Kingdom of Luang Prabang ພຣະຣາຊອານາຈັກຫລວງພະບາງ Phrà Ràaj Aanaachak Luang Pràabàng Royaume de Luang Prabang (1893–1945; 1946–1947) Kingdom of Laos ພຣະຣາຊອານາຈັກລາວ Phra Raja A-na-chak Lao Royaume du Laos (1945–1946; 1947–1953) | |
|---|---|
| 1893–1945 1946–1953 | |
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| Status | Protectorate of France (1893–1899); constituent territory of French Indochina (1899–1953) |
| Capital | Vientiane (official) Luang Prabang (royal) |
| Common languages | French (official), Lao |
| Religion | Theravada Buddhism Roman Catholicism |
| Government | Unitary absolute monarchy under a colonial administration (1893–1947) Unitary parliamentary constitutional monarchy within the French Union (1947–1953) |
| King of Luang Prabang | |
• 1868–1895 | Oun Kham |
• 1895–1904 | Zakarine |
• 1904–1953 | Sisavang Vong |
| Resident-Superior | |
• 1894–1895 (first) | Auguste Pavie[a] |
• 1954–1955 (last) | Michel Breal[b] |
| Prime Minister | |
• 1941–1945 (first) | Phetsarath |
• 1951–1953 (last) | Souvanna Phouma |
| Legislature | None (rule by decree) (until 1947) Parliament (from 1947) |
| Royal Council (from 1947) | |
| National Assembly (from 1947) | |
| Historical era | New Imperialism |
| 3 October 1893 | |
• Part of French Indochina | 19 April 1899 |
• Champasak annexed | 22 November 1904 |
| 8 April 1945 | |
• Lao Issara government | 12 October 1945 |
• French restoration | 24 April 1946 |
| 11 May 1947 | |
• Independence | 22 October 1953 |
| 21 July 1954 | |
| Currency | Piastre |
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The French protectorate of Laos (French: Protectorat français du Laos) was a French protectorate in Southeast Asia of what is today Laos between 1893 and 1953—with a brief interregnum as a Japanese puppet state in 1945—which constituted part of French Indochina. It was established over the Siamese vassal, the Kingdom of Luang Phrabang, following the Franco-Siamese crisis of 1893. It was integrated into French Indochina and in the following years further Siamese vassals, the Principality of Phuan and Kingdom of Champasak, were annexed into it in 1899 and 1904, respectively.
The protectorate of Luang Prabang was nominally under the rule of its King, but actual power lay with a local French Governor-General, who in turn reported to the Governor-General of French Indochina. The later annexed regions of Laos were, however, purely under French rule. During World War II, the protectorate briefly proclaimed independence under Japanese occupation in 1945. After the surrender of Japan shortly thereafter, the restoration of French control over the country was opposed by the newly established Lao Issara government, who ultimately failed by April 1946. The protectorate was reestablished, but not too long after the kingdom was expanded to encompass all Laotian regions and given self-rule within the French Union as the Kingdom of Laos. It achieved full independence after the Franco-Lao Treaty in 1953, during the final stages of the First Indochina War.[1] The final dissolution of French Indochina came with the 1954 Geneva Conference.
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- ^ "Brief Chronology, 1959–1963". Foreign Office Files: United States of America, Series Two: Vietnam, 1959–1975 ; Part 2: Laos, 1959–1963. Retrieved 26 April 2014.
October 22 Franco-Lao Treaty of Amity and Association