Kingdom of Laos

State · 1956–1975 CE · at its largest around 1956 CE

The Lao monarchy based in Luang Prabang and Vientiane, independent from France from 1953. Torn by civil war between royalists and the Communist Pathet Lao, it was abolished when the Communists took power in 1975.

On its lands while it lasted

Ho Chi Minh (1890 CE – 1969 CE): Vietnamese revolutionary who led the Viet Minh independence movement, declared the Democratic Republic of Vietnam in 1945 and led North Vietnam until his death.
Vietnam War (1955–1975 CE): War between communist North Vietnam and the US-backed South, which escalated into large-scale American intervention and ended with the fall of Saigon in 1975.
Gulf of Tonkin incident (1964 CE): Reported clashes between North Vietnamese boats and US destroyers in August 1964, the second of which did not occur; it led Congress to authorise escalation of the war.