
Last modified: 2004-11-13 by phil nelson
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I know a quite dubious flag used under Japanese control
between 1942 and 1945: red with a white map of the Angkor
Wat. No coat of arms is known.
unattributed
The circumstances surrounding the situation of Japanese occupation are somewhat different than in some other of the Japanese occupied territories. The French colonial government in Indochina was under the control of the Vichy government, and at the urging of the German government signed an agreement with Japan giving them movement through the transport hubs of the region. The French were compelled to cede 1/3 of Cambodia to Thailand in March 1941 and Japan stationed a garrison in Cambodia of 8,000 troops.
As an occupying force, the events center on March 9, 1945,
when the Japanese troops overthrew the French colonial
government in hope that the local population would support
the promise of independence. Four days later Cambodia
declared its independence from France. Plans were put into
place to incorporate a 5,000 man local volunteer army to
assist the Japanese troops in preserving order, but the war
ended before any further plans could be developed.
Phil Nelson, 2 September 2003