Start 1861: I Just Inherited the Dutch Throne

King William IV of the Netherlands and King Chulalongkorn of the Kingdom of Siam have a close relationship. Every six months, King Chulalongkorn of the Kingdom of Siam arrives in the Netherlands. William IV receives the visiting Chulalongkorn at the Royal Palace in Melbourne.

In an interview with the European Times in Melbourne, Netherlands, Chulalongkorn said, "The British have more than 20,000 professional and experienced troops stationed in Myanmar, and the colonial troops of India and Bangladesh exceed 50,000, which will have a great impact on Siam." The kingdom poses a huge threat.”

The presence of Britain and France on the Indochina Peninsula allowed the Kingdom of Siam to further bring it into the embrace of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Since 1868, King Chulalongkorn of the Kingdom of Siam has rarely visited the Kingdom of Siam in recent years, but he arrives in the Netherlands once or twice a year, highlighting the close relationship between the two.

In the 1870s, the British annexed Myanmar. Chulalongkorn, who refused to recognize the British rule in Myanmar, obviously realized that the Kingdom of Siam might one day follow in the footsteps of Myanmar and be occupied by Britain or France. Therefore, after 1870, it was The main reason why the Kingdom of Siam accelerated its approach to the Netherlands.

Latuka, a former general of the Kingdom of Siam who is currently in exile overseas and lives in London, England, described Chulalongkorn and William IV as being like conjoined twins, "They cannot live without each other. If one of them falls, it means to another person’s political death.”

The British Crown Prince Edward even mockingly said that the Dutch mediation in the Kingdom of Siam has indeed made the Kingdom of Siam more terrifying than the partial territory occupied by Britain and France, because Bangkok has become a playground for Dutch politicians. There, sooner or later, it will be directly ruled by the Dutch or indirectly supported by puppet rule. No matter which way it is, the Kingdom of Siam is in the process of decline and evolution.

Of course, Crown Prince Edward also said: "In other words, the more useful Chulalongkorn is to the Netherlands, the more inclined the Kingdom of the Netherlands will be to ensure that he continues to be in power. This is Chulalongkorn's purpose."

The British then began to aggressively accuse the Netherlands of manipulating the Kingdom of Siam, trying to use public opinion and politics to manipulate the Kingdom of Siam. Many Dutch politicians even threatened that the British would recently restart their invasion of the Kingdom of Siam, so they publicly suggested that the Kingdom of Siam, with a population of 8 million, should become a new principality within the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, or establish something similar to the Kingdom of Siam. The alliance during the German Confederation period has further aggravated the concerns of Britain and France, because if it really develops like this, then Britain and France will be completely out of luck in Indochina.

After all, none of them dared to attack the Netherlands first in the Far East. The consequences would be too serious.

However, this is just the fantasy of some radical people in political parties. The Dutch and Siamese officials have never discussed this matter, or even bothered to respond. This is to avoid a rift in the relationship between the two countries.

It may not be an exaggeration to describe the Netherlands' important relationship with the Kingdom of Siam as "a cold mouth and a cold tooth."

Birus, associate professor of politics at the Australian National University in the Kingdom of the Netherlands, agreed with this statement. He said in an interview: "Chulalongkorn gained the trust of William IV and through many visits, he found the best way for both parties to cooperate. , to maintain the two countries on the Indochina Peninsula against the French colonialists in the east, North and South Vietnam, and the greedy British who occupied Burma in the west."

Thomas, the former British ambassador to the Kingdom of Siam, attended a meeting held by Crown Prince Edward in London. He made public his views. He believed that Chulalongkorn had fallen into a vicious cycle. There are already 150 political prisoners imprisoned in the southern territory of the Kingdom of Siam. These are people who oppose Chulalongkorn's rule and are close to the anti-drug Kingdom of Siam and the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Chulalongkorn will not easily change his political attitude. , and therefore needed to suppress the opposition, and in this way his position became increasingly unstable due to his illegal behavior.

Mitro, a researcher at the University of Bremen in Germany who participated in the meeting, was interviewed by the Financial Times and pointed out: "If Chulalongkorn continues to push for closeness to the Netherlands, opposes the political tendencies of Britain and France, and even continues to accept political attributes from the Netherlands, This will naturally enhance Chulalongkorn's political influence, and he will also gain the power and benefit of his family to expand in the Kingdom of Siam. It will deepen the family's rule from generation to generation."

The German researcher even directly doubted: "Chulalongkorn of the Kingdom of Siam used to study in the island country of Europe, but he stayed the longest in a university in the Far East of the Netherlands. Now his children have also begun to study in the Netherlands. The youngest But he is only 5 years old, so it is not wrong to guess that this family has become a puppet of the Netherlands."

"There was even a period of demonstrations in the Kingdom of Siam. The Netherlands actually dispatched police forces to assist the Kingdom of Siam in suppressing it. It also provided a payment of 10 million Dutch guilders (£1 million) and sold arms and industrial products at preferential prices. To the Kingdom of Siam, it resolved the political crisis in which Chulalongkorn might have been ousted."

Quijano, an opponent of the Kingdom of Siam who fled to British Burma after the 1875 election, warned that King Chulalongkorn might use the strong position of the Netherlands to support the Dutch army's transit into the Kingdom of Siam, and used the excuse to support Opposing the invasion of Britain and France was actually to guide the Kingdom of Siam to subdue the opposition parties and those who opposed the rule of the royal family.

However, Doshi, a senior researcher at the Institute of International Studies at the University of Jakarta, does not believe that the Netherlands will deploy troops within the Kingdom of Siam, because this will fundamentally change the rule of the Kingdom of Siam, which is very objectionable in the Kingdom of Siam, so Only then did Britain, France, and Siam need to take into account Siam's own military mobilization strength when they wanted to move or move westward. I don’t dare to act rashly against you, especially the British. Siam is not like Myanmar. The Siamese nation is more homogeneous, unlike Myanmar, which is a swarm of swarms, each of which refuses to obey anyone.

Therefore, the Kingdom of Siam did not dare to invade when Britain and France, and the Dutch garrison were so proud that it was not good news, although this would fundamentally change the strategic situation.

It has been nearly 14 years since he ruled the Kingdom of Siam in 1868 at the age of 15. Chulalongkorn has always been described as a puppet of William IV.

Although this sounds a bit unpleasant, it is actually very similar.

Phu Quoc Island is located at the maritime junction between the Cambodian region of the Kingdom of Siam in South Vietnam. It was Cambodia that knew it could not hold on before the Second French Empire prepared to invade Cambodia. In order to win over the Netherlands, it sold it to the Netherlands at a low price. Now it has become a rich island with various brothels and shady jewelry. Calligraphy and painting, du-field, etc. It also became a transit point, where Dutch industrial products were shipped and then dispersed to the French-controlled areas in North and South Vietnam, French East Cambodia, and became the main supply and distribution center for daily necessities in the Kingdom of Siam.

In short, this is the most prosperous city island in the area, even more prosperous than Bangkok, with a population of more than 500,000.

This is the first time that the Kingdom of Siam has fulfilled its obligations to the Netherlands. The second time was naturally that the south of Prachuap Port, which was ruled by the Kingdom of Siam on the Malay Peninsula, was leased to the Netherlands. With a population of 8 million, 1.2 million people were forcibly excluded. The area was administered by the Dutch for 100 years. After 100 years, things and people changed, and it would be strange to return to the rule of the Kingdom of Siam.