WESTERN EXPANSIONISM IN ASIA

3. Total Subjugation of Asia by the West

• Western nations expanded into Asia from the mid 1850s to the beginning of World War
I. The "Age of Imperialism" was fueled by the Industrial Revolution in Europe and the
United States, and it profoundly influenced nation-building efforts in Japan and China.
As the desire to exert regional strength grew, Japan also began to expand its colonial
influence across East Asia.

a) China

• Imperialism in China began with the First Opium War ( 1839- 1842), when the Chinese
government tried to halt the British from importing opium.
• The Treaty of Nanking (1842) opened up five ports to the British, gave Britain the island
of Hong Kong, and forced China to pay a large indemnity.
• In 1858, China was forced to open up eleven more treaty ports that granted special
privileges.
• Between 1870 and 1914, Western nations carved China into spheres of influence, areas
in which outside powers claimed exclusive trading rights.
• By 1990s, China was in turmoil. There was rising sentiment against foreigners because
China had been forced to give up so many political and economic rights.
• The anti- foreign sentiment exploded into the Boxer Rebellion or Uprising (1899- 1901).
• The Boxers were a secret Chinese nationalist society supported by the Manchu
government which had a goal to drive out all foreigners and restore China to isolation.
• In June 1900, the Boxers launched series of attacks against foreigners and Chinese
Christians.
• The Boxer Rebellion failed.
• In 1911, revolution broke out across the country and the Manchu emperor was
overthrown.

b) India
 In 1763, the British took control of India after defeating the French in the Seven Years‘
War (1756- 1763).
In 1857, an Indian revolt, led by native soldiers called sepoys, led to an uprising known
as the Sepoy Mutiny.
In 1858, after suppressing the rebellion, the British government made India part of the
empire.
Britain profited greatly from India, which was called the ―Crown Jewel of the British
Empire”.
The Indian masses continued to live close to starvation and the British had little respect
for the native Indian Culture.

c) Southeast Asia
Imperialism of Southeast Asia was mainly influenced by the amount of trade between
India, Southeast Asia, and China. Many countries like Great Britain wanted to expand
their trade, so colonizing in Southeast Asia allowed them to have safer and more
efficient trade routes.
Great Britain, France, Spain, the Netherlands, and the United States were the imperialist
countries that had colonies in Southeast Asia.
Portugal also had a colony in the region but had the least impact. All colonized countries
in Southeast Asia became independent by 1965.
France captured Saigon in 1859, and extended her colony to include Annam, Tongkin,
Laos, and Cambodia.
Burma was under the British rule from the late 19th century until 1948.Britain governed
the Malay Peninsula as the Straits Settlements until 1957.
The Indonesian archipelago was colonized by the Dutch during two periods: 1605-1799
by the Dutch East India Company and 1825-1930s by the Dutch government.
Portugal occupied Malacca from 1511 to 1641, when it was taken over by the Dutch;
and continued the rule over Timor.
The Philippines was governed by Spain from 1565 until 1898, when Spain was defeated
by the United States in the Spanish-American War.
As a peace settlement with Spain in 1898, the United States occupied the Philippines
until her independence in 1946.
d) West Asia
Ottoman Empire ruled most of the West Asia, including parts of Central Asia since the
early 15 th century and continuously expanding their territories including parts of
Eastern Europe and Africa.
Ottomans established the longest and the most influential political presence in West Asia
and Eastern Europe.
In 1798, the doors of the East and the Islamic world were then blown wide open by
Napoleon Bonaparte‘s Grande Army.
Grand Army was the name of army that Napoleon Bonaparte‘s assembled on the French
Coast of the English channel for the proposed invasion of Great Britain.
Britain seized Iraq from Ottoman Turkey during World War I and was granted a mandate
by the League of Nations to govern the nation in 1920.
A Hashemite monarchy was organized under British protection in 1921, and on October
3, 1932, the kingdom of Iraq was granted independence.
In 1516, the Ottoman Empire conquered Syria and remained in power until 1918. This
was considered a relatively peaceful and stable period in Syria‘s history.
During World War I, French and British diplomats secretly agreed to divide the Ottoman
Empire into zones, as part of the Sykes -Picot Agreement of 1916.
British and Arab troops captured Damascus and Aleppo in 1918, and the French took
control of modern-day Syria and Lebanon in 1920.
These arrangements put an end to roughly 400 years of Ottoman rule in the region.
REFERENCES:
➢ Module 8: Western Expansionism in Asia. prezi.com. (n.d.). Retrieved November 1,
2022, from
https://prezi.com/kng9to6v3-mm/module-8-western-expansionism-in-asia/
➢ Imperialism in Central and Southeast Asia. The Building of Global Empires.
https://worldhistorycaussey.weebly.com/imperialism-in-central-and-southeast-asia.html
➢ Western imperialism in East Asia. Facing History and Ourselves.
https://www.facinghistory.org/en-ca/resource-library/western-imperialism-
eastasia#:~:text=Armed%20with%20these%20ideas%20of,efforts%20in%20Japan%20aN
%20China.
➢ Southeast Asia Research Guide: Imperialism, colonialism, &
nationalism.
https://guides.library.manoa.hawaii.edu/c.php?g=105536&p=687513