Why do nations expand?

Among early visitors to Southeast Asia were Indiansailors and merchants, followed in numbers by Chinese andlater Japanese sailors and traders. Notable among the Indian names was the loose term ‘Suvarnadvipa’ or ‘Land of Gold’. The Indians must havelocated sources of gold in SEA. The Chinese and the Japanese used respectively the expressions ‘Nanyang’ and ‘Nanyo’, both translated as ‘southern seas’ to indicate rather vaguely their sense of direction or location. The Chinese and Japanese terms reflected the sea-minded people who used them. They thought that SEA consisted of seas with adjacent lands.

Adapted from Russell H Fifield, The Concept of Southeast Asia:Origins, Development and Evaluation, South-East Asian Spectrum, Vol 1, No 1 Oct 1975 (Bangkok) pp 42-43

Asia

MOTIVATIONS– why come to Southeast Asia?

Lets think…

Why do you think western nations venture into Southeast Asia?

And how did their motivations change Southeast Asia?

World

MOTIVATIONSMain aim: Economic purposes?

• Development of Navigation

• Spice Trade

• Spread of Christianity

Southeast Asia

MOTIVATIONS

• Source of Raw Materials • New Markets • Competition in Trade • Economic Depression • Imperial Rivalry• White Man’s Burden – civilising mission

Southeast Asia

Industrialization – need for raw materials

• Industrial revolution taking place in Europe in the 19th century

• Growth of the automobile and growing dependency on automobile

• Needed a constant and cheap supply of raw materials

• Rubber was required for the tyres• Malaya and Vietnam had the lands and suitable climate to produce rubber• cheaper to produce

• tin was required for manufacturing of tin plate and cans• Malaya had been producing tin before the 19th century

Trade and Profit• Exotic items, spices and tin were in

demand in Europe• The colonial masters figured out they

could profit if they exported these items back to Europe

Control of trade and resources• Malaya was producing tin which was

needed in Europe due to Industrialisation

• The French saw Vietnam as a springboard to trade with China due to her geographical location

Pepper plant: an important spice and was an early export of Kedah

Imperial Rivalry

• Imperial competition for territories• Territory grabbing in Africa and America

now Southeast Asia• Unknown lands and unknown but potential

riches• Competition to get more territories

increase empire size and possibly riches

Civilizing mission• White Man’s Burden

• Do you think they really wanted to civilize the natives?

MENTALITY• Mentality of the White Man

–White Man’s Burden by Rudyard Kipling–Superiority: the whites viewed

themselves as superior beings to the natives

What were the words used to describe the natives?

–They had the duty to civilise the natives

What is the hunter doing in this picture?Who do you think the natives are represented by?What does this tell you about the attitude of the Whites towards the natives?