March of the Khmer Republic

{{Short description|National anthem of the Khmer Republic}}

{{Infobox anthem

| title = {{lang|km|ដំណើរនៃសាធារណរដ្ឋខ្មែរ}}

| english_title = March of the Khmer Republic

| transcription = Damnaeu ney Satheareanaroat Khmae

| image = Coat of arms of the Khmer Republic.svg

| image_size =

| caption =

| prefix = National

| country = the {{Nowrap|{{flag|Khmer Republic}}}}

| lyrics_date =

| composer =

| music_date =

| adopted = 9 October 1970

| until = 17 April 1975

| predecessor = Majestic Kingdom

| successor = 1975: Majestic Kingdom
1976: Victorious Seventeenth of April

| sound =

}}

{{Contains special characters|Khmer}}File:March Of The Khmer Republic(Instrumental) - 02 02 2024, 3.20 AM.ogg

"March of the Khmer Republic"{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VEBIMBSme-EC&dq=%22March+of+the+khmer+republic%22&pg=RA9-PA14|title=Khmer News. Number 12. April 5, 1974. Page 14|last=Press & Information Office, Embassy of the Khmer Republic|year=1973|access-date=2021-09-24|archive-date=2023-05-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230501045846/https://books.google.com/books?id=VEBIMBSme-EC&dq=%22March+of+the+khmer+republic%22&pg=RA9-PA14|url-status=live}} ({{langx|km|ដំណើរនៃសាធារណរដ្ឋខ្មែរ}}, {{lang|km-Latn|Damnaeu ney Satheareanaroat Khmae}}; {{langx|fr|La Marche de la République Khmère}}){{Cite web|url=http://www.elibraryofcambodia.org/bravot-tong-cheat-phleng-cheat-nakor-rach/|title=ប្រវត្តិទង់ជាតិ ភ្លេងជាតិ នគររាជ. ភ្នុំពេញ: ២០១១.|last=រ័ត្ន សណ្ដាប់|website=elibraryofcambodia.org|access-date=2021-09-24|archive-date=2021-09-23|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210923174733/http://www.elibraryofcambodia.org/bravot-tong-cheat-phleng-cheat-nakor-rach/|url-status=live}} 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.{{cite conference |url=http://www.globalstudies.gu.se/digitalAssets/1306/1306732_religious_dimensions1.pdf |title=Buddhism as an Element in Cambodian Political Conflict: the Overthrow of Norodom Sihanouk |first=Ian |last=Harris |year=2010 |conference=Religious Dimensions to Southeast Asian Conflicts Panel, EUROSEAS Conference, University of Gothenburg |access-date=30 May 2014 |archive-date=24 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924022530/http://www.globalstudies.gu.se/digitalAssets/1306/1306732_religious_dimensions1.pdf |url-status=dead }} 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.