Suchergebnisse

When, more than ten years ago, Professor Harry Benda urged Southeast Asian historians to consider the significance of peasant movements, he wrote with singular perspicacity. The attention that had been paid to the peasantry as a political force in the literature published up to the middle 1960s was limited. Nevertheless, on the basis of his own research into the Samin movement in Java and a shrewd estimation that much available evidence had been neglected, he argued for both the possibility and the worth of studying peasant movements throughout colonial Southeast Asia. Like many other students, I was struck by the force of Harry Benda's arguments, and the following essay owes much to his scholarly inspiration.

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.