Imperialism in Southeast Asia

Portugal and Spain originally controlled European trade with Southeast Asia. After 1600, the power shifted and the English and Dutch supplanted them.

The Dutch in Southeast Asia Dutch imperialism in Southeast Asia began with a private company, just as English imperialism in South Asia had. In 1641 the Dutch seized control of the Spice Islands (now part of Indonesia), so called because they produced spices such as cloves and nutmeg that were in great demand in Europe. The Dutch East India Company (VOC) took over the spice trade from the Portuguese, setting up several trading posts on the archipelago. Although the trade was very profitable for the VOC, corruption caused the company to go bankrupt by 1800. Once the VOC folded, the Dutch government itself took control of the Dutch East Indies. By the mid-19th century, the islands were producing cash crops to support the Dutch economy.

Plantations produced tea, rubber, and sugar for export purposes, a situation that limited rice cultivation and eventually created enormous hardships for Indonesian farmers who relied on rice to survive. Although criticism of this agricultural policy forced the Dutch government to implement humanitarian reforms, the reforms failed to meet the needs of the Indonesian people.

The French in Southeast Asia The French government also wanted an imperial presence in Asia. After it defeated China in the Sino-French War of 1883–1885, France gained control of northern Vietnam. France later pressured Siam to cede control of the territory of modern-day Laos to the French. By the 1890s, France controlled Cambodia, Laos, and all of modern-day Vietnam. Together, these nations became known as French Indochina. French motives for imperialism were like those of the Dutch—a desire for cash crops. Soon rubber plantations dotted the landscape of Cambodia and Vietnam.

The British in Southeast Asia British influence in Southeast Asia began when the East India Company acquired the island of Penang off the northwest coast of the Malay Peninsula in 1786. In 1824, the British founded the port of Singapore. Chinese immigrants soon made it the most important seaport in Southeast Asia. Eventually, Britain controlled all of the Malay Peninsula, Burma (Myanmar), and northern Borneo. British investors were originally attracted by the region’s mineral wealth, especially tin and gold. In addition, Britain promoted the planting of cash crops such as pepper, tobacco, palm oil, and rubber. By the end of the 19th century, Malaya was the world’s greatest producer of natural rubber.

Siam Only one Southeast Asian nation, Siam—modern-day Thailand— managed to escape the clutches of 19th-century European imperialism. Siam’s monarchs deftly handled diplomatic relations with the British and French, whose colonies bordered Siam. The Siamese government also instituted a series of modernizing reforms, similar to Japan’s Meiji reforms. The government began to industrialize by building railroads, and it set up Western- style schools in order to create an educated populace who could fill the ranks of an efficient government bureaucracy.