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[[File:Expo 1931 Angkor nuit.jpg|thumb|left|Replika Angkor Wat yang terpajang di [[Pameran Raya Kolonial Paris]] tahun 1931 menunjukkan keluhuran budaya negara Kamboja yang kala itu merupakan [[Kamboja Prancis|negara protektorat Prancis]]]]
Warisan artistik Angkor Wat dan monumen-monumen Khmer lainnya di daerah [[Angkor]] mendorong Prancis menjadikan Kamboja sebagai salah satu negara [[protektorat]]nya pada tanggal 11 Agustus 1863, dan menginvasi Siam agar dapat sepenuhnya menguasai reruntuhan monumen-monumen tersebut. Langkah Prancis ini memampukan negara Kamboja untuk mendaulat kembali daerah-daerah di ujung barat laut wilayahnya yang dijajah bangsa Siam (Thai) sejak tahun 1351 Masehi menurut Manich Jumsai (2001) atau sejak tahun 1431 Masehi menurut sumber-sumber lain.<ref>Penny Edwards (2007).''Cambodge: The Cultivation of a Nation, 1860–1945'' {{ISBN|978-0-8248-2923-0}}</ref><!--
Keindahan Angkor Wat dipertunjukkandipertontonkan 's aesthetics were on display in the plaster castdi museum ofcor-coran lepa [[Louis Delaporte]] calledyang diberi nama ''musée Indo-chinois'' whichdi existedgedung inpameran the[[Trocadéro|Palais Parisiandu TrocaderoTrocadéro]] Palacedari fromsekitar tahun c.1880 tosampai pertengahan theera mid1920-1920san.<ref>Falser, Michael (2013). [http://www.riha-journal.org/articles/2013/2013-apr-jun/falser-musee-indo-chinois ''From Gaillon to Sanchi, from Vézelay to Angkor Wat. The Musée Indo-Chinois in Paris: A Transcultural Perspective on Architectural Museums.''].</ref>
ThePada 20thabad centuryke-20, sawAngkor aWat considerablemenjalani restorationpemugaran of Angkor Watbesar-besaran.<ref name="multiref1">Glaize phlm. 59.</ref> GraduallySedikit teamsdemi ofsedikit, laborerstim-tim andpekerja archeologistsdan pushedarkeolog backmembabat thehutan jungleyang andsudah exposedmentupi the expansesAngkor of stoneWat, permittingsehingga thesinar sunmatahari tokembali oncemenerangi againsudut-sudut illuminategelap thekuil dark corners of the templeitu. Angkor Wat caughtmemikat theperhatian attentiondan andimajinasi imaginationsejumlah ofbesar aorang widerEropa audienceketika in Europe when the pavilion ofpaviliun [[FrenchKamboja protectoratePrancis|Kamboja ofProtektorat CambodiaPrancis]], assebagai partbagian ofdari [[French Indochina Prancis|Indocina Prancis]], recreatedmemamerkan thereplika life-sizeAngkor replicaWat ofseukuran Angkoraslinya Watdi duringajang [[ParisPameran ColonialKolonial ExpositionParis]] inpada tahun 1931.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://transversal.at/transversal/1007/kuster/en|title=On the international colonial exhibition in Paris 1931 {{!}} transversal texts
|first=Brigitta |last=Kuster |website=transversal.at|access-date=23 April 2020}}</ref>
CambodiaKamboja gainedmendapatkan independencekemerdekaan fromdari FrancePrancis onpada tanggal 9 November 1953, anddan hassejak controlledsaat Angkoritu Watmeguasai sinceAngkor that timeWat.<!-- It is safe to say that from the colonial period onwards until the site's nomination as [[UNESCO World Heritage]] in 1992, this specific temple of Angkor Wat was instrumental in the formation of the modern and gradually globalised concept of built cultural heritage.<ref>Falser, Michael: Clearing the Path towards Civilization – 150 Years of "Saving Angkor". In: Michael Falser (ed.) Cultural Heritage as Civilizing Mission. From Decay to Recovery. Springer: Heidelberg, New York, pp. 279–346.</ref>
[[File:Bullet holes at angkor wat.jpg|thumb|right|Bullet holes left by a shoot-out between the Khmer Rouge and Vietnamese forces at Angkor Wat]]
Restoration work was interrupted by the [[Cambodian Civil War]] and [[Khmer Rouge]] control of the country during the 1970s and 1980s, but relatively little damage was done during this period. Camping Khmer Rouge forces used whatever wood remained in the building structures for firewood, and a shoot-out between Khmer Rouge and Vietnamese forces put a few bullet holes in a bas relief. Far more damage was done after the wars, by [[art thieves]] working out of Thailand, which, in the late 1980s and early 1990s, claimed almost every head that could be lopped off the structures, including reconstructions.<ref name="Angkor Battle">{{cite magazine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9hAteN7ddW0C&q=Angkor+Wat+Khmer+Rouge+war&pg=PA52|title=The Battle of Angkor Wat |magazine=New Scientist|pages=52–57|date=14 October 1989 |author=Russell Ciochon |author2=Jamie James |name-list-style=amp|access-date=22 November 2015}}</ref>
The temple is a powerful symbol of Cambodia, and is a source of great national pride that has factored into Cambodia's diplomatic relations with France, the United States, and its neighbour Thailand. A depiction of Angkor Wat has been a part of [[Flag of Cambodia|Cambodian national flags]] since the introduction of the first version circa 1863.<ref>Flags of the World, [http://flagspot.net/flags/kh_hstry.html Cambodian Flag History]</ref> From a larger historical and even transcultural perspective, however, the temple of Angkor Wat did not become a symbol of national pride ''sui generis'' but had been inscribed into a larger politico-cultural process of French-colonial heritage production in which the original temple site was presented in French colonial and universal exhibitions in Paris and Marseille between 1889 and 1937.<ref>Falser, Michael (2011). [http://archiv.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/ojs/index.php/transcultural/article/view/9083 ''Krishna and the Plaster Cast. Translating the Cambodian Temple of Angkor Wat in the French Colonial Period''].</ref>
InPada Decemberbulan Desember 2015, itdiumumkan wasbahwa announcedtim thatpeneliti a research team fromdari [[University ofUniversitas Sydney]] hadtelah foundmenemukan a previously unseen ensemble of buried towers built and demolished duringpada thewaktu construction ofpembangunan Angkor Wat, as well as a massive structure of unknown purpose on its south side and wooden fortifications. The findings also include evidence of low-density residential occupation in the region, with a road grid, ponds, and mounds. These indicate that the temple precinct, boundedyang bydikelilingi moatwaduk anddan tembok wallitu, maymungkin nottidak havehanya beendigunakan usedsecara exclusivelyeksklusif byoleh thekalangan priestlyelit elite,rohaniwan assebagaimana wasyang previouslydiduga thoughtsebelumnya. TheTim teampeneliti usedmenggunakan [[LiDAR]], [[ground-penetrating radar]] and targeted excavation tountuk mapmemetakan Angkor Wat.<ref name="sydney">{{cite web | url =http://sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/news/2015/12/09/new-discoveries-redefine-angkor-wat-s-history.html|title=Recent research has transformed archaeologists' understanding of Angkor Wat and its surroundings|publisher=University of Sydney| date=9 December 2015| access-date =10 DecemberDesember 2015}}</ref>-->
Angkor Wat menjalani pemugaran besar pada abad ke-20, kebanyakan di antaranya adalah pembersihan jeratan tumbuhan dan tumpukan tanah yang menutupi bangunan.<ref name="multiref1">Glaize hlm. 59.</ref> Proyek pemugaran sempat terhenti akibat perang saudara dan kendali rezim [[Khmer Merah]] atas Kamboja pada dasawarsa 1970-an dan 1980-an, akan tetapi sangat sedikit kerusakan yang ditimbulkan pada periode ini, yang kebanyakan adalah penjarahan dan pencurian serta perusakan pada arca setelah era Angkor.<ref>APSARA authority, [http://www.autoriteapsara.org/en/angkor/history/war.html The Modern Period: The war]</ref>
Candi ini merupakan simbol yang penting bagi negara [[Kamboja]].<ref name="Government::Cambodia"/> Angkor Wat merupakan kebanggaan nasional dan menjadi faktor penting bagi hubungan diplomatik luar negeri antara Kamboja dengan Prancis, Amerika Serikat, dan Thailand. Penggambaran Angkor Wat dalam [[Bendera Kamboja|bendera nasional Kamboja]] telah mulai ditampilkan sejak diperkenalkannya bendera perdana Kamboja sekitar tahun 1863.<ref>Flags of the World, [http://flagspot.net/flags/kh_hstry.html Cambodian Flag History]</ref>
Warisan kesenian yang agung dari Angkor Wat dan monumen Khmer lainnya di kawasan [[Angkor]] telah mendorong Prancis untuk memasukkan Kamboja sebagai [[protektorat]] Prancis pada 11 Agustus 1863 dan menyerang kerajaan Siam untuk merebut kendali atas kawasan reruntuhan candi ini. Maka dari itu, Kamboja dapat menguasai kembali kawasan di sudut barat laut yang dikuasai Siam sejak tahun 1351, atau menurut sumber lain dari tahun 1431.<ref>''Cambodge: The Cultivation of a Nation, 1860–1945'' oleh Penny Edwards. 2007. ISBN 978-0-8248-2923-0</ref> Kamboja meraih kemerdekaan dari Prancis pada 9 November 1953 dan sejak saat itu menguasai candi Angkor Wat.
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