Laos, Post independence era

The government and army of Laos were generally neutral in the conflict of US and Vietnam. But growing american and North Vietnamese military presence in the coutry increasingly drew laos into the Second Indochina war (1954-1975). For nearly a decade , eastern Laos was subjected to the heaviest bombing in the history of warfare, as the US sought to destroy the Ho Chi Minh trail that passed through Laos. The country was repeatedly invaded by Vietnam.

The guardian reported that Laos was hit by an average of one B-52 bombload every 8 minutes, 24 hrs. a day, between 1964 and 1973. US bombers dropped more ordnanceon Laos in this period than was dropped during the whole of the Second World War.Of 260m bombies that rained down, partcularly on Xieng Khouang province, 80m failed to explore, leaving a deadly legacy.
In 1975 the Communist Pathet lao, backed by the Soviet Union and the North Vietnamese Army, overthrew the royalist government , forcing King Savang Vatthana to abdicate on Dec. 1975. He later died in captivity.
Lao People's Revolutionary Party :
The Communist Party of Lao, popularly known as Lao People's Revolutionary Party was founded originally as the Indochinese Communist Party (ICP) founded by Ho Chi Minh in 1930. it had a small "Lao section" in 1936. Laotian members were enrolled in 1946 or 1947. Kaysone Phomvihan, a law student and Nouthak Phoumsavan were enrolled at that time.


Ho Chi Minh