Khmer Issarak
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Khmer Issarak
ខ្មែរឥស្សរៈ |
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| Founded | 1945 |
| Ideology |
Khmer nationalism Anti-colonialism |
The Khmer Issarak (Free Khmer, or Independent Khmer) (Khmer: ខ្មែរឥស្សរៈ) was a "loosely structured" anti-French and anti-colonial independent movement. Besides, the movement was labelled as “amorphous”. The Issarak was formed around 1945 and composed of several factions each with its own leader. Most of the Issarak bands fought actively between 1945, at the end of the Second World War to 1953, Cambodia’s independence. Initial objectives of the Khmer Issarak was to fight against the French in order to gain independence. Later, overthrowing the Cambodian government became some Issarak bands' agenda. Moreover, the term Issarak originally referred to non-communist, but in the early 1950s the Việt Minh guided-guerrillas called themselves Issaraks for the sake of unifying other non-communist forces.
Poc Khun, a highborn Khmer founded a movement in Bangkok in 1944, and called it Khmer Issarak. It is the first time that the term "Khmer Issarak" was used. Some of the early founded Issaraks were backed by the Thai authoritative government. From the end of the Second World War to 1948, the Thai government had a policy to support a large number of guerrilla forces, which operated along the Thai frontier and in the two Thai ruled provinces, Battambang and Siem Reap. Among those groups which were aided by Thailand, some of the members later established right-wing and left-wing bands, including Son Ngoc Minh, Sieu Heng and Tou Samouth. These guerrillas formed a government in exile in Bangkok in 1945. After 1948, several of the Thai sponsored Issaraks dissolved or cooperated with the Phnom Penh government, which led by Prince Sihanouk.
Soon afterwards, the Vietnamese guided-Issaraks formed the Khmer Issarak Association, continuing armed struggles against the Khmer authorities. In the 1950s, the Viet Minh controlled-Issarak groups eventually transformed into communist organizations, for instance, the Khmer People’s Revolution Party (KPRP). Several significant figures in the Democratic Kampuchea who participated in the Cambodian Civil War, were closely related to the Viet Minh influenced-Issaraks.
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