Siam and World War 1: An International History

Siam and the First World War by Stefan Hell tells the story of how the elite of a kingdom in Southeast Asia shrewdly decided to enter into the Great War of 1914-18.While the war brought an unprecedented death toll and suffering to nearly the entire European continent, by declaring war on Germany Siam became not only the first Southeast Asian state to declare war on a Western power and thereby managed to reap great political gain internationally and solidify their rule domestically. As well as detailing the political background that led to the sending of an expeditionary source to France, the author tells fascinating personal stories: of one Thai being among the few survivors of a boat sunk by a German torpedo, of Thai students interned in a German Schloss, and of the Germans and Austrians interned in Bangkok. AUTHOR: Stefan Hell holds a PhD degree in History from Leiden University and an MA degree from Tubingen University. His research interests focus on the history of international organization and international aspects of Asian history. He has published a book on the Sino-Japanese conflict of 1931-33, articles and book chapters, and has co-edited several books. He is the author of Siam and the League of Nations: Modernisation, Sovereignty and Multilateral Diplomacy, 1920-1940, published by River Books. Stefan has been working as a management and development consultant in various Asian and European countries for the past 20 years, among others for the European Union, ASEAN, the Asian Development Bank and the British Council. Since 2011, he has been based in Jakarta, where he supports ASEAN’s regional integration in a variety of policy areas. 10 colour, 350 b/w illustrations