European Cultures example essay topic

To Europeans in the late eighteen hundreds, imperialism was a fantastic idea. The prospect of unending natural resources, cheap labor, prestige and other such benefits would be tempting even today. However, Europeans did not attempt to see the other side of this miraculous money-maker. They saw themselves as heroes; rescuing the savage natives of foreign lands from their bleak future.

While Europeans brought some helpful developments to their colonies, they also interfered with cultures and foreign policies of which they made no attempt to understand. Southeast Asia was one of the very first places that Europeans colonized. Western influence began there as early as the time of Ferdinand Magellan's explorations. Before industrialization, people traveled to this part of the world out of curiosity, and for trade benefits. As people and nations grew wealthier and greedier they sought more than small profits; they wanted direct control. The Dutch were originally the most prominent western influence in southeast Asia, but eventually Britain and France expanded their influence to places such as Singapore and Vietnam.

Because these colonies were so far away from the ruling countries, nations ran their new territory in one or both of two ways; directly and indirectly. By ruling a territory directly, local elites were removed and replaced with officials from the ruling country. For example, Burma was ruled directly by Britain. Indirect rule was when the local rulers remained at their positions but in a new colonial setting. The Dutch East Indies was a colony that was ruled indirectly. The French often ruled their territories indirectly, but they provided advisors for the local emperors or rulers.

Indirect rule had a lesser effect on the original culture of the colony, but even so it brought great changes to southeast Asia. Monarchy was the form of government of most parts of Asia. China, for example, had been ruled by dynasties for centuries. Vietnam had just recently reunited from a civil war before the French colonized and tore up the country.

Indonesia too had some major empires, such as the Srivijaya Empire, before the Dutch invaded. When Europeans took over and removed the governments of these countries, they were destroying decades if not centuries of governments that the natives were familiar with. This caused havoc in some parts of Asia because many had known no other way of government. It also destroyed social classes. If the ruling family no longer held their position, where would the rest of the nation be socially? This is one example of the things Europeans did not take into consideration before conquering.

The most dramatic and also lasting effect that Imperialism brought to southeast Asia was industry. Before Europeans first journeyed eastward, there was not much in the way of modern technology. Many countries had no need to modernize; there were no current problems with the way things were; others did not want to. Lack of contemporary equipment was what led to the taking over of many areas. Once countries were taken over, equipment was brought there to retrieve raw materials. Factories were built to manufacture more and at a quicker pace.

A common misconception many people held is that without Europe, Asian people would never be up to date and would be suffering today. Not all of the new machinery was beneficiary to the natives on whose land they were built. Most of the native countries saw little of the wide profit that the new equipment brought. Most of it went directly to the ruling nations and stayed there. In some cases, the economic changes hurt the natives. Factory workers were paid very little in order to maximize profit, working conditions were retched, and on top of that natives were made to pay high taxes.

Not all of the modernization had negative effects, however. Along with factories came schools. Most of the schools did not provide excellent education, as many of the ruling powers feared revolts, but they did provide an expanse of knowledge that eventually led to ideas of freedom, and independence. Some of the earliest anti-imperialism revolts were formed by students for the University of Rangoon in Burma; they protested against the British, saying that they did not observe local customs. Culture was also widely effected by imperialism. Christianity was introduced and enforced strongly throughout Asia.

Existing cultures were often destroyed or tossed aside by ruling nations or as an attempt to make peace with Europe and avoid invasion. Europeans had very little patience for other cultures, mainly due to social Darwinism. Social Darwinism made Europeans believe that they were better culturally than other countries. Because of this, they thought that they were helping the natives by forcing European beliefs and customs upon them... Immigrant labor also brought a culture change to the east by way of cultural diffusion.

People living in areas around European territories moved in search of a better life. Subsequently, European cultures were blended into surrounding cultures, but the mix often brought racial tension rather than friendliness. Europeans interpreted imperialism as a way to get rich quickly. If they had seen it more as a compromising situation, a form of trade, Asia still would have found out about Europe's new technology without so many cultures being destroyed. If Europeans had truly had the Asian's interest at heart, they would not have tried to enforce their own way of life so strictly.

So while the effects of imperialism helped southeast Asia, the same benefits could have taken place without the detriments.