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Pathet Lao (Laotian ປະເທດລາວ, "Land of Laos") was a communist, nationalist political movement and organization in Laos, formed in the mid 20th century. The group was ultimately successful in achieving paramount power in Laos, following a civil war or insurgent revolution lasting from the 1950s to 1975. The group was always closely associated with Vietnamese communists. During the civil war, it was effectively organized, equipped and even led by the army of North Vietnam.

The Pathet Lao can be considered the Laotian equivalent of the Viet Minh and Viet Cong of Vietnam. The term eventually became the generic name for Laotian communists. The political movement associated with the Pathet Lao was called first the Lao People's Party (1955-1972) and later was known as the Lao People's Revolutionary Party (1972-present). After the Pathet Lao seized power, they were effectively the government rather than an insurgency and the term ceased to be used. Unlike the Khmer Rouge, they were effectively an extension of Vietnamese Communist movement.

Key figures of the Pathet Lao include Prince Souphanouvong, Kaysone Phomvihane, Phoumi Vongvichit, Nouhak Phoumsavanh and Khamtay Siphandone.

The organization under this name first appeared in 1950, when it was adopted by Lao forces under Prince Souphanouvong, who joined the Viet Minh's revolt against the colonial French authorities in Indochina during the First Indochina War.

In 1953, Pathet Lao fighters accompanied an invasion of Laos from Vietnam led by Viet Minh forces; they established a government at Viengxay in Houaphan province in northeast Laos. The communists began to make incursions into central Laos with the support of the Viet Minh, and a civil war erupted; the Pathet Lao quickly occupied substantial sections of the country.

The 1954 Geneva Conference agreements required the withdrawal of foreign forces, and allowed the Pathet Lao to establish itself as a regime in Laos's two northern provinces. The Viet Minh/North Vietnamese, in spite of the agreement, never really withdrew from the border areas of Laos and the Pathet Lao continued to operate almost as a branch organization of the Viet Minh. Two months after the conference, the Viet Minh/North Vietnam formed the unit Group 100 with headquarters at Ban Nameo. The unit effectively controlled and directed the Pathet Lao movement.

It was formed into an official party, the Lao Patriotic Front (Neo Lao Hak Sat), in 1956. Its stated goal was to wage the communist struggle against capitalism and Western colonialism and imperialism. Unstated was its total subordination to Vietnamese socialism. A coalition was established in 1957 between the monarchists and communists, but it collapsed in 1959, bringing about a resumption of fighting.

In December 1958, North Vietnam took over several towns in Laos raising the Vietnamese flag over them and declaring them to be part of Vietnam. While other parties objected to this, the Pathet Lao did not.

By the late 1950s, North Vietnam had occupied areas of eastern Laos. The area was used as a transit route for men and supplies destined for the insurgency in South Vietnam. In September 1959, North Vietnam formed Group 959 in Laos with the aim of building the Pathet Lao into a stronger counterforce against the Lao Royal government. Group 959 openly supplied, trained and militarily supported the Pathet Lao. The typical strategy during this era was for North Vietnamese regulars to attack first but then send in the Pathet Lao at the end of the battle to claim "victory".

In the 1960s, more attempts at neutrality agreements and coaliition government were attempted but as North Vietnam had no intention of withdrawing from Laos, these agreements all failed. By the middle 1960s, the country had fallen into proxy warfare between pro-American and pro-Vietnamese irregular military groups.

In 1968, the Army of North Vietnam launched a multi-division invasion of Laos. The Pathet Lao were pushed to the side in the conflict and reduced to the role of an auxiliary force to the North Vietnamese army. Unable to match the heavy Soviet and Chinese weapons in addition to the numerical strength of the Vietnamese forces, the Royal Army of Laos took itself out of the conflict after heavy losses.

Throughout the 1960s and early 1970s, the communists battled the U.S. irregular forces in Laos. The government itself for the most part was effectively powerless and manipulated by both sides. The Pathet Lao held numerous Americans as prisoners of war during and after the Vietnam war (1962-1973).

Shortly after the Paris Peace Accords ended U.S. involvement in the Vietnam war, the Pathet Lao and the government of Laos signed a cease-fire agreement, the Vientiane Treaty, in February 1973.

The coalition government envisaged by the treaty did not long outlast it. The Pathet Lao refused to disarm and the North Vietnamese Army did not leave the country. In 1975, the Pathet Lao with the direct open assistance of the North Vietnamese Army began attacking government strongholds. With the fall of the South Vietnamese government in April 1975 in their minds, the non-communist elements of the national government decided that allowing the Pathet Lao to enter power would be better than to have them take it by force. In November 1975, the Pathet Lao took over Laos, abolishing the monarchy and establishing the Lao People's Democratic Republic. Shortly after, the Pathet Lao signed an agreement with Vietnam that allowed Vietnam to station its army in the country and to send political and economic advisors into the country. Vietnam afterward forced Laos to cut any remaining economic ties to its other neighbors. For the next 15 years, the Pathet Lao ran the country almost as a Vietnamese colony.

• Indochina
• Secret War
• Vietnam War
• Lao People's Revolutionary Party

• http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/war/laos.htm
• http://www.onwar.com/aced/data/lima/laos1962.htm
• http://www.onwar.com/aced/data/lima/laos1954.htm
• http://www.geocities.com/pentagon/2527/jhviet.html
• http://www.factmonster.com/ce6/world/A0859186.html
• http://countrystudies.us/laos/
• http://countrystudies.us/laos/14.htm