African Entrepreneurship Record

Chapter 1257: Chapter 266: England and France Mediate

The Siamese royal family initially reached out to England and France to mediate this ”misunderstanding” since these two countries have the deepest influence in Siam. Essentially, Siam’s diplomatic affairs cannot bypass England and France.

On the morning of August 16th, Rama VI invited Sir Claire from England and the envoy Kliyaba from France to the Bangkok royal palace for discussions.

Rama VI recounted the events to the two envoys and then looked at them, saying: ”Gentlemen, this time Siam has definitely been wronged. After all, we have clearly prohibited the establishment of Chinese schools in Siam, yet East Africa set up such schools in Bangkok without notifying us, which led to this incident!”

”It’s obvious that the East Africans deliberately set this trap for us, and their aim is simple: to further invade Siam.”

Sir Claire asked Rama VI helplessly: ”Your Majesty, have you spoken with East Africa? What is their attitude?”

Since arriving in Siam, Sir Claire hadn’t encountered any good news. First, England was at war with the Allies, prompting the British government to give Claire an important task to ensure the support of strategic supplies from Siam to mainland Britain.

Siam is the world’s second-largest rubber producer after East Africa, and the war made international rubber prices soar. Although East African rubber isn’t expensive, the opportunity to get some from Siam for free is obviously more cost-effective.

After all, Siam has a large population, though it’s only around ninety thousand, which stands out especially in the South Sea Region.

It should be known that not many countries have populations over ten million during this period; take Kalimantan Island, for instance, the entire population barely reaches three million.

And this is under the condition of Siam having nearly half of its territory taken by England and France. Currently, Siam’s population size includes the prosperous Mekong River basin, and if it weren’t for this, reaching a population of ten million would not be a problem for Siam.

Siam’s land can be considered among the best in the entire South Sea Region with flat terrain, ample rainfall, and rich resources, hence England and France hold great ambitions for Siam.

England’s investments in Siam are plentiful, with an emphasis on food and rubber. Siam’s climate is perfect for rubber cultivation, and the cost of labor and organizational capabilities are excellent, making it one of Britain’s largest sources of rubber.

East Africa cannot compare in this regard. Although East Africa actively reduces the cost of rubber cultivation, the labor costs in East Africa still show a trend of decreasing rubber planting.

Certainly, in the short term, other regions worldwide cannot surpass East Africa in rubber planting area, as East Africa’s rubber cultivation has nearly all advantages except high labor costs.

Such as the largest planting area globally, deep technical accumulation, the most complete industrial chain, the most advanced tools, government subsidies, and protection by East Africa itself, etc.

It should be known that East Africa is not only the world’s largest rubber producer but also the largest rubber consumer, with large demands for automotive, electrical, and other industries. East Africa can use this point to protect the development of its rubber industry.

However, no matter how good the tools and technology, they can’t compare to Siam’s ”oxen and horses,” making Siamese rubber competitive in recent years, though the planting scale is small. One of Claire’s tasks is to ensure these cheap rubbers are smoothly transported to mainland Britain.

Secondly, Claire’s task is to safeguard Britain’s interests in Siam. Under normal circumstances, this would not be worth mentioning, but now Britain is besieged by war domestically, forcing overseas interests into harsher challenges. The threat from East Africa to Siam exemplifies this point precisely.

Rama VI remarked: ”We have had preliminary communication with the East African embassy, but they clearly lack the sincerity for negotiations.”

Sir Claire asked: ”What are East Africa’s demands?”

Rama VI replied: ”East Africa’s demands are threefold: First, we must compensate the East African Government with 80 million Rhine Shields; second, they demand the cession of part of the territory, including southeastern Bangkok, as their colony; third, further expand East Africa’s privileges in Siam and amend the Bangkok Treaty. None of these three demands are acceptable to us.”

The envoy Kliyaba, who hadn’t spoken before, commented: ”East Africa is indeed being excessive this time; 80 million Rhine Shields is an astronomical figure for Siam.”

It’s worth noting that when France extorted Siam back then, it was less than three million Francs, and 80 million Rhine Shields is approximately 60 million Francs, a sum that a population of only nine hundred thousand and an economically backward Siam simply cannot afford.

Of course, the compensation France demanded back then was less because France seized a large swath of strategic, fertile eastern land, whose value is immeasurable.

Rama VI agreed, stating: ”Selling Siam might not even reach 80 million Rhine Shields, indicating that East Africans don’t truly intend to negotiate with us.”

If 80 million Rhine Shields could purchase Siam, there would surely be many willing to make this deal worldwide. After all, East Africa paid handsomely to acquire German and Dutch colonies, and Siam’s land is clearly more valuable than those of the two countries.

Rama VI was exaggerating, but Siam is indeed in financial difficulty now, constantly exploited by great powers; prosperity would be a rare event, and moreover, Rama VI’s series of reforms also require funds.

Of course, an empty treasury doesn’t mean the Siamese royal family is broke; they have considerable wealth, and they can manage 80 million Rhine Shields if they decide to liquidate assets, although it would be painful for the family.

Moreover, apart from compensation, East Africa also proposed other demands that the Siamese government cannot accept.

Envoy Kliyaba stated: ”Compensation surely shouldn’t be that much, given that only one person died; secondly, the demand for territorial cession is also unreasonable.”

Sir Claire agreed with a nod, regarding the amendment of the Bangkok Treaty as a minor issue in their eyes since they could do so too.

For France and Britain, this region of Siam is essentially ripe for the taking by both countries, merely serving as a buffer since neither country can dominate the other.

Now that East Africa wants a piece of the pie, England and France naturally resent this and would rather exclude East Africa.

Sir Claire told Rama VI: ”We will negotiate with the East African Government, but you must prepare for a payout, since an East African did die in Bangkok, making compensation unavoidable.”

Rama VI said: ”Certainly, we in Siam only hope the East African demands are reasonable. We might grit our teeth and endure slightly more money, but my expectation is at most three million Rhine Shields.”

Three million Rhine Shields would roughly convert to ten thousand British Pounds, which is quite unrealistic; East Africa will surely not accept such compensation.

Nonetheless, Sir Claire commented: ”As for compensation, we’ll do our best, and I also hope Your Majesty prepares for the worst. If we can’t reach an agreement with East Africa, military conflict is inevitable.”

In this timeframe, there is no manpower available from the homeland to meddle in South Sea Region affairs, and so Sir Claire clearly understands his role as merely a negotiator.

Moreover, the Allies need to maintain good relations with East Africa to prevent East Africa from fully aligning with the Axis powers.

This isn’t without possibility, as East Africa and the German-Austrian alliance share common roots, being fairly close, with frequent trade, technical, academic, and political exchanges.

Therefore, to stabilize this great power of East Africa, Sir Claire cannot afford to openly antagonize them; indeed, under necessity, forsaking Siam to favor East Africa might be imperative—none of this was necessary to share with Rama VI.