Political Struggles in Laos (1930-1954): Vietnamese Communist Power and the Lao Struggle for National Independence by Gunn, Geoffrey C - 1988

Bangkok: White Lotus, 2005. Paperback. Good/no dj. 1.00. Gunn, Geoffrey C.. This is the first detailed history of the origins of communism, ethno-nationalism and nationalism in the former French colony. Communism first took root in Laos under Vietnamese auspices in 1930, the year Ho Chi Minh�s Indochinese Communist Party was founded. Anti-French nationalism under the Lao Issara banner subsequently emerged in the shadow of war and was greatly stimulated by the eclipse of French by Japanese power. As the French staged their bloody post-war restoration, the two tendencies in the anti-colonial struggle found common cause. But shunned by the international community in exile in the Thailand of Pridi Phanomyong, the Lao Issara withered. While seeking a guerilla rear-base in Vietnam, the Pathet Lao tendency found willing sponsorship from the Viet Minh in a trans-national relationship. At home the Pathet Lao went from strength to strength drawing upon age-old grievances of the minorities in the highlands.