Imperialism in Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands

Jae Lee, Jungwook Park, Jenny ChoiWorld History GJanuary 15, 2009

Why Imperialism Started in Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands

• Demand for Asian products drive Western im-perialists to seek possession of Southeast Asian lands.

Colonial Impact of Imperialism

• Modernization mainly helps European busi-nesses

• Education, health, sanitation improve• Millions migrate to Southeast Asia to work in

mines, plantations• Colonialism leads to racial and religious

clashes.

How European Countries Decided to Ex-tend Influence

• Europeans want to control all aspects of their colonies:– Influence political, social lives of people– Shape economies to benefit Europe– Want people to adopt European customs

• Forms of control– Colony-governed by a foreign power– Protectorate-governs itself, but under outside control– Sphere of influence-outside power controls investment, trading– Economic imperialism-private business interests assert control

• Methods of Management– Direct control

• Paternalism-Europeans provide for local people, but grant no rights• Assimilation-adaptation of local people to ruling culture.

– Indirect Control• Limited self-rule for local governments• Legislative body includes colonial, local officials.

Imperialist America•During the late 19th century, the United States was on the verge of being an imperialistic country.•After the Spanish-American War, the United States signed the Treaty of Paris in 1898 which allowed them to take control of the countries from Spain. These countries included Guam, Puerto Rico, Cuba, and the Philippines•United States also gained control of Hawaii in 1898. Hawaii was the last state the U.S. annexed.

America’s point of view• In general, most

Americans in the U.S. didn’t like the idea of imperializing other countries ever since they gained in-dependence from Britain in 1776.

• However, some of them think U.S. should fulfill its des-tiny as world power by colonizing other countries, much like how Europeans did.

U.S. colonized Guam• Originally Guam was controlled by

Spain from 1668. The Chamorro (indigenous people of Guam) had greatly reduced their population due to disease and rebellion against Spaniards.

• Inhabitants in Guam turned from Chamorro to Spaniards as culture and bloodline began to incorporate Span-ish language and customs.

• The U.S. was about to declare an-other war against Spain for control of Guam in 1898. Unfortunately, the Spanish governor, Juan Marina had no knowledge about the declaration of war and due to lack of Spanish mil-itary in the country, Spain had no choice but to surrender to the al-ready armed U.S. for Guam.

U.S. colonized Philippines• As U.S. was about to take control of the

Philippines, President McKinley stated that the Filipinos must be Christianized and educated once it’s taken over.

• Filipino nationalists, however already their grudge against Spain and they didn’t want to be traded for one colo-nizer to another. Filipinos also asserted that the U.S. promised them indepen-dence after the Spanish-American War.

• The U.S. however, responded that they’re not necessarily taking over the country, but rather teaching them to be-come independent. American busi-nesses, however stated that they colo-nized the country to become economi-cally stronger by free trade.

U.S. controlled Hawaii• Hawaii was the last state that the

U.S. annexed.• For so long, U.S. and Hawaii be-

came trading partners for sugar. By 1890, the U.S. business leaders decided they should try to annex Hawaii, because Hawaiian sugar could be sold for greater profits.

• By 1893, queen Liliuokalani wanted to gain more political power in Hawaii. American busi-nessmen, however, thwarted her plans and led to her abdication. By 1898, Hawaii was annexed.

Imperialist Britain• Compared to other European coun-

tries, Britain has imperialized most countries.

• During the 19th century, Britain fo-cused on imperializing countries in Asia, particular China and India. Britain also focused on imperializing Australia.

• More British colonized other coun-tries, more it gained power. How-ever, Britain had to go through re-bellions from other countries.

• So far, Britain had took control of Malaysia, Singapore, parts of India, and China.

British and India•Britain took over India from the 1600s and it started the British East India Company. The British did everything from imposing taxes to instituting reforms. Canals and railroads were built and education was formed.• Starting from the mid-19th century however, the Indians resented British interference in their customs as they were struck from poverty and famine.•The Sepoy Rebellion occurred in 1857, when a rumor was heard that British soldiers smeared their weapons with cow and pig fat. This broke the taboo of Muslim and Hindu be-liefs. The rebellion turned out to be a failure for the Indians due to lack of military power they had.•After the rebellion, the British became more cautious, and many Indians remained bitter and distrustful of their rulers.

India’s Pacifist Movement• One of India’s most well-known movements against the British Empire was passive

resistance, a pacifist movement where violent methods were not used. For decades, people led by Mahatma Gandhi participated in boycotts, hunger strikes, demonstrations and refused to cooperate with the British Empire. He was arrested and imprisoned multiple times for his actions.

• In economical boycotts, Gandhi encouraged people to buy traditional homespun clothes, made by Indian craftsmen out of work due to British textile factories.

• Britain responded violently to this movement, beating back protesters. Demonstra-tors who marched to salt depots to speak out against British monopoly over the business were arrested. In response to these violent actions, though, the move-ment grew ever stronger, gathering more people and becoming more organized and unified.

India’s Revolutionaries• Chandrashekar Azad, and his successor Bhagat Singh, chose more violent means,

such as assasinations and setting up a bomb in legislative assembly. They gained popular support.

• There were also various riots throughout during the Britain’s rule. Ultimately, the British Empire was not forced out: it merely responded to the pressure.

Britain and Asia• Britain’s imperial rival was the Dutch. • To compete with Dutch, the British estab-

lished a trading base that would help their ships to travel India and China.

• By doing this, they found out that Singa-pore and Malaysia had essential resources like tin and rubber.

• British gained colonies in Malaysia and Sin-gapore became a busy port for resources.

• Britain ordered the Chinese in Singapore to move to Malaysia. Chinese eventually be-came successful business workers but the indigenous people of Malaysia became mi-norities.

• Currently, conflicts between native Malays and Chinese residents remain unsolved.

British and China• China was the country that gone through

most rebellions against Britain. Britain viewed China as a perfect place for trade.

• From the late 1840s, Chinese government became concerned about overpopula-tion, thanks to Britain for colonizing.

• The Taiping Rebellion occurred when Chinese people went against the Qing dynasty. The rebellion caused more prob-lems for Chinese as they slowly lost power.

• Despite the failure of the Boxer Rebellion, Chinese nationalism had grown and the Chinese believed they can gain more abil-ity to resist foreign influence particularly British.

Imperialist France• Took over Indochina on the

Southeast Asian mainland.• Have been active in South-

east Asia since the 17th century.

• Helped the Nguyen dynasty rise to power in Vietnam.

• French Control in Indochina• French control Vietnam,

Laos, Cambodia• Directly controlled French

Indochina• Exported rice, which an-

gered the Vietnamese.

Vietnam Controlled France• During the 1840s, during the rule of

an anti-Christian Vietnamese emperor, seven French missionaries were killed in Vietnam. – This caused Napoleon III to order the

French army to invade southern Viet-nam.

• Using direct colonial management, the French filled all the important posi-tions in the government bureaucracy. – They did not encourage local industry.– Four times as much land was devoted

to rice production.• Peasant rice consumption was de-

creased because much of the rice was exported.

• Because of this reduction, anger drove the Vietnamese to stage resistance against the French.

Vietnam Resistance• Vietnam was at first occupied by France, then Japanese; receiving supplies from

the Soviet Union and United States, Vietnamese soon became masters of guerilla warfare.

• Vietminh, Vietnamese Revolutionary League created by communist Ho Chi Minh, gained control of the country when the Japanese withdrew. However, America and Britain had planned to divide Vietnam into two halves, one under Chinese and one under Britain. French also attempted to reestablish their rule.

• Vietminh faced the French army, gaining upper hand later in the war. The organi-zation soon grew to NLF (National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam) with aid of Ho Chi Minh, being made up of diverse groups of people. Later on, they bat -tled against Americans.

Unsuccessful African Rebellion Against France

• African Resistance• Unsuccessful Move-

ments– Algeria actively resists

French for almost 50 years

– Samori Touré fights French in West Africa for 16 years.

Negative and Positive Effects of Africa

• Negative effects– Africans lose land and inde-

pendence.– Traditional cultures break

down– Division of Africa creates prob-

lems that continue today.• Positive effects

– Colonialism reduces local fight -ing

– Sanitation improves; hospitals and schools created

– Technology brings economic growth.

Dutch Imperialism in Southeast Asia• Established control over most of the 3,000-mile-long chain of Indonesian Islands• Dutch East India Company, (chartered in 1602), actively sought lands in Southeast

Asia. – Seized Malacca from Portuguese– Fought British and Javanese for control of Java.

• Discovery of oil and tin on the islands and the desire for more rubber plantations prompted the Dutch to gradually expand their control over Sumatra, part of Borneo, Celebes, the Moluc-cas, and Bali. – Dutch eventually ruled the whole island chain of Indonesia, then called the Dutch East Indies.

Dutch Expanded Their Control

• Dutch colonies, called Dutch East Indies, in-clude Indonesia.

• Settle Indonesia, establish rigid social class system.

Bibliography

• "Imperialism in Southeast Asia." Imperialism in Southeast Asia. 13 Jan. 2009 <http://www.brighteyes.com/World%20History/Chap-ter11/Text/CM6_362-365.pdf>.

• "Age of Imperialism." Age of Imperialism. 13 Jan. 2009 <www.heardhigh.com/world_history

Bibliography for Pictures

• http://www.casahistoria.net/images/indochina%20conquest%20map.gif

• http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/56/Vietnam_Expand1.gif/360px-Vietnam_Expand1.gif

• http://ratmmjess.tripod.com/rinaldini.jpg• http://www.public.iastate.edu/~cfford/342colonialafrica.gif• http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/d/d1/Evolu

tion_of_the_Dutch_East_Indies.png/250px-Evolution_of_the_Dutch_East_Indies.png

• http://www.taiwandna.com/DutchEmpire.png