#pathet lao

[lionfloss]

The Viengxay caves in Houaphanh Province of north-eastern Laos are an extensive network of caves in limestone mountains. Four-hundred eighty of these caves were used by the Pathet Lao during the Second Indochina War to shelter from American bombardment.

[doctor-uchron99]

Pathet Lao soldiers in Xam Neua, 1953

The Pathet Lao (Lao: ປະເທດລາວ pa thēt lāo, "Lao Nation") was a communist political movement and organization in Laos, formed in the mid-20th century. The group was ultimately successful in assuming political power in 1975, after the Laotian Civil War. The Pathet Lao were always closely associated with Vietnamese communists. During the civil war, it was effectively organized, equipped and even led by the People's Army of Vietnam. he organization can trace its roots from the Second World War, just as can the Khmer Issarak in Cambodia and the Viet Minh and Vietnam People's Army in Vietnam. Originally the Lao Issara, an anti-French, non-communist nationalist movement formed on October 12, 1945, it was renamed the "Pathet Lao" in 1950, when it was adopted by Lao forces under Souphanouvong, who joined the Viet Minh's revolt against the colonial French authorities in Indochina during the First Indochina War.

Souphanouvong, who had spent seven years in Nha Trang during his sixteen years in Vietnam, met Ho Chi Minh, married a Vietnamese woman while in Vietnam, and solicited Viet Minh aid in founding a guerrilla force.

In August 1950, Souphanouvong joined the Viet Minh in their headquarters north of Hanoi, Vietnam, and become the head of the Pathet Lao, along with its political arm dubbed "Neo Lao Issara" (Free Lao Front).The Pathet Lao founded resistance government with members: Souphanouvong (prime minister, minister of the foreign), Kaysone Phomvihane (minister of the defence), Nouhak Phoumsavanh (minister of the economy), Phoumi Vongvichit (deputy prime minister, minister of the interior), Souk Vongsak, Sithon Kommadam, and Faydang Lobliayao. This was an attempt to give a false front of authority to the Lao communist movement by claiming to represent a united non-partisan effort. Two of its most important founders were members of the Indochinese Communist Party, which advocated an overthrow of the monarchy as well as expulsion of the French.

In 1953, Pathet Lao fighters accompanied an invasion of Laos from Vietnam led by Viet Minh forces; they established a government at Viengxay in Houaphan province in northeast Laos. The communists began to make incursions into central Laos with the support of the Viet Minh, and a civil war erupted; the Pathet Lao quickly occupied substantial sections of the country.

The 1954 Geneva Conference agreements required the withdrawal of foreign forces, and allowed the Pathet Lao to establish itself as a regime in Laos's two northern provinces. The Viet Minh and North Vietnamese, in spite of the agreement, never really withdrew from the border areas of Laos, and the Pathet Lao continued to operate almost as a branch organization of the Viet Minh. Two months after the conference, the Viet Minh-North Vietnamese formed the unit Group 100 with headquarters at Ban Nameo. The unit effectively controlled and directed the Pathet Lao movement.

It was formed into an official party, the Lao Patriotic Front (Neo Lao Hak Sat), in 1956. Its stated goal was to wage the communist struggle against capitalism and Western colonialism and imperialism. Unstated was its subordination to the Communist Party of Vietnam. A coalition government was established in 1957 between the monarchists and communists, but it collapsed in 1959, bringing about a resumption of fighting. By the late 1950s, North Vietnam had occupied areas of eastern Laos. The area was used as a transit route for men and supplies destined for the insurgency in South Vietnam. In September 1959, North Vietnam formed Group 959 in Laos with the aim of building the Pathet Lao into a stronger counterforce against the Lao Royal government. Group 959 openly supplied, trained and militarily supported the Pathet Lao. The typical strategy during this era was for North Vietnamese regulars to attack first but then send in the Pathet Lao at the end of the battle to claim victory.

In the 1960s, more attempts at neutrality agreements and coalition government were attempted but as North Vietnam had no intention of withdrawing from Laos, these agreements all failed. By the mid-1960s, the country had fallen into proxy warfare between pro-US and pro-Vietnamese irregular military groups. In 1968, the Army of North Vietnam launched a multi-division invasion of Laos. The Pathet Lao were pushed to the side in the conflict and reduced to the role of an auxiliary force to the North Vietnamese army. Unable to match the heavy Soviet and Chinese weapons in addition to the numerical strength of the Vietnamese forces, the Royal Lao Army took itself out of the conflict after heavy losses.

The communist forces battled the Royal Lao Army, US irregular forces (including Air America and other contract employees and Hmong commandos), and Thai volunteer forces in Laos winning effective control in the north and east. The government itself was effectively powerless. The Pathet Lao held hundreds of US "detainees" as prisoners of war during and after the Vietnam War (Second Indochina War).

Shortly after the Paris Peace Accords ended US involvement in the Vietnam War, the Pathet Lao and the government of Laos signed a cease-fire agreement, the Vientiane Treaty, in February 1973.

The coalition government envisaged by the treaty lasted only two years. The Pathet Lao refused to disarm and the North Vietnamese Army did not leave the country. In late May 1975, the Pathet Lao, with the direct assistance of the North Vietnamese Army, began attacking government strongholds. With the fall of the South Vietnamese government to the North Vietnamese on 30 April 1975 and the fall of the Cambodian government to the Khmer Rouge on April 17, the non-communist elements of the national government decided that allowing the Pathet Lao to enter power would be better than to have them take it by force. On 23 August 1975, Pathet Lao forces quietly entered the Lao capital city of Vientiane.

On 2 December 1975, the Pathet Lao firmly took over the government, abolishing the monarchy and establishing the Lao People's Democratic Republic. Shortly thereafter, the Pathet Lao signed an agreement with Vietnam that allowed Vietnam to station part of its army in the country and to send political and economic advisors into Laos. Vietnam afterward forced Laos to cut any remaining economic ties to its other neighbours, including Thailand and Cambodia.

After the Pathet Lao took over the country in 1975, the conflict continued in isolated pockets. In 1977, a communist newspaper promised the party would hunt down the "American collaborators" and their families "to the last root". With the demise of the Soviet Union, control of Laos by Vietnam waned at the end of the 1980s. Today, 'Pathet Lao' is often invoked as a general term signifying Lao nationalism.

Unknown - Kenneth Conboy: War in Laos 1954-1975, Carrollton, TX, 1994, ISBN 0-89747-315-9.

[silentambassadors]

Happy National Day, Laos!  On this date in 1975, after a devastating civil war (not to mention being a pawn in the Vietnam War), Pathet Lao overthrew the Laotian king and declared Laos to be the Lao People’s Democratic Republic.  Laos is, as you may know, the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia, and alas, the infighting (and pawniness) did not end in 1975--many Laotians have been resettled in other parts of the world, including many Hmong (have you read Ann Fadiman’s The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down?  You must).

Stamp details: Issued on: December 2, 2015 From: Vientiane, Laos SW #2316-2319

[indochina1]

Pathet Lao Soldiers with Children, 1974. Source: Libraries Search website.

The Royal Lao government was faced with the same existential problem as its anti-communist neighbours in 1974 as the Americans withdrew from Indochina. The ceasefire called in Laos following the Paris Peace Accords, held, unlike in South Vietnam and Cambodia. However the disadvantages faced by the Vientiane regime vis-à-vis its opponents in terms of territory held and logistical strength, meant the Rightist cause in Laos also floundered. The long-term anti-communist Laotian Prime Minister, Souvanna Phouma was in ill health and in early 1974, announced his retirement from politics and he relocated to France. Under the terms of the ceasefire, the Pathet Lao entered into government alongside its former enemies and immediately set about trying to engineer a political takeover, under the effective leadership of the “Red Prince” Souphanouvong, ironically Phouma's half-brother.

In May 1974 Souphanouvong put forward a plan for “National Reconstruction”, which included the holding of free elections, religious and political freedom and economic investment. The plan was agreed unanimously by the National Assembly. Although Laos avoided the violence underway in the other Indochinese countries in 1974, the balance of power was weighted heavily in favour of the Pathet Lao, who were still militarily supported by the PAVN, while the Royalist and Rightist factions were leaderless and now lacked the support of the US. The stage was set for a gradual takeover of Laos by the Communists.

[indochina1]

Pathet Lao Perimeter Outpost, Ban La, Laos, 1967. Sources: Richard L Holme/Readex

In August 1967, the Royal Lao Army had held the key settlement of Nam Bac for over a year, effectively blocking Communist supply lines from the North Vietnamese border into Laos. This changed with a sudden Pathet Lao offensive on the RLA garrison, supported by over 4,000 experienced PAVN troops. The RLA defence, despite American advisory ground support, was poorly co-ordinated. The garrison was quickly surrounded and cut off and both Royal Lao Air Force and infantry relief efforts were half-hearted and failed to rescue the defending troops. Ultimately the RLA commanders fled Nam Bac for the capital and the garrison disintegrated. Most of the fleeing soldiers were captured or surrendered, but Royal army killed and wounded figures were also high. The Pathet Lao/PAVN were able to seize large amounts of supplies, including intact artillery pieces, but, more importantly, the Communists re-opened their supply lines and caused the RLA to fall back on Vientiane, evacuating all the military gains it had made in 1966.

Arguably the RLA never recovered from Nam Bac, and the balance of military advantage shifted decisively in favour of the Communists following their victory. The CIA operation in Laos, until then viewed as one of the more successful American initiatives in the Second Indochina War, suffered significant reputational damage.

[indochina1]

Royal Lao Army Mortar Team in 1966. Source: GettyImages

In Laos, throughout early 1966, the Pathet Lao, supported by the PAVN, began to advance again across the Plain of Jars. In a major success, the Communists had secured the Nam Bac Valley by mid-July. This provoked a significant response by the Royal Lao Army and the Rightists, supported by American air power and the continuance of Operation Barrel Roll. The government offensive took the NVA/Pathet Lao troops by surprise due to its rapidity (unusual for the RLA), and after heavy US and RLAF bombing, they withdrew from their positions in the face of the Lao military’s advance. By the end of August 1966, Nam Bac and its environs were back under Vientiane’s control. The offensive did not stop there. The RLA pushed on, precipitating a collapse of the Pathet Lao position and a wholesale Communist retreat north and east. By September, the government forces were nearing both the Laotian border with the DRV and had begun to press into eastern Laos, which for years now had been the base of the Ho Chi Minh Trail.

[indochina1]

Operation Barrell Roll, Summer 1964. Source: WorldAtlas

In June 1964, the US Air Force launched Operation Barrel Roll, a covert bombing campaign of eastern Laos that was to last eleven years. The campaign, carried out with the agreement of the Royal Lao government, but hidden from Congress and the American public due to Laos’ official neutral status, was aimed at disrupting the Ho Chi Minh Trail. The operation also provided air support for the Royal Lao Army in its war with the Pathet Lao and to Vang Pao’s Hmong irregulars. Over the period of its operation, Barrel Roll was a major contributor to Laos’ unwelcome status as the most bombed country in the world, per capita.

In July 1964, the Laotian government launched Operation Triangle against Pathet Lao forces based in and around the Plain of Jars, supported by US military planners and air support and by Thai artillery. The offensive was a success, surprising a large Pathet Lao concentration between Routes 7 and 13, forcing its withdrawal from the Plain and the abandonment of considerable military supplies. Following Vang Pao’s victory at Sam Neua the previous year, this success consolidated RLA and Neutralist control of the Plain of Jars, and represented a major setback for the Communist war effort in Laos.

[indochina1]

Members of the Pathet Lao Using a Grenade Launcher. Source: Bridgeman images

In the first part of 1963, the civil war in Laos flared into life once more. The uneasy alliance between the Neutralist FAN under Kong Le and the Pathet Lao broke down, and the insurgent organisation, backed by the PAVN, launched a concerted attempt to dislodge the Neutralist faction from its stronghold on the Plain of Jars. The FAN suffered a number of defeats in small scale engagements and although they held onto their positions, the Neutralists were severely weakened by their losses, which included defections to both the Pathet Lao and the Royal Lao Army.

The Communists also attacked the forces of the Rightist government and the RLA as part of their offensive. This led the Americans to take the view the Laotian Geneva Accords had been broken, so the US stepped up its military supplies and training to the Vientiane government’s armed forces, significantly strengthening the Laotian Air Force in particular. Apart from intending to sustain Phoumi Nosovan’s regime, the Americans also wished to improve scrutiny and intelligence of the Ho Chi Minh Trail, which the North Vietnamese were rapidly developing into a series of semi-permanent roads into the South.