.
As the powers of Europe began to grow and expand throughout the world’s history, colonialism became the forefront of this expansion. Over time, almost every non-European nation became a colony of one European nation or another at some point. Only a few countries managed to escape becoming overpowered by the Europeans, which makes us wonder, how did they do it? For a nation like
Thailand, which was
surrounded by British, French, and Dutch territories, there seemed to be no hope of avoiding colonialism. And yet, somehow, not the British, nor the French, or even the Dutch, ever colonized Thailand - and neither did any other European power.
British Burma (1885-1948): In the 19th century, Burmese rulers, whose country had not previously been of particular interest to European traders, sought to maintain their traditional influence in the western areas of Assam, Manipur and Arakan. Pressing them, however, was the
British East India Company, which was expanding its interests eastwards over the same territory. Over the next sixty years, diplomacy, raids, treaties and compromises, known collectively as the
Anglo-Burmese Wars, continued until
Britain proclaimed control over most of Burma. With the fall of Mandalay, all of Burma came under British rule, being
annexed on
1 January 1886.
French Indochina (previously spelled as French Indo-China) (
Indochine française), officially known as the Indochinese Union (
Union indochinoise) from
1887 and the Indochinese Federation (
French: Fédération indochinoise;
Vietnamese: Liên đoàn Đông Dương) after
1947, was a grouping of
French colonial territories in
Southeast Asia until its demise in
1954. It comprised three
Vietnamese regions of
Tonkin in the north,
Annam in the centre, and
Cochinchina in the south,
Cambodia,
Laos (from 1899) and the Chinese territory of
Guangzhouwan (from 1898 until 1945). The capital for most of its history (1902–45) was
Hanoi;
Saigon was the capital from 1887 to 1902 and again from 1945 to 1954.
The French
annexed Cochinchina and established a protectorate in Cambodia in 1862 and 1863 respectively. After the French took over northern Vietnam through the
Tonkin campaign, the various protectorates were consolidated into one union in 1887. Two more entities were incorporated into the union: the Laotian protectorate and the Chinese territory of Guangzhouwan. The French exploited the resources in the region during their rule, but also contributed to improvements of the health and education system in the region. Nevertheless, deep divides remained between the natives and the colonists, leading to sporadic rebellions by the latter. After the
Fall of France during
World War II, the colony was administered by the
Vichy government and was under
Japanese occupation until March 1945, when the
Japanese overthrew the colonial regime. After the
Japanese surrender, the
Viet Minh, a communist organization led by
Hồ Chí Minh,
declared Vietnamese independence, but France subsequently
took back control of French Indochina. An all-out independence war, known as the
First Indochina War, broke out in late 1946 between French and Viet Minh forces.
To counter the Viet Minh, the
State of Vietnam, led by former Emperor
Bảo Đại, was proclaimed in 1949. French efforts to reunite Vietnam were unsuccessful. On 22 October and 9 November 1953, the
Kingdom of Laos and
Kingdom of Cambodia proclaimed their respective independences. Following the
Geneva Accord of 1954, the French withdrew from Vietnam, which had been split into the two countries (until 1976), and French Indochina was no more.
The
Dutch East Indies (or Netherlands East-Indies; Nederlands(ch)-Indië) was a
Dutch colony consisting of what is now
Indonesia. It was formed from the nationalised colonies of the
Dutch East India Company, which came under the administration of the
Dutch government in 1800.
During the
19th century, the Dutch possessions and hegemony were expanded, reaching their greatest territorial extent in the early 20th century. The Dutch East Indies was one of the most valuable colonies under European rule, and contributed to Dutch global prominence in spice and
cash crop trade in the 19th to early 20th century. The colonial social order was based on rigid racial and social structures with a Dutch elite living separate from but linked to their native subjects. The term Indonesia came into use for the geographical location after
1880. In the early 20th century, local intellectuals began developing the concept of
Indonesia as a nation state, and set the stage for an independence movement.
Japan's World War II occupation dismantled much of the Dutch colonial state and economy. Following the Japanese surrender in
August 1945, Indonesian nationalists declared
independence which they fought to secure during the subsequent
Indonesian National Revolution. The Netherlands formally recognized Indonesian sovereignty at the
1949 Dutch–Indonesian Round Table Conference with the exception of the
Netherlands New Guinea (
Western New Guinea), which was ceded to Indonesia 14 years later in
1963 under the provisions of the
New York Agreement.
