Sisowath Monivong

Sisowath Monivong (Khmer: ព្រះបាទ ស៊ីសុវតិ្ថ មុនីវង្ស) (27 December 1875 – 24 April 1941) (Preah Chao Krung Kampuchea) was the king of Cambodia from 1927 until his death in 1941.

His title is Preah Bat Samdach Preah Serei Monivarman Krom Luang Chao Chakarbangsa Sisowath Monivong Nai Preah Reacheanachak Kampuchea.

Sisowath Monivong was the sixth child, second son, of King Sisowath. His mother was Neak Moneang Van, later titled Samdeach Preah Voreachini, the fifth child-bearing wife of Sisowath. He was born in Phnom Penh in 1875. During this time, his uncle, King Norodom was ruling from Odong, the capital at that time, as a puppet king for the French colonial protectorate. In 1884, after the French conquered Laos and occupied Vietnam, Cambodia became a direct colonial possession. Siam was defeated in a war, but not occupied. The royal family moved from Odong to the new capital of Phnom Penh, where Sisowath Monivong was residing.

In 1904, his uncle died and his father, the crown prince, became king and Sisowath Monivong became the crown prince of Cambodia. In 1906 he travelled with his father, King Sisowath, to France. There he was admitted to the Military School of Saint-Maixent. He graduated two years later with the rank Sous Lieutenant in the Foreign Legion. He was then posted to Brive and later to Paris. In 1909, he returned to Cambodia. In 1910 he was promoted to Lieutenant, Captain in 1916, and Chief of Battalion in 1922, the year he was released from military service. During the First World War, he actively recruited volunteer military personnel and workers. These services were recognised with the Cross of Commander of the Foreign Legion and the Cambodian title of Samdech Preah Keofea. He was then appointed Secretary-General of the Council of Ministers and President of the Council of the Royal Family.

Monivong had many consorts, at least 6 of whom were granted official recognition, having borne children to him. One of these was a woman called Meak, a member of the Royal Ballet, who was given the official title Khun Preah Moneang Bopha Norleak Meak. Meak bore Monivong's son, HRH Prince Sisowath Kusarak in 1926. In 1934 or 1935, two of her young cousins came to live with her, a not uncommon Cambodian custom. The youngest at 6–7 years of age had been given the name Saloth Sar at birth, but would later adopt the name Pol Pot. He stayed with Meak's household until 1942.

In 1927, his father died, and the Sisowath Monivong, aged about 52, ascended to the throne. Like his father and his uncle, Monivong was a figurehead for the French administration, and the real power was in the hands of the French Resident General.

It was during Monivong's rule that Cambodia became open to outside communist influences. In 1930, the Vietnamese leader Ho Chi Minh founded the Indochina Communist Party which subsequently obtained popularity in Cambodia. The Cambodian communists were intent on their primary objective of overthrowing the French.

In 1940, when France fell to the Nazi German armies, the occupied French administration, the Vichy, took power not only in France (under German rule), but also in France's overseas colonies, including Cambodia. In late 1940, a powerless Monivong noticed that Japan was making inroads in Vietnam. Japan invaded and occupied Cambodia in early 1941. The Japanese allowed Cambodian French Vichy officials to administer, but under Japanese protection. The Cambodian king was beholden to the Vichy French, who were in turn beholden to the Japanese. In western Cambodia, Thailand, now an ally of the Japanese, occupied some lands. As the Japanese and Thai oppression of Cambodians became evident, Sisowath Monivong retired to Kampot in late 1941, and died there the same year.

Although his son, Sisowath Monireth was the heir apparent to the throne, the French authorities chose his daughter Sisowath Kosamak's nineteen-year-old son, Norodom Sihanouk, to succeed him, believing that he would be more pliable than Monireth.