neo-Khmerism': he expressed anambition of reuniting the ethnic Khmers of Cambodia with the Khmer Krom of the Mekong Delta and the

Khmer Surin of Thailand, projecting a state of "thirty million" Khmers by the year 2020.[21] Asking hisfollowers to embrace the traditions of what he referred to as Mon-Khmer 'holy warriors' (yuthesel), he alsoencouraged them to refer to him as their "Black Papa", a name referring to the dark skin considered to be the

sign of an 'authentic' Khmer.[22]

See also

Lon NilLon Non

References

"Lon Nol's Wife and Son Fined in Child-Abuse Case"(http://www.nytimes.com/1981/04/04/us/around-the-nation-lon-nol-s-wife-and-son-fined-in-child-abuse-case.html). The New York Times. April 4,1981. Retrieved May 29, 2014.

1. Marks, Paul (2000), p. 92-1082. Corfield (1994), p. 13. Kiernan 2004, p. 244.


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Summary of world broadcasts: Far East, Part 3, 24July 1984, p. FE/7703/C/12 He was given asumptuous welcome and was even offered theopportunity to visit the grave of his grandfather inFujian Province. It is worth noting that on thisoccasion, the Chinese leaders voiced support for LonNol's.....

5.

Kiernan 2004, p. 1586. Shawcross 1979, p. 617. Kiernan 2004, p. 2328. Norodom Sihanouk, My War with the CIA, Pantheon,1972, p.37

9.

Wilfred P. Deac, "Road to the Killing Fields: TheCambodian War of 1970-1975" (Texas A&MUniversity Press, 1997) pp. 612;

10.

Robert Dallek, "Nixon and Kissinger: Partners inPower," (Harper Collins, 2007), p. 191;

11.

Steve Heder "Cambodian Communism and theVietnamse Model, Volume I: Imitation andIndependence, 1930-1975," (White Lotus Press,2004), p. 156.]

12.

Shawcross 1979, pp. 11811913.

Sutsakhan, Lt. Gen. S. The Khmer Republic at Warand the Final Collapse Washington DC:(http://www.vietnam.ttu.edu/star/images/239/2390505001A.pdf) United States Army Centerof Military History, 1987, Part 1, p. 42. See also Part1 (http://www.vietnam.ttu.edu/star/images/239/2390505001A.pdf)Part 2(http://www.vietnam.ttu.edu/star/images/239/2390505001B.pdf)Part 3(http://www.vietnam.ttu.edu/star/images/239/2390505001C.pdf).

14.

Marlay, R. and Neher, C. Patriots and tyrants,Rowman & Littlefield, 1999, p.165

15.

Chandler, D. A History of Cambodia, 2000, p.20416. Kiernan 2004, p. 30217. David P. Chandler, A history of Cambodia, WestviewPress; Allen & Unwin, Boulder, Sydney, 1992

18.

McMillan, Penelope (November 18, 1985)."Ex-Cambodian President Dies in Fullerton"(http://articles.latimes.com/1985-11-18/news/mn-7294_1_lon-nol-cambodians). Los Angeles Times.Retrieved May 30, 2014.

19.

Shawcross 1979, p. 12820. Kiernan 2004, p. 34821. Becker, E. When the War Was Over, 1986, p.13422.

Bibliography

Corfield, Justin J. (1994). Khmers stand up! A history of the Cambodian government 1970-1975. Centreof Southeast Asian Studies, Monash University. ISBN 0732605652.Kiernan, B. (2004). How Pol Pot came to Power. Yale University Press.Marks, Paul (2000). "China's Cambodia Strategy" (http://www.carlisle.army.mil/usawc/parameters/00autumn/marks.htm). Parameters (Autumn 2000): 92108. ISSN 0031-1723 (https://www.worldcat.org/issn/0031-1723). Retrieved 2010-04-24.Shawcross, W. (1979). Sideshow: Kissinger, Nixon, and the Destruction of Cambodia. Simon & Schuster.

Political offices

Preceded byPrince Norodom Kantol

Prime Minister of Cambodia19661967

Succeeded bySon Sann

Preceded byPenn Nouth

Prime Minister of Cambodia19691972

Succeeded bySisowath Sirik Matak

Preceded byCheng Heng(Head of State)

President of Cambodia19721975

Succeeded bySaukam Khoy

(Head of State)

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Lon_Nol&oldid=673930688"

Categories: 1913 births 1985 deaths Cambodian anti-communists


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Cambodian emigrants to the United States Cambodian Buddhists Cold War leaders Field marshals

Leaders who took power by coup Lon family People of the Vietnam War Prime Ministers of Cambodia

Heads of state of Cambodia Cambodian republicans

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Lon Nol - Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia