Why Is Siam A Buffer State?

There is an extensive history empirical power, repeatedly and successfully controlling another state or group of people in order to exploit it economically. In Southeast Asia there were 5 colonial powers; the United Kingdom, France, Dutch, America, and Japan, their primary motives for establishing colonies in the region was to get control of trade routes, to get access to the natural resources and raw materials, and the cheap labor, as well as to establish naval and military bases so that they could amass influence in the region. Prior to World War II, a third of the world 's area was colonized by European colonial powers between the 15th and 19th centuries, and another third of the world 's population were in colonies, dependencies, protectorates, or dominions. In this essay, I will focus on the British and French colonization in Southeast Asia. The British-controlled Burma, most of the Malayan peninsula, and Singapore, which was a strategic port and later became a naval base for the British. Meanwhile, the French controlled the adjoining countries of Vietnamese, Cambodia, and Laos, collectively known as French Indochina. This period of colonization in Southeast Asia brought many changes to the regions society, politics, and the economy. For instance, both colonial powers introduced political changes such as introducing a centralized form of government and changes to the justice systems in many of the colonized countries. There were also social impacts resulting from the

In the time period from 1450-1750, Asia began to use multiple strategies to to build their empires. Many aspects of their culture including their government, religion, and education were refined and changed. During their time period, Europe began to move into Asia in order to gain influence. While the empires of Eastern Asia focused more on their governments and education, the Europeans came and attempt to spread their religious ideas, especially Catholic countries.

a) A buffer state, located between hostile powers, is a small country that serves to decrease the possiblity of conflict betweeb them

Siam was a small country that was slightly smaller than france. It was never colonized during the Age of Imperialism and instead managed to stay independent. It was the only Southeast Asian state to avoid European colonial rule. Siam, now modern day Thailand, was located at the center of the Indochina peninsula in Southeast Asia. To the north was Burma, which was ruled by Britain, and to the east was Cochinchina and Cambodia, which were annexed by France. With these two superpowers and their mutually competitive imperial projects closing in around Siam, it was a very dangerous time period for them. They had to remain vigilant against the two countries or else be annexed by either one.

Initially, the British restricted all colonial power and heavily

In the early portion of the twentieth century, there was an extraordinary surge of European empires claiming countries as their own. This outburst of imperialism spanned to Asia, Africa, and Latin America. At the cusp of this competitive era, approximately four-fifths of the earth were under European control. There are several accounts of resistances to European imperialism however, especially in Asia. This paper will explore the resistances made by India and China against European imperialism, compare the similarities of both campaigns, and contrast the techniques used in both accounts.

During the late 19th century, many European countries were seeking to gain power, both in Europe and the rest of the world. In doing so, the Europeans colonized many different areas, including India, North America, and quite notably, Africa. This colonization was part of a process known as imperialism, where the various European nations would each colonize territories around the world, and subsequently used the natural resources, and often times people, in these colonies to fund their empire. This would work towards an eventual goal of possible world domination through an aggregation of power. The Europeans also did not want to cede power to their rivals in Europe, as this could lead to their own country getting conquered and thus losing control of Europe and their bid for heightened power and world domination. As a result, they each conquered territory to both earn money and power for themselves, and keep these from ending up in the hands of their rival nations. European imperialism in Africa was thus driven by economic and political forces, due to the fact that European countries wanted to spread their influence, improve their economies by keeping control of their colonies, and prevent other nations from gaining power in a similar manner.

By the nineteenth century Western nations had developed superior military technology than other countries. Western countries were able to control other nations by coercing them into unfair trading treaties which would leave the country economically dependent on them. The countries rarely resisted successfully due to their insufficient military power. This occured often Asia with only Japan and Thailand remaining independent. Only Japan thrived however and became an imperial power. Japan was an isolated country until the United States forcibly opened it to trade. Japan experienced a regime change following a tumultuous time in which western nations coerced Japan into trade treaties. The new government favored capitalism and industry which lead to Japan industrializing impressively fast through “top down” government mandated modernization. Western imperialism forced Japan to modernize in order to remain a sovereign and successful state. Modernization in this case was synonymous with becoming more like the West. Imperialism drastically changed Japanese economic interaction as well as Japanese culture and class system because modernization included becoming more like the West in most aspects but their treatment of women remained the same because the West did not treat women very differently.

Imperialism is a policy of extending a country's power and influence through diplomacy or military force. Imperialism was at an all-time high during European expansion movement through Asia, India, and Africa. If I was to be from Asia, in this time era, I would seek out many other options to avoid imperialism. I would picture the situation in a way that allowed me to talk to Europe’s head power of expansion. I believe that Asia could co-opt European ideas, but still keep their way of life economically and politically.

     One country that had imperialism was India. By the mid-1880s, the British East India Company controlled three fifths of India. The cause of British domination was that the land was very diverse and the people could not unite and that the British either paid

The Japanese pursuit for an empire in South East Asia helped changed the balance of world power away from Europe, by taking their most lucrative colonies. Soon after the Japanese defeat in World War II, most of the colonies won their independence from their European masters. This essay will be arguing that despite the vast geographical distance and cultural, racial differences, as well as the different time periods involved, Japanese and European intentions were very similar, and that these similarities contributed to the weakening of Imperialism as a doctrine. To do so, this essay will be examining the reasons for the Japanese

Imperial support played a major part in facilitation and localisation of the spread of Buddhism into Southeast Asia. Asoka, as mentioned, was a big supporter of Theravada Buddhism and was deemed an exemplar for future Buddhist emperor to establish Buddhism as a part of the country’s traditions and lifestyle (Swearer 2010, 71). He believed that true conquest of a country was “by the force of the teachings of religion” (Swearer 1997, 89). Through his persistent method of conquest, he influenced several Theravada Buddhist rulers like King Kyanzittha of Pagan, Burma and King Tilokaraja of Chiang Mai, Thailand during 11th and 15th century respectively to position Buddhism as a part of their reign, conquest and authority (Swearer 2010, 71). This significantly enabled the localization of Buddhism into Southeast Asia especially in countries like Thailand who remains supportive of Buddhism as declared by the Chakri dynasty from the end of 18th century onwards (Bowker 2007, 150). It was through the support of imperial power that led the countries’ citizens to gain interest in and

New imperialism was a period of colonial expansion by European powers during the late 19th century and early 20th century. It is distinguished by the continuous territorial acquisitions of Africa and Asia by European powers. These powers include Great Britain, France, Netherlands, Germany, and Belgium (Tusan, Scramble for Africa, October 23rd). There were many reasons behind this aggressive competition. To them, these newfound lands were an opportunity to expand their power and exploit further resources. To put it bluntly, economic, political, cultural, and ideological motivations all helped start the era of New Imperialism and its new form of empire.

The New Imperialism during the 19th century throughout Africa and Asia was an influential prompt to the rise of colonialism and powerful European empires. Consisting of raw materials, markets for European business, and provided resources made the African and Asian colonies extremely ingenious for European empires. However, as the 20th century emerged, imperialism suddenly faded and became a sentiment of the past. Surely even one of the most influential empires at a certain point in time – Britain, gradually came at ease with dropping its imperial rule over some colonies. Likewise, following gory and extensive battles, a parallel approach was taken by France. Nevertheless, the utmost spark to the 20th century decolonization was primarily

Colonial architecture is a combination architectural style of a country that has been adapted from the other countries characteristics, methods and influences. The colonists built settlements and create hybrid designs that include their countries of origin with the design styles. Europeans came to Southeast Asia during 16th century. The colonial vision was effectively imposed on Southeast Asia. At the beginning of the 20th century, most of the Southeast Asia countries were controlled by the British, Dutch, French and the Americans. Under this colonial rule, the late 19th and early 20th centuries was a period of fast development of such as new architectural styles, modern construction methods and techniques, railways, roads, etc. They changed the configurations, construction and methods to make the buildings more sustainable and maintained.