Sea Lecture Brief

7/25/2019 Sea Lecture Brief

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COLONIALISM AND NATIONALISM IN SOUTHEAST ASIA

Rey Ty

Introduction

The major colonizers of Southeast Asia were Europeans, Japanese and the U.S. All in all,

there were seven colonial powers in Southeast Asia !ortu"al, Spain, the #etherlands,

$reat %ritain, &rance, the United States, and Japan. &rom the '())s to the mid*'+)s,

colonialism was imposed over Southeast Asia.

&or hundreds of years, Southeast Asian -in"doms had een en"a"ed in international

commercial relations with traders from East Asia /0hina1, South Asia /2ndia1, and 3est Asia

/the 45iddle East61. Asian sojourners also rou"ht reli"ion, customs, traditions, and court

practices to the re"ion. 7ence, their relationship was economic and cultural at the same

time. 5oreover, local Southeast Asian rulers used and indi"enized practices of -in"shipinstitutions from South Asia /rajadharma1 and 3est Asia /sultanate1.

European travelers did not only have economic relations with Southeast Asians ut also

imposed their political8and in some cases, cultural8domination over Southeast Asian

peoples and territories. 7ence, European colonialism covered a lar"e chun- of Southeast

Asian history.

Aside from European colonials, Japanese and U.S. colonials controlled much of Southeast

Asia. Japanese a""ression too- place durin" the 4!aci9c 3ar6 of 3orld 3ar 22. The

Japanese occupied much of Asia, includin" Southeast Asia. The U.S. colonized the

!hilippines in the aftermath of the Spanish*American 3ar of ':+:.

Southeast Asian response to colonialism was oth collaoration and nationalism in all its

forms.

Historical Background

2ndi"enous peoples practicin" animism have lived in Southeast Asia /SEA1 since historical

times. ;ater, people from Chinamoved southward to reach SEA /%arton )) %0, the a"e of ronze and iron had passed from 0hina into SEA /&odor =1. The

0hinese under the Sun" ?ynasty y the ')),


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there were two major -in"doms the Su-hotai in 5ainland SEA and the 5ajapahit empire in

insular SEA. ?urin" the '


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c. 2ntra*European 0ompetition and Rivalry

c. European 4A"e of ?iscovery6 G Southeast Asian 4A"e of 0olonialism6. Fne

phenomenon, two interpretations

&irst 0ircumnavi"ation of the 3orld


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>. Cultural

0olonialism is lin-ed with the idea that the way of life of the colonizers are etter than that

of the colonized.

a. ./hite Man0s Burden-

o Rudyard Hiplin" coined the term

o En"lishmen 0ecil Rhodes, I2 contend that we %ritons are the 9rst race in the

world, and the more of the world we inhait, the etter it is for the human

race. 2 elieve it is my duty to $od, my ueen, and my country...I

o 3hite Supremacy whites are supreme ein"s

o The supposed or presumed responsiility of white people to "overn and

impart their culture to nonwhite people, often advanced as a justi9cation for

European colonialism.

o ?uty to spread the ways of the superior ein"s to inferior ein"s with inferior

ways of livin"

o ?evaluation of indi"enous cultures

o 40ivilizin" 5ission6 %rin" 0ivilization to the 4uncivilized world6

. Con1ersion to Christianit2

o Spain and !ortu"al spread Roman 0atholicism to their colonies y convertin"

the indi"enous peoples

o local reli"ions are inferior

COLONIAL HISTO3$

Fn June @, '+, the Spanish and the !ortu"uese si"ned the Treat2 o" Tordesillasthatdivided the world in two spheres. The ima"inary line ran throu"h the Atlantic Spain "ained

lands to the west, includin" all the Americas, eBcept %razil, which was "ranted to !ortu"al.

The eastern half includin" Africa and 2ndia was "iven to !ortu"al. 2n the asence of

accurate measurements of lon"itude, the issue of where the line should e drawn in Asia

refused to "o away.
http://www.msnusers.com/ReyTysPapers/Documents/Asia/histvocab.html#longitudehttp://www.msnusers.com/ReyTysPapers/Documents/Asia/histvocab.html#longitude


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(ortugal ,45446478494:;5= claimed the !hilippines. 2n '(=(, Spain

conDuered 0eu. 2n '(@', S&ainestalished the city of 5anila and y '=)) it had "ained

control of most of the archipela"o /%arton ()1. The Hatipunan /HHH18&ilipino

revolutionaries8under AndrKs %onifacio fou"ht a"ainst the Spaniards and ecame the 9rst

Asian country to e independent in 4=:=, eBcept that the U.S. too- the rei"ns of power

thereafter.

Magellan 5a"ellan led the 9rst circumnavi"ation of the "loe. 7e was orn to a family of

lower noility and educated in the !ortu"uese court. Just li-e 0olumus who came efore

him, 5a"ellan elieved the Spice 2slands can e reached y sailin" west, around orthrou"h the #ew 3orld. As 5a"ellan did not "et any support from the !ortu"uese

monarchy, he sou"ht and "ot the assistance of the teena"ed Spanish -in", 0harles

2/a.-.a. the 7oly Roman emperor 0harles 1on 5arch )s /3ilson1. TheDutchhad ta-en control of most of the commercial

islands in the East 2ndies and occupied Sumatra, %orneo, 0elees, and Java /%arton ()1.
http://www.msnusers.com/ReyTysPapers/Documents/Asia/biohist.html#charleshttp://www.msnusers.com/ReyTysPapers/Documents/Asia/biohist.html#charleshttp://www.msnusers.com/ReyTysPapers/Documents/Asia/biohist.html#charleshttp://www.msnusers.com/ReyTysPapers/Documents/Asia/biohist.html#pigafettahttp://www.msnusers.com/ReyTysPapers/Documents/Asia/biohist.html#delcanohttp://www.msnusers.com/ReyTysPapers/Documents/Asia/biohist.html#charleshttp://www.msnusers.com/ReyTysPapers/Documents/Asia/biohist.html#charleshttp://www.msnusers.com/ReyTysPapers/Documents/Asia/biohist.html#charleshttp://www.msnusers.com/ReyTysPapers/Documents/Asia/biohist.html#pigafettahttp://www.msnusers.com/ReyTysPapers/Documents/Asia/biohist.html#delcano


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They uilt a port at %atavia and -ic-ed out the !ortu"uese from the 2ndies, eBcept for East

Ti!or/%arton ()1.

The Dutchcould not -eep the #etherlands East 2ndies after 3322 as they hoped to

ecause the 2ndonesians fou"ht a war of national lieration to set up a repulic in '+(.

The U.#. reco"nized 2ndonesian independence in '++.

The DutchacDuired their empire to protect their trade. And they were after commodities.

%ut not as raw materials these were s&ices, for resale. The Dutchwere 864:5;7 and4===/%arton ()1 in three An"lo*%urmese 3ars. The %ritish maintained

%urma as a province of %ritish 2ndia, unli-e other colonies which -ept their ethnic

identities. Top %ritish and middle 2ndian administrators ruled %urma. 2n '+>(, %ritain

consented to separate %urma from 2ndia and this was put into force in '+>@ /3ilson1. 2n

'+:, %urma ne"otiated with %ritain for its independence.

The British/RaMes1 set up Singa&orein ':'+ and the #etherlands ceded 5alacca to

%ritain in ':


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USA ,4=:=64:87( and independent in '+= after 3orld 3ar 22.

The western colonial powers had economic, social, political, and cultural impact on the

peoples and states of SEA. They rou"ht aout rapid chan"es in SEA.

E%%ECTS

'. 5ASS E0F#F520 %2TTER#ESS

. E0F#F520 $RF3T7

COLONIAL (A3TNE3S

'. 0FF!TAT2F#


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Cultural and indigenous religious !o1e!entssurfaced and emphasized a national

identity ased upon traditional reli"ious and cultural values. &or instance, the$oung

Man0s Buddhist Association in Bur!aset up in '+)= aimed to rin" down western

inOuence. 2n 2ndonesia, the Sarekat Isla!which was a nationalist political party /'+'


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Fn 5arch

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