Prince Souphanouvong's Involvement in the Pathet Lao Government



Table of Contents

Plan of Investigation2

Summary of Evidence2

Evaluation of Sources4

Analysis4

Conclusion9

List of Sources11

Prince Souphanouvong's Involvement in the Pathet Lao Government

Plan of Investigation

This paper attempts to gauge the extent to which Prince Souphanouvong was involved in the Pathet Lao government and his role in the decline of the royal family. In doing so, a vast amount of literature devoted to Laotian historical political developments will be referred. Since Prince Souphanouvong was influenced by Marxist theory and Pathet Lao leaders, investigation will also be made through the use of literary resources pertaining to Pathet evolution in Laos, particularly in the light of social and political revolutions. The main book used for the paper is Martin's Buddhist kingdom Marxist State “the making of Modern Laos”. However, the literature and analysis of this paper also sought help from Evans' A short history of Laos the land in between to grasp the fundamental understanding of the political structure, history, and landscape of Laos in general.

Summary of Evidence

In 1954, following the battle of Dien Bien Phu, France recognized the independence of Laos. Since 1954, Laos was an independent kingdom, but the war continued - the fate of Laos took turns according to the accident in its neighboring Vietnam (Christopher p. 214). In March 1955, the communists led by Prince Souphanouvonga formed the Lao Communist Party, initially under the name of Lao People's Party and the Pathet Lao communist movement started off. Since 1964, the north-eastern territories overrun by Laos Pathet Lao were bombed by U.S. aircraft, mainly due to the Viet Cong supply routes running in the region and known as the Ho Chi Minh Trail. The conflicting influences of the country right, centrists and communists were led by Prince Souphanouvonga. Premier Souvanaphouma made three coalition governments. The Civil War and U.S. air strikes continued with interruptions until 1973. After the Pathet Lao victory in parliamentary elections in 1960, right-wing coup emerged on the scene. On the side of communists, Democratic Republic of Vietnam occurred on the right hand of the United States. In 1971, the Pathet Lao controlled two thirds of the national territory (Nina and McCoy p. 44-69). In 1973, a peace agreement was contracted and created a coalition government of Prime Minister Souvanaphoumy.

The extent to which Prince Souphanouvong was complicit in what then happened to the king, his queen, and their son, the crown prince, is simply unknown. It is likely that Souphanouvong knew, if he was not directly involved, about the decision to send the king and his immediate family to “seminar” in a remote compound near vieng Xai, and that the Prince had made, himself, a decisive choice between his fidelity to family on the one hand and his fidelity to the party or state on the other. Many others were also asked to make this same type of decision (family vs. state), a decision that, as we see, deeply impacted familial land holdings and the concomitant worship of ...