There are 5 socialist countries in the world, China, Vietnam, North Korea, Cuba, Laos, the development of China, North Korea, Vietnam the whole world is there for all to see, although Cuba is suppressed by the United States, but it is not bad, only Laos, the worst mix among socialist countries, the sense of existence is extremely low.
Since the reform and opening up in 1978, the mainland has made great achievements that have attracted worldwide attention, Laos also implemented reform and opening up in 1986, but it is still one of the least developed countries in the world, with a GDP of only 16 billion US dollars, not as high as a medium-sized county in the mainland, with a per capita GDP of only 2400 US dollars, and the overall level is at the bottom in Southeast Asia.
In the various articles on Laos now, the most common is that Laos is poor but has a high happiness index, men are not too self-motivated, immersed in coffee and beer for a day, women are industrious to run the family, and life is plain but happy.
This situation is not caused by Laos's lack of effort and progress, but because there are other reasons.
Laos, which has 80 million unexploded duds, has not yet come out of the shadow of war, and Laos is the most tragic country.
Located on the Indochina Peninsula, bordering China, Cambodia, Vietnam, Myanmar and Thailand, Laos covers an area of 236,800 square kilometers and has a total population of about 7 million.
First, the difficult history.
There is a lot of controversy in lao history, and it is recognized that the first country, the Lancang Kingdom, appeared only in 1353, which was the first completely unified country of Laos and the peak of Laos.
In 1707, the Lancang Kingdom split into three countries, and the humiliation of Laos began.
Beginning in 1778, these three weak states became vassal states of Siam (present-day Thailand).
In 1893, the French came, and the three countries were incorporated into French Indochina and completely reduced to colonies.
In 1940, it was occupied by the Japanese.
It was not until the end of World War II that Laos was finally freed from the Japanese, and independence was declared on September 15, 1945, a new country was established.
But the good times did not last long, and in 1946, the French, who were not willing to accept defeat, came again, not only openly supporting the independence of parts of Laos, but also sending troops into Laos, and war broke out.
In 1954, France was defeated in Laos, recognized Lao independence and withdrew its troops.
But before Laos could breathe a sigh of relief, the United States supported pro-American forces in Laos and strongly supported its independence, and civil war resumed.
At this time, the United States provoked a war in Vietnam, and the Indochina Peninsula was in flames, and Laos was helplessly involved.
In other words, in addition to the civil war, Laos was also forced to participate in the Vietnam War, and this influence continues to this day.
80 million unexploded duds.
The Vietnam War fought from 1955 to 1975, a full twenty years, more than 3 million people died, and everyone thought Vietnam was miserable, but Laos was the biggest victim of the Vietnam War.
Looking closely at the map of Vietnam, its territory is in a north-south direction, the two ends are thick and thin, it is very easy to be truncated from the middle, the transportation of personnel and materials between the north and the south has become a big problem, and when passing through the middle narrow strip, it is easy to be found and destroyed by the enemy.
Therefore, it was imperative for North Vietnam to open up new paths.
In 1959, the first North Vietnamese force, carrying supplies, detoured from Laos and Cambodia to smoothly open up communication between the north and the south.
This road is called "Ho Chi Minh Trail", the reason why it is called a trail is very simple, this road is too narrow, it is a sheep's gut trail, only for a single person to walk through.
With the escalation of the Vietnam War, the intensity of the war multiplied, and the demand for materials became huge, and the North Vietnamese could only continue to expand this road, building a huge transportation network with a total length of more than 20,000 kilometers, with 5 main roads, 29 branch roads and countless small roads, and also established supply facilities such as military stations, warehouses, and oil depots at key nodes.
Throughout the Vietnam War, millions of soldiers, weapons, ammunition and 1.8 million tons of supplies passed through the area, contributing to the victory of the Vietnam War.
For Americans, the "Ho Chi Minh Trail" has become a thorn in their side, and in order to destroy this lifeline, Americans can be said to be useless.
At first, only sneak attacks were carried out on the Ho Chi Minh Trail and the bridge was destroyed, but as the Ho Chi Minh Trail became wider and wider, the route became more and more numerous, and the Americans became more and more ruthless.
Artificial rain tries to cause flooding,
Indiscriminate poisoning in the dense forest,
……
All of this ended in failure, and the United States could only use the simplest and most direct way - bombing
Thus began the largest bombing campaign in history.
Since 1964, the United States has launched indiscriminate bombing of the "Ho Chi Minh Trail", and used various types of bombs, including magnetic bombs, mines, incendiary bombs, cluster bombs, and 24-hour non-stop bombing.
In order to prevent the emergence of the new "Ho Chi Minh Trail", the U.S. military bombed all possible places, including forests, rivers and farmland, and as the Late Vietnam War was over, the United States was even more frantic, bombing all parts of Laos, not sparing pedestrians and animals on the road.
The intensity of the bombing was unimaginable, with the United States sending at least 560,000 aircraft and dropping more than 200 million bombs or more than 2.6 million tons in Laos.
The ongoing bombing has caused at least 600,000 casualties and countless people have been displaced throughout every family in Laos. To this day, Laos are most afraid of explosions, which is the most frightening nightmare in their hearts.
The most frightening thing is that many of the bombs dropped by the United States did not detonate directly due to delayed setting, aging fuzes, soft mud at the impact point, and so on. Just staying quiet in the field has turned Laos into a huge minefield.
According to statistics, at least 80 million bombs were not detonated after the war, right at the feet of the Lao people.
Third, nightmares.
In the forty years since the end of the air raids, more than 50,000 people have been killed or injured by bombs, more than 40% of whom are children, and children's curiosity cannot help but touch bombs of various shapes when they see them.
Due to the long time that has passed, the landform has changed greatly, and many bombs have been perfectly integrated with the surrounding environment, and it is difficult to find clues without the use of professional instruments.
For us, going to deserted places is fun and exciting, and for Laos, where no one has set foot is the real forbidden area of life.
To this day, bombs are still the biggest problem plaguing Laos, at least 1/3 of the territory of Laos belongs to high-risk areas, although the Lao government vigorously trained personnel to defuse bombs, but compared with the total of 80 million, it came too slowly.
And cleaning up requires a lot of money, which is undoubtedly worse for poor Laos, which is like entering a vicious circle, national development must first clear the bomb - clean up the bomb costs a lot of money - the country has to develop to have money.
Laos is particularly disabled, far more than in other countries, and it is possible that these people simply go to the fields, chop firewood, fetch water, and accidentally touch the bomb. Because they can't stay at home all the time, in order to live, they can only go out to strange places and gamble with their lives on the future.
The cautious Laotians make their labor efficiency super inefficient, people even have difficulty in food and clothing, and most of the energy of people is on how to feed themselves, which in turn leads to a series of problems, and there is no way to talk about nation-building.
The Laotians, who are struggling to live, have set their sights on bombs, and they make all kinds of bombs into all kinds of things, houses, fences, boats, flower pots, etc., and even people who live on bombs, looking around for bombs, risking great dangers, just to sell a little scrap iron money.
It is no wonder why Lao men are more Buddhist, drink coffee every day, drink wine after work, easy to satisfy, appear to be full of happiness, this is all a helpless compromise.
What do you think of Laos?
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