During World War II, Thailand was able to take advantage of the defeat of France in Europe to seize territory in Cambodia and Laos in a brief war. Following a Japanese invasion of Thailand (December 1941), Thailand made common cause with the Japanese and occupied parts of Burma and Malaya. Thai rule was not generally welcomed by the subject populations. In Laos, especially, a counter-irredentism emerged among Lao nationalists who aimed to bring much of northern Thailand under Lao rule. Few of Thailand's new subjects identified as "Thai" in any sense. The war ended in Thailand's defeat and the overthrow of the military government. Thailand returned to its pre-war borders as last adjusted in the Anglo-Siamese Treaty of 1909.