Colonial Rule inSoutheast Asia

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Guide to Reading

Section PreviewThrough “New Imperialism,” Westernerscontrolled vast territories, exploited nativepopulations, and opened markets forEuropean products.

• Under New Imperialism, Europeancountries began to seek additionalterritory. (p. 336)

• Rivalries for overseas territories led toWestern dominance of Southeast Asia.(p. 337)

• European countries controlled the gov-ernments and economies of theircolonies in Southeast Asia. (p. 339)

• Native peoples had varying levels ofsuccess resisting colonial rule in South-east Asia. (p. 340)

Content VocabularyNew Imperialism, protectorate, indirectrule, direct rule

Academic Vocabularyexploit, impose, regime

People to IdentifyKing Mongkut, King Chulalongkorn, Com-modore George Dewey, Emilio Aguinaldo

Places to LocateSingapore, Burma, Thailand, Philippines

Reading Objectives1. Describe why Westerners were so de-

termined to colonize Southeast Asia.2. Explain the chief goal of the Western

nations.

Reading StrategyIdentifying Information Make a chartlike this one showing which countriescontrolled what parts of Southeast Asia.

California Standards in This SectionReading this section will help you master these California History–Social Science standards.

10.4: Students analyze patterns of global change in theera of New Imperialism in at least two of the fol-lowing regions or countries: Africa, Southeast Asia,China, India, Latin America, and the Philippines.

10.4.1: Describe the rise of industrial economies andtheir link to imperialism and colonialism (e.g.,the role played by national security and strategicadvantage; moral issues raised by the search fornational hegemony, Social Darwinism, and themissionary impulse; material issues, such asland, resources, and technology).

10.4.2: Discuss the locations of the colonial rule of suchnations as England, France, Germany, Italy,Japan, the Netherlands, Russia, Spain, Portugal,and the United States.

10.4.3: Explain imperialism from the perspective of thecolonizers and the colonized and the variedimmediate and long-term responses by the peo-ple under colonial rule.

10.4.4: Describe the independence struggles of the colo-nized regions of the world, including the roles ofleaders, such as Sun Yat-sen in China, and theroles of ideology and religion.

1887France completes its control of Indochina

1930Saya San leadsBurma uprising

✦1850 ✦1870 ✦1890 ✦1910 ✦1930 ✦1950

Spain (until 1898)HollandUnited States (after 1898)FranceGreat Britain

1896France and Great Britain agree tomaintain Thailand as a buffer state

335CHAPTER 6 The Height of Imperialism

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The New Imperialism

Under New Imperialism, European countriesbegan to seek additional territory.

Reading Connection Do you remember how the Indus-trial Revolution created demand for raw materials and newmarkets? Read to learn how European countries used “NewImperialism” to meet these needs.

In the nineteenth century, a new phase of Westernexpansion into Asia and Africa began. Europeannations began to view Asian and African societies as asource of industrial raw materials and a market forWestern manufactured goods. No longer were Westerngold and silver traded for cloves, pepper, tea, and silk.Now the products of European factories were sent toAfrica and Asia in return for oil, tin, rubber, and theother resources needed to fuel European industries.

Beginning in the 1880s, European states began anintense scramble for overseas territory. Imperialism,the extension of a nation’s power over other lands,was not new. Europeans had set up colonies in Northand South America and trading posts around Africaand the Indian Ocean by the sixteenth century.

The imperialism of the late nineteenth century wasdifferent, however. Earlier, European states had beencontent to set up a few trading posts where theycould carry on trade and perhaps some missionary

activity. Under New Imperialism, as it is often called,Europeans sought nothing less than direct controlover vast territories, mainly in Africa.

Why did Westerners intensify their search forcolonies after 1880? One motive was economic. Cap-italist states in the West were looking for markets andraw materials, such as rubber and oil, for their indus-tries. They also wanted more direct control of areaswith raw materials and markets.

The motives were not simply economic. Europeannations competed with one another for power andinfluence. As the rivalries intensified, each nation triedto acquire colonies to gain an advantage over its rivals.Colonies were a source of national prestige. To somepeople, a nation could not be great without colonies.One German historian wrote that “all great nations inthe fullness of their strength have the desire to settheir mark upon barbarian lands and those who failto participate in this great rivalry will play a pitiablerole in time to come.”

Imperialism was also tied to Social Darwinismand racism. Social Darwinists believed that in thestruggle between nations, the fit are victorious.Racism holds that certain races are superior and thatthis justifies their use of force against other races ornations. As one British professor put it in 1900: “Thepath of progress is strewn with the wrecks of nations;traces are everywhere to be seen of the [slaughteredremains] of inferior races. Yet these dead people are,in very truth, the stepping stones on which mankindhas arisen to the higher intellectual and deeper emo-tional life of today.”

Some Europeans took a more religious andhumanitarian approach to imperialism. They felt thatEuropeans had a moral responsibility to civilize

336 CHAPTER 6 The Height of Imperialism

In 1860, E. Douwes Dekker wrote a book thatdescribed the effects of this newest phase of imperi-alism. Although he was a colonial official himself,Dekker concluded that the Dutch rulers had wreakedhavoc on the native people of Java:

“The [Dutch government] compels [the Javanesefarmer] to cultivate certain products on his land; itpunishes him if he sells what he has produced toany purchaser but itself; and it fixes the price actu-ally paid. The expenses of transport to Europethrough a privileged trading company are high; themoney paid to the chiefs for encouragementincreases the prime cost; and because the entiretrade must produce profit, that profit cannot be gotin any other way than by paying the Javanese justenough to keep him from starving, which wouldlessen the producing power of the nation.”

Dutch plantation in Java, mid-1800s

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Spanish Philippines and the Dutch East Indies. By1900, virtually the entire area was under Western rule.

Great Britain The process began with Great Britain.In 1819, Great Britain, under Sir Thomas StamfordRaffles, founded a new colony on a small island at thetip of the Malay Peninsula called Singapore (“city ofthe lion”). In the new age of steamships, Singaporesoon became a major stopping point for traffic goingto or from China. Raffles was proud of his dynamiccity and wrote to a friend in England, “Here all is lifeand activity; and it would be difficult to name a placeon the face of the globe with brighter prospects.”

During the next few decades, the British advancedinto Southeast Asia. Next to fall was the kingdom ofBurma (modern Myanmar). Britain wanted controlof Burma to protect its possessions in India and togain a land route to China. The British did not findthis land route because the terrain was too rugged,but British activity in Burma led to the fall of theBurmese monarchy. Soon, Britain controlled theentire country.

France The British advance into Burma was watchednervously by France, which had some missionariesoperating in Vietnam. The French missionaries were

337CHAPTER 6 The Height of Imperialism

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ekongR

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SPICES

Imperialism in Southeast Asia, 1900

BritishDutchFrench

Coffee

Palm oil

Rubber

Spices

GermanPortugueseUnited States SPICES

Sugar

Tea

Timber

Tin

Possessions: Raw materials:

In search of markets andraw materials, Europeannations worked aggressivelyto colonize Southeast Asia inthe late 1800s.

1. Interpreting MapsWhich two Europeannations had the most ter-ritory in Southeast Asia?

2. Applying GeographySkills Using the mapand information fromyour text, describe Thai-land’s status in SoutheastAsia.

primitive people. Some people called this duty “thewhite man’s burden.” The phrase was borrowedfrom a famous poem (see page 346). They believedthat the West should bring progress to Asian andAfrican countries. To some, this meant bringing theChristian message to the “heathen masses.” To oth-ers, it meant introducing Western democracy andcapitalism to Asian and African societies.

Describing What motivatedEuropean countries to engage in New Imperialism?

Colonial Takeover in Southeast Asia

Rivalries for overseas territories led to West-ern dominance of Southeast Asia.

Reading Connection Does your school have a sports rivalrywith another school? Read to learn how the rivalry between GreatBritain and France led to conquests in Southeast Asia.

The New Imperialism of the late nineteenth cen-tury was evident in Southeast Asia. In 1800, only twosocieties in this area were ruled by Europeans: the

Reading Check

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338 CHAPTER 6 The Height of Imperialism

Britain

Belgium

France

Germany

Italy

Netherlands

Portugal

Spain

SoutheastAsia

Africa IndiaMajor Regions of European Control

In the late 1800s a “New Imperialism”flourished, with most of the majorEuropean countries attempting to takecontrol of territories in Asia andAfrica.

1. Identifying Look at a politicalmap of Europe in Chapter 5.Which European countries did not try to colonize parts of Asia or Africa?

2. Analyzing It has been said aboutone of the countries identified inthe chart that “the sun never sets”on this particular empire. Towhich country does this phraserefer? Why?

persecuted by the local authorities, who viewed Chris-tianity as a threat to Confucian doctrine. Vietnamcould not stop the Christian missionaries, however.Vietnamese internal rivalries divided the country intotwo separate governments, in the north and the south.

France was especially alarmed by British attemptsto monopolize trade. To stop any British move intoVietnam, the French government decided in 1857 toforce the Vietnamese to accept French protection.

The French eventually succeeded in making theVietnamese ruler give up territories in the MekongRiver delta. The French occupied the city of Saigonand, during the next 30 years, extended their controlover the rest of the country. In 1884, France seized thecity of Hanoi and made the Vietnamese Empire aFrench protectorate—a political unit that depends onanother government for its protection.

In the 1880s, France extended its control overneighboring Cambodia, Annam, Tonkin, and Laos.By 1887, France included all of its new possessions ina new Union of French Indochina.

Thailand—The Exception After the French con-quest of Indochina, Thailand (then called Siam) wasthe only remaining free state in Southeast Asia. Dur-ing the last quarter of the nineteenth century, Britishand French rivalry threatened to place Thailand, too,under colonial rule.

Two remarkable rulers were able to prevent thatfrom happening. One was King Mongkut (known totheatergoers as the king in The King and I), and theother was his son King Chulalongkorn. Both pro-moted Western learning and maintained friendly

relations with the major European powers. In 1896,Britain and France agreed to maintain Thailand as anindependent buffer state between their possessionsin Southeast Asia.

The United States One final conquest in SoutheastAsia occurred at the end of the nineteenth century. In1898, during the Spanish-American War, UnitedStates naval forces under Commodore GeorgeDewey defeated the Spanish fleet in Manila Bay.

Believing it was his moral obligation to “civilize”other parts of the world, President William McKinleydecided to turn the Philippines, which had beenunder Spanish control, into an American colony. Thisaction would also prevent the area from falling intothe hands of the Japanese. In fact, the islands gave theUnited States a convenient jumping-off point fortrade with China.

This mixture of moral idealism and desire forprofit was reflected in a speech given in the Senate inJanuary 1900 by Senator Albert Beveridge of Indiana:

“Mr. President, the times call for candor. ThePhilippines are ours forever. And just beyond thePhilippines are China’s unlimited markets. We willnot retreat from either. We will not abandon anopportunity in [Asia]. We will not renounce our partin the mission of our race, trustee, under God, of thecivilization of the world.”

The Filipinos did not agree with the American sen-ator. Emilio Aguinaldo (ah•gee•NAHL•doh) wasthe leader of a movement for independence in the

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Philippines. He began his revolt against the Spanish.When the United States acquired the Philippines,Aguinaldo continued the revolt and set himself up asthe president of the Republic of the Philippines. Ledby Aguinaldo, the guerrilla forces fought bitterlyagainst the United States troops to establish theirindependence. The United States defeated the guer-rilla forces, however, and President McKinley had hisstepping-stone to the rich markets of China.

Comparing How was the rule of theBritish in Burma similar to or different from the rule of theFrench in Vietnam?

Colonial Regimes in Southeast Asia

European countries controlled the govern-ments and economies of their colonies in Southeast Asia.

Reading Connection Does your school’s student councilhave the power to run the school? Read to learn how Euro-pean countries ruled their colonies in Southeast Asia.

Western powers governed their new colonialempires through either indirect or direct rule. Theirgoals were to exploit natural resources and open upmarkets for their manufactured goods. As they pur-sued their goals, they often spoke of bringing theblessings of civilization to colonial peoples.

Indirect and Direct Rule Sometimes, a colonialpower could reach its goals most easily by getting thecooperation of local political leaders. In these cases,

Reading Check

indirect rule was used. Local rulers were allowed tomaintain their authority and status.

In Southeast Asia, colonial powers, wherever pos-sible, tried to work with other local elites—the reli-gious, merchant, and social leaders in an area. Thismade it easier to gain access to the region’s naturalresources. Indirect rule also lowered the cost of gov-ernment because fewer officials had to be trained.Finally, indirect rule was an advantage because itmaintained the local culture and therefore did notinterfere with the customs of the people.

One example of indirect rule can be seen in theDutch East Indies. The Dutch East India Companyallowed landed aristocrats in the East Indies to con-trol local government. The company paid these aris-tocrats to maintain order and collect taxes.

Indirect rule, then, was convenient and cost less.Indirect rule was not always possible, especiallywhen local elites resisted conquest. If that happened,the local elites were removed from power andreplaced with officials from Britain, France, or othercolonial power. This system is called direct rule.

In Burma, for example, the monarchy staunchlyopposed colonial rule. As a result, Great Britain abol-ished the monarchy and administered the countrydirectly through its colonial government in India.

In Indochina, France used both direct and indirectrule. It imposed direct rule on the southern provincesin the Mekong delta, which had been ceded to Franceas a colony after the first war from 1858 to 1862. Thenorthern parts of Vietnam, seized in the 1880s, weregoverned as a protectorate. The emperor still ruledfrom his palace in Hue, but he had little power.

339CHAPTER 6 The Height of Imperialism

Emilio Aguinaldo Scene from decisive Manila Bay battle

North Wind Picture Archives

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To justify their conquests, Western powers hadspoken of bringing the blessings of advanced Westerncivilization to their colonial subjects. Many colonialpowers, for example, spoke of introducing represen-tative institutions and educating the native peoples inthe democratic process. However, many Westernerscame to fear the idea of native peoples (especiallyeducated ones) being allowed political rights.

Colonial Economies The colonial powers did notwant their colonists to develop their own industries.Thus, colonial policy stressed the export of raw mate-rials—teakwood from Burma; rubber and tin fromMalaya; spices, tea, coffee, and palm oil from the EastIndies; and sugar from the Philippines. In manycases, this policy led to some form of plantation agri-culture, in which peasants worked as wage laborerson plantations owned by foreign investors.

Plantation owners kept the wages of their workersat poverty levels in order to increase the owners’ prof-its. Conditions on plantations were often so unhealthythat thousands died. In addition, the peasants suf-fered from a heavy tax burden. Colonial govern-ments taxed peasants in order to pay the salaries oftheir officials and other administrative costs. Ineffect, the subjects paid the costs of being ruled.

Nevertheless, colonial rule did bring some bene-fits to Southeast Asia. It led to the beginnings of amodern economic system. Colonial governmentsbuilt railroads, highways, and other structures thatcould benefit native peoples as well as colonials. Thedevelopment of an export market helped to create anentrepreneurial class in rural areas. In the Dutch East

Indies, for example, small growers of rubber, palmoil, coffee, tea, and spices began to share in the prof-its of the colonial enterprise. Most of the profits, how-ever, were taken back to the colonial mother country.

Explaining Why did colonial powersprefer that colonists not develop their own industries?

Resistance to Colonial Rule

Native peoples had varying levels of successresisting colonial rule in Southeast Asia.

Reading Connection Do you know of any occupiedcountries currently objecting to being governed by anotherpower? Read to learn how those in Southeast Asia resisted thecolonial rule of European powers.

Many subject peoples in Southeast Asia were quiteunhappy with being governed by Western powers. Atfirst, resistance came from the existing ruling class. InBurma, for example, the monarch himself foughtWestern domination. By contrast, in Vietnam, afterthe emperor had agreed to French control of his coun-try, a number of government officials set up an organ-ization called Can Vuoug (“Save the King”). Theyfought against the French without the emperor’s help.

Sometimes, resistance to Western control took theform of peasant revolts. Under colonial rule, peasantswere often driven off the land to make way for plan-tation agriculture. Angry peasants then vented theiranger at the foreign invaders. For example, in Burma,in 1930, the Buddhist monk Saya San led a peasant

Reading Check

340 CHAPTER 6 The Height of Imperialism

Local peasants, shown here in Ceylon in the late 1800s, worked at poverty-level wages for foreign plantationowners during the colonial period.

North Wind Picture Archives

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uprising against the British colonialregime many years after the regimehad completed its takeover.

Early resistance movements failed,overcome by Western powers. At thebeginning of the twentieth century, anew kind of resistance began to emergethat was based on the force of national-ism. The leaders were often a new classthat had been created by colonial rule:westernized intellectuals in the cities.

In many cases, this new urban mid-dle class—composed of merchants,clerks, students, and professionals—had been educated in Western-styleschools. They were the first generationof Asians to understand the institu-tions and values of the West. Manyspoke Western languages and workedin jobs connected with the colonial regimes.

At first, many of the leaders of these movementsdid not focus clearly on the idea of nationhood butsimply tried to defend the economic interests or reli-gious beliefs of the native peoples. In Burma, forexample, the first expression of modern nationalismcame from students at the University of Rangoon.They formed an organization to protest against offi-cial persecution of the Buddhist religion and Britishlack of respect for local religious traditions. Theyprotested against British arrogance and failure to

341CHAPTER 6 The Height of Imperialism

In 1907, Vietnamese prisoners await trial for plotting against the French.

Checking for Understanding1. Vocabulary Define: New Imperialism,

protectorate, exploit, indirect rule,direct rule, impose, regime.

2. People Identify: King Mongkut, KingChulalongkorn, Commodore GeorgeDewey, Emilio Aguinaldo.

3. Places Locate: Singapore, Burma,Thailand, Philippines.

Reviewing Big Ideas4. Explain how the New Imperialism dif-

fered from old imperialism. How didimperialism come to be associated withSocial Darwinism?

Critical Thinking5. Evaluating

Evidence Why were resistance move-ments often led by Southeast Asianswho had been educated in the West?Initially, what were the goals of theseresistance leaders? How did their goalschange over time?

6. Cause and Effect In a diagram like theone below, identify the effects of colo-nial rule on the colonies.

Analyzing Visuals7. Describe the situation being endured

by the Vietnamese prisoners in thephoto above. Be specific in yourdescription. Based on what you haveread about the poverty of native peo-ples at this time, would you have riskedthis type of punishment if you hadbeen in their position?

CA HR 3

8. Expository Writing Use variedmedia to determine what the UnitedStates’s relationship is today with thePhilippines and how Filipino politicalgroups view this relationship. Writean essay based on your findings.

CA 10WA2.3

Effects of colonial rule

observe local customs in Buddhist temples. Not untilthe 1930s, however, did these resistance movementsbegin to demand national independence.

Summarizing Explain three forms ofresistance to Western domination.

Reading Check

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