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Portugal |
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The Portuguese established a dominant influence over maritime trade in the Malay Archipelago in the early 16th century, but
were expelled from all her trading posts in the area, except for those in the vicinity of Timor (at Solor). In 1769 they established the city of Dili; in the Treaty of Lisbon 1859 the Netherlands and Portugal split the island of Timor. After Japanese occupation 1942-1945, Portuguese colonial rule was restored. After the Velvet Revolution (1974), Portugal began to dissolve its colonial Empire. Arguing that the Fretilin - the Chinese-supported organization which had fought Portuguese rule, would turn Easty Timor into a regional base for Communism, Indonesian forces in 1975 occupied East Timor; annexation followed. The attention of the world was focused on the Indonesian administration of East Timor when two East Timorese, Bishop Belo and J.R. Horta were awareded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1996. A referendum on independence followed in 1999. Immediately an armed conflict between pro-Indonesian and pro-independence militias ensued, and international peacekeeping forces lead by an Australian contingent arrived. In 2002 full independence was achieved when East Timor joined the UN. Timeline : East Timor Students' Paper : Cheong Purun, Goa and East Timor : A comparison of the history of two former Portuguese colonies (KMLA, Fall 2006) |
