composer nokor reach
Khmers rouges ( French for " Red Khmers " " Khmer Kraham "), more commonly known in English as Khmer Rouge , was the name given to the followers of the Communist Party of Kampuchea in Cambodia . It was formed in 1968 as an offshoot of the Vietnam People ' s Army from North Vietnam , and allied with North Vietnam , the Viet Cong , and the Pathet Lao during the Vietnam War against the anti - communist forces from 1968 to 1975 . The Khmer Rouge emerged victorious in the Cambodian Civil War , overthrew the military dictatorship of the Khmer Republic and installed their own government Democratic Kampuchea in 1975 , led by Pol Pot , Nuon Chea , Ieng Sary , Son Sen , and Khieu Samphan . This was followed by the Cambodian genocide from 1975 until 1979 , when the Khmer Rouge were finally removed from power by Vietnam in the Cambodian  Vietnamese War . The military power of the Khmer Rouge organization was not broken however , and a long era of guerrilla warfare involving large swaths of the Cambodian countryside began . Many different military factions were involved in the guerrilla war era and it ended around 1994 . The Khmer Rouge organization is remembered especially for orchestrating the Cambodian genocide , which resulted from the enforcement of its social engineering policies . Its attempts at agricultural reform led to widespread famine , while its insistence on absolute self - sufficiency , even in the supply of medicine , led to the death of thousands from treatable diseases such as malaria . Arbitrary executions and torture carried out by its cadres against perceived subversive elements , or during purges of its own ranks between 1975 and 1978 , are considered to have constituted genocide . The Khmer Republic ( Khmer :            ); also known as the State of Cambodia was the right - wing pro  United States military - led republican government of Cambodia that was formally declared on 9 October 1970 . Politically , the Khmer Republic was headed by General Lon Nol and ___MASK72___ Sisowath Sirik Matak that took power in the 18 March 1970 coup against ___MASK72___ Norodom Sihanouk , then the country ' s head of state . FUNCINPEC is a royalist political party in Cambodia . Founded in 1981 by Norodom Sihanouk , it started off as a resistance movement against the People ' s Republic of Kampuchea ( PRK ) government . In 1982 , it formed a resistance pact , the Coalition Government of Democratic Kampuchea ( CGDK ), together with the Khmer People ' s National Liberation Front ( KPNLF ) and the Khmer Rouge . It was one of the signatory parties of the 1991 Paris Peace Accords , which paved the way for the formation of the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia ( UNTAC ). In 1992 , FUNCINPEC became a political party and participated in the 1993 general elections organised by UNTAC . It won the elections , and formed a coalition government with the Cambodian People ' s Party ( CPP ), with which it jointly headed . Norodom Ranariddh , Sihanouk ' s son who had succeeded him as the party president , became First Prime Minister while Hun Sen , who was from the CPP , became Second Prime Minister . The Coalition Government of Democratic Kampuchea ( CGDK ) ( Khmer :                              ); renamed to the National Government of Cambodia from 1990 , was a coalition government in exile composed of three Cambodian political factions : ___MASK72___ Norodom Sihanouk ' s Funcinpec party , the Party of Democratic Kampuchea ( often referred to as the Khmer Rouge ) and the Khmer People ' s National Liberation Front ( KPNLF ) formed in 1982 , broadening the " de facto " deposed Democratic Kampuchea regime . For most of its existence , it was the internationally recognized government of Cambodia . Norodom Ranariddh ( born 2 January 1944 ) is a Cambodian ___MASK72___ , politician and law academic . He is the second son of Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia and a half - brother of the current king , Norodom Sihamoni . Ranariddh is the president of FUNCINPEC , a Cambodian royalist party . He was also the First Prime Minister of Cambodia , serving between 1993 and 1997 , and subsequently as the President of the National Assembly between 1998 and 2006 . Norodom Sihanouk ( 31 October 192215 October 2012 ) was the King of Cambodia from 1941 to 1955 and again from 1993 to 2004 . Affectionately known to the Cambodian people as Samdech Euv ( father ___MASK72___ ), Sihanouk became king in 1941 . After the Second World War , he campaigned for Cambodia ' s independence from French rule , which took place in 1953 . In 1955 , Sihanouk abdicated the throne in favour of his father ___MASK11___ , and went on to form the political organisation Sangkum . Sihanouk led the Sangkum to victory in the 1955 general elections , and became the Prime Minister of Cambodia . After his father ' s death in 1960 , Sihanouk introduced a constitutional amendment which made him the Head of State of Cambodia , a position which he held until 1970 . Between 1955 and 1970 , Sihanouk governed Cambodia under one - party rule , and cracked down on political dissent from the Democrat party and Pracheachon . While he was officially neutral in foreign relations , in practice he was friendlier toward communist countries , particularly China , than to the United States and its anti - Communist allies . `` Nokor Reach '' ( Khmer :    ; Royal Kingdom or Majestic Kingdom ) is the national anthem of the Kingdom of Cambodia . It was based on a Cambodian folk tune and written by Chuon Nath , the anthem was originally adopted in 1941 and reconfirmed in 1947 , around the time of independence from France . In 1970 , the monarchy was abolished , thereby replacing the anthem as well . After the communist victory in 1975 , former royalist symbols , including `` Nokor Reach '' , were reinstated for a short while . The Khmer Rouge then replaced it with Dap Prampi Mesa Chokchey ( `` Glorious Seventeenth of April '' ) . After the royalist party FUNCINPEC defeated the former communists ( Cambodian People ' s Party ) in the 1993 elections , the royalist anthem was restored .