110 jungles and formed little villages, and the women and children who remained were the only ones able to to stave off hunger. The Cambodians were almost all farmers or petty landowners, and villages of an average size of 50 to 80 houses were formed on natural embankments that were not subject to flooding, or on mountain slopes. Near the village lay irrigation ponds or small and medium sized rivers, and paddy fields or farmlands were cultivated. In the villages there was a village chief (Me Phum) or boss, his helpers, and a Theravada Buddhist pagoda. Groups for mutual aid were formed and cultivation work ensued. Due to domestic disputes, the Cambodian royal household had for many years been split into the Siamese and Vietnamese factions. There were recurrent struggles between them, and both the nations involved viewed such disputes as convenient breaks to intrude and expand their respective domains. The Siamese and Vietnamese repeatedly clashed, with Cambodia serving as their battlefield. Due to the fact that the discord between these three nations of Siam, Cambodia, and Vietnam had lasted a few centuries, Cambodia for a time endured anguish, and its people were on the verge of being reduced to the state of an ethnic minority. As a precedent to this situation we have the fact that the Cham became a Vietnamese minority, and the Hmong a Thai minority. The end result was that the Cambodians did not became an ethnic minority, but they certainly came close to becoming one. Even within Cambodia, from around 1795 the Angkor region was integrated into Siamese territory (Thailand), along with the provinces of Battambang and Sisophon. At that time the Cambodian local director swore allegiance to Siam, and transferred his loyalty there. Becoming a French Protectorate
元のページ ../index.html#116