Norodom of Cambodia - Rule

Rule

In 1850, Norodom and his half-brother Prince Sisowath sent to study in Bangkok by their father Ang Duong, which they have been patronized by the royal family of Siam.

In 1857, Norodom (also known as Prince Phirom Borirak in Siam) served in the Royal Siamese Army as military advisor, which later he was awarded Order of the White Elephant.

In 1860, when King Ang Duong died, Norodom became his successor but remained uncrowned because the Siamese royal court refused to release the Cambodian royal regalia, which made Norodom only a viceroy of the Siamese king.

At the same time, King Norodom inherited a major Cham rebellion against Khmer rule which his father began to put down but died before he could defeat them. In 1862, Norodom lost control over the region, abandoned the capital of Odong and fled to the safety of Battambang (though the capital was still at Odong). He later fled Cambodia altogether and went into exile in Bangkok. Seeing that the Siamese and Vietnamese overlords had gotten Cambodia into civil strife, the French forced King Norodom to return to Odong in 1863 and sign a treaty of protection with France. This transferred the country from Siamese and Vietnamese to French colonial rule. Cambodia thus became an independent French protectorate, though it was highly autonomous.

With Cambodia a French Protectorate, the Siamese royal court agreed to let Norodom be crowned king. In 1864 Norodom was crowned, the coronation being supervised jointly by the French and Siamese officials. Nonetheless, the young king began his rule over a country in civil turmoil. The Siamese and the Vietnamese had traditionally treated Cambodia as a buffer state, but France encroached on both Siamese and Vietnamese territory. However, the country was weak and subject to the power struggles between France and Siam. Not only were there rebel groups intent on getting the Siamese and the Vietnamese out of Cambodia, but also bandit groups.

Nonetheless, in 1884, France took control of Laos and overran Vietnam. France and Siam entered into the Franco-Siamese War (1893) over Laos, ending with a treaty ceding Laos to France after the French blockade of Bangkok. In 1907, Siam ceded Battambang and Siem Reap, its last claim in Cambodia after continued pressure from France.