Colonization in Asia

Posted on 11/22/2005 by Curzon

The colonies of Britain, France, the Netherlands, Russia, Japan, and the United States in Asia at the start of the 20th century. (Note in particular the spheres of influence divided between Russia and Britain in Persia.)


About Curzon

Lord George Nathaniel Curzon (1859 - 1925) entered the British House of Commons as a Conservative MP in 1886, where he served as undersecretary of India and Foreign Affairs. He was appointed Viceroy of India at the turn of the 20th century where he delineated the North West Frontier Province, ordered a military expedition to Tibet, and unsuccessfully tried to partition the province of Bengal during his six-year tenure. Curzon served as Leader of the House of Lords in Prime Minister Lloyd George's War Cabinet and became Foreign Secretary in January 1919, where his most famous act was the drawing of the Curzon Line between a new Polish state and Russia. His publications include Russia in Central Asia (1889) and Persia and the Persian Question (1892). In real life, "Curzon" is a US citizen from the East Coast who has been a financial analyst, freelance translator, and university professor; he is currently on assignment in Tokyo.
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14 Responses to Colonization in Asia

  1. Dan tdaxp says:
    11/22/2005 at 3:20 pm

    Just noticed that Macao was Portuguese centuries longer than Hong Kong was British… This too:

    The motto “There is none more Loyal” was granted in honour of the fact that the territory of Macau (Amacao, in older Portuguese writings) never recognized Spanish sovereignty, and thus it is considered by historians as a (now former) part of Portugal that was never surrendered.

  2. Mike says:
    11/22/2005 at 5:22 pm

    And people wonder why the Chinese are so paranoid and defensive. Competitors and enemies on every side, for centuries. Having these two big oceans and friendly neighbors sure is nice…

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  4. sun bin says:
    11/22/2005 at 9:07 pm

    “And people wonder why the Chinese are so paranoid and defensive. ”

    see “this map”:http://huhai.diy.myrice.com/map/43(city)l.jpg

  5. sun bin says:
    11/22/2005 at 9:12 pm

    above map is based on “this”:http://huhai.diy.myrice.com/map/42-2(ching)l.jpg

    and an “earlier manchu empire map”:http://huhai.diy.myrice.com/map/41(qing)l.jpg

  6. Dan says:
    11/22/2005 at 10:03 pm

    Too bad the British weren’t able to more directly rule a greater part of China. That might have prevented a pretty terrible century for the Middle Kingdom.

  7. Dusty says:
    11/23/2005 at 5:59 am

    Dan – Could you elaborate on that last comment?

  9. Joe says:
    11/23/2005 at 7:47 am

    Mike: By that reasoning, Europeans should be hiding inside underground bunkers with electric fences, babbling about conspiracies to steal their stereo systems.

    …damn, good reasoning!

  10. kushibo says:
    11/23/2005 at 7:52 am

    Yeah, but in Europe, the major aggressors from the past century actually acknowledge that their aggression was wholly wrong and unjustified.

  11. sun bin says:
    11/23/2005 at 9:05 am

    …and chinese only want to make sure they are not colonized again. they are not seeking revenge (not for another 50 years at least) . they just feel insecure and defensive.

  12. Dan tdaxp says:
    11/24/2005 at 1:13 am

    Sun Bin,

    The European trade cities were outposts of connectivity in the brutal, poor, ignorant, violent, Gap of China’s interior. Imagine how happier this century would have been if instead of only Hong Kong and Macao escaping the Warlords and Mao, Shanghai and many other cities would have enjoyed European influence.

  13. sun bin says:
    11/24/2005 at 1:30 am

    yes, i agree the trade ports were not neccessarily bad things. but these treaties hurt the pride. and worst still, the initial opening was intended for opium trade!

    and there were ‘leased areas’ in shanghai, qingdao, weihai, lushun, etc. those were similar to New Territory of HK, effectively ceding of sovereignty.
    but again, qingdao and shanghai turned out to be the most prosperous and beutiful cities in China today.

  14. Dan tdaxp says:
    11/24/2005 at 3:25 am

    “Pride” definitely seems a hang-up of declining cultures. Look at rapid American (and even British and Japanese) assimilation of foreign ideas and trade, compared to historically grudging acceptance of foreigners of decline-era China and the Islamic world.

    I wonder how much of Shanghai’s propserity is owed to memories of British globalism, similar to the French/US-RVN roots of the prosperity in Saigon.