Cambodia and Laos Leave French Indochina

Cambodia and Laos gained independence from France through diplomacy shaped by the war in Vietnam. In Cambodia, King Norodom Sihanouk launched a 'royal crusade for independence' in 1953, traveling abroad to press France and rallying domestic support. France, overstretched in Vietnam, conceded full independence on 9 November 1953. In Laos, a Franco-Lao treaty of October 1953 recognized full sovereignty, though the communist Pathet Lao, allied with the Viet Minh, controlled parts of the country.

The Geneva Conference of 1954 confirmed both states' independence and neutrality. Both soon became caught in the wider Indochina conflict: Laos suffered a long civil war and heavy US bombing, and Cambodia's neutrality collapsed in 1970, leading to civil war and the Khmer Rouge regime. Their experiences show how small states created by decolonization could be overwhelmed by regional and Cold War conflicts they did not control.