The Russian Annexation of Siam (1745)

On June 20, 1745, the Tsardom of Russia obtained its first non-contiguous protectorate with the exception of Alaska: the Asian kingdom of Siam, located in the heart of the orient. Before Tsar Vladimir I became the tsar of Russia, Jeremiah Garland, a young lieutenant working for the East India Company, had acquired the title of "King of Siam" after his crew had accidently landed there during a round-trip to Singapore. Ever since, he had been the King of Siam, but has only today decided to combine his small kingdom of Siam with the much more massive Russian Empire.

With the Siamese kingdom being acquired as a Russian protectorate, Russia has now been opened up to Oriental trade, and is now a serious trading competitor with England, Portugal, Netherlands, and France. A Russian Trade Federation outpost has already been constructed in the protectorates capitol of Bangkok, and the Russian economy is predicted to skyrocket due to this acquisition.

History
On July 7, 1744, a British warship bearing the Union Jack and the insignia of the East India Company departed from the British colony of Singapore. Their goal was to follow the trade winds and Pacific currents up the coast of southeast Asia and land on the island of Taiwan, to provide additional military personnal to the British outpost there, due to increasing hostility from the natives. The captain of the ship was a young East India Company officer named Lieutenant Jeremiah Alexander Octavius Garland II.

However, only hours after their departure from Singapore, the company ship soon drifted of course due to heavy winds and seasonal passing monsoons. Rather than follow the currents up the coast of French Indochina as intended, Garland and his ship soon found themselves treading up the Malay Peninsula which, prior to then, was alien to European colonists. The ship soon entered what Garland identified to be an enclosed harbour, and were forced to land on a nearby beach due to heavy damage to the ship.

With his crew of sixty well-armed company marines, Garland went ashore and explored the nearby land. He came across a large nearby village that the local Siamese called Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahintharayutthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom Udomratchaniwet Mahasathan Amon Phiman Awatan Sathit Sakkathattiya Witsanukam Prasit. However, because of the name's length, Garland and his men simply called the village "Bangkok", named for the nearby Bangkok River.

The British marines were met with much hospitality and friendliness from the natives, and Lieutenant Garland soon learned through them what their kingdom was like (for he found among the natives one elderly man who had taught himself how to speak English during his trips to the Strait Colonies in Malacca). Garland learned the boundaries of the kingdom of Siam, which stretched from British-controlled Burma in the west, to French-controlled Indochina in the east, to the Qing Chinese plains in the north and the neutral Khmer kingdom in the southeast. He learned why the kingdom of Siam had not yet been colonized by Europeans: its location. Nestled deep in the Southeast Asian foothills, it was practically a lost kingdom to all outsiders. Also, it stayed under the radar of European trade ships due to nearby more profitable destinations, such as Singapore and India, thus staying overlooked for centuries.

However, Garland also learned that the kingdom was ruled by a tyrannical king named Rama I, and that the villagers were in dire need of help. Garland, although anxious to repair his ship and continue on with his mission, was reluctant to help the Siamese, but eventually gave in. With his sixty men, each armed with a musket and sabre, Lieutenant Garland besieged King Rama I's palace in Bangkok, along with the help of the Siamese village warriors. However, due to the British's superior firearms and the Siamese's lack of, the battle was a short and easy one, and only a few of Garland's marines were killed. Rama I himself was killed, and Garland and his men were rewarded with many valuables the villagers of Bangkok had to offer. However, Garland himself was given a prize he did not expect: the crown of Siam. The people of Siam, grateful for Garland liberating them, decided he should rule over them as their next king.

Although he wished to rule over the kingdom, Garland had a job to do, and promised the Siamese he would one day return. On July 18, 1744, his ship repaired, Garland and his men left Siam with the crown of Siam in his possession.

Annexation to the Russian Empire
On June 12, 1745, while going through a collection of memorabilia from his younger days stored in a private room in the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg, Tsar Vladimir Romanov I, ruler of Russia, came across his old Siamese crown. At first, he did not know what it was, but slowly, the details came back to him and he remembered everything. He picked up the crown and carried it to his living quarters where he set it down on a desk.

A few hours later, Romanov was approached by his son and general of the Grand Army of the Tsar, Tsarevich Ivan Romanov VIII. Ivan told his father that the Russian trade had nearly collapsed, and if it did, there would be much trouble for the Russian economy. The tsar had to act quickly, and suddenly, he thought of the crown laying back in his palace quarters. He told Ivan to prepare his flagship and a garrison of soldiers; they would set sail tomorrow morning. Confused, Ivan did as he was told, and readied a fleet of three Russian warships and an army of eighty-five Russian dragoons.

The next morning, before launch, Tsar Vladimir told Ivan of their destination: the distant Southeast Asian kingdom of Siam. Still confused, Vladimir explained that Siam's location in the heart of the Orient would mean a surplus of trade for the Russian economy, which lacked any serious Asian trading outposts. Ivan understood, and on June 13, the fleet set sail to the south.

After making stops in allied Sapporo, Japan, the tsar and his ships reached Bangkok on June 20, 1745. With the Siamese crown bestowed upon his head, the villagers of Bangkok bowed down to their king who had been gone for a year. The people immediately accepted Romanov is their true and rightful king, and submitted without hostility to Russian rule. In Bangkok's central square, the Russian imperial flag was installed, as well as a Russian Trade Federation outpost. Tsar Romanov hopes for a dramatic increase in Russian trade, and high hopes for the newest addition to the Russian Empire.