Editing Vajiravudh (section)

==World War I and Siamese nationalism==
[[File:Siamese Troops (Thai) Arc de Triomphe WW1 1919.jpg|thumb|The Siamese Expeditionary Force with the tricolor flag of Siam in [[Paris]], 1919]]
{{See also|Siam in World War I}}
On 22 July 1917 Vajiravudh declared war on [[German Empire|Germany]] and [[Austria-Hungary]].<ref name=TB>{{cite journal|last1=Boontanondha|first1=Thep|title=King Vajiravudh and the Making his Military Image|url=https://www.academia.edu/4160335|website=Academia|publisher=Paper presented at the 8th Singapore Graduate Forum on SE Asian Studies|access-date=7 July 2016}}</ref> He aligned Siam with the [[Allies of World War I|Allied Powers]] and expelled German and Austrian officials from the Railway Department and Siam Commercial Bank. He also put the properties of the [[Central Powers]] under a Siamese government protectorate. Vajiravudh saw the war as an opportunity to create and promote Siamese nationalism. He changed the [[Flag of Thailand|flag of Siam]] from the elephant banner to the tricolor banner. King Vajiravudh is considered by some writers to be the father of [[Thai nationalism]], which was later built upon by Field Marshal [[Plaek Phibunsongkhram|Phibunsongkhram]] and [[Sarit Thanarat]]. The alternative view is that the idea of nationalism by Rama VI was a later political construct. Prince [[Chakrabongse Bhuvanath|Chula Chakrabongse]] classified him as a liberal.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Chakrabongse|first=Chula|title=Lords of Life. A History of the Kings of Thailand|publisher=Alvin Redman Ltd|year=1967}}</ref>

Vajiravudh wrote a letter (held in the [[Gloucestershire Archives]], England) to his friend Maynard Colchester Wemyss setting out his reasons for going to war, dated 18 September 1917.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Mann|first=Neela|date=2015|title=The extraordinary story of the letters between Maynard Willoughby Colchester Wemyss and King Rama VI of Siam|url=https://gloucestershirearchives.wordpress.com/2015/07/21/the-extraordinary-story-of-the-letters-between-maynard-willoughby-colchester-wemyss-and-king-rama-vi-of-siam/comment-page-1/}}</ref> Wemyss was guardian to King Bhumipol's father and two of his brothers. Vajiravudh described the presence of Imperial German spy activity in Bangkok, allying with business groups for economic arrangements after a German take-over of Siam. Wemyss and the King also corresponded about [[Wilhelm II, German Emperor|Kaiser Wilhelm II]]'s Asian aggression, on atrocities involving the Kaiser's army in Belgium (the [[Rape of Belgium]]) and the killing of British civilians by naval bombardment during the [[raid on Scarborough, Hartlepool and Whitby]]. In 1921, Rama VI wrote to Wemyss that in avoiding the "German militaristic spirit . . .  Thai people had been protected as free minds".<ref>Letter, King Rama VI to Wemyss, Gloucester Archives, Gloucester, UK, 28 July 1921</ref>
Vajiravudh introduced the practice of using the name [[Rama]] for the Chakri kings in deference to the dynasty and following western practice, being then himself Rama VI.{{Citation needed|date=November 2021}}

Other than 140,000 [[Vietnam]]ese colonial troops and workers drafted by the [[France|French]], Siamese troops were the only Southeast Asians in the European theatre of World War I.<ref>Sanderson Beck: Vietnam and the French: South Asia 1800-1950, paperback, 629 pages</ref> However, the Siamese troops did not see much action, as they arrived in Europe towards the end of the war. Participation in the war allowed Siam to later negotiate with the Western powers as a partner, albeit a junior one.<ref>[http://knowledge.eduzones.com/knowledge-2-4-2051.html ไทยกับสงครามโลกครั้งที่ 1<!-- bot-generated title -->] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170806020339/http://knowledge.eduzones.com/knowledge-2-4-2051.html |date=6 August 2017 }} at knowledge.eduzones.com</ref> Although the Siamese pilots who trained in France did not see combat because the war ended, Siam's participation in the First World war led to the founding of the [[Royal Thai Air Force|Royal Thai Airforce]] and the airborne postal service. The Royal Siamese Transport Corps (Ror Yor) and Medical Corps did see front line action, but not in combat.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last=Phusrisom|first=K|title=Soldiers of Siam: A First World War Chronicle.|publisher=Lemongrass Books|year=2020|isbn=978-1-9163563-0-6|location=Durham, UK|pages=31|language=English}}</ref> Nineteen soldiers died, some in accidents, but mainly from the [[Spanish flu|Spanish Flu]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Phusrisom|first=K|date=2016|title=The Siamese Expeditionary Force of World War One and the Spanish Flu.|url=https://hekint.org/2017/01/22/the-siamese-expeditionary-force-of-world-war-i-and-the-spanish-flu/|journal=Hektoen International Journal of Medical Humanities|volume=Fall 2016}}</ref>