Before 1900, Angkor was known to the West primarily through the travelogues of explorers like Henri Mouhot. After 1900, it shifted from a "lost city" to a "scientific project."
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The EFEO (École Française d’Extrême-Orient): Established in 1900, this institution took over the "protection" of the site. They moved from mere exploration to systematic clearing of the jungle.
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The Conservation d'Angkor (1908): A dedicated body was formed to manage the site. This marks the moment Angkor became a managed monument rather than a living religious site or a jungle ruin.
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The "Discovery" Narrative: Ironically, while locals always knew Angkor existed, the 1900s global narrative framed it as a "discovery" by French science, creating a "New Ancient History" that prioritized architectural dates and royal lineages over local folklore.
By the 1920s, Angkor became a "bucket list" destination for the world’s elite.
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The Grand Hotel d'Angkor: Opened in 1932, it signaled that Angkor was now a luxury destination.
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Celebrity Visitors: Famous figures like Charlie Chaplin (1936) and Somerset Maugham visited, bringing global media attention.
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The Illustrated London News (1923): As seen in your previous text, publications began sharing high-quality photography and romanticized stories (like little Kandali), blending the "mystic Orient" with French colonial order.
In the 1930s, the French began using a technique called Anastylosis (borrowed from Dutch archaeologists in Java).
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The Process: This involved taking a temple apart stone by stone, numbering them, and putting them back together with a hidden reinforced concrete core.
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Banteay Srei: This was the first major success of the technique (1931–1936). Its intricate pink sandstone carvings became the face of "Exotic Cambodia" in world exhibitions.
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Impact: This created a "cleaned up" version of history. The temples looked "perfect" again, satisfying the Western eye's desire for symmetry and grandeur.
After 1900, the image of Angkor Wat became inseparable from Cambodian identity on the world stage.
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World Expos: At the 1906 and 1931 Colonial Exhibitions in Paris, full-scale replicas of Angkor Wat were built. This cemented the temple as a global icon of Khmer genius.
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Nationalism: Even under the French Protectorate, the "New History" taught Cambodians about the immense power of their ancestors (the Khmer Empire), which paradoxically fueled the later movement for independence.
