Laotian communist movement. In the independence struggle after World War II, Pathet Lao forces cooperated with the Vietminh against French colonial power. After the Geneva Agreement (1954), it emerged as a major political and military force within Laos, seeking the alignment of their country with communist China and North Vietnam. Between the mid-1950s and mid-1970s the Pathet Lao and its political wing, the Neo Lao Haksat (Patriotic Party of Laos) under the leadership of Prince Souphanouvong, waged a prolonged political and military struggle for power with non-communist government forces, eventually emerging triumphant with the formation of the People’s Democratic Republic of Laos in 1975.