The Battle for Laos: Vietnam's Proxy War, 1955–1975 (Cold

The Battle for Laos: Vietnam's Proxy War, 1955–1975 (Cold War 1945–1991)

By 1959 the newly independent Kingdom of Laos was being transformed into a Cold War battleground for global superpower competition, having been born out of the chaos following the French military defeat and withdrawal from Indochina in 1954. The country was soon engulfed in a rapidly evolving civil war as rival forces jockeyed for power and swelling foreign intervention further fueled the fighting. Adding even more fuel to the fire, â€œneutralâ€ Laosâ€™s geographic entanglement in the intensifying war in neighboring South Vietnam deepened in the early 1960s as Hanoiâ€™s reliance on the Ho Chi Minh Trail for moving men and materiel through the southern Laotian panhandle grew exponentially and became a priority target of American interdiction efforts.For almost twenty years, the fighting between the Western-supported Royal Lao government and the communist-supported Pathet Lao would rage across the plains, jungles, and mountaintops largely unseen by most of the world in this so-called â€œsecret war.â€ Thousands on each side would die and many more would be displaced as the conflict on the ground ebbed and flowed from season to season and year to year. And in the skies above, American and Royal Laotian aircraft would rain down their deadly payloads, decimating large swaths of the countryside in pursuit of victory. Nearly 3 million tons of bombs would be dropped on Laotian territory between 1965 and 1973, leaving a deadly legacy of unexploded ordnance that lingers to this day. Thus, the battle for Laos is the story of entire communities and generations caught up in a war seemingly without end, one that pitted competing foreign interests and their proxies against each other, and one that was forever tied to Washingtonâ€™s pursuit of victory in Vietnam.
Country USA
Brand PEN AND SWORD MILITARY
Manufacturer Pen and Sword Military
Binding Paperback
ItemPartNumber 20 colour & 75 black and white illustrat
ReleaseDate 2019-10-30
UnitCount 1
EANs 9781526757043

Country	USA
Brand	PEN AND SWORD MILITARY
Manufacturer	Pen and Sword Military
Binding	Paperback
ItemPartNumber	20 colour & 75 black and white illustrat
ReleaseDate	2019-10-30
UnitCount	1
EANs	9781526757043

The Battle for Laos: Vietnam's Proxy War, 1955–1975 (Cold War 1945–1991)

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