old and new imperialism in south east asia

Imperialism in South East Asia In South East Asia, the British and French expanded their Empires, and the

USA took the Philippines from Spain.

The Europeans exploited the local populations controlling them by both direct and indirect rule.

Colonial Takeover in Southeast Asia In 1800, only two societies in this area were ruled by Europeans: the Spanish Philippines

and the Dutch East Indies

Colonial Takeover in Southeast Asia Between the 16th and 19th centuries, the Portuguese and the Dutch established

trading posts and took over most of the Malay Archipelago.

Colonial Takeover in Southeast Asia By 1900, virtually the entire area was under Western rule.

Colonial Takeover in Southeast Asia Between the 16th and 19th centuries, the Portuguese and the Dutch established

trading posts and took over most of the Malay Archipelago.

Colonial Takeover in Southeast Asia Eventually, the Dutch established a monopoly over trade within the archipelago,

particularly in spices.

Great Britain in Southeast Asia Great Britain expansion into Southeast Asia began in 1819.

Great Britain in Southeast Asia In 1819, Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles founded the colony of Singapore (city of the lion)

on a small island at the tip of the Malay Peninsula.

Great Britain in Southeast Asia He thought Great Britain should replace the Netherlands in the archipelago, since the

trade route between China and British India passed through the area.

Great Britain in Southeast Asia The Dutch prohibited British trade in the region by banning British ships from Dutch

ports or making them pay to a high tariff.

Prohibit: to forbid by law.

Tariff a tax on imports or exports

Great Britain in Southeast Asia The Sultan of Johor supported the Dutch as an ally.

Great Britain in Southeast Asia So, British cut a deal with his exiled brother Hussein.

Great Britain in Southeast Asia With financial backing from the British East India company, they brought Hussain to Singapore

and signed a formal treaty on February 6, 1819 and beginning modern Singapore.

Great Britain in Southeast Asia In the new age of steamships, Singapore soon became a major stopping point for traffic going to or

from China, its population growing rapidly as Indian and Chinese immigrants flocked to the colony.

1824 Anglo-Dutch treaty

Tensions between the Dutch and British over Singapore persisted until 1824, until they signed a treaty and the Dutch officially withdrew their opposition to the British presence in Singapore.

1824 Anglo-Dutch treaty

The treaty carved the Johor Empire into two spheres of influence; modern Johor under the British and the new Sultanate of Riau under the Dutch.

Great Britain in Southeast Asia Both Sultans became vassals of Queen Victoria or the Dutch.

Great Britain in Southeast Asia Next, the British proclaimed Hussein Shah as the Sultan of Johor and Singapore,

marginalizing the Dutch and breaking the region into factions.

Great Britain in Southeast Asia The British grouped Singapore with Penang and Malacca into a single administrative unit,

under the British East India Company

Great Britain in Southeast Asia The Dutch continued to take over parts of Indonesia.

Great Britain in Southeast Asia Next, the British advanced into Southeast Asia, taking out the Kingdom of Burma

(Myanmar) next.

Great Britain in Southeast Asia

Why Burma?

Great Britain in Southeast Asia Britain wanted control of Burma in order to protect its possessions in India, more

importantly it wanted a land route through Burma from India to China.

Great Britain in Southeast Asia The mountainous jungle terrain of Burma defeated British attempts to build a railroad.

Great Britain in Southeast Asia But the British caused the collapse of the Burmese monarchy, ruling Burma as a colony.

Great Britain in Southeast Asia The Burmese fought back in 3 wars, but the British easily beat them.

Great Britain in Southeast Asia The British ruled Burma as a colony, with the Burmese as second class citizens.

France in Southeast Asia France, the rival of England since 1066, feared Great Britain’s movements into Southeast

Asia.

France in Southeast Asia Portuguese traders and French Catholic missionaries had arrived in Vietnam in 1516.

France in Southeast Asia Unlike Malaysia, trading posts failed in Vietnam, yet French missionaries mostly tolerated,

converting many Vietnamese families.

France in Southeast Asia Nguyen Anh defeated two rival families and established the Nguyễn dynasty in 1802, he

tolerated Catholicism and employed some Europeans in his court as advisors.

France in Southeast Asia His successors were more conservative Confucians and resisted Westernization.

France in Southeast Asia When a French missionary, Joseph Marchand, encouraged local Catholics to revolt and

install a Catholic emperor the government came down hard.

France in Southeast Asia Catholics, both Vietnamese and foreign-born, were persecuted in retaliation.

France in Southeast Asia Napoleon III of France ordered Admiral Rigult de Genoully’s gunships to attack the port of

Da Nang in 1858.

France in Southeast Asia Next, De Genouilly sailed south and captured the poorly defended city of Gia Ding ( Ho

Chi Minh City).

France in Southeast Asia From 1859–67, French troops expanded their control over all six provinces on the Mekong

delta and formed a colony known as Cochinchina.

France in Southeast Asia In 1884, France seized the city of Hanoi and later made the Vietnamese Empire a French

protectorate.

protectorate—a political unit that depends on another government for its protection.

France in Southeast Asia In the 1880s, France extended its control over neighboring Cambodia, Annam, Tonkin,

and Laos.

France in Southeast Asia By 1887, France included all of its new possessions in a new Union of French Indochina.

Thailand—The Exception Thailand (then called Siam) remained the only remaining free state in Southeast Asia.

Thailand—The Exception British and French rivalry threatened to place Thailand, too, under colonial rule.

Thailand—The Exception King Mongut (1804 -1868) quickly recognized British victories in Burma in 1826.

Thailand—The Exception Siam received positive press in Britain vs French aggression.

Thailand—The Exception King Mongut signed a treaty with the USA, which was updated in 1856, 1945, and

1949.

Thailand—The Exception King Mongut and his successor Chulalong entertained British royalty, and hired Harvard

Law Professors to craft numerous agreements with European governments.

Thailand—The Exception Chulalong hired Harvard Law Professors to craft numerous agreements with European

governments.

Thailand—The Exception Chulalong took a royal tour of Europe, meeting all the other Crown heads of Europe.

Thailand—The Exception His diplomatic skills combined with the modernizing reforms, made Siam the only

country in Southeast Asia to avoid European colonization.

Thailand—The Exception In 1896, Britain and France agreed to maintain Thailand as an independent buffer state

between their possessions in Southeast Asia.

Buffer state: is a country lying between two rival or potentially hostile greater powers. Its existence can sometimes be thought to prevent conflict between them.

Thailand—The Exception The Anglo-Siamese Treaty (1909) drew the modern boarder between Thailand and

Malaysia. The French drew the boarder with Laos and Cambodia.

The United States in Southeast Asia In 1898, the USA fought a war with Spain, the Spanish-American War.

The United States in Southeast Asia The main issue was Cuban independence from Spain, which the US tended to support.

The United States in Southeast Asia The issue came to a head with the mysterious sinking of the US Navy battleship Maine

exploded in Havana harbor

The United States in Southeast Asia Newspapers sensationalized the news (Yellow Journalism ie Joseph Pulitzer and William

Randolf Hearst) calling for war.

The United States in Southeast Asia Political pressures increased on Republican President McKinley.

The United States in Southeast Asia The ten-week war was fought in both the Caribbean and the Pacific, US naval power

proved decisive.

The USA in Southeast Asia In the treaty of Paris 1898, Spain gave the USA Puerto Rico, Guam, the Philippines and

temporary control of Cuba.

The USA in Southeast Asia McKinley believed it was his moral obligation to “civilize” other parts of the world, and

decided to turn the Philippines into an American colony.

The USA in Southeast Asia Diplomates agreed as they did not want the Philippines to be conquered by expanding

Japan.

The USA in Southeast Asia Big business agreed as the islands gave the United States a convenient jumping-off point

for trade with China.

The USA in Southeast Asia The Filipinos did not agree. Emilio Aguinaldo led an independence movement in the

Philippines.

The USA in Southeast Asia The guerrilla forces fought bitterly for independence against the United States troops.

The USA in Southeast Asia However, the United States won, and President McKinley had his steppingstone to

Chinese markets.

The USA in Southeast Asia Overall, there was not popular support in the USA for an empire, and the Philippines

voted not to become part of the USA and became independent after WW2.

Colonial Regimes in Southeast Asia European’s chief goal was to take natural resources of these lands and open markets for

their own manufactured goods.

Colonial Regimes in Southeast Asia To justify their actions, they often spoke of bringing the blessings of Western civilizations

to their colonial subjects.

Indirect and Direct Rule In Southeast Asia, colonial powers first tried to work with local elites.

Indirect and Direct Rule If possible, they used indirect rule.

indirect rule: Local rulers were allowed to maintain their positions of authority and status in a new colonial setting, as long as they went along with what the colonial powers wanted them to do.

Indirect and Direct Rule Indirect rule made it easier to gain access to the region’s natural resources, lowered the

cost of government, and had less effect on local culture.

Indirect and Direct Rule The Dutch East Indies allowed local landed aristocrats to control local government.

Indirect and Direct Rule These local elites maintained law and order and collected taxes in return for a payment

from the Dutch East India Company.

Direct Rule However, most local elites resisted the foreign conquest.

Direct Rule Here, Europeans removed local elites, replacing them with European officials, called

direct rule.

Colonial Regimes in Southeast Asia European powers governed their new colonial empires by either indirect or direct rule.

Colonial Regimes in Southeast Asia In Burma, the king opposed colonial rule. So, Great Britain abolished the monarchy and

administered the country directly through its colonial government in India.

Colonial Regimes in Southeast Asia In Indochina, France used both direct and indirect rule.

Colonial Regimes in Southeast Asia It imposed direct rule on the southern provinces in the Mekong delta, as a colony after

the first war in 1862.

Colonial Regimes in Southeast Asia France ruled north Vietnam indirectly as a protectorate, with a puppet ruler the

Vietnamese Emperor at Hue.

puppet ruler: a person who has a title indicating possession of political power, but who, in reality, is controlled by outside individuals or forces

Colonial Regimes in Southeast Asia Many Europeans spoke of introducing democracy and educating the native peoples in

the democratic process.

Colonial Regimes in Southeast Asia However, native people’s opinion were not welcome nor those of the masses of people.

Colonial Regimes in Southeast Asia Most Europeans started fearing the idea of native peoples (especially educated ones)

being allowed political rights.

Colonial Economies The Europeans continued their policy of capitalism at home, yet mercantilism for colonies

and conquered people.

Colonial Economies Europeans did not allow colonists to develop industry.

Colonial Economies European colonial policy stressed the export of raw materials—teak wood from Burma; rubber

and tin from Malaya; spices, tea, coffee, and palm oil from the East Indies, cotton from India, etc.

Colonial Economies This policy led to some form of plantation agriculture, in which local peasants worked as

wage laborers on plantations owned by foreign investors.

Colonial Economies Plantation owners kept the wages of their workers at poverty levels in order to increase

the owners’ profits.

Colonial Economies Conditions on plantations were often so unhealthy that thousands died

Colonial Economies Also, local peasants paid high taxes levied by colonial governments to pay for their

administrative costs.

Colonial Economies Raw materials were sent to factories in Europe, then the finished goods sold back to the

colonies.

Colonial Economies Colonial governments built railroads, highways, and other structures that could benefit

native peoples as well as colonials.

Colonial Economies The development of an export market helped to create an entrepreneurial class in rural areas.

Colonial EconomiesHowever, most of the profits were taken back to the colonial mother country.

Resistance to Colonial Rule Most peoples in Southeast Asia were quite unhappy with being governed by Western

powers.

Resistance to Colonial Rule At first, resistance came from the existing ruling class. The Burmese King fought Western

domination, yet lost.

Resistance to Colonial Rule In Vietnam, Can Vuoung (Save the King) fought a gorilla campagna against the French,

even though the emperor had surrendered to French control the country

Resistance to Colonial Rule In 1930, the Burmese Buddhist monk Saya San led a peasant uprising against the British

colonial regime in Burma after plantation owners pushed people off the land.

Resistance to Colonial Rule The Europeans easily defeated the early resistance movements.

Resistance to Colonial Rule At the beginning of the twentieth century, a new kind of resistance began to emerge that

was based on the force of nationalism.

Resistance to Colonial Rule In many cases, this new urban middle class—composed of merchants, clerks, students,

and professionals—had been educated in Western-style schools.

Resistance to Colonial Rule Many spoke Western languages and worked in jobs connected with the colonial regimes.

Resistance to Colonial Rule At first, many of the leaders of these movements did not focus clearly on the idea of nationhood

but simply tried to defend the economic interests or religious beliefs of the natives.

Resistance to Colonial Rule They protested against British arrogance and failure to observe local customs in Buddhist

temples

Resistance to Colonial Rule Not until the 1930s, however, did these resistance movements begin to demand national

independence.

Resistance to Colonial Rule Many of these movements welcomed Japan’s growth as an Asian liberating power, and

would ally with Japan during World War 2.

Next Time the Geography and History of South Asia

old and new imperialism in south east asia

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