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The Lao Issara (Lao: ລາວອິດສະລະ lit. ' Free Laos ' ) was an anti-French, nationalist movement formed on 12 October 1945 by Prince Phetsarath . [ 1 ] This short-lived movement emerged after the Japanese defeat in World War II and became the government of Laos before the return of the French .
The Lao Issara provisional assembly under Phetsarath proclaimed the deposition of the King and appointed Phetsarath as "Head of State". As the French retook control of Laos, Phetsarath fled in April 1946 to Thailand, where he led the Lao Issara government-in-exile. The group was dissolved in 1949 and its former members were allowed to return to ...
Meanwhile, the Lao Issara government-in-exile planned a nationalist revolt against the French and what they saw as their Lao puppets in Viang Chan. For a time the Lao Issara forces, under the command of Suphānuvong, were able to operate from bases in Thailand, and achieved some successes, particularly around Savannakhēt.
The main weakness of the Lao Issara has been cited to be that it always remained a small urban-based movement, failing to connect with the rural population of Laos. In a last desperate attempt to legitimize their government the Lao Issara asked King Sisavang Vong to re-ascend the throne as constitutional monarch, to which he agreed. [23]
The Lao Issara's ALDL was essentially a lightly armed and poorly-trained militia, provided with a mixed assortment of small-arms captured from the Japanese, looted from French colonial depots, or sold by the Chinese Nationalist Army troops who occupied northern Laos under the terms of the 1945 Potsdam Conference.
[2] Earlier, in 1932, Plaek Phibunsongkhram, prime minister of Siam, overthrew the king and established his own military dictatorship in the country. He later renamed the country to Thailand, with plans to unify all Tai peoples, including the Lao, under one nation. [2]
For the most part, the effective components of the Lao Issara armed forces consisted of Vietnamese residents of the towns of Laos, who either had received weapons given them by the surrendering Japanese troops—sold by the Chinese Nationalist soldiers who occupied northern Laos under the 1945 Potsdam Conference agreements—or looted from ...
On 1 November 1945, Souphanouvong signed a Mutual Assistance Agreement between Lao Issara and Viet Minh. During the battle of Thakhek on 21 March 1946, Souphanouvong and his forces were defeated by the French and as a result, he was wounded and fled across the Mekong River to Bangkok, Thailand. There, like other Lao Issara leaders, he remained ...