The United Issarak Front (in km, សមាគមខ្មែរឥស្សរៈ, ''Samakhum Khmer Issarak'', lit. 'Khmer Issarak Front') was a

Cambodia Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia, spanning an area of , bordered by Thailand ...

n anti-colonial movement 1950–1954,Kiernan, Ben. ''How Pol Pot Came to Power''.

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

: Verso, 1985. p. iv organized by the left-wing members of the

Khmer Issarak The Khmer Issarak ( km, ខ្មែរឥស្សរៈ, or 'Independent Khmer') was a "loosely structured" anti- French and anti-colonial independence movement. The movement has been labelled as “amorphous”. The Issarak was ...

movement. The UIF coordinated the efforts of the movement as of 1950, and waged war against the

French Union The French Union () was a political entity created by the French Fourth Republic to replace the old French colonial empire system, colloquially known as the " French Empire" (). It was the formal end of the "indigenous" () status of French subj ...

forces. At the time of the Geneva Peace Conference in 1954, it is estimated that UIF controlled about half of the Cambodian territory.

Founding

The founding conference of UIF was held in Kompong Som Loeu, Kampot province April 17–April 19, 1950. Around 200 delegates assisted the conference, out of whom 105 were

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

monks. Ung Sao, a

Viet Minh The Việt Minh (; abbreviated from , chữ Nôm and Hán tự: ; french: Ligue pour l'indépendance du Viêt Nam, ) was a national independence coalition formed at Pác Bó by Hồ Chí Minh on 19 May 1941. Also known as the Việt Minh Fro ...

general assisted the conference. At the conference venue Khmer, Vietnamese and Laotian flags were displayed. The conference elected a National Central Executive committee headed by Son Ngoc Minh. Other committee members were Chan Samay (deputy), Sieu Heng (secretary), Chan Dara (military commander), Meas Vong (military commander), Meas Vannak (military commander), Chau Yin (military commander), Nhem Sun (military commander), Sok Saphai (military commander), Ngin Hor (military commander), Keo Moni, Ney Sarann, a

Phnom Penh Phnom Penh (; km, ភ្នំពេញ, ) is the capital and most populous city of Cambodia. It has been the national capital since the French protectorate of Cambodia and has grown to become the nation's primate city and its economic, indus ...

representative (possibly Keo Meas) and two representative of expatriate Khmers. The latter are believed to have been the

Khmer Krom The ''Khmer Krom'' ( km, ជនជាតិខ្មែរក្រោម, , , lit. 'Lower Khmers' or 'Southern Khmers'; vi, người Khơ-me Crộm, người Khmer Nam Bộ, người Khmer Việt Nam, người Việt gốc Miên (used before 19 ...

representatives Meas Vong and Meas Vannak. It is estimated at five of the committee members were affiliated with the

Indochinese Communist Party The Indochinese Communist Party (ICP), km, បក្សកុម្មុយនីស្តឥណ្ឌូចិន, lo, ອິນດູຈີນພັກກອມມູນິດ, zh, t=印度支那共產黨 was a political party which was t ...

Resistance government

The founding conference of the UIF decided to launch a revolutionary proto-government, the People's Liberation Central Committee. The PLCC was led by Son Ngoc Minh. Assisting him the PLCC had three vice-presidents;

Chan Samay Chan may refer to: Places *Chan (commune), Cambodia *Chan Lake, by Chan Lake Territorial Park in Northwest Territories, Canada People *Chan (surname), romanization of various Chinese surnames (including 陳, 曾, 詹, 戰, and 田) *Chan Caldwel ...

, Sieu Heng (the PLCC defence minister) and Tou Samouth (all three ICP cadres).

Son Phouc Rattana A son is a male offspring; a boy or a man in relation to his parents. The female counterpart is a daughter. From a biological perspective, a son constitutes a first degree relative. Social issues In pre-industrial societies and some current co ...

, became the administrative secretary of PLCC. Non Suon was the sixth member of the PLCC leadership. On June 19, 1950, Son Ngoc Minh declared Cambodia independent. At the same time, he claimed that the UIF armed forces controlled a third of the country. In 1952, the UIF effectively incorporated the rival Issarak grouping of the

Khmer National Liberation Committee The Khmer People's Liberation Committee (in Khmer language: ''Kana Cheat Mouta Keaha Mocchim Nokor Khmer'', french: Comité de libération du peuple khmer) was a Cambodian anticolonial movement, formed by ''Khmer Issarak'' elements on 1 February ...

, led by Leav Keo Moni and based in the country's north-west, though some anticommunist elements of the KNLC continued to operate independently. The UIF then formed a 'Khmer Resistance Government', with the following composition: *President: Son Ngoc Minh *Vice-President:

*Minister of Interior: Tou Samouth *Minister of Foreign Affairs:

Keo Moni Keo may refer to: * Keo, another name for the Thổ people * The KEO satellite * KEO (beer), a brand of beer brewed in Cyprus * KEO (company), the largest beverage company in Cyprus * Keo, Estonia, a village in Estonia * Keo, Arkansas, a town in ...

*Minister of Education:

Chau Yin Chau may refer to: *Châu, a Vietnamese surname, including a list of people with the name *Zhou (surname), or Chau, a Chinese family name, including a list of people with the name *CHAU-DT, a French language television station in Canada * ''Chau'' ...

*Minister of Defence: Sieu Heng *Minister of Ethnic Affairs:

Leav Keo Moni Mortimer Leav (July 9, 1916 – September 21, 2005)Mortimer Leav

Sos Man is a Morse code distress signal (), used internationally, that was originally established for maritime use. In formal notation is written with an overscore line, to indicate that the Morse code equivalents for the individual letters of "SOS" ...

Armed conflict

In August 1950 a UIF military school was founded, with about a hundred armed UIF cadres as its first batch. In September 1950, the French Union forces stepped up their campaign against the UIF. At the time the UIF rebel army had the support of around 3000 Vietnamese Viet Minh troops. In February 1953 UIF and Viet Minh forces ambushed and killed the governor of Prey Veng. The action constituted a major propaganda victory for the UIF, whose recruitment appeal had been curtailed by the promises of

Prince Sihanouk Norodom Sihanouk (; km, នរោត្តម សីហនុ, ; 31 October 192215 October 2012) was a Cambodian statesman, Sangkum and FUNCINPEC politician, film director, and composer who led Cambodia in various capacities throughout his ...

of achieving independence from France.

Geneva Conference

The UIF sent two delegates, Keo Moni and Mey Pho, to the 1954 conference on a peaceful solution to the conflicts in Indochina. The two accompanied the Viet Minh delegation, which arrived in Geneva on May 8. The UIF was, however, officially invited to the conference. In the first speech by the Viet Minh delegate urged that the UIF-led Khmer Resistance Government should be included in the talks, on equal footing with the Royal Government of Cambodia. This plea was supported by the delegates of the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

and

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

, V. M. Molotov and

Zhou Enlai Zhou Enlai (; 5 March 1898 – 8 January 1976) was a Chinese statesman and military officer who served as the first premier of the People's Republic of China from 1 October 1949 until his death on 8 January 1976. Zhou served under Chairman M ...

. Zhou Enlai was, however, convinced by Western powers to withdraw his support for UIF participation in the conference. The outcome of the conference included a cease-fire that included the UIF, independence of Cambodia under Sihanouk and the withdrawal of Viet Minh forces from Cambodia. The UIF ceased to function. Later, Cambodian communists would argue that the Viet Minh had betrayed the UIF at the conference. The outcome of the Geneva talks provided that former UIF guerrillas would have been protected by the International Commission of Supervision and Control during the election campaign, but in reality such guarantees were not given. With this backdrop around a thousand of UIF cadres left for Vietnam along with the departing Viet Minh forces, on Polish ships provided by the ICSC on the

Mekong river The Mekong or Mekong River is a trans-boundary river in East Asia and Southeast Asia. It is the world's twelfth longest river and the third longest in Asia. Its estimated length is , and it drains an area of , discharging of water annual ...

Membership

Vietnamese sources claimed that UIF membership had reached 150,000 before the end of 1950. However, a more conservative estimate would be that UIF membership never crossed 20,000.

UIF and Buddhism

Considering that two of the main leaders of UIF, Son Ngoc Minh and Tou Samouth, were former monks, the UIF was able to wield a significant influence amongst Buddhist religious circles. In February 1951, the UIF had organized a Khmer Buddhist conference led by Son Ngoc Minh. In 1952 Son Ngoc Minh, Prom Samith (a monk who had joined UIF and become the editor of the publication ''Issarak''), Chan Dara and five monks conducted a tour in the

areas. During the tour, they emphasized the role of Buddhism in the national liberation struggle. In the same year Son Ngoc Minh convinced the abbotts of three monasteries in Kampot, that they hold counsel deserters from the UIF to return to the UIF ranks.Kiernan, Ben. ''How Pol Pot Came to Power''.

: Verso, 1985. p. 93

References

{{Authority control Rebel groups in Cambodia 1950s in Cambodia National liberation movements Factions of the First Indochina War Communism in Cambodia