Siam in World War I
Following the Armistice of 11 November 1918, Siamese troops contributed to the initial occupation of Rhineland, when they took over the town of Neustadt an der Haardt.
Germans such as Oskar Frankfurter, who set up the Siamese national library, and Emil Florio, responsible for heading the Siam Commercial Bank, were important to the country.
He was on the other side of the spectrum for Chakrabongse, preferring to keep Siam neutral but not wishing to harm relations with Britain and France.
[1]: 27–9 Other major players in Siamese foreign policy included British Minister Herbert Dering, one of the most powerful foreigners in Siam, the unpopular Pierre Lefèvre-Pontalis representing France, Ferdinand Jacobus Domela Nieuwenhuis representing the Netherlands (pushing pro-German views, disliked by many) and Paul von Buri, German minister in Bangkok.
[1]: 30–1 Although it had been successful in maintaining its independence from the European colonial powers, Siam had been compelled to cede Laos and Cambodia to France and Kedah, Kelantan, Trengganu, and Perlis to Britain between 1889 and 1909, and the Siamese government was induced to grant extraterritorial rights to foreign citizens.
[2]: 149 World War I had no direct impact on Siam because of the great distance not only from Europe but also from Germany's colonial territories in the Pacific and on the China coast.
The German-supported Indian nationalist Ghadar Party sought to establish a route between North America and India through Siam.
The German council in the Shanghai International Settlement would send weapons to the camp to train Ghadar revolutionaries who would be sent into Burma to turn the local military police—mostly Indians—against the colonial authorities.
The Siamese worked with the British to reveal the German-Indian conspiracy, and tightened their control on the Southern railway and the west coast to watch for Indian nationalist revolutionaries and supplies sent by Japanese citizens sympathetic to the Central Powers.
The sinking of the Lusitania moved the King to write a lengthy article in the Royal Navy League journal, Samutthasan, denouncing the act.
[3]: 106–8 The King used the war as a means to promote the concept of a Siamese nation and to confirm his supremacy as its head, a status that had been challenged by elements of the military in the Palace Revolt of 1912.
Immediately, 320 German and Austro-Hungarian nationals were put under guard, with 193 non-diplomatic males being peacefully interned in a prisoner-of-war camp in Bangkok.
However, the presence of two internment camps in Bangkok raised fears in the government, whilst Britain began pressuring Siam to transport their POWs to India.
Apart from the immediate seizure of enemy nationals, nine German ships on the Chao Phraya River were then seized by Siamese authorities.
These ships would remain in Siamese control for several months before the largest seven were handed over to the Allies, with Siam keeping the smallest two.
It was the only state in the region to enter the conflict entirely of its own free will, as an equal of the European powers rather than as part of their colonial contingents.
The new colours of blue, white, and red, also sat comfortably, almost certainly deliberately, with the flags of Great Britain, France, the United States, and Russia.
The ground forces, on the other hand, had distinguished themselves under fire and were awarded the Croix de Guerre and Order of Rama decorations.
The ground forces participated in the occupation of Neustadt an der Haardt in the Rhineland region of Germany and also took part in the 1919 Paris Victory Parade.
The World War Volunteers Memorial honoring the Siamese soldiers who died in the conflict opened on 22 July 1921, in Sanam Luang, central Bangkok.
