ABSTRACT
Cambodia (Kampuchea) is the remnant of the old Khmer kingdom which once included the Mekong delta. It was a French protectorate from 1863 until 1953. Unlike Laos, it has no border mountains separating it from Vietnam; some Vietnamese settled in Cambodia, although there was an old antagonism between the two neighbours. During the 1960s Cambodia tried to keep out of the Vietnamese conflict, turning a blind eye to the way North Vietnamese troops were sent along the ‘Ho Chi Minh trail’ through Laos and eastern Cambodia to fight in South Vietnam (60); but in 1970 Cambodia itself became a battlefield. Its communist guerrillas, called the ‘Khmers Rouges’ (Red Khmers), got the upper hand when American support for the government was withdrawn. In 1975 they captured Phnom Penh, the capital, and took over the country.
