During the 16th and 17th century European imperialism started taking place in Southeast Asia. It started with the arrival of the Dutch, Portuguese, Spanish, and later French, and British spice traders.
In the beginning, the colonizers only used the countries as their trading hubs and as seaports. But when the industrial era started the need for raw material, the colonizers began to take control of the natural resources available in the region. The region was rich in rubber, tin, and was also fit for agricultural activities.
Geography of Southeast Asia:
Southeast Asia is located in the South of China, east of the subcontinent of India, and Northwest of Australia. The region is rich in rubber and oil is also found.
Southeast Asia consists of eleven countries, which can be divided into maritime and inland countries. The mainland countries include Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar, and Singapore.
The maritime countries include Thailand, Indonesia, Borneo, the Philippines, and East Timor. Malaysia is both mainland and maritime country, with its western portion on the Malay plateau and eastern portion on Borneo.
European Colonization:
Except in Java (part of Indonesia) and part of the Philippines European colonization began in the 18th century. By the 19th century, almost all of Southeast Asia was under the dominance of European powers.
The Portuguese were the first ones to arrive. Portuguese conquered Malacca in 1511. After this, the Spanish arrived and conquered the Philippines in 1565.
The Dutch captured Malacca from the Portuguese. After the discovery of oil and tin on the islands and the desire for more rubber plantations, the Dutch began their expansion in Southeast Asia.
Dutch slowly captured Sumatra, part of Borneo, Celebs, the Moluccas, and Bali. In the end, they had captured the whole of Indonesia, part of Borneo. The British captured to compete with Dutch and also to have a safe port for its ships coming from China.
The increased demand for rubber and the opening of the Suez Canal led to colonization in Southeast Asia. The British captured Burma (now Myanmar), Singapore, a city on the tip of the Malay Peninsula, and captured colonies in Malaysia. The British included Burma as a part of their Indian colony.
The French arrived in the 17th, in the beginning; they only helped the local dynasty to rise to power in Vietnam. But later during the rule of an anti-Christian ruler in Vietnam seven French missionaries were killed.
So Emperor Napoleon III ordered the capture of Vietnam. As a result, North Vietnam was captured, later Laos and Cambodia were also captured, this combined state later came to be known as the French Indochina.
During this period of colonization, the only country that was not captured was Siam (now Thailand). Siam was sandwiched between British Burma and French Indochina. It had to struggle to remain independent when the sides were fighting for the capture of Siam.
But due to its competent rulers, the country modernized itself to avoid being captured. The rulers of the country tactfully promoted the country as a neutral zone between the two powers.
Impact of Imperialism:
The British preferred Chinese labor over the native Malaysians to work in tin mines and rubber plantations. So they encouraged Chinese people to immigrate to Malaysia. This caused a flood of immigrants in the region. As a result, the Malays became a minority in their own country.
On the other hand, the French forced the production of rice four times higher than usual. Much of this rice was exported; as a result, the availability of rice was reduced for the peasants which resulted in unrest among the common folk. All the important posts in the government were taken over by the French themselves.
There was a drain of the natural resources from the colonies. The colonizers didn't just stop with the extraction of natural resources; they also saw the region as a market for their finished goods.
When the colonizers left they caused a great displacement and immigration in the region, which even now leads to conflicts in different groups.
Aftermath of Colonization:
The Europeans left a long-lasting mark on the region. For the benefit of their own countries, the colonizers affected a lot of the countries, displaced a lot of people, and drained the natural resources.
The Europeans needed the smallest reason for the capture of other weaker countries. The Europeans conquered in the name of “civilizing the backward countries”.
There were developments in the regions like the roads were built, communication lines were set up, seaports were built, markets were also built. However, it can be argued that these were only to help the colonizers to control the region, and to help in trade for their profit.
We can also see that Siam was also a country in the very same region and it did not need to be colonized for all the developments made in the colonies. The rulers of Siam skillfully reformed the country. The country abolished slavery.
While the government system was reorganized. The education was robustly reformed. The country was one of the very few countries in that period which was standing as an autonomous state and not under the control of any of the western powers.
Written by: Priyanshu Bhardwaj
Edited by: Gourav Chowdhury
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