Second Indochina War - Vietnam People's Army, Laotian Civil War, Fall of Saigon, United States Embassy, Saigon, Cosvn (Paperback)

Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. Pages: 32. Chapters: Vietnam People's Army, Laotian Civil War, Fall of Saigon, United States Embassy, Saigon, COSVN, List of war museums and monuments in Vietnam, Viengxay caves. Excerpt: The Laotian Civil War (1953-75) was a fight between the Communist Pathet Lao, often North Vietnamese of Lao ancestry, and the Royal Lao Government in which both the political rightists and leftists received heavy external support for a proxy war from the global Cold War superpowers. Among US veterans of the conflict, it is known as the Secret War. The Kingdom of Laos was a covert theatre for battle for the other belligerents during the Vietnam War. The Franco-Lao Treaty of 1953 gave Laos full independence but 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 the left-wing Lao Patriotic Front under Prince Souphanouvong and future Prime Minister Kaysone Phomvihane. A number of attempts were made to establish coalition governments, and a "tri-coalition" government was finally seated in Vientiane. The fighting in Laos involved the North Vietnamese Army, American, Thai, and South Vietnamese forces directly and through irregular proxies in a battle for control over the Laotian Panhandle. The North Vietnamese Army occupied the area for use as the Ho Chi Minh Trail supply corridor and staging area for offensives into South Vietnam. There was a second major theatre of action on and near the northern Plaine des Jarres. The North Vietnamese and Pathet Lao emerged victorious in 1975, as part of the general communist victory in Indochina that year. The 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 t...