March of the Khmer Republic

Dâmnaeur ney Sathéarônârôdth Khmêr
English: March of the Khmer Republic
ដំណើរនៃសាធារណរដ្ឋខ្មែរ
National anthem of the  Khmer Republic
Adopted9 October 1970
Relinquished17 April 1975
Preceded byMajestic Kingdom
Succeeded by1975: Majestic Kingdom
1976: Victorious Seventeenth of April
This article contains Khmer text. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Khmer script.
Instrumental recording of the anthem

"March of the Khmer Republic"[1] (Khmer: ដំណើរនៃសាធារណរដ្ឋខ្មែរ, Dâmnaeur ney Sathéarônârôdth Khmêr; French: La Marche de la République Khmère)[2] was the national anthem of the Khmer Republic from 1970 to 1975. The song is often attributed to groups of students, led by Hang Thun Hak, at the Royal University of Fine Arts in Phnom Penh, but academic sources say it was written and composed by the Buddhist monk activist Khieu Chum, a student of Hem Chieu.[3] The song was adopted as the national anthem of the newly founded Khmer Republic on 9 October 1970 after the overthrow of the monarchy. After the end of the Republic due to the Khmer Rouge victory in 1975, the song ceased to be the national anthem and was officially replaced in 1976 by the Khmer Rouge anthem "Victorious Seventeenth of April".

The "enemy" in the first line of the second stanza is a reference to the invasion of Cambodia by the North Vietnamese communists that began on 29 March 1970, just eighteen days after the coup, at the request of the Khmer Rouge's second in command, Nuon Chea, and had completely overrun the northeast of Cambodia by the time the Republic was declared that October.

  1. ^ Press & Information Office, Embassy of the Khmer Republic (1973). "Khmer News. Number 12. April 5, 1974. Page 14". Archived from the original on 2023-05-01. Retrieved 2021-09-24.
  2. ^ រ័ត្ន សណ្ដាប់. "ប្រវត្តិទង់ជាតិ ភ្លេងជាតិ នគររាជ. ភ្នុំពេញ: ២០១១". elibraryofcambodia.org. Archived from the original on 2021-09-23. Retrieved 2021-09-24.
  3. ^ Harris, Ian (2010). Buddhism as an Element in Cambodian Political Conflict: the Overthrow of Norodom Sihanouk (PDF). Religious Dimensions to Southeast Asian Conflicts Panel, EUROSEAS Conference, University of Gothenburg. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 30 May 2014.