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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 07 April 2011
The question of exactly why Prince Norodom Sihanouk was placed on the Cambodian throne in 1941 has long been a matter of interest to observers of Khmer affairs. A range of explanations has been offered, with varying emphases and some contradictions. Following Prince Sihanouk's deposition in March 1970 the question has, once again, been discussed in some detail with the Prince, himself, providing new commentary on the events of 1941.1 Archives recently opened in France which include documents relating to 1941 have much to add to the story of Sihanouk's accession. If they do not answer all the questions that an historian might pose, they certainly provide a much more detailed account than has previously been available. What is more, the newly released archival records carry the history of succession difficulties in Cambodia back through the generation that preceded Sihanouk's own accession giving a fascinating insight into the interaction between the French and the Cambodian royal family. The history that emerges involves intrigue, sustained and unsustained allegations, and revelations of human frailty. Despite the dangers of ethnic stereotypes, the events to be recounted in this article seem very Cambodian and very French.
1 Sihanouk, Norodom, L'Indochine vue de Pekin: Entretiens avec Jean Lacouture, Paris, 1972, 31–3Google Scholar. See also Meyer, C., Derriere le souriri? khmer, Paris, 1971, 107–10Google Scholar.
2 For a brief summary of the period from 1779 to 1860 in Cambodia see Osborne, M., The French Presence in Cochinchina and Cambodia: Rule and Response (1859-1905), Ithaca, N. 1969, 9–12Google Scholar. A more recent and detailed account of the period may be found in Chandler, D., “Cambodia's relations with Siam in the early Bangkok period: The Politics of a Tributary State,” Journal of the Siam Society, 60, 1 (01 1971), 153–69Google Scholar.
3 The ideal rules are summarised in , Osborne, The French Presence, 7Google Scholar. For more extended discussion see Moura, J., Le Royaume du Cambodge, 2 vols., Paris, 1883, 1, 235–36Google Scholar; Leclere, A, Recherches sur le droit public des Cambodgiens, Paris, 1884, 9et seq.Google Scholar; Imbert, J., Histoire institutionskhmeres, Tome II ofthe Annales of the Faculte de Droit de Phnom Penh, Phnom Pehn, 1961, 60–3Google Scholar. In , Leclere's view, Recherches, 22Google Scholar, adherence to the ideal theory in the actual designa tion of a king was less common than violation of it, a view that I share. For a contrary opinion, see , Imbert, Histoire, 61–2Google Scholar, and Thiounn, Thioum, “Le Pouvoir monarchique au Cambodge,” Universite de Paris, Faculte de Droit, 1952, 162Google Scholar. It is of interest to note that Prince Sihanouk has, on occasion, argued that the concept of an elective monarchy was introduced to Cambodia by the French. Cambodian Commentary (Phnom Penh), Special issue, 04-05 1960, No. 8Google Scholar, reporting a speech by Sihanouk of 7 April 1960. For commentary on successiont o the Cambodian throne during Angkorian times see Sahai, Sachidanand, Les Institutions politiques et I organisation adminstrative de Cambodge ancien, Publication de l'Ecole Francaise d'Extreme-Orient, No. LXXV, Paris, 1970, 15–6Google Scholar.
4 Norodom was designated King of Cambodia by a council that. assembled in Oudong, just to the north of Phnom Penh, in 1860. His right to the succession had, however, been firmly established as the result of a decree of the King of Thailand, Mongkut, some years earlier. See Chandin, (Kanjanavanit) Flood, trans., The Dynastic Chronicles, Bangkok Era, The Fourth Reign, 4 vols., Tokyo, 1965-1970, 1, 192Google Scholar. See also, Osborne, M. and Wyatt, D. K., “The Abridge Cambodian Chronicle: A Thai Version of Cambodian History,” France-Asiel Asia, XII (2), 193 (2e trimestre 1968), 202Google Scholar. For the family relationships of the principal Cambodian figures mentioned in this article, see the genealogical charts at the rear.
5 , Osborne, The French Presence, Chapters 9, 10 and 11Google Scholar. Although Cambodia was described as a French “Protectorate, ” the extent and nature of French control makes the use of the term “colonial”, as in this paragraph, perfectly appropriate. It was a term the French themselves used increasingly during the twentieth century.
6 I discussed this issue in an earlier article that did not have the benefit of being informed by the newly released French archives. See, “Beyond Charisma: Princely Politics and the Problem of Political Succession in Cambodia,” International Journal, XXIV, 1 (Winter 1968-1969), 109–21Google Scholar.
7 , Meyer, Derriere le sourire khmer, 108Google Scholar. M. Meyer was a member of Prince Sihanouk's staff for many years and possesses a wide knowledge of much of the less public history of the Cambodian royal family. He does not, however, provide any documentation for this assertion. There is, nonetheless, a further curious assertion by Resident Superieur Baudoin, dating from 1926, to the effect that Norodom swore a solemn oath to his father, King Ang Duong, that Sisowath should succeed him. See Archives de France, Section Outre-Mer (AOM), Indochine NF 579. Resident Superieur Baudoin to the Governor General of Indochina, Phnom Penh, 2 October 1926, No. 460, Secret. Information given me in February 1966 by the late Professor George Coedes suggests that as late as 1899 Norodom hoped that his son Yukanthor would succeed him to the throne.
8 Extensive research in the French and Cambodian archives has failed to reveal any evidence of a French promise of this sort.
9 , Moura, Le Royawne, II, 111Google Scholar;Collard, P., Cambodge et Cambodgiens: Metamorphose Royaume khmer par une methode francaise-de protectorat, Paris, 1925, 219Google Scholar, places the date Sisowath's birth in the period August-September 1840.
10 This information concerning Sisowath's hopes for Essaravong comes from a private interview with a senior member of the Sisowath branch of the Cambodian royal family in Phnom Penh, February 1970. According to this informant the French were agreeable to Sisowath's request. While I accept that Sisowath tried to advance Essaravong's claims, I have not, however, found any documentary evidence to support the view that any formal French response was made t o Sisowath's request.
11 AOM Indochine NF 579. Governor General Klobukowski to the Minister ofthe Colonies, Saigon, 17 March 1909, No. 170, Confidential. This despatch encloses Sisowath's letter to Klobukowski, dated 25 February 1909; a letter from Resident Superieur Luce to Governor General Klobukowski, Phnom Penh, 12 March 1909, No. 30, Very Confidential, commenting on Sisowath's letter and advising that no decision be made on succession; and Klobukowski to King Sisowath, Saigon, 15 March 1909, Confidential, suggesting that the French will back Prince Monivong if he continues to show good qualities.
12 Le Figaro (Paris), 1 11 1908.Google Scholar
13 AOM Indochine NF 579. Governor General Sairaut t o the Minister of the Colonies, Hanoi, 3 September 1913, No. 2, 145, Secret.
14 AOM Indochine NF 579. Resident Superieur Baudoin to the Governor General of Indochina, Phnom Penh, 25 September 1915, No. 148, Secret. This despatch states that, for a period in 1912, Sisowath was prepared to accept the possibility that Monivong might not succeed him.
15 , Osborne, The French Presence, Chapter 10, for an account of the revolt.Google Scholar
16 Ibid, 243-46, for an account of the Yukanthor affair.
17 AOM Indochine NF 570. Governor General Roume to the Minister of the Colonies, Hanoi, 31 March 1916, No. 285, gives a particularly clear instance of French concern about Yukanthor's activities in Bangkok. See also F. Baudoin, Situation generate du Protectorate du Cambodge de Novembre 1914 a Janvier 1920, Phnom Penh, 1920, 12.
18 On the suspicions directed against Mayura see AOM Indochine EO NF 22, Governor General p.i. Charles to the Minister of the Colonies, Hanoi, 27 December 1913, No. 2, 981, Confidential, and , Baudoin, Situation generate, 11Google Scholar. The original decision, in 1916, called for Mayura's banishment to northern Laos. See , Osborne, The French Presence, 244, and 283 ft. 48Google Scholar. This decision was changed to exile in central Vietnam. Mayura died in Qui-Nhon in 1918.
19 AOM Indochine NF 579. Governor General Sarraut to the Minister of the Colonies, Hanoi, 3 September 1913, No. 2, 145, Secret.
20 AOM Indochine N F 579. Resident Superieur Baudoin to the Governor General of Indochina, Phnom Penh, 25 September 1915, No. 148, Secret.
21 AOM Indochine NF 579. Governor General of Indochina, p.i., to the Minister of the Colonies, Hanoi, 9 December 1915, No. 1, 016, Secret; and information contained in the Telegram from the Minister of the Colonies to the Governor General of Indochina, Paris, 23 June 1916, No. 752, Very Confidential.
22 AOM Indochine NF 579. Telegram from the Minister of the Colonies to the Governor General of Indochina, Paris, 23 June 1916, No. 752, Very Confidential.
23 Cambodian National Archives, formerly Archives Centrales de l'lndochine, Residence Superieure du Cambodge. Correspondance au Depart. Instructions to M. le Resident Superieur interimaire L'Helgoualc'h, Phnom Penh, 20 April 1922, No. 117C, Confidential.
24 AOM Indochine NF 579. Resident Superieur Baudoin to the Governor General of Indochina, Phnom Penh, 2 October 1926, No. 460. Secret.
25 Ibid. This is a free translation of the original, and notably convoluted, French passage occurring in Baudoin's despatch.
26 AOM Indochine NF 578. “Note secrete pour Monsieur le Ministre des Colonies au sujet de la devolution du trone du Cambodge,” prepared by Pasquier, Paris, 3 August 1927.
27 For a more detailed discussion of this pervasive sense of fear among members of the French community in Indochina, see my article “The Faithful Few: The Politics of Collaboration in Cochinchina in the 1920's,” originally a paper delivered at the University of Hawaii, in May 1970, forthcoming in Asian Studies at Hawaii.
28 AOM Indochine N F 578 contains the following important exchange of telegrams: Governor General Varenne to the Minister of the Colonies, Vientiane, 29 July 1927, No. 34, Personal and Confidential; Minister of the Colonies to Governor General Varenne, Paris, 2 August 1927, No. 685* Confidential; Governor General Varenne to the Minister of the Colonies, Saigon,
4 August 1927, No. 872, Absolute Priority, Personal; Minister of the Colonies to Governor General Varenne, Paris, 6 August 1927, No. 695.
29 AOM Indochine NF 578. Governor General Varenne invoked the views of bot h Baudoin and Le Fol in arguing for the revocation of the decision in Sutharot's favour. See Varenne's telegram of 29 July 1927 (details in footnote 28). AOM Indochine NF 579. Resident Superieur Baudoin to the Governor General of Indochina, Phnom Penh, 2 October 1926, No. 460, Secret, refers to Sisowath's will:
30 AOM Indochine N F 578. Telegram from the Minister of the Colonies to Governor General Varenne, Paris, 6 August 1927, No. 695.
3 1 AOM Indochine NF 578. Telegram from Governor General Varenne to the Minister of the Colonies, Saigon, 10 August 1927, No. 8, 901, Priority; Governor General Varenne to the Minister of the Colonies, Saigon, 20 September 1927, No. 1, 103, encloses a copy of Sisowath's will. Of interest are a number of assertions made in Sisowath's will, drawn up in December 1924, among them that the late King's father, King Ang Duong, had designated him, rather than his half-brother, Norodom, as successor. N o other available evidence confirms this view. Sisowath also drew particular attention to his peace-keeping efforts during the nineteenth century while Norodom was on the Cambodian throne.
32 The allegation was made during a session of the Commission de l'Algerie, des Colonies et Protectorats, and repeated in the newspaper Les Armales Coloniales (Paris), 19 11 1927Google Scholar. By thi s stage Baudoin had retired from the colonial service and was living on the Riviera. The dossier in which this matter is noted, AOM Indochine N F 578, does not suggest any interest on the part of the Ministry of the Colonies in pursuing the matter. A sum of 325, 000 francs would hav e been worth US. $12, 740 in 1927, or a 1972 value of approximately US. $30, 000.
33 Norodom I, who had mounted the throne in 1860, wa s born in 1834 and died in 1904. Sisowath, his half-brother, wa s born in 1840 and died in 1927.
34 Sihanouk, Norodom, l'Indochine vue de Pekin, 31–3.Google Scholar
35 My forthcoming study, Politics and Power in Cambodia: The Sihanouk Years, gives some attention to the political developments in the 1930's. See, in particular, Chapter 3.
36 , Meyer, Derriere le sourire khmer, 108–10Google Scholar. Since this book was published, Prince Sihanouk has indicated his considerable displeasure at M. Meyer's revelations and assertions.
37 Even with the availability of new archives, there is little on this period in the 1930's Such evidence as is available is discussed below.
38 , Meyer, Derriere le sourire khmer, 109Google Scholar. The same information was given to the writer by other observers in Cambodia. Even if it is correct, the difficulty is tojudge whether Monivong's alienation from his son was a lasting matter.
39 , Meyer, Derriere le sourire khmer, 109 attributes this information to Prince Sihanouk himself. Of some interest is the parallel suggestion that Sihanouk's own mother, Princess (and later Queen) Kossamak, distributed lavish gifts in the hope of seeing her son mount the throne.Google Scholar
40 Suramarit was King Norodom I's grandson. His father, Prince Norodom Sutharot, had married a half-sister, Princess Phangangam. Suramarit was unusual among the members of his generation in the royal family in not having a more “mixed” ancestry. See the genealogical charts for more details.
41 Decoux, J., A la bane de I'Indochine: Histoire de mon Gouvemement General (1940-1945), Paris, 1949, 284-87Google Scholar. Decoux was imprisoned after the Second Warld War, but was subsequently acquitted of the charge of collaboration.
42 Monireth's link with the Norodom branch came through his mother, Princess Kan Yuman, who was a granddaughter of King Norodom I. (See genealogical chart 3). Sihanouk, for his part, was the son of a pure Norodom father (Suramarit) and a Sisowath mother (Princess J samak, a daughter of King Monivong). (See genealogical chart 2). For some discussion of t relationships see the article by the late Yukanthor, Princess, “Personality de S.M. Noro Suramarit,” France-Asie, XII, 113 (10 1955), 242–47Google Scholar. See also my article, “Beyond Chma: Princely Politics and the Problem of Political Succession in Cambodia,” where I record the views of a former member of Decoux's administration on this matter (page 111).
43 AOM Indochine NF 1197. Minister of the Colonies to Governor General Decoux, Vichy, 8 March 1941, No. 1, 001, Secret; and AOM Indochine NF 577 “Note sur les relation du Gouvemement Francais avec la Cour Cambodgienne, ” prepared by Henri Marinetti, Délégue du Cambodge au Conseil Superieur de la France d'Outre-Mer.
44 AOM Indochine NF 577. “Note de M. Thibaudeau,”dating from 1938, discusses the succession issue. The Résident Supérieur observes that the only existing candidate for the throne in French eyes is a Norodom and argues for the need to consider Monireth's claims. That the Norodom Prince in question was Suramarit is confirmed by AOM Indochine NF 1197. Telegram from the Minister of the Colonies to Governor General Decoux, Vichy, 8 March 1941, No. 1, 001, Secret. This same telegram refers to a decision taken in favour of Monireth at some unspecified date in the late 1930's.
45 Cambodian National Archives, formerly Archives, Centrales de I'Indochine, Residence Superieure du Cambodge. Correspondence au Départ, 1 September to 31 December 1939. Resident Superieur Thibaudeau to King Sisowath Monivong, Phnom Penh, 11 September 1939, No. 1, 647, Confidential and Secret. Referring to a wish that Monireth and Monipong, another of Monivong's sons, had expressed to serve in the army in France, this letter reads in part, “In relation to His Royal Highness Prince Monireth, for the special reasons that I have been fortunate to have accepted by Your Majesty, the Governor General judges it desirable for your eldest son to remain in Phnom Penh close to Your Majesty.”
In fact, both Monireth and Monipong did leave Cambodia to serve in France. See , Decoux, A la bane de l'Indochine, 285.Google Scholar
46 AOM Indochine NF 1197. Telegram from Governor General Decou x to the Minister of the Colonies, Hanoi, 29 April 1941, No. 2, 195, Secret.
47 AOM Indochine NF 1197. Although mere are some gaps in this dossier, it provides the most detailed information on Sihanouk's succession ever made available. It contains the following vital documents: Telegram from the Minister of the Colonies to Governor General Decoux, Vichy, 8 March 1941, No. 1, 001, Secret; Telegram from the Minister of the Colonies to Governor General Decoux, Vichy, 4 April 1941, No. 1, 597, Secret; Telegram from Governor General Decoux to the Minister of the Colonies, Hanoi, 24 April 1941, No. 2, 108, Secret; Telegram from Governor General Decoux to the Minister of the Colonies, Hanoi, 29 April, 1941, No. 2, 195, Secret; “Note relative a la designation du prince Sihanouk (sic) pour succeder au trone du Cambodge,” dated 9 April 1941, unsigned.
Key passages from these documents are recorded in translation in an appendix to this article.
48 AOM Indochine NF 1197. Telegram from Governor General Decoux to the Minster of the Colonies, Hanoi, 29 April 1941, No. 2, 195, Secret. This telegram notes Souphanouvong's “puerile” anger and, in relation to Prince Monireth states, “Prince Monireth, on the contrary, s i observing an expectant attitude but, by providing him with indispensable compensations, now under consideration, I count on bringing him out of his reserved attitude.”
, Decoux's memoirs, A la barre de I'Indochine, 287Google Scholar, give a rather sharper picture of Monireth's feelings. According to Decoux, “As one might have expected, Prince Monireth was notably discontent with the decision.”
49 , Decoux, A la barre de I'lndochine, 286Google Scholar, notes that there were “reasons of high policy” in addition to the dynastic considerations that led him to recommend Sihanouk. This observation has always been taken to mean that Decoux believed Sihanouk would be easy to control in the difficult circumstances that existed in Indochina by 1941. Without all of the correspondence between Decoux and the home Ministry available, it is difficult to be absolutely sure, but there is certainly no sense of the question of ease of control over Sihanouk having been raised by the Governor General in his telegrams to Vichy.
50 , Decoux, A la barre de I'lndochine, 286–87Google Scholar, refers to his telegrams sent to Vichy having been “necessarily brief, ” in the original French, “necessairement laconiques.” The use of telegrams had become necessary because of the end of air fights between France and Indochina. It would appear incorrect, however, to translate the French word “laconiques” in any fashion other than its fundamental meaning of “brief or”short”.
51 Sihanouk, Norodom, La Monarchic cambodgienne, Phnom Penh, 1961.Google Scholar
52 No European commentator has probably every provided a better summary of this aspect of the king's position in Cambodia than Etienne Aymonier, one of the notable French scholar officials of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. He wrote, “The monarchy is the living incarnation, the august and supreme personification of nationality.” Le Cambodge, 3 vols., Paris, 1900-1903, I, 56Google Scholar.
53 There seems every reason to accept Prince Sihanouk's view that following his father's, death in 1960 — Sihanouk had abdjcated_jn 1955. and been succeeded by his father — there continued to be bitter contention among rival “clans” as to who might succeed to the throne. See Cambodian Commentary, Special issue, April-May 1960, No. 8. See also Sihanouk, NorodomL'Indochine vue de Pikin, 23 and 26–7Google Scholar.
54 As noted earlier (footnote 42) Prince Monireth did combine Norodom descent with his Sisowath paternal parentage. It seems reasonable to suppose, however, that from the point of view of a French observer such as Decoux a male descendant of Norodom with a Sisowath mother was a more significant symbol of family reconciliation than a male descendant of Sisowath with a Norodom mother. It is interesting, in addition, to find Prince Sihanouk's own view that the marriage between his father and mother was viewed as aiding reconciliation of the contending “clans” in the royal family. See L'Indochine vue de Pékin, 23.