Laos, 1973 — military coup attempt
Event Summary
The dataset records an attempted military coup in Laos on 20 August 1973, during the fragile coalition period at the close of the Laotian Civil War, when the neutralist government of Prime Minister Souvanna Phouma was negotiating a ceasefire and a coalition with the communist Pathet Lao under the February 1973 Vientiane Agreement. This transitional moment, with rightist officers alarmed at the prospect of sharing power with the Pathet Lao, produced plots and attempted risings within the Royal Lao establishment. An attempted coup in August 1973 came within that context and did not unseat Souvanna Phouma, whose coalition government proceeded.
The tenuous settlement held only until the wider collapse of United States backed governments in Indochina in 1975, when the Pathet Lao took full control, abolished the monarchy, and established the Lao People's Democratic Republic, ending the long civil war and the era of neutralist coalition politics.
Researched Details
Researched
Independent research, added record by record. Hover any label for what it means.
Sources
Editorial Note
Cross-Reference
Datasets agree. At least two of the three reference datasets we check against carry this event, and none of them disagrees about its date or its result.
Identifiers for finding this same event in the other datasets:
- Cline Center id
81208201973- Albrecht/Koehler/Schutz (CAM) id
CAM-812-1973-08-20
How the match is made is described in crossref-report.md.
Outcome and Target
Coup Atlas research identifies the target as: Prime Minister Souvanna Phouma's coalition government survived the August 1973 plotting.
Baseline coding: Coup attempt failed to remove the incumbent. Recorded leader fate: remained in office; not physically harmed. The baseline file does not name individual targets; researched names are kept in a separate layer.
Baseline Dataset Citation
Baseline Source-Document Entries
CSP
Luttwak
Wikipedia
New York Times
This is the citation trail carried by the baseline dataset, grouped by outlet and rejoined from the line-wrapped original. Coup Atlas has not independently re-checked every document; read the original before citing a specific claim. URLs the import damaged beyond safe repair are shown as plain text and listed in citations-report.md. How this list is built →