Editing Axis powers (section)

====Cambodia====
{{Main|Japanese occupation of Cambodia}}
The [[Kingdom of Kampuchea (1945)|Kingdom of Kampuchea]] was a short-lived Japanese puppet state that lasted from 9 March 1945 to 15 August 1945. The Japanese entered the [[French protectorate of Cambodia]] in mid-1941, but allowed Vichy French officials to remain in administrative posts while Japanese calls for an "Asia for the Asiatics" won over many Cambodian nationalists.

In March 1945, in order to gain local support, the Japanese dissolved French colonial rule and pressured Cambodia to declare independence within the [[Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere]].<ref>Geoffrey C. Gunn, ''Monarchical Manipulation in Cambodia: France, Japan, and the Sihanouk Crusade for Independence,'' Copenhagen: Nordic Institute for Asian Studies, 2018, Part V</ref> King [[Norodom Sihanouk|Sihanouk]] declared the Kingdom of Kampuchea (replacing the French name) independent. [[Son Ngoc Thanh]] who had fled to Japan in 1942 returned in May and was appointed foreign minister.<ref name="DChandler">David P. Chandler, ''A History of Cambodia'', Silkworm 1993 {{page needed|date=January 2021}}</ref> On the date of Japanese surrender, a new government was proclaimed with [[Son Ngoc Thanh]] as prime minister. When the Allies occupied [[Phnom Penh]] in October, Son Ngoc Thanh was arrested for collaborating with the Japanese and was exiled to France.<ref name="DChandler" />