Pol Pot in Paris and the Khmer Issarak (Part One): The First Indochina War Begins

In October 1949, a young scholarship student named Saloth Sar arrived in Paris. Back home, armed resistance to the returning French was gathering under the banner of the Khmer Issarak, and across the border the Viet Minh were already at war. The paths that open in these five years will lead, eventually, to the Khmer Rouge.

Time Period Covered: 1945 - 1950

What does the anti-colonial scene look like in Cambodia? Who are the Khmer Issarak, and how do nationalists and young Cambodian students relate to this movement as well as the growing war in Vietnam with the returning French?

In this episode we trace the path that Saloth Sar, the young Pol Pot, takes to Paris, as well as the very important developments in Cambodian and world history taking place at this time. Resistance to French colonialism takes the shape of the Khmer Issarak, a banner which includes many different groups and figures, some open to communist ideology and some staunch nationalists. Leaders such as Dap Chhuon, Prince Chantaraingsey, Puth Chhay and Son Ngoc Minh are discussed, as well as the circumstances around the beginning of the First Indochina War. Meanwhile, Saloth Sar is introduced to communist ideology in Paris, and a group of students including Ieng Sary, Thioun Mumm and Keng Vannsak begin organising themselves along Marxist lines.

Sources
 Philip Short Pol Pot: History of a Nightmare
David Chandler The Tragedy of Cambodian History
Milton Osborne Sihanouk
Christopher Goscha Vietnam: A New History
Ben Kiernan Viet Nam
Edward Miller The Vietnam War