Lon Nol - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

1 of 6

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lon_Nol

Lon Nol
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Marshal Lon Nol (Khmer: ; November 13, 1913

November 17, 1985) was a Cambodian politician and general
who served as Prime Minister of Cambodia twice (196667;
196971), as well as serving repeatedly as Defense Minister.
He led a military coup against Prince Norodom Sihanouk in
1970 and became the self-proclaimed President of the newly
created Khmer Republic, ruling until 1975. He was the
founder and leader of the short-lived Social Republican Party,
and commander-in-chief of the Khmer National Armed
Forces.

Lon Nol

Contents
1 Early life
2 Employment in the colonial government
3 In the administration of Sihanouk, 195570
4 The 1970 Coup
5 The Khmer Republic and the Civil War
6 Exile
7 Political views
8 See also
9 References
10 Bibliography

President of the Khmer Republic

In office
March 10, 1972 April 1, 1975
Prime Minister Sisowath Sirik Matak
Son Ngoc Thanh
Hang Thun Hak
In Tam
Long Boret

Early life
Nol was born in Prey Veng Province on November 13, 1913,
to a family of mixed ChineseKhmer descent.[2] His father
Lon Hin, was the son of a Khmer Krom from Tay Ninh
Province[3] who later served as a district chief in Siem Reap
and Kampong Thom, after making a name for himself
'pacifying' bandit groups in Prey Veng.[4] His maternal
grandfather was a Chinese immigrant from Fujian province[5]
who later became the governor of Prey Veng.[3] Nol was
educated in the relatively privileged surroundings of the
Lyce Chasseloup-Laubat in Saigon, followed by the
Cambodian Royal Military Academy.

Employment in the colonial

government

Preceded by

Cheng Heng

Succeeded by

Saukam Khoy (acting)

23rd Prime Minister of Cambodia

In office
August 14, 1969 March 11, 1971
President

Norodom Sihanouk
Cheng Heng (acting)

Deputy

Sisowath Sirik Matak

Preceded by

Penn Nouth

Succeeded by

Sisowath Sirik Matak

In office
October 25, 1966 May 1, 1967

8/4/2015 9:14 PM

Lon Nol - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

2 of 6

Nol found employment with the French colonial civil service

in 1937. He became a magistrate, and soon proved himself as
an efficient enforcer of French rule against a series of
anti-colonial disturbances in 1939.[4] By 1946, he had risen
to the post of Governor of Kratie Province. He became an
associate of King Norodom Sihanouk, and by the late 1940s,
when he set up a right-wing, monarchist, pro-independence
political group, was becoming increasingly involved in the
developing Cambodian political scene. Joining the army in
1952, he carried out military operations against the Viet
Minh.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lon_Nol

President

Norodom Sihanouk

Preceded by

Norodom Kantol

Succeeded by

Son Sann

Leader of the Social Republican Party

In office
June 15, 1972 April 1, 1975
Preceded by

Position established

Succeeded by

Position abolished
Minister of Defense

After independence, Nol's nationalist Khmer Renovation

party (along with small right-wing parties headed by Sam
Sary and Dap Chhuon) became the core of the Sangkum, the
organisation set up by Sihanouk to fight the 1955 elections.[6]

In office
19681969
Prime Minister Son Sann
Penn Nouth

In the administration of Sihanouk,

195570

Personal details
Born

November 13, 1913

Prey Veng, Cambodia

Nol was appointed the Army Chief of Staff in 1955, and

commander-in-chief of the armed forces in 1960, as well as
serving as Defence Minister. At the time, he was a trusted
supporter of Sihanouk, his police being instrumental in the
suppression of the small, clandestine communist movement
in Cambodia. He was appointed deputy Premier in 1963.
While Sihanouk in an attempt to distance his country from
the effects of the Second Indochina War was pursuing a
foreign policy of "extreme neutrality", which involved
association with China and toleration of North Vietnamese
activity on the eastern borders, Nol remained friendly
towards the United States, and indicated that he regretted the
ending of US aid after 1963.[7]

Died

November 17, 1985 (aged 72)

Fullerton, California, U.S.

Resting place

Loma Vista Memorial Park

The 1966 parliamentary elections represented a major shift in

the balance of power towards Lon Nol and the rightist
elements of the Sangkum, as conservative and right-wing
candidates were overwhelmingly elected.[8] Lon Nol became
Prime Minister, and the following year his troops were used
by Sihanouk to carry out a savage repression of a leftistinspired revolt, the Samlaut Uprising, in Battambang
Province.

Allegiance

Cambodia
Khmer Republic

Service/branch

Khmer National Army

Nol was injured in a car crash later in 1967, and temporarily

retired from politics. In 1968, however, he returned as
Minister of Defence and in 1969 became Prime Minister a
second time, appointing the vocally anti-Sihanouk, and
pro-US politician Prince Sisowath Sirik Matak as his deputy.

Political party Social Republican Party

Other political Sangkum (until 1970)
affiliations
Spouse(s)

Sovanna Lon[1]

Children

Alma mater

Cambodian Royal Military

Academy
Military service

Years of
service
Rank

19521975
Field marshal

Commands

Commander-in-Chief of the
Khmer National Armed Forces

Battles/wars

First Indochina War

8/4/2015 9:14 PM

Lon Nol - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

3 of 6

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lon_Nol

The 1970 Coup

Lon Nol with U.S. Vice President Spiro

Agnew in Phnom Penh, 1970.

Sihanouk later claimed that the 1970 coup against him was the
result of an alliance between his longstanding enemy, exiled
politician Son Ngoc Thanh and Sirik Matak, with CIA support and
planning.[9] Irrespective of any claims to the contrary, there is no
concrete evidence of CIA involvement in the 1970 coup.[10][11][12]
It seems likely that Lon Nol initially intended to strengthen his
position against the North Vietnamese with the ultimate aim of
preventing their troops (and those of the Viet Cong) from operating
within Cambodian borders, and wished to apply pressure on
Sihanouk to achieve this.[13] However, events rapidly developed far
beyond the original plan, and with the encouragement of Sirik
Matak who wished to see Sihanouk deposed as Head of State
Lon Nol was ultimately to engineer Sihanouk's removal.

While Sihanouk was abroad during March 1970, there were anti-Vietnamese riots in Phnom Penh. On 12
March, Lon Nol and Sirik Matak closed the port of Sihanoukville, through which weapons were being
smuggled to the Viet Cong, to the North Vietnamese and issued an ultimatum: all PAVN (North Vietnamese)
and NLF (Viet Cong) forces were to withdraw from Cambodian soil within 72 hours or face military action.[14]
Lon Nol initially refused to countenance Sihanouk being deposed as Head of State; to force his hand, Sirik
Matak played him a tape-recorded press conference from Paris, in which Sihanouk blamed them for the unrest
and threatened to execute them both on his return to Phnom Penh.[15] However, the Prime Minister remained
uncertain as to whether to instigate a vote in the National Assembly. On the night of 17 March, Sirik Matak,
accompanied by three army officers, went to the Prime Minister's residence and compelled a weeping Lon Nol
to sign the necessary documents at gunpoint.[16]
A vote was taken in the National Assembly on 18 March in which Sihanouk was stripped of his power. General
Lon Nol assumed the powers of the Head of State on an emergency basis. On 28 and 29 March there were
large-scale popular demonstrations in favour of Sihanouk in several provincial cities, but Lon Nol's forces
suppressed them, causing several hundred deaths.[17] The Khmer Republic was formally declared that October,
and Sihanouk who had formed a government-in-exile, the GRUNK, incorporating the Khmer Rouge
communists was condemned to death in absentia. In the meantime duirng the Cambodian Campaign of April
1970,US and South Vietnamese forces entered Cambodian territory in pursuit of North Vietnamese and Viet
Cong troops.

The Khmer Republic and the Civil War

The Khmer Republic (19701975) was founded in order to do away with Cambodia's widespread corruption
and to restore Cambodia's sovereignty in its eastern regions, occupied by Vietnamese communist insurgents as a
result of Sihanouk's "neutrality" policies. Despite its high aims, the republic proved disastrous both militarily
and politically. Lon Nol's health started to decline after he suffered a stroke in February 1971. His rule became
increasingly erratic and authoritarian: he appointed himself Marshal (a title previously unknown in Cambodia)
in April 1971, and in October suspended the National Assembly, stating he would "no longer play the game of
democracy". Backed by his forceful, ambitious younger brother General Lon Non, Nol succeeded in reducing
the influence of Sirik Matak, In Tam and the other coup leaders. He also insisted on directing many of the
Khmer National Armed Forces (French: Forces Armes Nationales Khmres FANK) operations personally.

8/4/2015 9:14 PM

Lon Nol - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

4 of 6

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lon_Nol

Lon Nol's full presidential title in Khmer was Lok Brathaneathibtei Lon
Nol (President Lon Nol).
In time Lon Nol's regime became completely dependent upon large
quantities of American aid that towards the end were not backed by the
political and military resolve needed to effectively help the beleaguered
republic.[18] By 1975, the government was eventually reduced to holding
little more than Phnom Penh and the Preah Vihear Temple in the
northern border with Thailand. The FANK was quickly running out of
Flag of the Khmer Republic.
ammunition. Lon Nol was increasingly dependent on the advice of
soothsayers and Buddhist mystics: at one point during a Khmer Rouge
assault on Phnom Penh, he sprinkled a circular line of consecrated sand in order to defend the city. Finally, on 1
April, he resigned and fled the country into exile, as his name was the first on a list of people the Khmer Rouge
had vowed to execute.

Exile
The first priority of the Khmer Rouge after conquering Cambodia and overthrowing the Khmer Republic was to
execute all its leaders and high officials without delay,[18] a fate that Lon Nol escaped.
Lon Nol fled from Cambodia to Indonesia and then to the United States; first settling in Hawaii and in 1979 in
Fullerton, California. He lived with his second wife Sovanna Lon and several of his nine children until his death
from a heart problem on November 17, 1985 at St. Jude Medical Center.[19]

Political views
Despite his actions in deposing Sihanouk, Nol was a firm believer in traditional Cambodian hierarchy: after
Sihanouk had been removed he prostrated himself at the Queen Mother's feet in order to ask forgiveness.[20] He
termed his ideology, a blend of chauvinist nationalism and mysticism, as 'Neo-Khmerism': he expressed an
ambition of reuniting the ethnic Khmers of Cambodia with the Khmer Krom of the Mekong Delta and the
Khmer Surin of Thailand, projecting a state of "thirty million" Khmers by the year 2020.[21] Asking his
followers to embrace the traditions of what he referred to as Mon-Khmer 'holy warriors' (yuthesel), he also
encouraged them to refer to him as their "Black Papa", a name referring to the dark skin considered to be the
sign of an 'authentic' Khmer.[22]

See also
Lon Nil
Lon Non

References
1. "Lon Nol's Wife and Son Fined in Child-Abuse Case"
(http://www.nytimes.com/1981/04/04/us/aroundthe-nation-lon-nol-s-wife-and-son-fined-in-childabuse-case.html). The New York Times. April 4,
1981. Retrieved May 29, 2014.

2. Marks, Paul (2000), p. 92-108

3. Corfield (1994), p. 1
4. Kiernan 2004, p. 24

8/4/2015 9:14 PM

Lon Nol - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

5 of 6

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lon_Nol

5. Summary of world broadcasts: Far East, Part 3, 24

July 1984, p. FE/7703/C/12 He was given a
sumptuous welcome and was even offered the
opportunity to visit the grave of his grandfather in
Fujian Province. It is worth noting that on this
occasion, the Chinese leaders voiced support for Lon
Nol's.....
6. Kiernan 2004, p. 158
7. Shawcross 1979, p. 61
8. Kiernan 2004, p. 232
9. Norodom Sihanouk, My War with the CIA, Pantheon,
1972, p.37
10. Wilfred P. Deac, "Road to the Killing Fields: The
Cambodian War of 1970-1975" (Texas A&M
University Press, 1997) pp. 612;
11. Robert Dallek, "Nixon and Kissinger: Partners in
Power," (Harper Collins, 2007), p. 191;
12. Steve Heder "Cambodian Communism and the
Vietnamse Model, Volume I: Imitation and
Independence, 1930-1975," (White Lotus Press,
2004), p. 156.]
13. Shawcross 1979, pp. 118119

14. Sutsakhan, Lt. Gen. S. The Khmer Republic at War

and the Final Collapse Washington DC:
(http://www.vietnam.ttu.edu/star/images
/239/2390505001A.pdf) United States Army Center
of Military History, 1987, Part 1, p. 42. See also Part
1 (http://www.vietnam.ttu.edu/star/images
/239/2390505001A.pdf)Part 2
(http://www.vietnam.ttu.edu/star/images
/239/2390505001B.pdf)Part 3
(http://www.vietnam.ttu.edu/star/images
/239/2390505001C.pdf).
15. Marlay, R. and Neher, C. Patriots and tyrants,
Rowman & Littlefield, 1999, p.165
16. Chandler, D. A History of Cambodia, 2000, p.204
17. Kiernan 2004, p. 302
18. David P. Chandler, A history of Cambodia, Westview
Press; Allen & Unwin, Boulder, Sydney, 1992
19. McMillan, Penelope (November 18, 1985).
"Ex-Cambodian President Dies in Fullerton"
(http://articles.latimes.com/1985-11-18/news/mn7294_1_lon-nol-cambodians). Los Angeles Times.
Retrieved May 30, 2014.
20. Shawcross 1979, p. 128
21. Kiernan 2004, p. 348
22. Becker, E. When the War Was Over, 1986, p.134

Bibliography
Corfield, Justin J. (1994). Khmers stand up! A history of the Cambodian government 1970-1975. Centre
of Southeast Asian Studies, Monash University. ISBN 0732605652.
Kiernan, B. (2004). How Pol Pot came to Power. Yale University Press.
Marks, Paul (2000). "China's Cambodia Strategy" (http://www.carlisle.army.mil/usawc/parameters
/00autumn/marks.htm). Parameters (Autumn 2000): 92108. ISSN 0031-1723 (https://www.worldcat.org
/issn/0031-1723). Retrieved 2010-04-24.
Shawcross, W. (1979). Sideshow: Kissinger, Nixon, and the Destruction of Cambodia. Simon & Schuster.

Political offices
Preceded by
Prince Norodom Kantol

Prime Minister of Cambodia

19661967

Succeeded by
Son Sann

Preceded by
Penn Nouth

Prime Minister of Cambodia

19691972

Succeeded by
Sisowath Sirik Matak

Preceded by
Cheng Heng
(Head of State)

President of Cambodia
19721975

Succeeded by
Saukam Khoy
(Head of State)

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Lon_Nol&oldid=673930688"

Categories: 1913 births 1985 deaths Cambodian anti-communists
8/4/2015 9:14 PM

Lon Nol - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

6 of 6

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lon_Nol

Cambodian emigrants to the United States Cambodian Buddhists Cold War leaders Field marshals
Leaders who took power by coup Lon family People of the Vietnam War Prime Ministers of Cambodia
Heads of state of Cambodia Cambodian republicans
This page was last modified on 31 July 2015, at 13:00.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may
apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia is a registered
trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.

8/4/2015 9:14 PM