THE LAN XANG PERIOD
In 1353, after Laos had first been ruled by Khmers from Angkor, then by Thais from Sukhothai, Prince Fa Ngoum founds the Kingdom of Laos or "Lane Xang", as it was called at the time, as a sovereign state. It extends over present-day Laos as well parts of what is now North Thailand. The first capital of Laos is Luang Prabang. King Fa Ngoum makes Buddhism the national religion.
In the 15th century the Vietnamese temporarily occupy the Laotian Kingdom and Luang Prabang.
Photisarath
Ruler (1520-47) of the Lao kingdom of Lan Xang whose territorial expansion embroiled Laos in the warfare that swept mainland Southeast Asia in the latter half of the 16th century.
Photisarath was a pious Buddhist who worked to undermine animism and Brahmanic religious practices and promote Buddhism. He resided much of the time not in the capital at Luang Prabang but in Vientiane, which was located farther south and maintained better communications with the major states of the region. Photisarath married a princess from Chiang Mai (now in northern Thailand), and when his father-in-law, the ruler of Chiang Mai, died in 1546 without male issue, Photisarath had his own son Setthathirat I placed on the Chiang Mai throne. When Photisarath died in the following year, after a fatal accident while hunting wild elephants, Setthathirat succeeded him and joined together the two kingdoms--which were soon embroiled in Siamese-Burmese wars that devastated much of the region over the next half-century.
In the 16th century Vieng Chan (Vientiane) develops into a parallel capital of the Laotian Kingdom. Burma, the dominant power in Southeast Asia in the 16th century, gains strong influence over Vieng Chan. Nevertheless, in 1563 King Setthathirat makes Vieng Chan the official capital of Laos.
In 1575, the Burmese occupy Vieng Chan and stay for seven years.
After two parallel Laotian kingdoms had developed in Luang Prabang and Vieng Chan, they were reunited in 1591 under King Nokeo Koumane.
In 1700 Laos breaks up into three kingdoms: Luang Prabang, Vieng Chan and Champassak to the South.
After the Siamese capital Ayutthaya had been conquered and sacked by Burmese armies, Laos, in 1767, again falls under full Burmese rule. But after only a few years the Siamese kingdom, with its new capital Bangkok, grows stronger and Laos again has to obey Siamese overlords.
In 1827 the Laotians under King Anou rebel against the Siamese but are soon defeated. The Laotian state disintegrat
THE COLONIAL PERIOD
In 1868, after having annexed South Vietnam as a colony and having turned Cambodia into a French protectorate, the French send an initial expedition to Laos to investigate the Mekong trade route to China.
In 1886 France receives permission from Siam largely ruling Laos, to install a vice consulate in Luang Prabang. In 1887, Siam, anticipating French expansion, vacates large parts of Laos.
In 1893 France declares the Mekong the official border between Laos and Siam. Might is right; Siam accepts the unilateral decision of big-gun France. Laos officially becomes a French protectorate.
However, France has only limited interest in her new possession. Paris sends Vietnamese officials to Laos to set up an administration but does little to develop the Laotian economy.
In September 1940 , after France is invaded by Germany, Japanese troops occupy Indochina without meeting any resistance.
Officially the word is that the French colonial power leaves all military installation for the Japanese troops to use; in exchange the French colonial administration remains in office. Therefore the years of World War II bring less destruction to Laos than, for instance, to the fiercely contested Southeast Asian states of Burma and the Philippines.
In East Asia, World War II ends August 14, 1945, with the capitulation of Japan. Subsequently, France tries to re-establish herself as colonial power in Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos.
On September 1, 1945, Laos declares its independence. France refuses to accept this, and retaliates by sending troops into Laos. A guerilla war against the French colonial power starts.
THE INDEPENDENCE PERIOD
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.
THE COMMUNIST PERIOD
December 1975
Provisional Government of National Union dissolved; King Savang Vatthana abdicates; Lao People's Democratic Republic (LPDR) proclaimed; Souphanouvong becomes first president (in power until 1991); Kaysone Phomvihan, first prime minister.
May 1976
LPRP Central Committee passes Third Resolution, guidelines for
establishing the socialist revolution.
July 1977
Twenty-Five-Year Lao-Vietnamese Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation signed.
February 1979
Lao Front for National Construction established; replaces LPF.
January 1978
Interim three-year economic development plan begins.
January 1981
First Five-Year plan begins.
April 1982
Third LPRP Congress held.
May 1984
Constitution drafting committee named.
March 1985
First national population census taken.
January 1986
Second Five-Year Plan begins.
November 1986
Fourth LPRP Congress held; Kaysone Phomvihan general secretary LPRP; New Economic Mechanism formalizes reforms.
1988
First elections since 1975 held; at district level in June, provincial level in November.
1989
National elections held in March; delegates elected to first Supreme People's Assembly; opening session held May-June; last Vietnamese troops reportedly leave Laos.
April 1990
LPRP approves draft constitution for discussion.
March 1991
Fifth LPRP Congress held, Secretariat abolished; Kaysone Phomvihan chairman, LPRP; Souphanouvong retires.
August 1991
New constitution endorsed by Supreme People's Assembly and adopted; Kaysone Phomvihan becomes president of LPDR; Khamtai Siphandon, prime minister.
1992
Kaysone dies in November; replaced as president by Nouhak Phomsavan; Khamtai becomes chairman, LPRP, and prime minister, LPDR; elections to National Assembly (renamed from Supreme People's Assembly) held in December.
1993
Nouhak and Khamtai reelected as president and prime minister in February; Council of Ministers reorganized.
1994
Phoumi Vongvichit, former acting president and high-ranking party figure, dies in January.
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