Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
For the Viet Minh, Laos was an extension of their battle against the French. Twice in 1953
they staged major invasions of Laos, seizing large areas of the country before turning them
over to the Pathet Lao.
By this point, Souphanouvong had formally established the headquarters of the resistance
government in SamNeua , which lay at the heart of an extensive “liberated zone”; meanwhile
in Paris, Souvannaphouma was pressing the French for complete independence. By the time
this was granted in October 1953, however, Laos was a divided country, with large areas con-
trolled by the Pathet Lao and the rest of the country under the RLG.
Taunted by the Viet Minh invasions of Laos, which France was obliged by treaty to defend,
General Henri Navarre, the French Commander-in-Chief in Indochina, ordered the French
Expeditionary Force's parachute battalion to establish a massive base in Dien Bien Phu in
November 1953. Navarre reasoned that by creating a camp in this isolated valley along the
traditional invasion route of Laos, he could force the Viet Minh into an open battle - while
at the same time protecting Laos - and end the war in eighteen months. The war did end, but
not quite as he expected. The Viet Minh encircled the valley and began a bloody assault that
lasted 59 days and cost the lives of twenty thousand Viet Minh soldiers. The French were
forced to surrender on May 7, 1954. Their efforts to restore the pre-World War II status quo
in Indochina had collapsed.
The Geneva Conference
On May 8, the nine delegations attending the Geneva Conference called to discuss the situ-
ation in Korea shifted their focus to Indochina. The government in Vientiane was represented
by Phoui Sananikone, the scion of Vientiane's leading family and a leader of the anti-Japan-
ese resistance in northern Laos during World War II. The Viet Minh arrived with a young
Lao by the name of Nouhak Phoumsavanh, who proposed that the Pathet Lao resistance gov-
ernment of which he was a member be represented as well. Phoui defended the sovereignty
of the Vientiane government and the proposal was rejected. The conference's final declara-
tion included Phoui's proclamation that the RLG would not pursue a policy of aggression nor
would it allow a foreign power to use its soil for hostile purposes. The Agreement on the
Cessation of Hostilities was signed on July 20 - by the Viet Minh and France - which in
addition to a ceasefire also called for a regrouping of opposing forces, leading to elections in
two years.
Although Laos was reaffirmed as a unitary, independent state with a single government, the
Pathet Lao did manage to win de facto recognition as an insurgency group and were allotted
the provinces of Phongsali and Hua Phan in which to regroup.
America intervenes
The US had since 1950 been funding an estimated seventy percent of the French war effort in
Indochina. In 1951, the US signed an economic aid agreement with the government of Phoui
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