VII. The Contemporary Period, 1945–2000 > F. South and Southeast Asia, 1945–2000 > 2. Southeast Asia, 1941–2000 > b. Mainland Southeast Asia > 4. Laos > Early 1970s
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  The Encyclopedia of World History.  2001.
 
 
Early 1970s
 
Laos only nominally functioned as a nation-state.  1
 
1973
 
Following the Paris Peace Talks between the U.S. and Vietnam, the Vietnamese imposed a cease-fire on their followers in Laos (which they were not able to do in Cambodia). Over the next two years, Laos remained relatively free from full-scale warfare, but the erosion of non-Communist state power continued, leading to the eclipse of the 600-year-old Lao monarchy as an institution, which was abolished in 1975. The gradual institutionalization of Communist control most strongly resembled the situation in Czechoslovakia in 1948: power was taken by the Communists under the threat of violence and in the face of deep disillusionment, bitterness, and fatigue with warfare, which affected all strata of Lao society.  2
 
1975
 
Kaysone Phomvihan (b. 1920) became prime minister. Leadership at the center of the Communist Party had remained remarkably constant, with Kaysone controlling the party apparatus for over 40 years.  3
 
Dec. 2
 
Lao People's Democratic Republic (LPDR) became the official name of the country.  4
 
 
 
The Encyclopedia of World History, Sixth edition. Peter N. Stearns, general editor. Copyright © 2001 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Maps by Mary Reilly, copyright © 2001 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

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