Early 1970s. 2001. The Encyclopedia of World History

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.