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What is now the country of Laos has been inhabited since the stone age, but the first Lao settlers didn't arrive from Southern China until the 11th century and established their first small principality around what would become Luang Prabang. In the 12th century the region fell under the control of the Khmer Empire, and in the 13th century under that of the Mongols. The future of the country would echo the events of these early centuries, as Laos (before and after it gained its present name) very rarely enjoyed full sovereignty.
The earliest independent Lao kingdoms were named Lan Xang, founded by an exiled Lao prince named Fa Ngum. Raised at Angkor and married to a Khmer princess, he returned home at the head of a Khmer army to press his claim to the throne. Following his initial military success, he used his influence to draw together all the smaller Lao principalities to form a strong kingdom which rivaled any of its neighbours in Burma, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Ayutthaya (later Siam and even later Thailand.)
Through Fa Ngum's queen, Theravada Buddhism became the principal religion of royalty, and many monasteries were endowed by the ruling elite. However, Buddhism made little headway against the local animistic cults. The hilly, overgrown terrain made missionary work very difficult, and as a result people simply lived as they always had -- again foreshadowing a persistent national trait.
By the 15th century Lan Xang had grown weak, and was invaded by a Vietnamese army in 1478, which seized and sacked the capital before being driven out. The strength of the kingdom was restored by King Vixun. Vixun brought a golden Buddha image called the Phra Bang to his capital, which soon gave its name to the city: Luang (meaning "great) Prabang.
In the next century the kingdom was under continual threat from the armies of Burma, who twice invaded only to be driven out by the armies of King Xetthathirat. The military-minded king moved his capital south to Vientiane, because it was more defensible and because by that time the Lao people had spread further south and it was a more central location. Xetthathirat, however, overreached himself later in his reign and disappeared after being defeated during an invasion of Cambodia. Without leadership, Lan Xang soon fell to the Burmese.
Laos recovered in the 17th century under the great king Surinyavongsa. It was during his long reign that Europeans first visited the region. In 1695 the king died without heirs, and his kingdom split into three parts, all of which were absorbed into the kingdom of Ayutthaya during the next century.
Control of much of present-day Laos was given to the French in 1893 -- and the rest in 1907 -- by the Siamese king, who wanted help keeping the Burmese at bay, and was eager to strike a bargain that would keep the French out of Thailand. It was the French who gave the country its present name of Laos, after the people who lived there.
As a colony Laos was at best third-rate. The topography of the country prevented any serious investment by the French, who built little in the way of infrastructure, no universities, and failed to exploit any of the natural resources of the country save one. |
Unexploced American Ordinance in a Laotian field near Phon Shavan-phot by Tandy Sean
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Opium was the chief export under the French, and this was reflected in the way the colony was run. With no more than several hundred French in the country, the majority of whom spent their time indulging their appetites for drugs and women, administration of the country was left to the imported Vietnamese civil servants.
By international standards the country was a backwater, but the Lao people continued their lives as if little had changed, which was not far from the mark.
This changed during WWII, when the Vichy French allowed Japanese troops to be stationed in Indochina. After the war Laos briefly declared independence but was reconquered by the French in 1949. The country was unified under the King of Luang Prabang and given partial independence as a constitutional monarchy.
Lao nationalists in exile allied themselves with the Pro-Communist Viet Minh, who were still fighting the French, and calling themselves the Pathet Lao (Lao State) established a power base in the northern part of the country. In 1953 the Viet Minh invaded Laos and handed over large portions of the country to the Pathet Lao. France granted the country full independence in 1954 at the Geneva Conference, whereat the Pathet Lao and their territory were to be integrated, under the government of the pro-French Lao elite.
In 1957 an agreement was reached to include the Pathet Lao in the country's governing coalition led by Prince Souvanna Phouma. Intent on keeping Communism out of Southeast Asia, the United States -- by this time stronger in the region than France -- backed rightists who deposed the neutralist government and rigging new elections.
In response to this, the Pathet Lao resumed guerilla warfare in 1959, with the US- and Soviet-led camps respectively backing their sides. However, an army commander in the neutral camp, Captain Konglae, overthrew the rightist government and restored the coalition. The US encouraged a military strongman, Gen. Phoumi Nosavan, to drive Konglae out of Vientiane and establish a rival government. This forced Konglae to ally himself with the Pathet Lao, and together they soon controlled over half the country.
This forced President Kennedy to agree to Laotian neutrality, and in Geneva in 1961 a second coalition government was formed under Souvanna Phouma, comprised of elements from right, left, and neutral camps. The balance of power did not last, as under pressure from right and left the neuralists splintered, and in 1965 the civil war had recommenced.
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During the Vietnam war Laotian neutrality was horribly violated by both sides. At one point there were so many different foreign forces in the country it was accepted that gold was the only universally acceptable currency. The Viet Cong and their Chinese allies were used the Ho Chi Min Trail to move supplies and troops. In response the US trained forces of Hmong mercenaries, and carpet bombed the area of the trail. So devastating were the US attacks that more bombs were dropped on Laos than over Europe during World War II. Sadly, much of that ordnance remains unexploded, hidden in the jungle, routinely maiming or killing those unlucky enough to stumble on it.
As the Vietnam War dragged on, negotiations began in Laos for a cease-fire. In April 1974 a third coalition government was formed with equal representation from right and left. However, the Pathet Lao soon gained the upper hand, and in 1975 seized power, proclaiming the Lao People's Democratic Republic. The royal family was deposed and sentenced to hard labour. They disappeared soon after and have not been seen since. The government refuses to speak about the matter, but it has come to light that the royals were sent to a cave prison where they died from being deprived of food and proper medical attention. Nevertheless, some members of the royal family escaped and now live overseas, maintaining their claim to the throne of Laos.
The government nationalised industry and embarked on a plan of agricultural collectivisation. This angered many peasants, tens of thousands of whom fled to Thailand and were resettled in France, the US, and Australia. As the economy veered towards collapse, the government halted collectivisation in 1981 and launched its first five-year plan. This plan did not meet its targets, and the government was forced to liberalise the economy, allowing in foreign investment and relaxing price and production controls.
After the collapse of the USSR the LPDR began working to improve relationships with its neighbours, as well as countries like Japan and the US (with whom it normalised relations in the 1990s). In 1992 Kaysone Phomvihan, head of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party (LPRP) and president of the country, died and power was smoothly transferred to his successors.
Since then the economy has grown fairly rapidly, Laos has joined ASEAN, and despite the regional setbacks caused by the Asian economic crisis in the late 1990s the country remains on decent economic footing. Recently, however, the heavy-handed rule of the LPRP has been challenged by a calls for a return to constitutional monarchy, but without political freedoms it is unclear how that might take place.
by Robin Elliott
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