Colonial Rivalry Research Articles

Colonial Rivalries in Timor

Timor, or Timur, is the eighth, numbering from Sumatra, in that long line of islands called the Sunda, which contains the more familiar islands of Java and Bali. Timor is connected by many smaller islands with the Sunda chain and with the islands of Flores and New Guinea, but such connections are lacking with the Australian continent to the south. The island is long and narrow, approximately 350 miles in length and 60 miles in average width.

The British Commonwealth and Colonial Rivalry in Southeast Asia

THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY witnessed the bitter struggle of English, Dutch, and French chartered companies in southeastern Asia. These chartered companies gradually evolved into extensive politico-economic organizations with power to make treaties with native rulers, to create military forces, to appoint governors and judges, and to carry on trade themselves. They were the pioneers of Western imperialism in the Orient. The monopolistic claims of the companies led to rivalry and later to war. The strain proved too great for the French and the Dutch who were defeated in the eighteenth century. Mercantilism also proved costly to the British Empire, although it was victorious abroad; for it helped to provoke the revolt of the American colonies. Out of the politico-economic forms of the old order came the industrial revolution, which brought new methods of expansion; and with the aid of its unrivaled sea power after the Napoleonic Wars, Great Britain extended its commercial and political interests in the East. With the acquisition of political power, especially after the 1832 reform bill, the rising and aggressive middle class pushed their interests with remarkable energy. Britain acquired Capetown in 1814, Aden in 1838, Singapore and Malacca in 1819 and 1824. In 1803 it took Ceylon from the Dutch and in 1825 seized part of Burma on the ground that the Burmese king had made war upon India. In 1852 it took more territory from Burma after a dispute over the rights of British traders had culminated in war. By 188o the two countries were again at odds, owing to alleged Burmese attacks upon British steamers. The quarrel was complicated by the fact that Britain suspected that French intrigues were responsible for much of the Burmese obstinacy. Commenting upon the French activities, Sir Alfred Lyle wrote that King Theebaw had imposed an unjust and ruinous fine upon a British company just at the time when the prospectus of a French bank which was to be located at Mandalay was being circulated in Paris. Lord Dufferin wrote that if France had gained these commercial advantages, it would have obtained a commanding position in the upper valley of the Irrawady which then might have been used for political purposes. Consequently, Britain took the decisive step and annexed the rest of Burma.