The kingdom of Cambodia traces its heritage to the realm of Angkor Wat, the twelfth-century center of a network of principalities, including many where ancient Khmer was spoken. Angkor's political reach was large, and the Hindu-influenced Angkor temple complexes are among the greatest in Southeast Asia. In the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, however, Khmerdominated political networks—which gradually adopted Buddhism—shrank, becoming increasingly subordinate to Buddhist Siam (Thailand) and the Confucian Dai Nam (Vietnam). The Khmer court welcomed a mid-nineteenth-century French offer of protection against Siam and Dai Nam, although some princes rebelled unsuccessfully against French supremacy.

Colonialism, Nationalism, and Communism: 1863 to 1953

The French dominated Cambodia together with Vietnam and Laos as part of their creation, French Indochina....