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| 4. Laos |
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(See March 10)| Like the other Indochinese states, Laos was occupied by the Japanese (1945), who supported a declaration of independence on April 15. Since 1945, the political history of Laos reflected the struggle of various Laotian and foreign groups to create a national entity where none had previously existed. Strong factors worked against these efforts: deeply embedded traditions of regionalism, family rivalries among the Laotian elite, poor communications systems and economic backwardness throughout the country, and, finally, the political pressures and physical devastation created by the Vietnam War. | 1 |
| Following Japan's capitulation, Chinese troops, allotted the task of disarming the Japanese north of the 16th parallel, occupied most of the country. Concurrently a rebel Laotian government, acting in collaboration with the Viet Minh, deposed the king. In 1946, however, the French slowly reoccupied the country and on Aug. 27 signed an agreement with the king, providing for the unity and independence of Laos. A national constituent assembly met in Jan. 1947, and on May 11 the king proclaimed a constitution providing for a parliamentary constitutional monarchy. | 2 |
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| 1949, July 19 |
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| By a treaty signed in Paris, Laos became an Associated State within the French Union. | 3 |
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| 1953, Oct. 22 |
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| France and Laos signed a treaty making Laos “fully independent and sovereign” within the French Union. | 4 |
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| 1954, Feb. 1 |
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| Viet Minh forces, after launching an invasion from the Dien Bien Phu region, crossed the Laotian border and moved 35 miles into the country. | 5 |
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| Nov. 1 |
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| Premier Souvanna Phouma's cabinet decided to take the Communist-backed Pathet Lao (“Land of Lao”) movement into the government. On Nov. 19 the central government assumed control of the administration of two Pathet Lao provinces in northern Laos. | 6 |
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