> Going off topic... you know a lot about the history of asia. Why was Thailand(Siam) never occupied by a European power like many other Asian nations? China was never occupied except for tiny portions, and Japan was occupied until 1945.

Evan;


Siam, Thailand, has been more fortunate than many Asian countries in regards to invasion. The Burmese invaded Siam in both the 16th and 18th centuries and were driven out around 1780.
During the 19th century several European countries attempted to occupy Siam, but the country was able to play one country against the other and remain free. Japanese troops occupied Thailand during WWII, without objection from the Thai government. Strange how we did not divide Thailand up like we did so many other countries after WWII?

As for China, even though Europeans occupied “small areas”, this created a number of serious conflicts from the 19th century till today. There were many incidents involving the people of China assisting Americans during WWII. Many Chinese civilians died helping us. I think you meant Japan occupied China until 1945. During the period from about 1920 – 1941 there were two sets of laws in China – one for Chinese and one for Europeans. At one extreme if a European killed one or more Chinese in was not a crime. My father saw a lot when he was in China as a U.S. Marine Corp Advisor to the Chinese Army, and took many pictures of what the Japanese Army had done to the civilian population.

Another interesting story is how Spain “kept out of WWII”. Interesting how a Fascist country under Franco kept out of the war.

I have been interested in history since I was ten years old. After engineering college I received degrees in history and political science. My son and daughter keep telling me to go into teaching as I make history interesting for them. I like to take history from the perspective of the common man. The big question to me is how much better off are we today than all previous civilizations? This is a point you could argue from many viewpoints.

Tom