Chronology of Cambodian History, 1955-1959

1955 Chronology Of Cambodia History

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Jan. 26, 1955

Leng Ngeth becomes Prime Minister (01/26/55-10/3/55).

Feb. 7-9, 1955

A national referendum approves King Sihanouk’s rule.

Feb. 28, 1955

In a brief visit to Phnom Penh, State Secy. Dulles asks that the US be given responsibility for training the Cambodian army in exchange for US military aid.

March 2, 1955

King Sihanouk abdicates in favor of his father, Prince Norodom Suramarit, in order to freely participate in the political arena.

March 24, 1955

Prince Sihanouk forms his own political movement Sangkum Reastr Niyum (Popular Socialist Community).

April 17-24, 1955

Afro-Asian Bandung Conference.

May 16, 1955

Cambodia and US sign an agreement concerning U.S. military assistance to Cambodia.

Sept. 11, 1955

Election is held.

Sept. 13, 1955

Prince Sihanouk reaffirms that he will not take public office, by agree to head a party committee comparable to a council of state.

Sept. 16, 1955

National Assembly elections in result in victory for Sangkum Reastr Niyum, which won all 91 seats with 83 percent of the votes.

Sept. 19, 1955

Prince Sihanouk says the new National Assembly will redraft the constitution to broaden its democratic base and to remove references to participation in the French Union.

Sept. 25, 1955

National Congress cuts Cambodia's last formal ties with France by dropping all references to the French Union from the Constitution.  Prince Sihanouk agrees to serve as PM for at least three months.

Oct. 3, 1955

Prince Sihanouk becomes Prime Minister (10/3/55-01/5/56).

Nov. 8, 1955

Cambodia accedes to the Convention on the World Meteorological Organization (998).

1956 Chronology Of Cambodia History

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Jan. 4, 1956

Oum Cheang Sun is elected by the Sangkum as premier, replacing Prince Sihanouk.

Jan. 16, 1956

Cambodia accedes to the Convention on International Civil Aviation (102).

Feb. 1956

Prince Sihanouk makes his first visit to the People’s Republic of China - Communist China.

March 1956

Prince Sihanouk begins program of "Khmer Socialism."

March 1, 1956

Prince Sihanouk becomes Prime Minister (03/1/56-03/24/56).

March 14, 1956

Cambodia accedes to the Convention on Road Traffic (1671).

March 30, 1956

PM Sihanouk resigns in protest against US press criticism of his neutralist foreign policy and his recent visit to the communist China.

April 2, 1956

King Suramarit names Dep. PM Khim Tit as Prime Minister of a new cabinet.

April 3, 1956

Khim Tit becomes Prime Minister (04/3/56-07/29/56).

April 21, 1956

Cambodian govt. accepts $26 million in economic aid from PRC.

April 24, 1956

Cambodia signs economic assistance pact with the PRC; South Vietnam and Thailand impose economic blockades of Cambodia in retaliation for signing the agreement; U.S. suspends aid to Cambodia.

May 9, 1956

Cambodia and UNICEF sign in Bangkok a protocol additional to the agreement of April 9, 1952.

May 18, 1956

Cambodia establishes diplomatic relations with the U.S.S.R. (Soviet Union).

Sept. 15, 1956

Prince Sihanouk becomes Prime Minister (09/15/56-10/15/56).

Oct. 5, 1956

Cambodia and UN revise Standard Agreement concerning technical assistance.

Oct. 21, 1956

An outbreak of bubonic plague causes 10 deaths in the village of Kabal Khnon.

Oct, 25, 1956

Sam Yun becomes Prime Minister (10/25/56-04/9/57).

Nov. 12, 1956

Cambodia accepts International Convention on Certain Rules Concerning Civil Jurisdiction in Matters of Collision and International Convention Relating to the Arrest of Seagoing Ships.

Nov. 27, 1956

PRC PM Chou Enlai and Cambodian PM Sun Yan sign a joint declaration in Phnom Penh reaffirming their countries' adherence to policies of non-aggression and mutual respect.

OTHER EVENTS HAPPENED IN 1956

- Sarlot Sar/Pol Pot married Khieu Ponnary, the first Cambodian woman to earn a baccalaureate.  Ponnary was eight years older than Saloth Sar. [Chandler, Brother #1 p17]

1957 Chronology Of Cambodia History

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Jan. 1957

Sangkum Reastr Niyum approves making neutrality the constitutional law, which would be enacted by the National Assembly in September.

Feb. 6, 1957

Cambodia ratifies and accepts the Statute of the International Atomic Energy Agency [3988].

March 27, 1957

US Special Senate foreign aid committee releases a report in which Chamber of Commerce Chmn. Clement Johnston charges that govt. of South Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Thailand are using US aid to build and equip armed forces to keep themselves in power.

April 7, 1957

Prince Sihanouk becomes Prime Minister, following the deposition by the National Assembly of Premier San Yun over a budget dispute.

May 18, 1957

Cambodia accedes to the Convention for a Uniform System of Tonnage Measurement of Ships [2814].

June 12, 1957

Cambodia places her accession to the Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of Slavery, the Slave Trade, and Institutions and Practices Similar to Slavery [3822].

June 21, 1957

PM Prince Sihanouk resigns to protest corruption in his administration.

July 26, 1957

Sim Var becomes Prime Minister (7/26/57-1/11/58).

July 30, 1957

Cambodia places with UN her accession to the Protocol for Extending the Period of Validity of the Convention on Declaration of Death of Missing Persons.

Sept. 9, 1957

Foreign Minister Sim Var, in Phnom Penh, declares Cambodia’s recognition as compulsory the jurisdiction of the International court of Justice.

Sept. 19, 1957

Ousted Thai PM Pibul Songgram arrives in Phnom Penh after his request for political asylum was granted by King Suramarit.

Oct. 17, 1957

Cambodia and the US sign an agreement for mutual assistance in cartography between the Khmer Geographic Service and the Army Map Service.

Nov. 20, 1957

Cambodian govt. resigns on grounds that its mandate has ended with the recent return to active work of former PM Prince Sihanouk.

1958 Chronology Of Cambodia History

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Jan. 8, 1958

King Suramarit dissolves the National Assembly at the request of PM Sim Var.

Jan. 11, 1958

Ek Yi Oun becomes Prime Minister (1/11/58-1/17/58).

Jan. 17, 1958

Penn Nouth becomes Prime Minister (1/17/58-4/24/58).

March 23, 1958

Elections for the National Assembly; the Sangkom Reash Niyum win all 61 seats.

April 24, 1958

Sim Var becomes Prime Minister (4/24/58-7/10/58).

June 1958

South Vietnamese forces incur into eastern Cambodia.

July 10, 1958

The National Assembly approves a new cabinet headed by Prince Sihanouk (Prime Minister 7/10/58-4/19/60)

June 25, 1958

King Suramarit charges that South Vietnamese troops have crossed the border and occupied villages four miles inside Cambodian territory.

July 1, 1958

Gen. Lon Nol reports that invading North Vietnamese troops have been withdrawn from frontier areas.

July 10, 1958

The National Assembly approves Prince Sihanouk as Prime Minister.

July 18, 1958

Peking radio announces that PM Chou Enlai has received a message from Prince Sihanouk that Cambodia recognized the PRC.

July 24, 1958

Cambodia recognizes communist China.

Sept. 25, 1958

The PRC establishes its embassy in Phnom Penh. On the same day, Prince Norodom Sihanouk makes his first visit to US since Cambodia gaining her independence from France.

Nov. 24, 1958

Cambodia temporarily suspends diplomatic relations with Thailand following charges that Cambodian border police kidnapped 30 Thais.

Nov. 28, 1958

Cambodia breaks off relations with Thailand. 

Dec. 8, 1958

Cambodia notifies the Swiss Federal Council of her accessions to: (1) Geneva Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded, Sick and Shipwrecked Members of Armed Forces at Sea and in Field; (2) Geneva Convention Relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War; (3) Geneva Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War.

1959 Chronology Of Cambodia History

There are many abbreviations on this page, click here.

Jan. 13, 1959

Prince Sihanouk, in a speech at Kompong Cham, reveals a plot “Bangkok Plot” to eliminate him, seize power and set up a pro-US regime: "The plan was drawn up by a march, head of the government of a neighboring kingdom, by the envoys of a neighboring state, and by Song Ngoc Thanh.  Like nocturnal birds of prey blinked by the hunter's touch, dark schemes hatched in secret will come to nothing once they are dragged out into the light." [2]

Jan. 28, 1959

PM Sihanouk agrees to renew diplomatic relations with Thailand following UN mediation efforts by Sweden's Baron Johann Beck Friis.

Feb. 20, 1959

Cambodia resumes relations with Thailand.

Feb. 21, 1959

Gen. Dap Chhuon, who leads a plot against Prince Sihanouk in which the CIA, Thailand and South Vietnam are involved, is captured and killed. [2][4]

March 2, 1959

Cambodia and Japan sign an agreement on Economic and Technical Cooperation in Phnom Penh.

March 26, 1959

Prince Sihanouk leads a group of diplomats, including the US, USSR, PRC, Britain and France, on a tour of Dap Chhuon villa. [2]

March 30, 1959

Cambodia places with UN her accessions to the Convention for the Suppression of the Circulation of, and Traffic in, Obscene Publication.

Aug. 31, 1959

Bomb assassination attempt against royal family.  A plastic bomb sent in a gift box to a royal family member explodes as Prince Vakrivan - Palace Chief of Protocol - opened it, killing him, King Suramarit's valet and wounding two others.  The King and Queen who were receiving PM Son Sann in the adjoining room were unhurt.  Prince Sihanouk blames Sam Sary and Son Ngoc Thanh, in Saigon at the time, for the blast.  The Prince also adds that the bomb was sent from an American military base in South Vietnam. [2][4]

Sept. 1959

L'Observateur, a left-wing French-language newspaper, begins its publication; Khieu Samphan is its editor. [3]

Sept. 22, 1959

Cambodia places with UN her accession of the Convention on the Taxation of Road Vehicles for Private Use in International Traffic. [4844]

Sept. 30, 1959

Cambodia files a complaint with the International Court of Justice concerning Thailand’s occupation of Preah Vihea.  Thailand claimed Preah Vihea and occupied the area surrounding the Temple since 1954.

Nov. 21, 1959

PM Sihanouk promises that Cambodia will retain its Swiss-style neutrality rather than join in a bloc of "neutralist" nations.

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