A fragmented history
"Laotian Countryside" by Ville Miettinen (Flickr, Creative Commons 4.0, Non-Commercial)
The history of Laos, a small southeast Asian nation, insignificant to countries like the United States, is fragmented and complex. Its early history is pieced together from artifacts and oral history tracing back to the mid-14th century when King La Ngum founded the kingdom of Lan Xang.
The kingdom, which encompassed parts of modern day Thailand, Laos and Vietnam, witnessed countless conflicts and invasions from neighboring kingdoms. Lan Xang after three centuries became a tributary to Siam in the late 18th century. The French, looking to rebuild national prestige after the Franco-Prussian war, began colonization efforts in Laos in the late 19th century.