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Siam: a bone of contention between Britain and the United States, 1942–46

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 October 2009

J. E. Williams
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Extract

Siam's only effective contribution to the war in Asia was to act as a jumping-off ground for the invasion of Burma and as a base for Japanese forces operating in Malaya, Yet this small country found itself at the centre of an increasingly acrimonious debate between London and Washington. This was no briefer simple misunderstanding between allies. The. problem began in 1942 and dragged on well into 1946, Its real cause was obviously not the conduct of the Siamese9 but sharply contrasting perceptions of previous roles in Asia and of national interests in the post-war world. It was a dispute that demonstrated how difficult it was to get Anglo-American political and military collaboration in South-East Asia., as long as Britain remained an imperial power9 at the very time when the war was engendering in Europe a remarkable degree of co-operation between the two countries.

Type
Research Article
Information
Review of International Studies , Volume 8 , Issue 3 , July 1982 , pp. 187 - 202
Copyright
Copyright © British International Studies Association 1982

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References

1. FO 371, 41848, fo.34.

2. FO 371, 31866, fo.24.

3. FO 371, 34149, fo.30.

4. FO 371, 35983, fo.8.

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7. WP (43) 574.

8. WP (44) 72.

9. FO 371, 41844, fo.57.

10. Ibid, fo.72.

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13. Ibid, fo.70.

14. Ibid. fo.113.

15. Ibid. fo.181.

16. FO 371, 41845, fo.817.

17. FO 371, 41848, fo.14.

18. Ibid. fo.15.

19. WM (45) 49 conclusion, 5.

20. WP (45) 249.

21. Ibid.

22. FO 371, 46545, fo.87.

23. Ibid. fo.3.

24. CAB 78 (33) 1945.

25. FO 371, 46545, fo.7.

26. FO 371, 46549, F.6583.

27. FO 371, 46550, fo.24 (OSS was the American Office of Strategic Services).

28. FO 371, 46549, F.6647.

29. FO 371, 46553, fo.l 14.

30. FO 371, 46554, fo.66.

31. FO 371, 46551, fo.9, 64.

32. Ibid, fo.79–80.

33. FO 371, 46552, fo.63, 65, 91.

34. Ibid, fo.233 (a telegram to Halifax, Britain's ambassador to Washington, who was expected to convey its contents to the State Department).

35. FO 371, 46549, fo.119.

36. FO 371, 46554, 108–9.

37. New York Herald Tribune, 5 December 1945Google Scholar; Straits Times, 6 December 1945Google Scholar; Hindustan Times, 5 December 1945.Google Scholar

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39. Agreement between the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and the Siamese Government for the Termination of War. United Kingdom Treaties, 1946, p. 7.Google Scholar

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