Laos 1918-1945






Laos 1945-1954



Japan surrendered on September 2nd 1945. While Laotian resistance activists hoped for independence, on September 7th the King of Luang Prabang announced the return of French colonial administration; the last Laotian provinces not yet part of his kingdom were annexed and the capital established at Vientiane. Then, in September 1945, Nationalist Chinese troops arrived, allegedly in order to disarm the Japanese. Independence-minded Laotians established the LAO ISSARA (Free Laos) government, which took control of the capital of Vientiane. In April 1946 French forces arrived; the Lao Issara set up a government-in-exile in Bangkok. The Nationalist Chinese troops withdrew to China.
In 1946 constitutional changes were implemented in Laos, that included the convocation of a CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY. The status of Laos as a unified kingdom with the capital at Vientiane was confirmed by the French. In 1947 the territories on the right bank of the Mekong ceded to Thailand in 1941 were reintegrated into Laos.
In 1947 a CONSTITUTION was promulgated; Laos was declared an independent state within the French Union. A NATIONAL ASSEMBLY was created. In 1949 the Royal Lao Army was established. Newly independent Laos received recognition from Britain and the USA in 1950
The Lao Issara government-in-exile disintegrated in late 1949. In Vietnam, especially in Tonkin, anti-French resistance of the Viet Minh intensified in the early 1950es; Viet Minh activists, under the name NEO LAO ISSARA, infiltrated Laos' border regions to propagate an anti-French crusade. Prince SOUPHANOUVONG lead a PATHET LAO coalition government which included both Laotian aristocracy and Viet Minh sympathizers; key positions were held by communists. In 1953 Pathet Lao mulitary units, together with those odf the Viet Minh, took up military struggle against the French and liberated an entire province.
The Viet Minh victory over the French in the BATTLE OF DIEN BIEN PHU (1954) decided the issue. France withdrew from Indochina; the latter was split up into four independent states - Laos, Cambodia, North and South Vietnam (GENEVA CONFERENCE, July 1954).



EXTERNAL
FILES 		Laos, History of, from Infoplease
Library of Congress, Country Studies : Laos
DOCUMENTS Indochina - United States Recognition of Viet-Nam, Laos, and Cambodia: Statement by the Department of State, February 7, 1950 (1), from Avalon Project, Yale Law School
Indochina - United States Support of Laos Against the Viet Minh Invasion: Statement by the Department of State, April 17, 1953 (1), from Avalon Project, Yale Law School
Indochina - United States Emergency Aid to Laos and Thailand in the Face of Viet Minh Aggression: Statement by the Secretary of State at a News Conference, May 9, 1953 (1), from Avalon Project, Yale Law School
Propaganda poster warning of the Viet Minh, posted by Memorial - Le Mur de Donateurs
REFERENCE


This page is part of World History at KMLA
First posted on on May 18th 2002, last revised on November 3rd 2004

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