Prince Souphanouvong (13 July 1909 – 9 January 1995; ), nicknamed the Red Prince, was along with his half-brother Prince Souvanna Phouma and Prince Boun Oum of Champasak, one of the "Three Princes" who represented respectively the communist (pro-Vietnam), neutralist and royalist political factions in Laos. He was the President of Laos from December 1975 to August 1991.
Early life
Souphanouvong was born in Palace Sisouvanna, Xieng Dong, Luang-Prabang. He was one of the sons of Prince Bounkhong, the last viceroy of Luang Prabang. Unlike his half-brothers, Souvanna Phouma and Phetsarath Ratanavongsa, whose mothers were of royal birth, his mother was a commoner, Mom Kham Ouane.
He attended the Lycée Albert Sarraut in Hanoi and then studied civil engineering at the École nationale des ponts et chaussées in Paris, and worked at a port in Le Havre. After graduating in 1937, he returned to French Indochina and worked at the public works bureau in Nha Trang, where he was responsible for the construction of bridges and roads in central Vietnam and Laos. He worked as a civil engineer until 1945.
Political activities
Anti-colonial movement
After the Japanese surrendered at the end of World War II, he contacted the Viet Minh to seek their support for Lao independence and against the French colonial rule. In Hanoi, he also met with the leader of Viet Minh Ho Chi Minh, who greatly impressed him. As a result, Souphanouvong joined the Indochinese communist movement and became one of the leaders of the Lao Issara national liberation movement. He first served as its provincial chairman in Thakhek, then as foreign minister of the Lao Issara government and commander-in-chief of the Army for the Liberation and Defense of Laos (Armée de libération et de défense lao).
Unlike other members of the national liberation movement, Souphanouvong believed that Laos could only liberate itself from French rule in alliance with the Viet Minh and wanted Lao Issara and Việt Minh to unite in an Indochina-wide struggle against French rule. On 1 November 1945, Souphanouvong signed a Mutual Assistance Agreement between Lao Issara and Viet Minh. During the battle of Thakhek on 21 March 1946, Souphanouvong and his forces were defeated by the French and as a result, he was wounded and fled across the Mekong River to Bangkok, Thailand. There, like other Lao Issara leaders, he remained in exile for the next three years. In March 1949 he resigned as foreign minister of the government-in-exile after conflicts over the issue of continued cooperation with the Viet Minh.
Leader of Pathet Lao
In August 1950, Souphanouvong convened the first congress of the Lao Freedom Front (Neo Lao Issara), more generally known as the Pathet Lao, which served as the vehicle for the communist challenge to French rule. It emerged from the radical wing of the Lao Issara in 1950 after the split and was supported by North Vietnam. On 13 August 1950, he was elected President of the Congress of the Lao Freedom Front, which met at the Viet Minh headquarters in Tuyen Quang, North Vietnam. As a result, became famous under the name "The Red Prince". However, the movement was led by the communist politician Kaysone Phomvihane and Souphanouvong was more of a figurehead in it.
Souphanouvong, at least initially, was not a committed communist. He joined the Pathet Lao because of personal conflicts with the Lao Issara leadership. In a conversation with a US diplomat in Bangkok in 1949, he described Laos as a "classless, Buddhist country in which communist theories had no basis." He proposed an independent Laos, with American help, as a neutral buffer against the spread of communism in Asia. It cannot be ruled out that Souphanouvong was actually so clueless, since the close circle of leaders of the Vietnamese and Laotian communists was extremely secretive and kept his Marxist-Leninist program strictly secret from outsiders, which probably included Souphanouvong. Radical goals such as dispossession, class warfare and abolition of the monarchy would not have appealed to the vast majority of the Laotian population with their Buddhist beliefs. However, all of Souphanouvong's statements was treated with caution, since according to two American contacts, he was a "perfect liar".