FOREIGN OFFICE FILES: UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Series Two: Vietnam, 1959-1975
(Public Record Office Classes FO 371 and FCO 15:
South East Asia Department)

Part 2: Laos, 1959-1963
(PRO Class FO 371/143956-144064, 152317-152428,
159811-159956, 166423-166504 & 169802-169876)

"Publication of these documents promises to facilitate research in records crucial to understanding British foreign policy, US diplomacy, and international relations in the Cold War era."
Peter Hahn, Associate Professor of History, Ohio State University

Part 2 features:

• Annual Review files
• Notes on the internal political situation in Laos and Cambodia
• Files on political relations with China, France, Thailand, the United States, the Soviet Union, India, Vietnam and other countries
• Files concerning the International Control Commission in Laos (vast for 1959 to 1961)
• Files on the commercial relations with other nations
• Notes concerning the provision of aid to the army of Laos and the training of the army of Laos
• Reports on the police, education, festivals and royal family in Laos
• Papers of the International Supervisory Commission in Cambodia
• UN policy in the region
• French views on the region
• Reports on elections
• Papers of the Geneva Conference on Laos and negotiations on a cease-fire
• Reports on the status of foreign troops in the area
• Notes on Anglo-US-Soviet talks in Laos

A flavour of the material can be gleaned from the following four extracts.

The Annual Review for Laos for 1958 (see FO 371/143956) compiled by the British Embassy at Vientiane and despatched to the Foreign Office in London on 9 February 1959 sounds quite encouraging, although cautious:

"By the end of 1957, all provisions of the settlement reached between the Royal Government and the Pathet Lao in November of that year had, with two exceptions, been fulfilled. The 1500 ex-Pathet Lao troops had not yet been integrated in the Royal Army, and the "supplementary" election to the National Assembly would not take place until the 4th of May. It needed no exceptional foresight to detect lying beyond the election such problems as the future of the International Commission for Supervision and Control, the kind of Government that would have to be formed after May, and the difficulties likely to arise over American aid..."

However, events in the region were soon to deteriorate sharply. The Annual Review for Laos for 1959 (see FO 371/152317) states:

"The year under review proved to be the most disturbed and momentous the country had known since the end of the Indo-Chinese war.... the political atmosphere in Vientiane was highly charged and the imminence of a coup de force by the Army and the CDIN was openly discussed. Two companies of North Vietnamese frontier guards had occupied territory in the Tchepone area which the Laotians claim as theirs.... The 31st December 1959 found the country in the grip of the most acute governmental crisis that has occured in my time. "

The Annual Review for Laos for 1961 (see FO 371/166423) records that:

"By the end of January the military offensive of the right wing forces under General Phoumi failed. President Kennedy decided in February on a policy of neutrality for Laos. Her Majesty's Government and the Soviet Government called in April for a ceasefire, the return of the International Control Commisssion and the convening of an international conference at Geneva. An unstable ceasefire was achieved and the Commission was able to carry out effective supervision. The Conference reached a good result by the end of the year. The internal political settlement however got stuck, largely owing to General Phoumi's reluctance to surrender power..."

The Annual Review for Laos for 1962, compiled by D C Hopson at the British Embassy in Vientiane and despatched to Lord Home at the Foreign Office on 15 January 1963, (see FO 371/169802) states:

"The climax of 1962 for Laos came in July with the signature by fourteen nations at Geneva of the agreements which probably represent her last chance to survive as a single sovereign state within her present boundaries. The year thus fell neatly into two halves. The first period (during my predecessor's Mission) is the story of painful progress towards a settlement. The second, which began as I arrived in Laos, is concerned with the equally painful process of trying to make the settlement work...."

This microfilm edition provides a thorough grounding for numerous project topics and a clear picture of the complex problems of the region.