1970 Cambodian coup d'état in the context of "Khmer Rouge"

Cambodia, officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country in Mainland Southeast Asia. It is bordered by Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the north, and Vietnam to the east, and has a coastline along the Gulf of Thailand in the southwest. It spans an area of 181,035 square kilometres (69,898 square miles), dominated by a low-lying plain and the confluence of the Mekong river and Tonlé Sap, Southeast Asia's largest lake. It is dominated by a tropical climate. Cambodia has a population of about 17 million people, the majority of which are ethnically Khmer. Its capital and most populous city is Phnom Penh, followed by Siem Reap and Battambang.

In 802 AD, Jayavarman II declared himself king, uniting the warring Khmer princes of Chenla under the name "Kambuja". This marked the beginning of the Khmer Empire. The Indianised kingdom facilitated the spread of first Hinduism and then Buddhism to Southeast Asia and undertook religious infrastructural projects throughout the region, the most famous of which is Angkor Wat. In the 15th century, it began a decline in power until, in 1863, Cambodia became a French protectorate. Following Japanese occupation during World War II, Cambodia declared independence from France in 1953. The Vietnam War embroiled the country in civil war during the 1960s, culminating in a 1970 coup which installed the US-aligned Khmer Republic and the takeover of the communist Khmer Rouge in 1975. The Khmer Rouge ruled the country and carried out the Cambodian genocide from 1975 until 1979, until they were ousted during the Cambodian–Vietnamese War. Peace was restored by the 1991 Paris Peace Accords and subsequent United Nations peacekeeping mission, establishing a new constitution, holding the 1993 general election, and ending long-term insurgencies. The 1997 coup d'état consolidated power under Prime Minister Hun Sen and the Cambodian People's Party (CPP).

The French protectorate of Cambodia (Khmer: ប្រទេសកម្ពុជាក្រោមអាណាព្យាបាលបារាំង; French: Protectorat français du Cambodge) refers to the Kingdom of Cambodia when it was a French protectorate within French Indochina, a collection of Southeast Asian protectorates within the French colonial empire. The protectorate was established in 1863 when the Cambodian King Norodom requested the establishment of a French protectorate over his country, meanwhile Siam (modern Thailand) renounced suzerainty over Cambodia and officially recognised the French protectorate on Cambodia.

Cambodia was integrated into the French Indochina union in 1887 along with the French colonies and protectorates in Laos and Vietnam (Cochinchina, Annam, and Tonkin). In 1947, Cambodia was granted self-rule within the French Union and had its protectorate status removed in 1949. Cambodia later gained independence. The day was celebrated as Independence Day on 9 November 1953 led by King Sihanouk and continued to rule as the leader of the nation until he was overthrown in 1970 by the US-led Khmer Republic of Lon Nol in a coup d'état before the rise of Angkar and the Khmer Rouge coming to power on 17 April 1975, following the Fall of Phnom Penh and the end of the Cambodian Civil War.

The Kingdom of Cambodia, also known as the First Kingdom of Cambodia, and commonly referred to as the Sangkum period, refers to Norodom Sihanouk's first administration of Cambodia, lasting from the country's independence from France in 1953 to a military coup d'état in 1970. Sihanouk continues to be one of the most controversial figures in Southeast Asia's turbulent and often tragic postwar history. From 1955 until 1970, Sihanouk's Sangkum was the sole legal party in Cambodia. After the 1970 coup, the semi-official name of Cambodia was State of Cambodia, it became a transitional government under a military dictatorship of Prime Minister Lon Nol against the Khmer Rouge and North Vietnamese.

Following the end of World War II, France restored its colonial control over Indochina but faced local resistance against their rule, particularly from Communist guerilla forces. On 9 November 1953, Cambodia achieved independence from France under Norodom Sihanouk but still faced resistance from Communist groups such as United Issarak Front. As the Vietnam War escalated, Cambodia sought to retain its neutrality but in 1965, North Vietnamese soldiers were allowed to set up bases and in 1969, the United States began a bombing campaign against North Vietnamese soldiers in Cambodia. The Cambodian monarchy was abolished in a coup on October 9, 1970 headed by Prime Minister Lon Nol, who established the Khmer Republic which lasted until the Fall of Phnom Penh to the Khmer Rouge led by Angkar ("Organization") when it came to power on 17 April 1975.

The Khmer Republic (Khmer: សាធារណរដ្ឋខ្មែរ, Sathearonaroat Khmae; French: République khmère) was a Cambodian state under the United States-backed military dictatorship of Marshal Lon Nol from 1970 to 1975. Its establishment was formally declared on 9 October 1970, following the 18 March 1970 coup d'état which saw the overthrow of Norodom Sihanouk's government and the abolition of the Cambodian monarchy.

The main cause of the coup was Norodom Sihanouk's tolerance of North Vietnamese military activity within Cambodia's borders; Vietnamese communist forces had gained de facto control over vast areas of eastern Cambodia as a result. Another important factor was the dire state of the Cambodian economy, an indirect result of Sihanouk's policies of pursuing neutrality.

New Khmer Architecture (Khmer: ស្ថាបត្យកម្មខ្មែរថ្មី) was an architectural movement in Cambodia during the 1950s and 1960s. The style blended elements of the Modern movement with two distinctly Cambodian traditions: the great Khmer tradition of Angkor and the vernacular architecture tradition of domestic buildings. The term was coined by authors Helen Grant Ross and Darryl Leon Collins.

The Kingdom of Cambodia gained independence from France in 1953. Winning the elections in 1955, Prince Norodom Sihanouk founded the Sangkum Reastr Niyum, a political experiment in economic development that specifically developed this art and architectural style. It reached its apotheosis in the 1960s and ended abruptly in 1970 with the overthrow of Norodom Sihanouk by General Lon Nol.