Preview

Effects of imperialism in Asia.

Powerful Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1831 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Effects of imperialism in Asia.
"What impact did Western imperialism and colonialism have on Asia"

That Colonialism and imperialism played a significant role in shaping the modern world and particularly Asia is a prudent judgment. Colonialism is "a policy in which a country rules other nations and develops trade for its own benefit" and "the extension of power or authority over others in the interests of domination" (2004). 'The West', which refers to the societies of Europe and their genealogical, colonial, and philosophical descendants. Spain, France, Britain, Canada, and the United States of America are some examples of Western societies. These countries have spread their influence and hegemony over other nations for centuries; shaping today's North America, Central-America, South America, Africa, Oceana, and Asia (Western Society, 2004). Indochina is a region that today we would consider as Southeast Asia, comprised of Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam (Indochina, 2001). Its most recent and most important contact with the West came from France and America. The West had a negative impact on Indochina because its influence damaged Southeast Asia's system of government, destroyed and diluted the indigenous culture, caused many people to lose their lives and liberty, and set the course for future economic depressions and poverty.

INDO-CHINESE GOVERNMENT.

Under French colonisation, the Indochinese political structure went into shambles (Hammer, 1966). The puppet governments installed after French colonization were "repressive, totalitarian, and corrupt which meant that age old traditional and cultural monarchies were replaced by despots under French influence. In little time, each country lost its own unique identity; Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam disappeared off maps and were replaced simply by 'French Indochina' (Vietnam War, 2004). Only French-speaking or French-educated people were allowed to gain high positions in government, while others were treated as second-class citizens and toiled in the

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    The Effects of Imperialism

    • 1272 Words
    • 6 Pages

    From: Imperialism and World Politics, Parker T. Moore, 1926 To begin with, there are the exporters and manufacturers of certain goods used in the colonies. The makers of cotton and iron goods have been very much interested in imperialism. Their business interests demand that colonial markets should be opened and developed and that foreign competitors should be shut out. Such aims require political control and imperialism. Finally, the most powerful of all business groups are the bankers. Banks make loans to colonies and backward countries for building railways and steamship lines. They also make loans to colonial plantation owners, importers, and exporters. The imperialist business interests have powerful allies.…

    • 1272 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    1) The Vietnamese complaints against the French both in the letters to President Truman and the 1945 Declaration of Independence, were based on the levying of unjust taxes, increasing the poverty of the rural populace, exploitation of mineral and forest resources, massive starvation, and imprisonment of those who would rebel or question their colonial power. In the long list of grievances against the French stated in the Vietnamese Declaration of Independence, “They have invented numerous unjustifiable taxes and reduced our people, especially our peasantry, to a state of extreme poverty”. Ho Chi Minh stated in his letter to Truman, that it was strictly for humanitarian reasons he need to revolt, and that “two million Vietnamese died of starvation during winter of 1944 and spring 1945”, and that it was “because of starvation policy of French who seized and stored until it controlled all available rice”. These seem like these conditions were a common occurrence at the time in Southeast Asia, where native people under the domination of French colonialism were not treated with dignity and not even given sufficient bare human necessities to live their lives. (Zinn Ch. 18 Pg. XXX)…

    • 1126 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    As Imperialism had become common throughout all of Asian modernization came along with it as a pair. Though as Asian as a whole there were negative affects many advancements had made up for it such as , technology advancements the establishments of…

    • 342 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In Southeast Asia and the Pacific, Western Imperialism spread. The Dutch, British, and French owned and colonized most of Southeast Asia. Culturally, Christianity spread and Southeast traditions and Cultures were weakened by the West. Politically, colonized people were struggling to find their independence in the midst of Western imperialism. Economically, Colonized people insisted on growing cash crops instead of actual food, which resulted in Imports destroying local cottage industries.…

    • 149 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    I do not think that imperialism is beneficial to China. Firstly, Britain forced China to consent to opium, as payment for their goods because gold and silver were rare. Though, when China refused, it triggered the first Opium War. Then, when Britain conquered the war, China ended up using the opium as payment anyways. The opium eventually caused the Chinese people to become addicted, and the addiction became an epidemic. This shows that imperialism caused terrible wars, drug addictions, and even rebellion. Simply, imperialism wasn’t helpful at…

    • 88 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Stephanie Moreno Captain Daniel 2nd Period World History 11, March 2015 European Imperialism affected countries in many different political, social and economic ways such as modernizing and industrializing these colonies, changing the governments to follow European patterns by setting colonial rule, and replacing traditional ways. Cultural diffusion spread religion between colonies and European countries. The political effects of imperialism were both good and bad.…

    • 497 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    When one says “imperialism,” what is the first image to come to mind, one that truly represents the practice? Is it the enslaved African, the poor soul who is subjugated, treated as a beast, and physically tortured? Is it the Trail of Tears, the infamous Native American migration forced by the United States government? It would seem as though the word “empire” has taken on a negative, almost sinister meaning in recent years, particularly in the popular media. Ask any child about empires, and they’ll go on about the evil, planet-destroying Darth Vader and his army of Stormtroopers, or about big alien motherships descending upon Washington DC and destroying all signs of life. So, to the modern citizen, “imperialism” seems to entail destruction, domination, and overall evil. It becomes necessary to look closer and give a more thorough examination of the phenomenon that seems to have started this attitude. Over the last two centuries, the Industrial Revolution, along with the discovery of the American continents, sparked a desire in European nations to expand and conquer. This started with the aforementioned Americas, but as the colonies gained independence, European nations were already moving on to places like Africa and the Philippines. Soon enough, almost the entire globe seemed to either be an imperial nation or a colony of one. In many of these colonies, the subjugated peoples faced such hardships as slavery, mass death due to disease or violence, and forced change in culture. While these negative effects are impossible to ignore, it must be noted that Western imperialism has improved other parts of the world, the parts in which a synthesis of cultures and an exchange of ideas truly takes place. Western imperialism, while causing strife for the subjugated, has led to global improvements, such as the increase in trade and wealth, technological improvements, medical advances, and increasing…

    • 1663 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Imperialism is when one country dominates the cultural, economic, and political life of a nation weaker than itself. In the 19th century, Europe was the nation that was dominating both China and Africa. There were quite a few similarities in the way that European imperialism was changing these nations. One important similarity was that both the nations had resisted against British imperialism at one point. However, despite the fact that both these events occurred at the same time, by the same nations, there were quite a few differences as well. One of the main differences due to the impact of Imperialism in China and Africa was that China had a revolution where as Africa did not. Another difference was that China was harder to conquer due to geography and the people who lived there.…

    • 747 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    How has imperialism affected humans, that is a good question to ask. Although imperialism was sometimes bad it was mostly good. There are three major improvement that happened in imperialism in this essay. One improvement was the new religions during imperialism. The second is the new way of transportation. The final and last major improvement was the new way of farming.…

    • 547 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Various reasons and accumulative events account for the withdrawal of the French from Indochina by 1954. Since the beginning of the French Colonisation of Indochina by 1893, tension existed by both parties which were only intensified by the series of events and ideas that followed. The aftermath of WWII France significantly weakened the country and its economy. This led to the withdrawal of the French from Indochina, because it eventually became too expensive for the French to fight for their colony. Certain events such as the allowance of the Japanese to use the country for recourses further infuriated the nationalists of the nation and pushed them further into forcing the French to withdraw from Indochina. The treatment and exploitation of the Indochinese by the French and the French’s methods of maintaining control spawned a strong negative feeling towards the French, which sparked activist groups, and anti-colonialist, nationalistic ideologies. Ho Chi Minh and the communist group he formed, the Viet Minh, played a significant role in the withdrawal of the French from Indochina. The large percentage of the population who were part of the Viet Minh, including an ample amount of peasants, were against the French colonisation of Indochina and took certain measures to ensure the French’s withdrawal from the country. The first Indochina war was a major turning point of French colonisation of Indochina. Military tactics such as Guerrilla warfare weakened the French’s set piece army and turned the tables around for the Indochinese. In particular, the battle of Dien Bien Phu and the defeat of the French were integral in their withdrawal from Indochina.…

    • 1703 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Effects of Imperialism DBQ

    • 1178 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Imperialism is the policy of extending the rule or authority of an empire or nation over foreign countries. During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, new imperialism was spreading all over and was a progressive force for both the oppressors and the oppressed when it came to stereotypes and economic success. However, it made the oppressors spread their culture and achievements while the oppressed learned from the Europeans and were continuously put down with the whites thinking it was their job to make them civilized.…

    • 1178 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    How did imperialism affect China? Imperialism had a major affect on China. The Opium War played a major part of this. The opium war was provoked by the problems with European countries and China. British were getting tired of doing outside trading and wanted to trade directly with China. China had little need from the West. As a direct result the smuggling of opium began. Opium was forbidden in China except for medicinal use. The war was fought to determine the relations between China and the West, and as a result China was forced to reevaluate her position as the center of the world. The treaty of Nanking ended the first Opium war. As a result to China's distant methods of trade, there were two rebellion periods, the taiping rebellion and the boxer rebellion. The taiping revolt was a radical political and religious uprising. The rebels rose against the tyranny of the Manchus, supporting a program partly based on Christian doctrines. The Boxer Rebellion was a peasant uprising that attempted to drive all foreigners from China and to destroy the Mongol Ch'ing dynasty. After Japan defeated China in 1895, Japan and the Western Powers began to control more and more of the Chinese economy. In reaction the Boxer movement attracted popular support. In 1900 the Dowager Empress persuaded the Boxers to drop their opposition to the Ch'ing dynasty and unite with it to destroy the foreigners. China Missionaries and other foreigners were killed by them. By 1901 an agreement was signed on China by Western…

    • 256 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    By 1893 France had colonised all of Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia and renamed it the French Indochinese Union. The French were oppressive and self-interested. They ran Indochina as a profit making venture and tried to ensure it paid for its own administration. Colonial governor Paul Doumer made the people pay for the cost of their own rule by increasing customs duties and direct taxes. He created official monopoly on salt, alcohol, and opium. Doumer concentrated on building railways and lighthouses while denying the people development and education. Before French rule 80 per cent of Vietnamese were literate in Chinese but by the end of 1940 only 20 per cent of boys were at school and a much smaller per cent of girls.…

    • 559 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Formerly referred to as Third World countries, these countries have a shared history of colonialism and imperialism. That history and separation is the starting point for the new democracy.…

    • 389 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Effects Of Colonialism

    • 460 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Sometimes I think about the problems and effects that colonialism have caused in the world. Is it good or bad? “Colonialism has always had a bad reputation.” I suppose in essence, for the people being colonized, it can be a good thing. The world is scramble for colonies, particularly in the 19th and 20th century had a huge negative effects on economic, social, and political structures of homegrown people try to use for the benefit of the colonizing country. “Colonialism is the extension of a nation’s sovereignty of territory and people outside its boundaries, often to advance economic domination over the resources, labor, and markets.” There’s also a set of beliefs used to promote this system, especially this belief that the mores of the colonizer…

    • 460 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays