North Vietnamese invasion of Laos

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North Vietnamese invasion of the Kingdom of Laos
Part of the Vietnam War and Laotian Civil War
Date1958–1959
Location
Kingdom of Laos
Result
  • Beginning of the
    Ho Chi Minh Trail
  • Start of the
    Local War Phase
  • Start of the Laotian Civil War
Belligerents
Laos Laos North Vietnam North Vietnam
Laos Pathet Lao
Part of a series on the
History of Laos
Muang city-states era
Muang Sua 698–1353
Lan Xang era
Lan Xang 1353–1707
Regional kingdoms era
Kingdom of Vientiane 1707–1828
Kingdom of Luang Phrabang 1707–1893
Muang Phuan 1707–1899
Kingdom of Champasak 1713–1904
Colonial era
French Protectorate of Laos
 1893–1953
Franco-Thai War 1940–1941
Japanese puppet state 1945
Free Lao Movement (Lao Issara) 1945–1949
Independent era
Laos after Soviet dominance
 1991–
See also

17th Parallel, also known as the Demilitarized Zone
(DMZ), a narrow strip of land between North and South Vietnam that was closely guarded by both sides. It also helped the Pathet Lao win against the Kingdom of Laos, even though the Kingdom of Laos had American support.

Prelude to conflict

Saigon.[1]

The Soviet Union and North Vietnam, already upset by the departure of the ICC, which they had seen as a restraining influence, protested.[1] The United States worked out an agreement with France that reduced the role of the French military mission and enlarged that of the Programs Evaluation Office, which embarked on a major strengthening of its staff and functions.[1]

Occupation of Lao villages by North Vietnam and Pathet Lao (December 1958)

The occupation in December 1958 by North Vietnamese and Pathet Lao security forces of several villages in

Tchepone District near the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) between North Vietnam and South Vietnam was an ominous development.[1] The Laos government immediately protested the flying of the North Vietnamese flag on Laotian territory.[1] Hanoi claimed the villages had historically been part of Vietnam.[1]

With regard to precedent, this was a decidedly modest claim - nonetheless, it represented a unilateral reinterpretation of the French map used by the Truong Gia Armistice Commission in the summer of 1954 to draw the DMZ, and, backed by force of arms, constituted nothing less than aggression.[1] Phoui received extraordinary powers from the National Assembly to deal with the crisis.[1] But the failure to regain their lost territory rankled the Laotian nationalists, who were hoping for a greater degree of United States assistance.[1]

The Ho Chi Minh trail from the very beginning was using Vietnamese and Laotian people as seen in a captured Vietcong's photo, circa 1959

One of Washington's major preoccupations was the danger that the Royal Lao Army would integrate the Pathet Lao troops without the safeguard of "screening and reindoctrinating" them.[1] The embassy was instructed to tell the government that it would be difficult to obtain congressional approval of aid to Laos with communists in the Royal Lao Army.[1] Before the final integration of 1,500 Pathet Lao troops (two battalions) into the Royal Lao Army could take place as planned in May 1959, the Pathet Lao used a quibble about officer ranks to delay the final ceremony.[1]

As monsoon rains swept over the

Louangphrabang.[1] The event signaled a resumption of hostilities.[1] In July, Phoui's government, after protracted cabinet deliberations, ordered the arrest of the LPF deputies in Vientiane--Souphanouvong, Nouhak, Phoumi Vongvichit, Phoun Sipaseut, Sithon Kommadan, Singkapo, and others. Tiao Souk Vongsak evaded arrest.[1]

North Vietnamese and Pathet Lao attack (1959)

Ho Chi Minh Trail
running through Laos, 1967.

Fighting broke out all along the border with North Vietnam.

North Vietnamese Army regular units participated in attacks on July 28–31, 1959.[1] These operations established a pattern of North Vietnamese forces leading the attack on a strong point, then falling back and letting the Pathet Lao remain in place once resistance to the advance had been broken.[1] The tactic had the advantage of concealing the North Vietnamese presence from view.[1]

Rumors of North Vietnamese in the vicinity often had a terrifying effect.

Xam Nua without encountering the enemy, they found that the garrison had decamped, leaving the town undefended.[1]

Direct North Vietnamese involvement in Laos began taking another form wherein aggression was difficult to prove.

Houaphan border at Ban Namèo. This unit provided logistical and other support to Pathet Lao forces.[1]

In view of the reversion to a fighting strategy, the North Vietnamese and Lao parties decided to establish an upgraded unit.[1] The new unit, known as Group 959, headquartered at Na Kai, just inside the Houaphan border, began operating in September 1959.[1] Its establishment coincided with a major effort to expand the hitherto small Pathet Lao forces.[1]

According to an official history published after the war, its mission was "serving as specialists for the Military Commission and Supreme Command of the Lao People's Liberation Army, and organizing the supplying of Vietnamese matériel to the Laotian revolution and directly commanding the Vietnamese volunteer units operating in

Sam Neua, Xiangkhouang, and Vientiane."[1] These actions were in violation of the obligation Ho Chi Minh's government had assumed as a participant in the 1954 Geneva Conference to refrain from any interference in the internal affairs of Laos.[1]

The Vietnamese party's strategy was by now decided with regard to South Vietnam.

Ho Chi Minh Trail.[1]

Phetsarath and Sisavang Vong, viceroy and king, died within two weeks of each other in October 1959.[1]

See also

References

  1. ^
    OCLC 32394600. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.{{cite encyclopedia}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link
    )

Further reading
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