Western Imperialism and Colonialism in Southeast Asia

Dutch East Indies – Indonesia comprised of 17,000 islands, half uninhabited. – Sumatra, Java, Borneo, Sulawesi, and New Guinea are the largest and most populated. – Settled by Austronesians, and by – 700 Buddhist kingdoms had been built. – Sumatran kingdom dominated commercial trade in spices. – Indonesians converted to Islam by In 1511 Portuguese built a trade fort at Malacca. Dutch East India Company, chartered in 1602, used Java as its trade center.

Indonesia and the Dutch East Indies

Dutch took over Java by dominating local Islamic protectorates. Economic collapse of Dutch company led to government of Netherlands taking over the colonial holdings in After Belgium broke from Netherlands in 1830, Dutch turned to a cultivation system in Indonesia. – Forced natives to grow commercial crops or work Dutch plantations. – Rice paddies converted, leading to famine. – Commercial success led to further colonization in Indonesia.

Spain used Manila as a port for Chinese trade and silver exports from America. – Philippines are a collection of 7,000 islands settled by Austronesians. – Farmers paid rents in rice and animals to support Manila. – Early eighteenth century Spain began to further colonize Philippines. Philippines difficult to control due to native resistance and English interference. Spain shifts from silver to commodities, led to class division between wealthy minority and mass of landless rural and urban workers. Colony was an economic drain for Spain: no revenue and costly administration.

Leaders of Katipunan resistance group exiled to Hong Kong, brought back by Americans during Spanish-American War – Emilio Anguinaldo, leader of Katipunan

U.S. took Manila in 1899, with other Spanish territory in Cuba, Puerto Rico, and Guam. Philippine–American War, 1899 – – Deaths: 4,200 US troops 34,000 Filipino soldiers 200,000 civilians Moro Rebellion – 1913

France took over southern Vietnam, “Cochinchina,” in 1858–1862 as a protectorate. – Claimed French missionaries and Vietnamese converts were tortured. – 1884–1885 France took over rest of Vietnam, and built plantations for coffee, tea, and rubber, as well as rice. Vietnamese nationalist resistance led by Phan Boi Chau – Organized Vietnamese in Japan until expelled in 1909.