Phetsarath

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Amulet with image of Prince Phetsarath

Prince Phetsarath Ratanavongsa ( Laotian ເຈົ້າ ເພັດ ຊະ ລາດ ລັດ ຕະ ນະ ວົງ [tɕâw pʰētsālâːt lāttánāʋóŋ] , full title Tiao Maha Oupahat Phetsarath ; * January 19, 1890 in Luang Prabang ; † October 14, 1959 and was a member of the Laotian royal family. He was a leader of the national independence movement, Prime Minister from 1942 to 1945 and first and last Uparat (“viceroy”) of the Kingdom of Laos from 1957 until his death .

Origin and education

Phetsarath was the second son of Prince Bounkhong , the Uparat of what was then the Kingdom of Luang Prabang , which was a vassal of Siam until 1893 , after which it was under French protectorate . His mother was Princess Thongsy . Prince Souvanna Phouma was his full brother, among his half-brothers were the Princes Souvannarath and Souphanouvong . He was first taught at the court in Luang Prabang, from 1904 he attended the Lycée Chasseloup-Laubat in Saigon . As the first member of the Lao royal family, he continued his education in France at the École coloniale , which trained top officials for French colonial service.

Service in the colonial administration and Viceroy of Luang Prabang

After his return in 1913 he held positions in the administration of French Indochina and the Protectorate of Laos. In 1919 he became administrative director of Laos, at the same time a member of the government council of Indochina until 1930, and from 1932 to 1937 member of the economic council. In 1923 he also became Inspector General of Political and Administrative Affairs for Laos. This position allowed him to increasingly include Lao in the administrative service and so limit the influence of the Vietnamese, who had a dominant position within Indochina. He also promoted traditional culture and arts, which sparked an increasing interest in Laotian national identity, at least within the elite. His prominent position in the colonial administration made him the most powerful Laotian, even before King Sisavang Vong , to whom the French only granted a representative position.

The title Uparat , abolished after the death of his father in 1920, was reinstated for Phetsarath in 1941. At that time, the colonial power was weakened and disoriented as a result of France's surrender in World War II . The Vichy government had to grant the overpowering Japanese extensive stationing and marching rights in Indochina, so that they appeared as a de facto occupying power upon formal recognition of French suzerainty. The Laotian nationalists took advantage of this weakness of the French. The king first appointed a Laotian government in 1942, with Prince Phetsarath as prime minister. Unlike the then Crown Prince and later King Savang Vatthana , Phetsarath was willing to work with the Japanese, who released Laos into independence as a puppet state in April 1945.

independence movement

Along with his brothers Souvanna Phouma and Souphanouvong, he became one of the leaders of the Lao Issara national liberation movement . With the withdrawal of the Japanese, they took over governance in Vientiane on August 27, 1945 . Prince Phetsarath broke with the king, who wanted to allow the return under the French protectorate, while the Lao Issara sought full independence and unity of the country. They formed a provisional "People's Council" (khana kammakan ratsadon) , proclaimed Laos' independence and unity on October 12, 1945, and on October 20 declared the king deposed. Not only this, but also Prince Boun Oum of Champasak in southern Laos opposed them and enabled the French to return. In May 1946 they had again brought all of Laos under their control. The leadership of the Lao Issara around Prince Phetsarath fled to Thailand , where they formed a government in exile under the protection of the local Prime Minister Pridi Phanomyong .

Exile, return and death

After the French allowed the establishment of a united kingdom of Laos as an independent member of the Union française , the radical wing, including Prince Souphanouvongs, fought from Vietnam together with the Việt Minh and the Khmer Issarak in the Indochina war against the French and also the royal Laotians Government. From them the pro-communist movement Pathet Lao developed . Moderate representatives of the Lao Issara, such as Prince Souvanna Phouma, on the other hand, sought reconciliation with the king, distanced themselves from Phetsarath and returned to Laos in 1949. Phetsarath remained in exile in Bangkok and was caught between all stools. In 1951 he turned down an invitation from Souphanouvong and Ho Chi Minh to become head of a new counter-government of the Pathet Lao with the support of North Vietnam, possibly because of his long-held aversion to the Vietnamese.

In the Kingdom of Laos he had lost his title. A reconciliation with the king, whom he had tried to overthrow, was inconceivable. When the Foreign Minister Phoui Sananikone offered him to return to Laos after the 1954 Geneva Conference on Indochina , he insisted on getting all his 1945 titles and positions back and being appointed prime minister for life. Given the parliamentary system that had now been set up, this demand could not be met. In the unstable situation following the defeat of the French in the Indochina War, Phetsarath was allegedly behind a failed attempt at overthrowing student officers in May and the attack on Defense Minister Kou Voravong in September. He probably had Thai support.

As part of the reconciliation between royalists and Pathet Lao after the end of the Indochina War and the talks that led to an all-party coalition under his brother Souvanna Phouma, Phetsarath was finally able to return to Laos in March 1957. He also got his title as Uparat back. In this capacity, he traveled across the country and advocated national unity. Politically, however, it no longer played a role. He died on October 14, 1959, exactly two weeks before King Sisavang Vong.

Aftermath

Western authors often refer to Prince Phetsarath as the "father of Laotian nationalism" or "the key figure in the development of Laotian nationalism". They emphasize its prominent role first in the modernization of the administration of Laos as a colony and then in the anti-colonial liberation struggle. In contrast, it only plays a subordinate role in the history of the Laos People's Democratic Republic. In it Phetsarath's half-brother, the head of the Pathet Lao and later President of the DPR, Prince Souphanouvong is named as the only leader of the national freedom movement of the Laotian people from 1945. However, Phetsarath's role as a patriot is viewed positively, compared to the pro-French king Sisavang Vong or the “reactionary” Katay Don Sasorith . His contribution to the Laotian language and culture, which contributed to the development of the Laotian national identity, is also recognized.

Prince Phetsarath has great popularity in the popular belief of some Laotians. They attribute supernatural abilities to him. For example, he is said to have made himself invisible and transformed into animals. For this reason amulets with the image of Phetsarath are widespread as good luck charms.

literature

  • "3349" (pseudonym): Chao Phetcharat burut lek haeng ratcha-anachak Lao [Prince Phetsarat, the iron man of the Kingdom of Laos]. Ruam Mit Thai, Bangkok 1956. English translation by John B. Murdoch, edited by David K. Wyatt : Iron Man of Laos. Prince Phetsarath Ratanavongsa. Cornell University Southeast Asia Program, Ithaca NY 1978, ISBN 0-87727-110-0 .
  • Geoffrey C. Gunn: Political Struggles in Laos, 1930–54. Editions Duang Kamol, Bangkok, 1988.
  • Søren Ivarsson, Christopher E. Goscha: Prince Phetsarath (1890-1959). Nationalism and Royalty in the Making of Modern Laos. In: Journal of Southeast Asian Studies Volume 38, No. 1, 2007, pp. 55-81, doi : 10.1017 / S0022463406000932 .
  • Sila Viravong: Chao Maha-Upalat Phetsalat [His Highness, Viceroy Phetsarath]. Social Science Committee, Vientiane 1996. German translation by Volker Grabowsky: Prinz Phetsarat. A life for Laos. Lit Verlag, Berlin 2003, ISBN 978-3-8258-6492-7 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ also Phetsarat or Pethsarath written
  2. ↑ or Chao Maha Uparat Phetsarat
  3. ↑ a b c Geoffrey C. Gunn: Phetsarath (1890-1959). Nationalist Laotian Prince. In: Southeast Asia. A Historical Encyclopedia, from Angkor Wat to East Timor. ABC-CLIO, Santa Barbara CA 2004, p. 1071.
  4. ^ Ivarsson, Goscha: Prince Phetsarath. 2007, pp. 75-76.
  5. ^ Daniel Fineman: A Special Relationship. The United States and Military Government in Thailand, 1947–1958. University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu 1997, pp. 185-189.
  6. ^ Arthur J. Dommen: The Indochinese Experience of the French and the Americans. Nationalism and Communism in Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam. Indiana University Press, Bloomington IN 2001, pp. 306-308.
  7. ^ Dommen: The Indochinese Experience of the French and the Americans. 2001, p. 333.
  8. ^ Ivarsson, Goscha: Prince Phetsarath. 2007, p. 55.
  9. ↑ Oliver Tappe: History, nation building and legitimation politics in Laos. Lit Verlag, Berlin 2008, pp. 94–95, 182–185.
  10. ^ Tappe: History, nation building and legitimation politics in Laos. 2008, pp. 185-186.
personal data
SURNAME Phetsarath
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Laotian politician
DATE OF BIRTH January 19, 1890
PLACE OF BIRTH Luang Prabang
DATE OF DEATH October 14, 1959
Place of death Luang Prabang