Siam in World War I



Siam, now known as Thailand, participated in World War I (also known as the Great War) from its declaration of war against the Central Powers on July 22, 1917. It was done mainly to gain favor from Britain and France, the main powers in Indochina at the time. Siam's token participation in World War I secured it a seat at the Versailles Peace Conference and the League of Nations, and Foreign Minister Devawongse used this opportunity to argue for the amendments of the 19th century treaties and the restoration of full Siamese sovereignty. The United States obliged in 1920, while France and Britain delayed until 1925.

History
Despite the failed Palace Revolt of 1912, the Siamese monarch's popularity among his people continued to plummet mainly for Army discontent for the caning of six soldiers that got into an argument over a woman with a group of the then Crown Prince Vajiravudh's pages (1909) and the establishment of the Wild Tiger Corps (1911). The reduction of Siamese territory, after losing Laos and Cambodia in the period 1889 to 1909, also gave cries of discontent for giving way for British and French concessions.

The Siamese monarch, Rama VI, saw the opportunity in the Great War to gain both popularity and full sovereignty. So, Siam sent 1,284 volunteer troops under the command of General Phya Pijaijarnrit to serve in the Western Front with the combined Franco-British force. The expeditionary force, which arrived in 1918, included 95 qualified pilots and a medical unit. The Siamese troops were the only Southeast Asians in the European theatre (except for 140,000 Vietnamese troops and workers drafted by the French). Amendments favorable for full Siamese sovereignty was provided in response to the small force sent by Siam in the war. Impounded German ships were given also for Siam's merchant marine growth. 19 Siamese soldiers were killed during the war.

Rama VI saw this also as an opportunity to promote nationalism. The flag of the Kingdom of Siam shows five horizontal stripes in the colours red, white, blue, white and red, with the middle blue stripe being twice as wide as each of the other four. The design was adopted on 28 September 1917, according to the royal decree about the flag in that year; the Thai name for the flag is ธงไตรรงค์ (Thong Trairong), meaning tricolour flag. The colours are said to stand for nation-religion-king, an unofficial motto of Thailand, red for the land and people, white for Theravada Buddhism and blue for the monarchy, as having been the auspicious colour of King Rama VI. As the king had declared war on Germany that July, some note the flag now bore the same colours as those of Britain and France.