Editing Norodom Sihanouk (section)

==Deposition, GRUNK and Khmer Rouge years==
{{main|1970 Cambodian coup d'état}}

===1970 coup===
In January 1970, Sihanouk left Cambodia for a two-month holiday in France, spending his time at a luxury resort in the [[French Riviera]].{{sfnp|Langguth|2000|p=557}} On 11 March 1970, a large protest took place outside the North Vietnamese and Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam embassies, as protesters demanded Viet Cong troops withdraw from Cambodia. The protests turned chaotic, as protesters looted both embassies and set them on fire, alarming Sihanouk.{{sfnp|Osborne|1994|p=211}} Sihanouk, who was in Paris at the time, considered both returning to quell the protests and visiting Moscow, Beijing, and [[Hanoi]]. He opted for the latter, thinking that he could persuade its leaders to recall Viet Cong troops to their jungle sanctuaries, where they had originally established themselves between 1964 and 1969.{{sfnp|Chandler|1991|p=195}}

Five days later, Oum Mannorine, the half-brother of Sihanouk's wife Monique, was summoned to the National Assembly to answer corruption charges.{{sfnp|Osborne|1994|p=213}} On that night after the hearing, Mannorine ordered troops under his command to arrest Lon Nol and Sirik Matak, but ended up getting arrested by Lon Nol's troops instead. On 18 March 1970 the National Assembly voted to depose Sihanouk,{{sfnp|Sihanouk|1973|p=51}} allowing Lon Nol to assume [[State of emergency|emergency powers]].{{sfnp|Sihanouk|1973|p=50}}

[[File:Norodom Sianuc72a.jpg|thumb|Sihanouk ''(left)'' visiting Romania in 1972, with Romanian President [[Nicolae Ceaușescu]]]]
On that day, Sihanouk was in Moscow meeting Soviet prime minister [[Alexei Kosygin]], who broke the news as he was being driven to the [[Sheremetyevo International Airport|Moscow airport]].{{sfnmp|Langguth|2000|1p=558|Jeldres|2005|2p=79}} From Moscow, Sihanouk flew to Beijing, where he was received by [[Zhou Enlai]]. Zhou arranged for the North Vietnamese Prime Minister, [[Pham Van Dong]] to fly to Beijing from Hanoi and meet with Sihanouk.{{sfnp|Osborne|1994|p=218}} Zhou greeted Sihanouk very warmly, telling him that China still recognized him as the legitimate leader of Cambodia and would be pressuring North Korea, along with several Middle Eastern and African nations, not to recognize Lon Nol's government, saying that once China issued its declaration of support, "the Soviet Union will be embarrassed and will have to reconsider".{{sfnp|Langguth|2000|p=559}} Both Zhou and Dong encouraged Sihanouk to rebel against Lon Nol and promised him military and financial support.{{sfnp|Langguth|2000|p=558}}

===Uneasy alliance===
On 23 March 1970, Sihanouk announced the formation of his resistance movement, the [[National United Front of Kampuchea]] (FUNK). He encouraged the Cambodian populace to join him and fight against Lon Nol's new military government. Sihanouk was revered by the Khmer peasantry as a [[Devaraja|god-like figure]], and his endorsement of the Khmer Rouge had immediate effects.{{sfnp|Langguth|2000|p=558}} The royal family was so revered that Lon Nol after the coup went to the royal palace, knelt at the feet of the queen mother and begged her forgiveness for deposing her son.{{sfnp|Langguth|2000|p=558}}

Khmer Rouge soldiers broadcast Sihanouk's message in the Cambodian countryside, which roused demonstrations rooting for his cause that were brutally suppressed by Lon Nol's troops.{{sfnp|Osborne|1994|p=219}} Sometime later, on 5 May 1970, Sihanouk announced the formation of a government-in-exile known as the Royal Government of the National Union of Kampuchea ([[GRUNK]]), leading Communist countries including China, North Vietnam, and North Korea to break relations with the Lon Nol regime.{{sfnp|Jeldres|2005|p=137}} In Phnom Penh, a military trial convened on 2 July 1970, whereby Sihanouk was charged with both treason and corruption in his capacity as Head of State. After a three-day trial, the judges ruled Sihanouk guilty of both charges and sentenced to him to death in absentia on 5 July 1970.{{sfnp|Sihanouk|1973|p=271}}

[[File:Prince Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia at the United Nations (1972).png|thumb|Sihanouk at the [[United Nations]] (1972)]]
Between 1970 and 1975, Sihanouk took up residence in state guesthouses at Beijing and [[Pyongyang]], courtesy of the Chinese and North Korean governments, respectively.{{sfnp|Marlay|Neher|1999|p=167}} In February 1973, Sihanouk traveled to [[Hanoi]], where he started on a long journey with Khieu Samphan and other Khmer Rouge leaders. The convoy proceeded along the [[Ho Chi Minh trail]] and reached the Cambodian border at [[Stung Treng province]] the following month. From there, they traveled across the [[Provinces of Cambodia|provinces]] of Stung Treng, [[Preah Vihear province|Preah Vihear]], and [[Siem Reap province|Siem Reap]]. Throughout this entire leg of the journey, Sihanouk faced constant bombardment from American planes participating in [[Operation Freedom Deal]].{{sfnp|Jeldres|2005|p=178}} At Siem Reap, Sihanouk visited the temples of [[Angkor Wat]], [[Banteay Srei]], and [[Bayon]].{{sfnp|Jeldres|2005|p=183}} In August 1973, [[Sisowath Sirik Matak]] wrote an open letter calling on Sihanouk to bring the [[Cambodian Civil War]] to an end and suggesting the possibility of his return to the country. When the letter reached Sihanouk, he angrily rejected Sirik Matak's entreaties.{{sfnp|Osborne|1994|p=226}}

After the [[Khmer Republic]] [[Cambodian Civil War#Fall of Phnom Penh|fell]] to the [[Khmer Rouge]] on 17 April 1975, a new regime under its charge, [[Democratic Kampuchea]], was formed. Sihanouk was appointed as its Head of State, a ceremonial position.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1975/04/26/archives/cambodians-designate-sihanouk-as-chief-for-life.html|title=Cambodians Designate Sihanouk as Chief for Life|work=[[The New York Times]]|agency=[[United Press International|UPI]]|date=26 April 1975|access-date=16 July 2015}}</ref> In September 1975,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1975/09/10/archives/sihanouk-returns-to-a-big-welcome-in-phnom-penh.html|title=Sihanouk Returns to a Big Welcome in Phnom Penh|work=[[The New York Times]]|author-link= David A. Andelman |first = David A. | last = Andelman |date=10 September 1975|access-date=1 August 2023}}</ref>{{sfnp|Osborne|1994|p=229}} Sihanouk briefly returned to Cambodia to inter the ashes of his mother,{{sfnp|Marlay|Neher|1999|p=168}} before going abroad again to lobby for diplomatic recognition of Democratic Kampuchea.{{sfnp|Jeldres|2005|p=191}} He returned on 31 December 1975 and presided over a meeting to endorse the constitution of Democratic Kampuchea.{{sfnp|Osborne|1994|p=231}} In February 1976, Khieu Samphan took him on a tour across the Cambodian countryside. Sihanouk was shocked to see the use of [[forced labour]] and population displacement carried out by the Khmer Rouge government, known as the [[Communist Party of Kampuchea#The Angkar|Angkar]]. Following the tour, Sihanouk decided to resign as the Head of State.{{sfnp|Osborne|1994|p=232}} The Angkar initially rejected his resignation request, though they subsequently accepted it in mid-April 1976,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1976/04/05/archives/phnom-penh-says-sinanouk-resigns-reports-exchief-of-state-will-stay.html|title=Phnom Penh Says Sihanouk Resigns|work=[[The New York Times]]|agency=[[United Press International|UPI]]|date=5 April 1976|access-date=30 July 2023}}</ref> retroactively backdating it to 2 April 1976.{{sfnp|Osborne|1994|p=233}}

===House arrest===
From this point onwards, Sihanouk was kept under house arrest at the royal palace. In September 1978, he was removed to another apartment in Phnom Penh's suburbs, where he lived until the end of the year.{{sfnp|Osborne|1994|p=238}} Throughout his confinement, Sihanouk made several unsuccessful requests to the Angkar to travel overseas.{{sfnp|Osborne|1994|p=234}} [[Cambodian–Vietnamese War|Vietnam invaded Cambodia]] on 22 December 1978. On 1 January 1979, Sihanouk was taken from Phnom Penh to [[Serei Saophoan (city)|Sisophon]], where he stayed for three days until 5 January, when he was taken back to Phnom Penh.{{sfnp|Osborne|1994|p=240}} Sihanouk was taken to meet [[Pol Pot]], who briefed him on the Angkar's plans to repulse Vietnamese troops.{{sfnp|Chandler|1991|p=311}}

On 6 January 1979, Sihanouk was allowed to fly to Beijing from Phnom Penh, where he was greeted by [[Zhou Enlai]]'s successor, [[Deng Xiaoping]].{{sfnp|Osborne|1994|p=242}} The next day Phnom Penh fell to advancing Vietnamese troops on 7 January 1979. On 9 January 1979, Sihanouk flew from Beijing to New York to attend the [[UN Security Council]], where he simultaneously condemned the Khmer Rouge for orchestrating the [[Cambodian genocide]] as well as the [[Cambodian–Vietnamese War|Vietnamese occupation of Cambodia]].{{sfnp|Jeldres|2005|p=202}} Sihanouk subsequently sought asylum in China after making two unsuccessful asylum applications with the US and France.{{sfnp|Jeldres|2005|pp=205–206}}