Study On The Reasons For The Fall Of The Monarchy In Laos

Monarchy is an important political system produced during the development of human society,and once became the main governance in the world.Marx pointed out that under the background of the expansion of human social communication and production demand,the social productivity was developed,and the tribal ownership was also transformed to the hierarchical or feudal ownership.However,due to the inherent limitations of the productivity and communication methods under this ownership,the national polity at this stage was mostly manifested as the monarchy.But after the French Revolution,the dominant role of the monarchy was replaced by the republican system.To this day,the monarchy has only continued in some countries.The fall of the monarchy in Southeast Asia has its own unique cause.Under the background of the Cold War,the rule of western colonists and the drastic changes in the post-war world structure made Southeast Asia complete the transformation of political system with turmoil,and the monarchy of most countries was replaced by the republicanism.Different social,cultural and historical backgrounds have made the development of monarchy in Southeast Asia has its own characteristics.The relevant domestic research has been relatively mature,but the research related to the reasons for the fall of the monarchy in Laos is still very rare.Therefore,this paper selects Laos as the research object,sorts out the development process of the fall of the monarchy,and finds the reasons for fall of the monarchy in Laos.In the development process of a country,political,economic,social and other factors have a common impact on the development of the country,which is complementary and inseparable.Therefore,the study of the reasons for the fall of the monarchy in Laos in this paper will involve the above three aspects.Religion has been playing an important role in the development of Southeast Asia,especially in Laos,which used to regard Buddhism as the state religion from the Lancang Kingdom period to the western colonial period.So,this paper will also analyze its role in the fall of the monarchy in Laos from the perspective of religion.Above all,this paper will state from four aspects of politics,economy,society and religion,using the theories of class analysis,political modernization and social movement to analyze the reasons for the fall of the monarchy in Laos.The economic foundation determines the superstructure,which shows the important role of the economy in influencing the political structure of the country.This p.aper will discuss from the perspective of the change of economic structure that causes the change of social class structure in Laos and then influences the political structure of the country.It shows the active role of the new class in expanding political participation and initiating change.At the same time,the king has lose his dominance in economic income,which made him lose the authority to control the national political institutions.After the thought of freedom and equality was introduced into Laos by France,it has set off a wave of changes in Laos'social thought on a certain extent,and on this basis,the Laos'nationalist movement was born,in addition,the French colonial administrative system established in Laos has modernized the traditional feudal rule of Laos,these are the social factor that led to the fall of the monarchy in Laos.The influence of Theravada Buddhism on the Laos monarchy is constantly changing with the times.In the period of Lancang Kingdom,the Theravada Buddhism played an important role in shaping the sanctity of the king.The belief of "god king worship"gave the king a lofty status and supreme power,and formed the temple culture of Kings as protectors of Buddhism.However,during the western colonial period,the oppression and exploitation of Buddhist temples and Buddhists by western colonists caused Buddhism lose many of the powers it had during the Lancang Kingdom,such as the power to control land and slaves,the right to exempt taxes and labor,which made Buddhist monks rise up and join the national independence movement.In the 1970s,Buddhist monks even proposed the abolition of the monarchy in response to the changing situation.However,whether it is economic,social or religious factors,their role in the fall of the monarchy in Laos is indirect,the decisive factor for its fall is political.In the Lancang Kingdom period,the bigwig political and the enfeoffment system made the monarchy system that had not yet established a mature ruling institution often threatened by unrest,and eventually gradually weakened in internal and external troubles.After the World War II,the birth of a new social class and the expansion of political participation exacerbated the internal contradictions in Laos society,and spawned many power group.In the struggle of various power group,the Laos monarchy eventually fall.In the context of the Cold War,the changing international situation provided an opportunity for the development of the communist forces of Laos,which grew rapidly with the help of international communist forces,and eventually abolished the monarchy and established a republican system that was free from the control of the United States and ruled by the communist party.In the context of the world situation,the fall of the monarchy in Laos was inevitably influenced by many external factors,but the fundamental reason for the fall of the monarchy in Laos lies in the internal factors of Laos.From what has been discussed above,the fall of the monarchy in Laos is the result of choice after the struggle between various power groups within a certain social structure and historical culture.