On July 19, 1949, France formally grants Laos independence.
For almost three decades, from 1949 to 1975, the
political situation in Laos is highly confusing. Three factions
struggle for power: 1. Conservatives, commanding, among
other forces, a 30,000-men army of the Hmong (Meo) hill tribe;
2. Neutralists, organized by Prince Souvanna Phouma; 3.
Communists, lead by a feudal prince, Souphanouvang (a contradiction
Marx had not anticipated).
The civil war among the three rival factions is, however, not
fought as fiercely as the civil wars in Vietnam or Cambodia. Several
times in three decades coalition governments are formed,
including all three factions. The neutralists usually lead the
coalitions.
From 1964 to 1973 the US fight a secret war in Laos,
against Laotian communists as well as North Vietnamese troops
channeling war material to the Vietcong in South Vietnam via the
Ho Chi Min Trail through Laos.
After the US forces begin their retreat from Indochina in 1973,
the right-wing government in Vientiane is replaced by a coalition
government of neutralists and the communist Pathet Lao.
In 1975, after communist troops conquered the capitals
of Vietnam and Cambodia, the communist Pathet Lao gains
sole power in Laos. While in Laos, too, parts of the population
are detained in reeducation camps, there isn't the kind
of revenge as in Cambodia. Former neutralist Premier Minister
Souvanna is not even arrested, just demoted in rank to government
advisor.
In the following decades Laos cultivates a close relationship
to Vietnam. The most powerful man in communist Laos, General
Secretary of the Revolutionary Party of the People, Kaysone
Phomvihan, is half Laotian and half Vietnamese.
In March 1991, at the fifth congress of the Revolutionary
People's Party, far-reaching changes of the economic structure
of the country are decided. As in China and Vietnam, private business,
free-market competition and foreign investment are permitted in
order to accelerate the economic development of the country.
However, as in China and Vietnam, political leaders are not inclined
to share power in a multi-party system.
Other eras in history:
This page: http://www.cockatoo.com/english/laos/laos_history_independence.htm
