October 9, 1970

IN THE WORLD

Cambodia witnessed a series of important events in the 1970s, the most significant being the formal declaration of the Khmer Republic on October 9, 1970. The administration was forcefully acquired by General Lon Nol and Prince Sisowath Sirik Matak. In an organized coup against the then country’s Chief of State, Norodom Sihanouk. After Sihanouk was ousted, the Kingdom of Cambodia was officially declared as a republic. The newly formed Khmer Republic had a brief existence which lasted to April 17, 1975 when Khmer Rouge forces took over Phnom Penh, naming itself Democratic Kampuchea in January of 1976.