CHRONOLOGY OF SOUTHEAST ASIA: 1750 CE TO 1945 CE

1750 CE / Burma united under new dynasty, seeks to control Eastern India, Siam brings into conflict with Chinese, English
1774 CE / Spanish authorities reduce power of Catholic church in Philippines, establish royal monopolies in production, commerce
1783 CE / British return all Dutch East Indies possessions but obtain free trade rights; continuing tensions between Malay landed
Elite, Celebes seafarers in mainland Malaya; new dynasty in Siam does not end political anarchy but cultural flowering
1788 CE / New dynasty in Vietnam reunites state, increases rice production, lands returned to peasants
1795 – 1815 CE / British occupy all Dutch possessions in SE Asia to prevent cooperation with France; British, Dutch end local feudalism,
Curtail power of local princes, remove old system, land leases given to native populations; coffee introduced
1802 – 1820 CE / Vietnam: centralized monarchy on Chinese model, Confucian bureaucracy; sanctions against Buddhism, Taoism; Chinese
Émigrés dominate commercial activities in cities; many poor peasants forced into labor on elite estates
1819 CE / British found Singapore to control international exports; became communications, administrative center; funnels rubber,
Tin, rice into world markets; similar type of colonial capital cities founded by Dutch, Spanish, Portuguese, French
1820 CE / Siam reopens contacts with Western nations, signs unequal commercial treaties; local sultans, Siam cede lands to English
1820 CE / Mexican independence bankrupts Royal Philippine Company; many Spaniards, mestizos move to islands, took privileged
Positions in bureaucracy; ethnic inequalities, tensions between natives, Europeans increased
1820 – 1841 CE / Vietnamese increase local autonomy, mid-level intellectuals emerge, charged with local administration; 200 peasant
Uprisings; state suppresses Catholicism, executes priests, missionaries; strong tension with French, USA
1820s – 1850s CE / British conflict with Burma over Assam leads to two Anglo-Burmese Wars, English annex South Burma, coastal lands
1824 – 1830 CE / Dutch cede Malacca to English in exchange for Sumatra; Dutch suppress Javanese revolts, seize control of Java
1826 CE / Spain demotes native, mestizo Catholic priests and turns over parishes to Europeans
1830s CE / Dutch introduce forced cultivation system to Java: contract with natives, control crops, fix prices, buy rice, coffee to export
1834 CE / Spain opens Manila to international commerce; expands sugar cultivation, plantations; sugar becomes key export crop
1839 CE, 1844 CE / Increased Chinese immigration to Filipino cities; Spanish outlaw private trading by officials; Chinese fill commercial void
1841 – 1880s CE / Sultan of Brunei gives Sarawak to “white rajahs” who eliminate slavery, piracy; N. Borneo becomes British possession
1850s – 1890s CE / Siam modernized: feudalism abolished, slavery outlawed, bureaucracy centralized, finances reformed, uses technologies
Acquired from west including railroad, weapons, telegraph; Spanish extend control over Muslim sultanates in South, West
1858 CE / French navy bombards Vietnamese capital to protect Catholics
1859 CE / Spain opens schools to all ethnic groups, emergence of Filipino intellectual elite, who create Filipino nationalism
1862 CE / France wins control of Cochin-China from France, rules through traditional elites; free practice of Catholicism allowed
1863 CE / Facing Siamese aggression, Cambodia accepts French protection; French rule through king, traditional institutions
1860s – 1890s CE / France digs irrigation canals, reclaims swamps; establishes enormous plantations for rice export
1870s – 1910s CE / European colonial powers redraw map of Southeast Asia, establish boundaries without regard for ethnic, cultural realities;
Create new political framework on which they imposed bureaucratic systems, modern fiscal and communications systems;
Europeans favor export industries and dominate all major aspects of economies; spectacular population, urban growth
1870s CE / Dutch introduce sugar, new agrarian laws to East Indies, relax forced cultivation system
1873 CE / British force Perak and other Malay states to accept British protection on all matters except religion, customs, traditions
1880s CE / British extinguish Burmese state; Buddhist monks become center of anti-English agitation, opposition
1880s CE / Siamese brotherhood of monks modernize Buddhism: integrate Western science, rationalism, use of literary criticism
1883 – 1884 CE / Sino-French War after Chinese support Black Flags (anti-French triad) guerrilla forces in Tonkin
1885 – 1895 CE / French forced to suppress hundreds of revolts, guerrilla movements throughout Vietnam
1887 CE / France gains influence in Laos; creates Indo-Chinese Union of Cambodia, Laos, Cochin-China, Annam, Tonkin
1889 CE / Filipino nationalist newspaper published in Spain; new law set up town councils; Spain reforms local administration
1890s CE / Increased Chinese, Indian migration to British, Dutch cities, ports to control services, commercial opportunities
1890s – 1900s CE / Javanese revolt against intrusive state; reorganize village structure; refuse to cooperate with elite, banks, communal land
Structures; seek end to Muslim marriage; Islamic reform of education leads to conflict with Javanese syncretic religion
1890s – 1910 CE / Franco-British rivalry costs Siam territory but both nations preserve Siamese independence as a buffer between colonies
1890s CE / Indigenous Malays number only 55% of population due to Chinese, Indian commercial, administrative, labor migration
1892 – 1896 CE / Katipunan, secret Filipino revolutionary society founded; execution of Filipino heroes leads to revolt by native troops
1893 CE / France gains control over Laos, rules through cooperation with Lao local princes; minimal French economic penetration
1896 CE / British create Malay Federation of their colonies, allied Malay states; British, elites cooperate to isolate Malay peasants
1897 – 1902 CE / France modernizes Indo-Chinese society, establishes monopolies on salt, opium, alcohol, public facilities; opens iron mines
1898 CE / France establishes elite institute for study of Asian cultures in Vietnam; attracts native intellectuals
1898 CE / Spanish-American War, US intervention in Philippines; Filipinos declare independence; US acquires islands from Spain
1899 – 1902 CE / US-Filipinos fight guerrilla war; US commits to tutelary colonialism, supports oligarchic elite; intellectuals acquiesce
Early 1900s / British, Dutch, French and Americans complete penetration, control of interior lands, outlying islands
1902 CE / US sets up civil administration in Philippines, purchases church land for landless peasants; Church begins reforms
1905 CE / Tonkin Free School opens, introduces use of vernacular Vietnamese written in Latin script; literacy begins to spread
1906 CE / Founding of Young Men’s Buddhist Association in Burma by British trained lay elites, who seek to reform Buddhism
1907 CE / First elections to Filipino assembly limited to literate landowners; pro-independence party wins absolute majority
1907 – 1914 CE / Dutch language system of primary schools educate Indonesian urban, commercial, and landed elite; stimulates nationalism
1910 – 1925 CE / Siamese king continues reforms including education, calendar; ends compulsory labor, supports new Thai nationalism
1912 CE / Islamic Union organized in Dutch East Indies to unite different Muslims, intellectuals, socialists; two million members
1912 CE / Chinese revolution becomes Vietnamese model; Japanese successes at modernization inspires regional national movements
1913 CE / US increases number of Filipinos in colonial bureaucracy; allows Filipino goods to be imported to US duty-free