Imperialism in Southeast Asia Lecture Notes 2013

8/12/2019 Imperialism in Southeast Asia Lecture Notes 2013

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I. The New Imperialism (pages 429–430)

A. In the 1800s European nations began a new push of imperialism—the extension of a nation’s power overother lands.

B. A new phase of Western expansion into and trade with Asia and Africa began in the nineteenth century.Asia and Africa were seen as a source of raw materials for industrial production and as a market for

Europe’s manufactured goods.

C. This “new imperialism,” as some historians have called it, was not content to have trading posts andagreements, as the old imperialism was, but wanted direct control over territories.

D. There was a strong economic motive for Western nations to increase their search for colonies after 1880.Europeans wanted direct control of the raw materials and markets it found in Asia, Africa, and LatinAmerica.

E. European nations also acquired colonies to gain an advantage over European rivals looking for coloniesand world power. Having colonies was a source of national prestige as well.

F. The new imperialism was tied to racism and social Darwinism. To social Darwinists, the imperialistEuropean nations were simply exerting themselves in the struggle for the fittest to survive. Losing nationswere racially inferior nations, these people argued erroneously. Others believed that the Western nationshad a moral or religious duty to “civilize” Asian, African, and Latin American nations, which often meant toChristianize them.

Discussion QuestionWhat is the definition of racism? (Racism is the belief that race determines the basic traits and capabilities ofthe individual members of the race. Use this question to generate a discussion about racial stereotypes andprejudice.)

II. Colonial Takeover in Southeast Asia (pages 431–432)

A. By 1900 almost all of Southeast Asia was under Western rule.

B. Great Britain led the way in nineteenth-century imperial colonialism. In 1819 Great Britain founded a colony

on a small island called Singapore (“city of the lion”). In the new age of steamships, Singapore soonbecame a major port for traffic to and from China.

C. The British moved deeper into Southeast Asia in the next decades. Britain took control of Burma (present-day Myanmar) to protect its possessions in India and to have a land route to South China.

D. France had interests in Vietnam and was alarmed by British expansion into Southeast Asia. To stop anyBritish move on Vietnam, the French government decided in 1857 to force the Vietnamese to accept Frenchprotection. By 1884, the French had seized control of the country and made the Vietnamese Empire into aFrench protectorate—a political unit that depends on another government for its protection. In the 1880sFrance extended protection over neighboring Cambodia, Laos, Annam, and Tonkin.

E. In the final quarter of the nineteenth century, both Britain and France tried to make Thailand into a colony.Two remarkable rulers prevented the takeover —King Mongkut (memorialized in The King and I) and his

son King Chulalongkorn. Both promoted friendly relations with the West and Western learning. In 1896France and Britain agreed to maintain Thailand as an independent buffer state between their possessions.

F. The United States naval forces under Commodore George Dewey defeated the Spanish in Manila Bay inthe Philippines. President William McKinley believed it was his moral duty to civilize other parts of theworld. Colonizing the Philippines would also prevent it from coming under Japanese rule and would servethe United States’ interest in securing a jumping-off point for trade with China.



G. Many Filipinos objected to the colonization—for example Emilio Aguinaldo, the leader of an independencemovement. His guerrilla forces fought against the Spanish and the United States, who defeated theguerrillas.

Discussion QuestionWhy did imperialism change to governing and administering territories from having trade relations with

territories? (The answer is two-fold: European nations needed to guarantee control so other European nationswould not move in on their territories; governing gave a tighter economic hold on the areas under Europeancontrol.)

III. Colonial Regimes in Southeast Asia (pages 432–433)

A. The chief goal of the Western powers in their colonies was to exploit the natural resources and open upmarkets for Western manufactured goods. The colonial powers ruled either indirectly or directly.

B. Indirect rule was used when allowing local rulers and political elites their authority best achieved the goalsof the Western parent country. This approach was the preferred route because it made ruling easier andless costly.

C. Especially when local elites resisted foreign conquest, indirect rule was not practicable. In these cases new

officials from the mother country were put in charge of taxes, law and order, and other governmentalmatters. This system is called direct rule. This was Britain’s approach in Burma, for example, where theBritish abolished the monarchy.

D. France used direct and indirect rule in Indochina. It imposed direct rule in the southern provinces in theMekong delta, which had been ceded to France as a colony after the first war in 1858 to 1860. In thenorthern parts of Vietnam, France used indirect rule (protectorate).

E. Western powers often justified their conquests by arguing they brought civilization and development.These same powers, however, often feared the indigenous peoples gaining political rights. The nativepeoples might want full participation in the government or independence.

F. Colonial powers did not want their colonists to develop their own industries. Thus, the parent countriesstressed exporting raw materials—teak wood, rubber, tin, spices, tea, coffee, sugar, and others.

G. In many places the native people worked as wage laborers on plantations owned by foreign investors.Plantation owners kept wages at a poverty level. Conditions on plantations often were horrible. Colonialgovernments often levied high taxes on the peasants.

H. Colonial rule did bring benefits to Southeast Asia. It began a modern economic system and improvedinfrastructure. Expanded exports developed an entrepreneurial class in rural areas, even though most ofthe export profits went to the mother country.

Discussion QuestionWhat aspect of French colonial Vietnam policy seems reflected in the era of the American Vietnam War? (Thecommunist liberation movements came out of the areas [in the north] that the French governed indirectly.Presumably the indirect rule gave more opportunity for such movements to take root and spread.)

IV. Resistance to Colonial Rule (pages 433–

434)

A. Initial resistance to colonial rule came from the ruling classes among the subject peoples. Sometimesresistance to Western rule took the form of peasant revolts. Peasants often were driven off land to makeway for plantation agriculture.

B. Early resistance movements were overcome by Western powers. At the beginning of the twentiethcentury, a new kind of resistance based on the force of nationalism emerged. The leaders often were anew class created by colonial rule: westernized intellectuals in the cities.



C. These new leaders were part of a new urban middle class—merchants, clerks, students, andprofessionals—which had been educated in Western schools, spoke Western languages, and knewWestern customs. At first the resistance movements organized to protect religious traditions andtraditional cultural customs. In the 1930s these resistance movements began to demand nationalindependence.

Discussion QuestionWhy is the demand for national independence a natural outgrowth of having been educated in Westernschools? (The idea of national democracies is a strong part of the modern Western heritage. These leaderswere only using what the West at its best represented against the colonial rulers, who represented the West atits worst.)

Documents

Imperialism in Southeast Asia Lecture Notes 2013