55-501: Quiet War may refer to: Laotian Civil War , the proxy war in the Kingdom of Laos between 1953 and 1975 The Quiet War , a science fiction novel written by Paul McAuley "The Quiet War" (song) , a song by The Used from the 2017 album The Canyon See also [ edit ] Silent Weapons for Quiet Wars , 1997 debut album from Wu-Tang affiliate Killarmy Topics referred to by
110-648: A Vietnamese wife while in Vietnam, and he solicited Viet Minh aid in founding a guerrilla force. In August 1950, Souphanouvong had joined the Viet Minh in their headquarters north of Hanoi, Vietnam, and become the head of the Pathet Lao, along with its political arm dubbed Neo Lao Hak Sat (Lao Patriotic Front). This was an attempt to give a false front of authority to the Lao communist movement by claiming to represent
165-668: A constitution declaring Laos an independent nation within the French Union . This began the building of a new government over the next few years, including the establishment of a national army, the Armée Nationale Laotienne, which was the first iteration of the Royal Lao Army. The nascent army was plagued by lack of Lao leadership, and its weaponry was a hodgepodge. Thus the new Armée Nationale Laotienne consisted of light infantry battalions officered by
220-810: A drop outside Luang Prabang. This was coupled with a thrust to the north by the French forces, from Vientiane to Luang Prabang, that chased Phetsarath Ratanavongsa and the Lao Issara ministers out of Laos. The king reinstated the French rule by repudiating his actions that had been pressured from him by the Japanese, Chinese, and Lao Issara. By September 1946, the Lao Issara had been defeated and had fled to exile in Bangkok. One of its splinter groups, led by Thao O Anourack , fled to Hanoi. There he allied himself with two men trusted by Ho Chi Minh ; Nouhak Phoumsavanh
275-610: A functional economy. French commandos parachuted into Laos beginning in 1945 to organize guerrilla forces. By November, they had formed the guerrillas into four light infantry battalions of the newly founded French Union Army. The officers and sergeants of the new Lao battalions were French. In October 1945, a Lao nationalist movement called Lao Issara (Free Laos) was founded as a new government for Laos. Among Lao Issara's prominent members were three European-educated princes; brothers Phetsarath Ratanavongsa and Souvanna Phouma , and their half brother, Souphanouvong . The former became
330-709: A guerrilla force of about thirty thousand Laotian hill tribesmen, mostly local Hmong (Meo) tribesmen along with the Mien and Khmu , led by Royal Lao Army General Vang Pao , a Hmong military leader. This army, supported by the CIA proprietary airline Air America , Thailand, the Royal Lao Air Force , and a covert air operation directed by the United States ambassador to Laos, fought the People's Army of Vietnam,
385-580: A separate destiny. Phetsarath Rattanavongsa chose to remain in Bangkok. His stay was temporary. He would once again become the viceroy of Laos. Souvanna Phouma chose to return to Laos via an amnesty, believing that the Lao would soon free themselves. In 1951 he became Prime Minister for the first time and held that office until 1954. Souphanouvong, who had spent seven years in Nha Trang during his sixteen years in Vietnam , met Ho Chi Minh and acquired
440-750: A staging area for offensives into South Vietnam. There were two major theatres of the war, one for control over the Laotian Panhandle and the other was fought around the northern Plain of Jars . From 1961 onward, the US trained Hmong tribesmen to disrupt North Vietnamese operations and in 1964, the US began bombing North Vietnamese supply routes . The North Vietnamese and Pathet Lao eventually emerged victorious in December 1975, following from North Vietnam's final victory over South Vietnam in April 1975 . After
495-688: A united non-partisan effort. Two of its most important founders were members of the Indochinese Communist Party, which advocated overthrow of the monarchy as well as expulsion of the French. This got Laos involved in the First Indochina War, but it started off mainly against the French. On 23 December 1950, the Pentalateral Mutual Defense Assistance Pact was signed by the United States, France, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos; it
550-554: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Laotian Civil War Pathet Lao and North Vietnamese victory Second Third Air operations The Laotian Civil War was waged between the Communist Pathet Lao and the Royal Lao Government from 23 May 1959 to 2 December 1975. The Kingdom of Laos was a covert theater during
605-545: The 20th Tactical Air Support Squadron and Nail FACs from the 23rd Tactical Air Support Squadron , also directed strikes. Other air strikes were planned ahead. Overall coordination of the air campaign was directed by an Airborne Command and Control Center , such as those deployed in Operation Igloo White . The existence of the conflict in Laos was sometimes reported in the U.S., and described in press reports as
SECTION 10
#1732776748473660-535: The Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) between North Vietnam and South Vietnam was an ominous development. The Laos government immediately protested the flying of the North Vietnamese flag on Laotian territory. Hanoi claimed the villages had historically been part of Vietnam. With regard to precedent, this was a decidedly modest claim - nonetheless, it represented a unilateral reinterpretation of
715-558: The National Liberation Front (Viet Cong). North Vietnam also had a sizable military effort in northern Laos, while sponsoring and maintaining an indigenous communist rebellion, the Pathet Lao, to put pressure on the Royal Lao Government. The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), in an attempt to disrupt these operations in northern Laos without direct military involvement, responded by training
770-823: The Pathet Lao to fight against the Kingdom of Laos between 1958 and 1959. Control over Laos allowed for the eventual construction of the Ho Chi Minh Trail that would serve as the main supply route for enhanced NLF (the National Liberation Front, the Viet Cong ) and NVA ( North Vietnamese Army ) activities in the Republic of Vietnam . As such, the support for Pathet Lao to fight against Kingdom of Laos by North Vietnam would prove decisive in
825-804: The Vietnam War with both sides receiving heavy external support in a proxy war between the global Cold War superpowers. The fighting also involved the North Vietnamese , South Vietnamese , American and Thai armies, both directly and through irregular proxies. The war is known as the Secret War among the American CIA Special Activities Center , and Hmong and Mien veterans of the conflict. The Franco–Lao Treaty of Amity and Association (signed 22 October 1953) transferred remaining French powers to
880-461: The conflict . The Lao royal family were arrested by the Pathet Lao and sent to labor camps, where most of them died in the late 1970s and 1980s, including King Savang Vatthana , Queen Khamphoui and Crown Prince Vong Savang . The 1954 Geneva Conference established Laotian neutrality. The People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN), however, continued to operate in both northern and southeastern Laos. There were repeated attempts from 1954 onward to force
935-515: The 1954 Geneva Conference to refrain from any interference in the internal affairs of Laos. The Vietnamese party's strategy was by now decided with regard to South Vietnam. At the same time, the party outlined a role for the LPP that was supportive of North Vietnam, in addition to the LPP's role as leader of the revolution in Laos. Hanoi's southern strategy opened the first tracks through the extremely rugged terrain of Xépôn district in mid-1959 of what
990-405: The CIA's "Secret War in Laos" because details were largely unavailable due to official government denials that the war existed. The denials were seen as necessary considering that the North Vietnamese government and the U.S. had both signed agreements specifying the neutrality of Laos. U.S. involvement was considered necessary because North Vietnam had effectively gained control over a large part of
1045-710: The French Union Army, as part of its attempt to protect Laos from the PAVN, recaptured the Dien Bien Phu valley. In January 1954, the PAVN launched two assaults on Laos. One thrust crossed the top of the panhandle to the Mekong River town of Thakhek . The other was again aimed at Luang Prabang. Both were thwarted in a month. These were diversions to the famous Battle of Dien Bien Phu , which took place from March through May 1954 within ten kilometers of
1100-483: The French Union troops at Savannakhet, to no avail; the attackers mustered paratroopers, artillery, armored cars, and Spitfire fighter-bombers. The Lao Issara troops suffered 700 killed. They fled, leaving behind 250 bodies and 150 prisoners. On 24 April, the French dropped a paratroop battalion on the outskirts of Vientiane, and took the city without resistance. On 9 May, they repeated their airborne tactics with
1155-710: 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. Phoui received extraordinary powers from the National Assembly to deal with the crisis. But the failure to regain their lost territory rankled the Laotian nationalists, who were hoping for a greater degree of United States assistance. One of Washington's major preoccupations
SECTION 20
#17327767484731210-481: The French. There was one paratroop battalion included. The French began training Lao officers and non-commissioned officers even as they continued to lead and train the new army. In opposition, the Viet Minh raised a subsidiary revolutionary movement, the Pathet Lao, starting with an initial guerrilla band of 25 in January 1949. In October 1949, the exiled Lao Issara dissolved and the three royal brothers each chose
1265-578: The Kingdom of Laos had American support. Souvanna Phouma announced that, with the holding of elections, the Royal Lao Government had fulfilled the political obligations it had assumed at Geneva , and the International Control Commission (ICC) adjourned sine die . Phoui, less scrupulous about preserving Laos's neutrality than his predecessor, angered Moscow and Hanoi by admitting diplomats from Taipei and Saigon . The Soviet Union and North Vietnam, already upset by
1320-563: The Kingdom of Laos, thus beginning the civil war and technically the Second Indochina War while the First Indochina War was still ongoing. They were opposed by 10,000 Lao troops and 3,000 French regulars. The North Vietnamese invaders succeeded in conquering the border provinces of Phongsali and Xam Neua , which were adjacent to northern Vietnam and on the northeastern verge of the Plain of Jars. They then moved aside to allow
1375-782: The Lao border, on the lines of communication into the Plain of Jars. The ruggedness of the karst mountains of northern Laos channels movement into a few canyons; small watercraft could move from Điện Biên Phủ down to the Nam Ou , and thence directly downriver to Luang Prabang, or they cross into the PDJ via Ban Ban. North Vietnamese invasion of Laos Air operations American intervention 1965 1966 1967 Tet Offensive and aftermath Vietnamization 1969–1971 1972 Post- Paris Peace Accords (1973–1974) Spring 1975 Air operations Naval operations Lists of allied operations North Vietnam supported
1430-602: The National Liberation Front (NLF), and their Pathet Lao allies to a seesaw stalemate, greatly aiding U.S. interests in the war in Vietnam. The status of the war in the north throughout the year generally depended on the weather. As the dry season started, in November or December, so did North Vietnamese military operations, as fresh troops and supplies flowed down out of North Vietnam on newly passable routes, either down from Dien Bien Phu , across Phong Saly Province on all-weather highways, or on Route 7 through Ban Ban, Laos on
1485-536: The North Vietnamese out of Laos, but regardless of any agreements or concessions, Hanoi had no intention of withdrawing from the country or abandoning its Laotian communist allies. North Vietnam established the Ho Chi Minh trail as a paved highway in southeast Laos paralleling the Vietnamese border. The trail was designed to transport North Vietnamese troops and supplies to South Vietnam , as well as to aid
1540-490: The Pathet Lao force with its mismatched scrounged equipment to occupy the captured ground, and Souphanouvong moved the Pathet Lao headquarters into Xam Neua on 19 April. The other strike, moving from Điện Biên Phủ and aimed downriver at Luang Prabang , was thwarted by oncoming monsoons and resistance by the French. The Vietnamese invasion was stalled, but only because the French had airlifted in battalions of Foreign Legionnaires and Moroccan Tirailleurs . In December,
1595-452: The Pathet Lao had mustered sufficient trained troops to join the Viet Minh in military operations. By October 1951, the Armée Nationale Laotienne had raised two more battalions of infantry and began training a battalion of paratroops. The ANL ended the year with a strength of 5,091. By the end of 1952, the Royal Lao Army had grown to include a battalion of troops commanded by Laotian officers, as well as 17 other companies. In April 1953,
1650-754: The Pathet Lao used a quibble about officer ranks to delay the final ceremony. As monsoon rains swept over the Plain of Jars one night, one of the two battalions slipped away, followed soon after by the other, near Louangphrabang . The event signaled a resumption of hostilities. 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. Fighting broke out all along
1705-470: The Royal Lao Government (except control of military affairs), establishing Laos as an independent member of the French Union . However, this government did not include representatives from the Lao Issara anti-colonial armed nationalist movement. The following years were marked by a rivalry between the neutralists under Prince Souvanna Phouma , the right wing under Prince Boun Oum of Champassak , and
Quiet War - Misplaced Pages Continue
1760-490: The Viet Minh's People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) invaded the northeastern part of what was still the French Protectorate of Laos with 40,000 troops commanded by General Võ Nguyên Giáp ; including 2,000 Pathet Lao soldiers led by Souphanouvong. The objective of the two-pronged invasion was the capture of the royal capital of Luang Prabang and of the Plain of Jars. On 9 November the Pathet Lao began its conflict with
1815-486: The Vietnamese communists would recede toward Vietnam. The war in the southeastern panhandle against the Ho Chi Minh Trail was primarily a massive air interdiction program by the USAF and United States Navy because political constraints kept the trail safe from ground assault from South Vietnam. Raven FACs also directed air strikes in the southeast. Other Forward Air Controllers from South Vietnam, such as Covey FACs from
1870-446: The border with North Vietnam. North Vietnamese Army regular units participated in attacks on July 28–31, 1959. 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. The tactic had the advantage of concealing the North Vietnamese presence from view. Rumors of North Vietnamese in
1925-548: The communist takeover in Laos, up to 300,000 people fled to neighbouring Thailand , and Hmong rebels began an insurgency against the new government. The Hmong were persecuted as traitors and "lackeys" of the Americans, with the government and its Vietnamese allies carrying out human rights abuses against Hmong civilians. The incipient conflict between Vietnam and China also played a role with Hmong rebels being accused of receiving support from China. Over 40,000 people died in
1980-532: The country. Despite these denials, however, the civil war was the largest U.S. covert operation prior to the Soviet–Afghan War , with areas of Laos controlled by North Vietnam subjected to years of intense U.S. aerial bombardment, representing the heaviest bombing campaign in history. Overshadowing it all was the struggle of the Cold War , with the United States' policy of the containment of communism and
2035-644: The departure of the ICC, which they had seen as a restraining influence, protested. 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. The occupation in December 1958 by North Vietnamese and Pathet Lao security forces of several villages in Tchepone District near
2090-496: The eventual communist victory over South Vietnam in 1975 as the South Vietnamese and American forces could have prevented any NVA and NLF deployment and resupply if these only happened over the 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
2145-505: The left-wing Lao Patriotic Front under Prince Souphanouvong and half-Vietnamese future Prime Minister Kaysone Phomvihane . Several attempts were made to establish coalition governments, and a "tri-coalition" government was finally seated in Vientiane . The North Vietnamese Army, in collaboration with the Pathet Lao, invaded Laos in 1958 and 1959 , occupying the east of the country to use for its Ho Chi Minh Trail supply corridor and as
2200-479: The new government. Chinese troops, including the Chinese Nationalist 93rd Division, occupied cities as far south as Luang Prabang. The French-sponsored guerrillas controlled the southern provinces of Savannakhet and Khammouan . Prince Boun Oum , who sympathized with the French, occupied the rest of the southern panhandle. For these, and other reasons, Lao Issara could not hold the country against
2255-455: The northeast corner of the Plain of Jars . The CIA's covert operation's clandestine army would give way, harrying the PAVN and Pathet Lao as they retreated; Raven Forward Air Controllers would direct massive air strikes against the communists by USAF jets and RLAF T-28s to prevent the capture of the Laotian capitals of Vientiane and Luang Prabang . When the rainy season six months later rendered North Vietnamese supply lines impassable,
Quiet War - Misplaced Pages Continue
2310-515: The policies of the People's Republic of China and the Soviet Union of spreading communism via subversion and insurgency. The end of World War II left Laos in political chaos. The French, who had been displaced from their protectorate by the Japanese, wanted to resume control of Laos, and sponsored guerrilla forces to regain control. The Japanese had proclaimed Laos independent even as they lost
2365-608: The population of Laos' six urban areas were Vietnamese, with the Vietnamese holding key positions in the civil bureaucracies and the police. Since the 1930s the Indochinese Communist Party had established wholly Vietnamese cells in Laos. Prince Phetsarath Ratanavongsa , as Viceroy and Prime Minister, established the Lao royal treasury account with the Indochinese treasury in Hanoi in an attempt to establish
2420-507: The returning French colonial government and its troops. The French negotiated a Chinese withdrawal from Laos prior to their own return, removing them from the field. In January 1946, the French began the reconquest of Laos by sweeping the Bolovens Plateau. They had organized six battalions of light infantry, to which they added a minor force of French troops. On 21 March 1946, Souphanouvong and his largely Vietnamese force fought
2475-524: The reversion to a fighting strategy, the North Vietnamese and Lao parties decided to establish an upgraded unit. The new unit, known as Group 959, headquartered at Na Kai, just inside the Houaphan border, began operating in September 1959. Its establishment coincided with a major effort to expand the hitherto small Pathet Lao forces. According to an official history published after the war, its mission
2530-415: The same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Quiet War . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Quiet_War&oldid=1167003066 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description
2585-404: The signing of a military cooperation treaty with the newly established North Vietnamese communist government, which was done. The French military mission was escorted out of Laos into Thailand by a contingent of Chinese troops. However, the Lao Issara never gained more than a tenuous hold on the entirety of Laos. Roving Viet Minh detachments ruled the northeast, but the Viet Minh declined to aid
2640-557: The titular founder of Lao Issara. Souphanouvong became commander in chief, as well as minister of foreign affairs. Souvanna Phouma became minister of public works. Independence began with an uprising of the Vietnamese residents in Savannakhet . Prince Souphanouvong took command of a band of partisans armed with weapons looted from the local militia. The band moved northward to the administrative capitol of Vientiane with its provisional revolutionary government. Souphanouvong then urged
2695-465: The town undefended. Direct North Vietnamese involvement in Laos began taking another form wherein aggression was difficult to prove. Two months after the 1954 Geneva Conference on Indochina , the North Vietnamese established a small support group known as Group 100, on the Thanh Hoa - Houaphan border at Ban Namèo. This unit provided logistical and other support to Pathet Lao forces. In view of
2750-496: The vicinity often had a terrifying effect. Among the men who heard such rumors in the mountains of Houaphan Province that summer was a young Royal Lao Army captain named Kong Le . Kong Le had two companies of the Second Paratroop Battalion out on patrol almost on the North Vietnamese border. When they returned to Xam Nua without encountering the enemy, they found that the garrison had decamped, leaving
2805-419: The war. Though King Sisavang Vong thought Laos was too small for independence, he had proclaimed the end of the French protectorate status while simultaneously favoring the French return. He let it be known he would accept independence if it should occur. Thus there was a nascent movement for independence amid the turmoil. Underlying all this was a strong undercurrent of Vietnamese involvement. Sixty percent of
SECTION 50
#17327767484732860-597: 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 ." These actions were in violation of the obligation Ho Chi Minh's government had assumed as a participant in
2915-425: Was Vietnamese, and Kaysone Phomvihane was Vietnamese-Lao. These three men founded the military movement that would become the Pathet Lao (Land of Laos). Thao O Anourack established the initial Pathet Lao base at Con Cuong , Vietnam. Kaysone Phomvihane organized the first detachment of the new force. By the end of 1946, at least 500 Viet Minh agents had crossed into Laos. On 11 May 1947, King Sisavang Vong granted
2970-540: Was a tool to transfer American military aid to the French war effort in Indochina. This year also marked the infiltration of at least 5,000 more Viet Minh into Laos. In February 1951, the Indochinese Communist Party decided to split in three to sponsor war against the French in Cambodia and Laos, along with the war in Vietnam. The new Laotian branch consisted of 2,091 members, but included only 31 Lao. Also, by 1951,
3025-560: Was the danger that the Royal Lao Army would integrate the Pathet Lao troops without the safeguard of "screening and reindoctrinating" them. 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. 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,
#472527