The Khmer Issarak (, or 'Independent Khmer') was a "loosely structured" anti-French and anti-colonial independence movement. The movement has been labelled as “amorphous”. The Issarak was formed around 1945 and composed of several factions, each with its own leader. Most of the Issarak factions fought actively between the end of the Second World War in 1945 and Cambodia’s independence in 1953. The initial objectives of the Khmer Issarak was to fight against the French in order to gain independence, before later focusing on overthrowing the Cambodian government. The term Issarak originally referred to non-communist, but in the early 1950s the Việt Minh guided-guerrillas branded themselves Issaraks for the sake of unifying other non-communist forces. The Issarak Poc Khun, a highborn Khmer, founded a movement in Bangkok in 1944, and called it the Khmer Issarak for the first time on record. Some of the early Issarak members were backed by the Thai authoritative government. From the end of the Second World War through to 1948, the Thai government had a policy of supporting large number of guerrilla forces, which operated along the Thai frontier and in the two Thai ruled provinces, Battambang and Siem Reap. Among those groups, which were aided by Thailand, some of the members later established right-wing and left-wing bands, including Son Ngoc Minh, Sieu Heng and Tou Samouth. These guerrillas formed a government in exile in Bangkok in 1945. After 1948, several of the Thai sponsored Issaraks dissolved or cooperated with the Phnom Penh government, led by Prince Sihanouk. Soon afterwards, the Vietnamese guided-Issaraks formed the Khmer Issarak Association, continuing armed struggles against the Khmer authorities. In the 1950s, the Viet Minh controlled-Issarak groups eventually transformed into communist organizations: for instance, the Khmer People’s Revolution Party (KPRP). Several significant figures in the Democratic Kampuchea who participated in the Cambodian Civil War, were closely related to the Viet Minh influenced-Issaraks. During the first decade of armed struggles, there was some coordination between factions, however in most cases, different bands fought independently. Even in 1953, the year Cambodia gained independence, the anti-French war was still led by disparate leaders, who were divided geographically and ideologically. After the Geneva Conference in 1954, due to terms of the "Agreement on the Cessation of Hostilities in Vietnam", most Viet Minh guided-Issaraks were either exiled to the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV) or turned underground and formed communist organizations. At the same time,