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 France |  Laos |
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France–Laos relations are the bilateral relations between France and Laos. France has an embassy in Vientiane, and Laos has an embassy in Paris. Both countries are members of Organisation internationale de la Francophonie.
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France | Laos |
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France–Laos relations are the bilateral relations between France and Laos. France has an embassy in Vientiane, and Laos has an embassy in Paris. Both countries are members of Organisation internationale de la Francophonie.
The French arrived in Laos in 19th century when France was engaged in conquering Vietnam, and Laos was totally devastated by the earlier Anouvong rebellion against Siam. [1] In order to repopulate the territory and to expand French political and economic domination, the French annexed Laos in 1887. France turned Laos into a protectorate in 1893, and rebuilt what is now the capital city of Laos, Vientiane. [2]
Under French rule, Laos was largely left untouched and thus Laotian resistance against France was much weaker than in neighboring Vietnam. It changed when Japan invaded Indochina and anti-French, anti-Japanese movements started to blossom; nonetheless, throughout and after World War II, anti-French resistance didn't strengthen due to differences in ideologies and factional conflicts. [3] By the time the Pathet Lao, led by Prince Souphanouvong and Kaysone Phomvihan emerged, the French had begun the process of retreating from Indochina, and after 1954, link between two countries was insignificant until Laotian economic reforms in 1990s. [3]
After Laotian reforms in 1990s, the relationship between Laos and France began to re-emerge after decades of negligence. Laos joined the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie in 1991, and has two branches of the Institut de France. [4]
Laos, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic, is the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia. At the heart of the Indochinese Peninsula, Laos is bordered by Myanmar (Burma) and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the southeast, and Thailand to the west and southwest. Its capital and largest city is Vientiane.
Evidence for modern human presence in the northern and central highlands of Indochina, that constitute the territories of the modern Laotian nation-state dates back to the Lower Paleolithic. These earliest human migrants are Australo-Melanesians—associated with the Hoabinhian culture—and have populated the highlands and the interior, less accessible regions of Laos and all of South-east Asia to this day. The subsequent Austroasiatic and Austronesian marine migration waves affected landlocked Laos only marginally and direct Chinese and Indian cultural contact had a greater impact on the country.
The foreign relations of Laos, internationally designated by its official name as the Lao People's Democratic Republic, after the takeover by the Pathet Lao in December 1975, were characterized by a hostile posture toward the West, with the government of the Lao People's Democratic Republic aligning itself with the Soviet bloc, maintaining close ties with the Soviet Union and depending heavily on the Soviets for most of its foreign assistance. Laos also maintained a "special relationship" with Vietnam and formalized a 1977 treaty of friendship and cooperation that created tensions with China.
French Indochina, officially known as the Indochinese Union and after 1947 as the Indochinese Federation, was a grouping of French colonial territories in Southeast Asia until its demise in 1954. It comprised Cambodia, Laos, the Chinese territory of Guangzhouwan, and the Vietnamese regions of Tonkin in the north, Annam in the centre, and Cochinchina in the south. The capital for most of its history (1902–1945) was Hanoi; Saigon was the capital from 1887 to 1902 and again from 1945 to 1954.
Kaysone Phomvihane was the first leader of the Communist Lao People's Revolutionary Party from 1955 until his death in 1992. After the Communists seized power in the wake of the Laotian Civil War, he was the de facto leader of Laos from 1975 until his death. He served as the first Prime Minister of the Lao People's Democratic Republic from 1975 to 1991 and then as the second President from 1991 to 1992.
Prince Phetsarath Ratanavongsa (Somdej Chao Maha Uparaja Petsaraj Ratanavongsa was the 1st Prime Minister of Luang Phrabang in French Laos from 21 August 1941 to 10 October 1945, and Head of State of Laos between 12 October 1945 and 4 April 1946.
The French Union was a political entity created by the French Fourth Republic to replace the old French colonial empire system, colloquially known as the "French Empire". It was de jure the end of the "indigenous" status of French subjects in colonial areas.
Phoumi Vongvichit was a leading figure of the Pathet Lao and an elder statesman of the Lao People's Democratic Republic.
The Laotian Civil War (1959–1975) was a civil war in Laos waged between the Communist Pathet Lao and the Royal Lao Government from 23 May 1959 to 2 December 1975. It is associated with the Cambodian Civil War and the Vietnam War, with both sides receiving heavy external support in a proxy war between the global Cold War superpowers. It is called the Secret War among the American CIA Special Activities Center, and Hmong and Mien veterans of the conflict.
French was the official language of Vietnam under French colonial rule during the 19th and early 20th centuries. After 1954, French fell into disuse in North Vietnam, and maintained a high status in South Vietnam. Since the Fall of Saigon in 1975, French has declined in modern Vietnam: in 2018, slightly under 1% of the population was fluent in French.
At the present time, there is no known Scouting program in Laos, one of only four of the world's independent countries that do not have Scouting.
French is spoken by a significant minority in Laos. Laos has the second largest Francophone community in Southeast Asia after Vietnam and ahead of Cambodia. French is used as an administrative language and is also widely present in commerce, and is also studied by over a third of students in Laos. Consequently, the language enjoys a healthier status in Laos compared to other Francophone Southeast Asian countries, although its influence is still under threat from the encroaching use of English.
This article details the history of Laos from 1945 to the present.
The French protectorate of Laos was a French protectorate in Southeast Asia of what is today Laos between 1893 and 1953—with a brief interregnum as a Japanese puppet state in 1945—which constituted part of French Indochina. It was established over the Siamese vassal, the Kingdom of Luang Phrabang, following the Franco-Siamese War in 1893. It was integrated into French Indochina and in the following years further Siamese vassals, the Principality of Phuan and Kingdom of Champasak, were annexed into it in 1899 and 1904, respectively.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Laos:
North Vietnam, officially the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, was a socialist state in Southeast Asia that existed from 1945 to 1976, with formal sovereignty being fully recognized in 1954. A member of the Eastern Bloc, it opposed the French-backed State of Vietnam and later the Western-allied Republic of Vietnam. North Vietnam emerged victorious over South Vietnam in 1975 and ceased to exist the following year when it unified with the south to become the current Socialist Republic of Vietnam.
Laos–Philippines relations refers to the bilateral relations between Laos and the Philippines. Laos has an embassy in Manila while the Philippines has an embassy in Vientiane.
Kou Voravong was a Laotian politician. He was part of the anti-Japanese resistance leading group during the Second World War and after then anti-Lao Issara (ລາວອິດສລະ) in the post-war period. Throughout his career, from 1941 to 1954, he has been District Chief, Province Governor, member of the Lao National Assembly, and Royal Lao Government Minister.
Laos–Turkey relations are the foreign relations between Laos and Turkey. Diplomatic relations at the legation level were established in 1947 and then to the rank of ambassador in 1958. It was not until December 27, 2017, however, that Turkey established a resident embassy in Laos’s capital, Vientiane.
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