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Lon Nol
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Lon Nol (?November 13, 1913 - November 17, 1985) was a Cambodian politician and soldier who served as Prime Minister of Cambodia twice as well as serving repeatedly as Defense Minister. He proclaimed himself, after a coup against Norodom Sihanouk, president of the newly formed Khmer Republic.
Biography
Nol was born in Prey Veng Province on November 13, 1913, to a family of mixed Chinese–Khmer descent. He was educated in the French education tradition, and turned to a life as a civil servant.
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Encyclopedia
Lon Nol (?November 13, 1913 - November 17, 1985) was a Cambodian politician and soldier who served as Prime Minister of Cambodia twice as well as serving repeatedly as Defense Minister. He proclaimed himself, after a coup against Norodom Sihanouk, president of the newly formed Khmer Republic.
Biography
Nol was born in Prey Veng Province on November 13, 1913, to a family of mixed Chinese–Khmer descent. He was educated in the French education tradition, and turned to a life as a civil servant. He was appointed provincial governor in 1946, and rose to become the first leader of the Cambodian police. He subsequently held a series of important military posts. By 1960, he held the dual position of supreme commander of the military and minister of defense. From 1966 to 1967, he served as prime minister. In 1969, he became prime minister a second time.
Following the removal of Sihanouk, Nol and Prince Sisowath Sirik Matak demanded that the North Vietnamese Army and Viet Cong leave Cambodia. He also closed the ports of Cambodia to military supplies for the Vietnamese forces. The government also assumed a pro-Western, anti-Communist stance. The proclaimed goal of American bombings in Cambodia was to destroy North Vietnamese and National Liberation Front (Viet Cong) bases in the area.
Soon after, the Chinese increased military aid to the Khmer Rouge in their fight against the newly formed Republic. Sihanouk, who was in exile in China, called the Cambodian people to oppose the new regime and was quickly joined by the communists.
Civil War
The Cambodian Civil War then began between the Khmer National Armed Forces (FANK) under the command of FANK Commander in Chief Sosthene Fernandez loyal to Nol and the Cambodian People's National Liberation Armed Forces (which would progressively come under the total control of the Khmer Rouge). Because he had abolished the monarchy and established the Khmer Republic, Nol was widely unpopular in the countryside, where support for Sihanouk was strong. Sihanouk formed a government-in-exile in Beijing known as the Royal Government of the National Union of Kampuchea (GRUNK), and a political coalition known as the National United Front of Kampuchea (FUNK), urging resistance to Nol. Sihanouk served as a useful symbol of resistance for the Khmer Rouge, who consolidated control in GRUNK and FUNK and rallied peasants to join the insurgency.
With his country descending into civil war, Nol called on the President Nixon's administration for additional help. On November 18, 1970, U.S. President Richard Nixon responded by requesting Congress to approve $155 million in supplemental aid for the Cambodian government ($85 million was allocated for military assistance.) The United States maintained strong cooperation with Nol's government, having been frustrated with Prince Sihanouk's semi-neutral policies. The United States was angered that, although officially neutral, Sihanouk allowed the NVA, PAVN and Viet Cong to shift the Ho Chi Minh trail within Cambodia's borders. However, despite U.S. aid, Nol was unable to defeat either the North Vietnamese forces or the Khmer Rouge. Despite large numbers of inexperienced volunteers, the Cambodian Army was simply outmatched by a Vietnamese opponent with heavy weapons and years of war experience. Given that the entire country quickly turned into a war zone, economic destabilization and refugees meant that no amount of money could make the situation better. With the backing of China (and to a lesser extent Vietnam), the Khmer Rouge advanced their control of the countryside.
Exile
By 1975, the government was eventually reduced to holding little more than Phnom Penh. At one point during a Khmer Rouge assault on Phnom Penh, Nol sprinkled a circular line of magic sand in order to defend the city. Finally, on April 1, 1975, Nol resigned and fled the country into exile. The Khmer Rouge had vowed to execute him. His brother Lon Non, Long Boret, Prince Sisowath Sirik Matak and other Khmer Republic officials whose names were not published on the death list chose to stay behind. They trusted the Khmer Rouge's assertions that former government officials would not be murdered, but would be welcome in helping rebuild a new Cambodia. They were summarily executed by the Khmer Rouge after Phnom Penh was captured on April 17, 1975.
Nol fled from Cambodia to Indonesia and first settled in Hawaii. He subsequently moved in 1979 to Fullerton, California. He died on November 17, 1985.
See also
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