ABSTRACT
The religious ideology of Angkor, which until the twelfth century was strongly Hindu, later became a subtle amalgam of Hinduism and Buddhism. This supplied the philosophical underpinning for a state system based on divine-kingship. The state was rich and expansionistic, and expended much of its considerable wealth on creating temple and palace structures which once housed thousands of officials and servants. Although now largely in ruins, they still excite the attention of historians and archaeologists. The Indochina Communist Party (ICP) had been founded in Hong Kong in 1930, coincidentally the same year that the Buddhist Institute was established in Cambodia's capital, Phnom Penh. This ostensibly religious organization was, like the ICP, to become a main centre of anti-colonial activity. The combined presence of the South Vietnamese and US forces in Cambodia destroyed any semblance of Cambodian neutrality. The South Vietnamese, in particular, antagonized the people by a 'frenzy of rapingand looting' in the villages.
