... Early History
..... Southeast Asia located between India and China, influenced by both : Hinduism influenced region since 2nd century A.D.,
Buddhism since 6th, Confucianism since 9th, Islam since 12th century.
..... Early Empires and architecture : Khmer Empire - Angkor (9th century and after), Majapahit - Borobudur (on Java, 14th century)
..... Buddhism still dominates Myanmar (Burma), Thailand, Laos, Cambodia ; Hinduism still dominates Bali (Indonesia) ; Islam
dominant in Malaysia, Indonesia ; Confucianism and Buddhism had lasting influence on Vietnam
..... Economy of early states : Srivijaya - control of maritime China-India trade; monopoly of pepper production; Khmer Empire -
irrigation agriculture and fishery ; export of Cardamom spice
... Early modern history
..... Portuguese arrival 1511; take Malacca, establish factory on Moluccas.
..... At that time : Burma, Siam, Vietnam (soon split in Annam, Tonkin), Cambodia, Mataram major states in SE Asia.
..... Spanish estavblish themselves in Philippines; Dutch V.O.C. replaces Portuguese as dominant power in the Indian archipelago.
Key Dutch interest in the area : domination of pepper trade. Dutch fortify Batavia (present Jakarta) in 1619
18th century : French missionaries attempt to convert the Thai and Vietnamese.
... Napoleonic Wars : British occupy Java (1811); return it to Dutch. Briton Sir Stamford Raffles founds SINGAPORE (1819).
... High Imperialism :
..... French establish themselves in Indochina : Saigon 1859, Cochinchina 1862/67, Cambodia 1859, Annam/Tonkin 1884, Laos.
..... Dutch - V.O.C. broke, state takes over 1798; extend authority over outer islands/possessions
..... British : protectorates over Malay principalities; adventurer James Brooke becomes governor of Sarawak
..... British annex Arawak, Tenasserim 1826, lower Burma 1852, Upper Burma 1884
..... US takes Philippines from Spain 1898 after Span.-Am. War
..... Thailand only SE nation to avoid fate of colonial rule, mainly because French and British are not willing to see it ruled by the other.
... Colonial economy
..... in addition to pepper, tobacco plantations
..... new colonial economy : tea, rubber plantations, tin mining, oilfields (Sumatra, Brunei)
..... Chinese immigrant labour brought in by plantation and mine owners (indented laborers) - emergence of overseas Chinese community.
... World War II
..... With France and NL occupied by Germans, Fr. Indochina, Dutch East Indies defenseless
..... After Pearl Harbor, Japanese sweep of SE Asia
..... Thai reluctantly enter alliance with Japan; Japanese troops pass through Thai territory, occupy Burma, cut BURMA ROAD (goal :
isolate nat'l Chinese govt in Chungking); Flying Tigers
..... Importance of SE Asia to Japan : supply rice, raw materials, forced labour; control Malacca and Sunda straits (strategic)
..... Jap. propaganda : Japan liberates SE Asia from colonial rule. Japanese encourage independence movements in Indochina, D. East Indies
..... Resistance strong on Philippines, in Burma
..... Burma retaken by British in 1944; Philippines and eastern Indon. islands by US in 1944/45. Throughout the remainder of SE Asia,
little fighting throughout war
... Decolonization
..... colonial masters returned. Independence granted to Philippines (by USA, 1946), Burma (by Britain, 1947). Dutch and French
reluctant to give up colonies; war for independence begins.
..... 1949 Indonesia independent; many Moluccans, who fought alongside Dutch, emigrate to NL; 1954 Battle of DIEN BIEN PHU; French
defeated. Indochina split; communists get N. Vietnam; Laos, Cambodia, S. Vietnam independent, capitalist.
..... Malaysia independent 1963 as federation; 1965 Singapore ejected, independent.
... Recent History
..... Vietnam : civil war. US supports south against communist insurrection which is supported by north. DOMINO THEORY, escalation
of US involvement. 1968 Tet Offensive; war extended over Laos, Cambodia (Ho Chi Minh-Trail). US uses defoliant : agent orange;
Vietcong establish network of tunnels. 1973 : US withdraws from Vietnam; 1975 communists take over govr in Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia.
..... Cambodia : 1975-1979 Khmer Rouge govt, under Pol Pot : agrarian communism, killing fields. 1979 Vietnamese invasion, Chinese
Vietnamese border war. Vietnam : expulsion of ethnic Chinese : Boat people.
..... Indonesia : anticolonialism as policy : leading role in Nonalignment movement (BANDUNG CONFERENCE), SUKARNO. Konfrontasi
policy : occupation of West New Guinea (1963), attempt to occupy Sarawak, British North Borneo (failed, 1963), occ. of Portuguese East
Timor 1975. Transmigrasi policy : settlement of Javanese in less densely populated regions of the multiethnic state. Recent political
unrest partly based on conflicts between indigenous and immigrant population
..... ASEAN - south east Asian economic cooperation. Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, oil-rich Brunei benefitted most from recent economic
boom. Recently, Burma, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam joined.
This page is part of World History at KMLA Last revised on June 28th 2001
