French protectorate of Laos

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-backed state in 1945—which constituted part of French Indochina. It was established over the Siamesevassal, 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 soon afterward the Kingdom of Laos was expanded to include all Laotian regions and granted self-government within the French Union. It formally became an associated state in 1949 and achieved full independence after the Franco-Lao Treaty in 1953, during the final stages of the First Indochina War. The final dissolution of French Indochina came with the 1954 Geneva Conference.