Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. In 1893, which European country acquired Laos as a protectorate?
2. Which of these did not characterize colonial rule in Laos?
3. Two of the great rebellions against colonial rule came via the leadership of two Lao heroes. One of these freedom fighters was Ong Keo, was killed in 1910 while negotiating at Champassak. Who was the other, killed in 1936?
4. World War II brought an interlude from colonial rule. Under the tutelage of the Japanese, which Lao King declared independence for the Lao state on April 8, 1945?
5. Which Lao leader (and member of the royal family) first made contact with Ho Chi Minh and the Vietnamese communists, thus launching Laos on the road to communism?
6. The USA recognized Laos as an independent state in 1950.
7. In August of 1949 the Progressive People's Organization (PPO) was founded. This organization, developed for the purpose of ridding Laos forever of colonial influence, eventually turned toward communism as its official ideology and took what name?
8. The first Royal Lao Government (RLG) was formed in 1951 under Souvanna Phouma. Despite attempts to bring the PPO into a coalition with the RLG, Laos remained a battle stricken and war torn country. Civil war ensued between the forces of the RLG and the communists for the next two decades. The United States came in on the side of the RLG as the Vietnam conflict began to spill into Laos. In the late 1960s, in order to secure the strategically important 'Plain of Jars' in eastern Laos, the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) began recruiting people of which ethnic group to fight against both the Vietnamese and Lao communists?
9. On August 23 1975 the establishment of the new, socialist Lao state was announced at the capital of Vieng Chan (Vientiane). The communist party, by this time, had been renamed using what acronym?
10. By the early 1990s, after a decade and a half of strict socialist rule, Kaison Phomivan was elected president and began to push for the reform of the Lao government and economy. As a gesture to the Thai government in 1994, it was agreed that the first bridge would be built spanning the Mekong river from Laos to Thailand. What was this bridge called?
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thejazzkickazz
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