Vajirunhis

Vajirunhis วาจิรุ ณ หิศ
King Rama VI
Siamese Emperor
Tenure	5 November 1918 - 22 February 1930
Proclamation	5 November 1918
Predecessor	Monarchy established
Successor	Kraisee (Rama VII)
King of Siam
Tenure	23 October 1910 - 22 February 1930
Coronation	15 November 1910
Predecessor	Chulalongkorn (Rama V)
Successor	Kraisee (Rama VII)
Born	(1878-06-27)27 June 1878 Grand Palace, Bangkok, Siam
Died	22 February 1930(1930-02-22) (aged 51) Grand Palace, Bangkok, Siam
Burial	Wat Bowonniwet Vihara, Phra Nakhon, Bangkok, Siamese Empire
Spouse	Rochana Honghannarong (m. 1900)
Issue	Kraisee (Rama VII)
House	Chakri Dynasty
Father	Chulalongkorn (Rama V)
Mother	Savang Vadhana
Religion	Buddhism

Vajirunhis, also known as King Rama VI (Thai: วาจิรุ ณ หิศ; RTGS: Wachirunhis; 27 June 1878 - 22 February 1930) was the sixth monarch of Siam under the Chakri Dynasty, ruling from 1910 to 1930, and the first Siamese Emperor from 1918 until his death. Having succeeded his father King Chulalongkorn upon the former's death in 1910, Vajirunhis presided over Siam's involvement in the First World War which saw the kingdom victoriously reclaiming its lost territories from France in Indochina. Soon after, he was proclaimed Siamese Emperor of a united Siam. As emperor, he further continued his father's reforms in modernising the new Siamese Empire, culminating in the creation of its very first constitution in 1920. Nevertheless, during the final year of his reign, Siam first felt the brunt of the Great Depression, which he addressed with some success. Upon his death, he was succeeded by his son, Kraisee.

Early Life

Vajirunhis was born on June 27th, 1878 as the eldest son of King Chulalongkorn and Queen Savang Vadhana, whom was also the king's half-sister. As the eldest child of a reigning king, Vajirunhis was made Crown Prince of Siam following the death of Prince Bovorn Wichaichan, Vajirunhis's younger cousin in 1885.

Crown Prince of Siam

As heir apparent to his father, Vajirunhis, in line with the pro-Western approach adopted by King Chulalongkorn, received a mostly European style of education, meant to prepare the future king for his role while ensuring the continuation of Siam's modernisation. In particular, Vajirunhis was taught in the liberal arts, which he generally excelled in.

Life in Europe

In 1891, a thirteen year old Vajirunhis was sent to the United Kingdom alongside his mother where by the courtesy of Queen Victoria, the Siamese royals and their entourage were allowed to reside in the Sandringham House in Norfolk. Subsequently, Vajirunhis enlisted in the prestigious Eton College, where he spent most of his school days until he was approximately eighteen years old.

By his father's suggestion, Vajirunhis furthered his education at the Royal Military College in Sandhurst, where he was subsequently commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the British Army. After having initially being exempted from participating in the Boxer Rebellion in China and the Boer War in South Africa, Vajirunhis was allowed to see his first military experience when he was commissioned to India as part of the Mahsud Waziri blockade, which he partook in under the 1st Sikh Regiment. Having distinguished himself in battle with his bravery and professionalism, Vajirunhis was soon moved over to Germany instead, where he enlisted at the Prussian Staff College for further experience in the arts of warfare. His subsequent success there proved to be a massive joy back in Siam, whose people were much entertained at the prospect of having a militaristic king. Nevertheless, in 1908, Vajirunhis returned to Siam where he began taking up his official duties as Crown Prince of Siam, representing his father at official functions while at the same time, undertaking several tasks delegated to him by the former.

Reign

Upon the death of King Chulalongkorn in 1910, Vajirunhis succeeded his father as King Rama VI. His coronation was held on November 15th of the same year.

Having become the new King of Siam, Vajirunhis further continued his father's ambitious reforms in modernising Siam. With the help of his advisors inherited from his father's reign, Vajirunhis further updated the Siamese bureaucracy whilst also devoting his time into modernising the military on both the British and Prussian models.

First World War

On July 28th 1914, the opposing Allied and Central Powers factions went to war following Austria-Hungary's declaration of war towards the Kingdom of Serbia. Almost immediately, Vajirunhis declared Siam to be a neutral belligerent, due to its surroundings being composed entirely of Allied colonies. Nevertheless, in order to reap benefits from the surrounding war, Vajirunhis was able to successfully secure economical deals with the neighbouring Allied countries whom Siam began exporting mineral resources to for the first half of the war.

However, by the year 1917, despite the initial pro-Allied stance adopted by the Siamese government, Vajirunhis began to face pressure from some of his advisers whom had begun pressing the king to instead adopt a more favourable stance towards the Central Powers following likely signs of an Allied defeat. Initially, Vajirunhis himself was reasonably reluctant to adopt such a radical shift in allegiance, fearing an overwhelming armed invasion from the surrounding Allied colonies, though a participation in the war on the side of the Central Powers, as per some of his advisors, would present an opportunity to reclaim Siam's lost lands conceded to the French in Indochina. Ultimately, on August 1917, the Siamese government officially entered the war on the side of Germany and its allies. Prior to this, during the process of drafting the official declaration of war against the Allied belligerents, Vajirunhis had suggested for the United Kingdom in particular to be excluded from the list of Siam's official enemies, which would theoretically preserve relations between the two countries while the Siamese went to war against their French ally. Consequently, out of the need to crucially preserve their relationship with Britain in the war's aftermath, the king's suggestion was implemented in the final draft, thereby alluding to the view that in theory, Siam is only formally at war with the United Kingdom's allies, and not Britain itself.

Soon after their declaration of war was made public, Vajirunhis personally led an army in the north to recapture Laos from the French. During the three weeks long campaign, Vajirunhis both distinguished himself and personally oversaw an almost uniterrupted streak of victories against the French colonial troops, whom were generally in an inferior condition compared to the more superior Siamese troops. Amidst the campaign, Vajirunhis and the Siamese forces's victories inspired the local Laotian troops under King Sisavang Phoulivong to rise up against their French overlords, culminating in a somewhat tense, but successful capitulation of French soldiers in the capital city of Luang Phrabang. Subsequently, on October 25th that year, Siamese forces retook Cambodia after having successfully captured the capital city of Phnom Penh, thereby driving the French forces back to its protectorate in Vietnam. During a brief period of general armistice between the two sides, Vajirunhis reportedly expressed his desire to negotiate a peace treaty with the French in Hanoi as he believed that a campaign to retake Vietnam next would be much costlier than the ones in Laos and Cambodia respectively. However, negotiations quickly fell apart due to each sides' starkly different proposed terms for the treaty, with the local French authorities pressing for a continuation, albeit reduced amount of French autonomy in Laos and Cambodia, while the Siamese demanded for a full withdrawal of French troops from Indochina. Soon enough, on precisely November 10th, both sides began to re-engage in hostilities, with French soldiers, now slightly reinforced in terms of numbers and weapons from their base at Guangzhouwan attempting to drive the Siamese soldiers back into its borders. However, despite some reverses, the soldiers held firm against the French advance, while Vajirunhis's army was later able to make an inward push for Dalat on the 30th, thereby capturing it a few days later.

By early 1918, with the Allied belligerents in dire conditions, French colonial forces in the peninsula began to gradually falter in the face of a renewed Siamese attack which, by the end of the year had secured most of Vietnam up to the city of Cuc Phuong. Nevertheless, by January 10th 1918, French forces in Hanoi formally surrendered to Siam, with Vajirunhis himself accepting the declaration of surrender from the French-appointed Governor-General of Indochina, Albert Sarraut. Later on, in November that year, at the Berlin Peace Conference, Siam's conquest of French IndoChina was formally recognised while in return, the Siamese government, on behalf of Vajirunhis himself agreed to pay approximately 5,000 baht to the British as '"war reparations".

Siamese Emperor

During the months leading to the Berlin Peace Conference, and after the French surrender at Hanoi, the king had personally invited the kings of Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam to Bangkok on the premise of discussing a possible formation of a Siamese Empire based largely on the German Empire in Europe, which had been a federation consisting of multiple states led by a permanent head, thus forming the empire itself. Reportedly, in the beginning, all but one of the three kings invited by Vajirunhis agreed to such a proposal, as they were promised a guaranteed amount of autonomy. However, the lone detractor, namely Emperor Khải Định opposed the formation of such an empire, as he believed that with the creation of a Siamese Emperor title, Khải Định himself, as Emperor of Đại Nam would've been seen as equal in rank to the later Siamese Emperor, thus eroding the status quo which saw himself and his predecessors as the only emperors in the region. Nevertheless, after much overtures, the proposed plan was eventually agreed upon unanimously by all four kings present, with the date of its implementation being based upon the date of the formal end of the First World War. Thus, when the war was declared to had ended on November 3rd, Vajirunhis was subsequently proclaimed Siamese Emperor at the Grand Palace amidst nationalistic celebrations in Siam celebrating their victory over their French adversaries. Like his German counterpart, Vajirunhin retained his kingship title upon receiving his emperorship instead, thereby making him both Siamese Emperor and King of Siam.

Marriage

In 1900, Vajirunhis, while still a Crown Prince of Siam married Rochana Honghannarong, the daughter of a Siamese nobleman, with whom he has only one son, King Rama VII, better known as Kraisee.

Ancestry

Ancestors of Vajirunhis
8. (=12.) Buddha Loetla Nabhalai 4. (=6.) Mongkut 9. (=13.) Sri Suriyendra 2. Chulalongkorn 10. Siriwongse, Prince Matayaphitak 5. Debsirindra 11. Noi 1. Vajirunhis 12. (=8.) Buddha Loetla Nabhalai 6. (=4.) Mongkut 13. (=9.) Sri Suriyendra 3. Saovabha Phongsri 14. Taeng Sucharitakul 7. Piam Sucharitakul 15. Nag Sucharitakul