page_title: European colonisation of Southeast Asia
section_title: Industrialised phase
hierarchical_section_title: European colonisation of Southeast Asia / Industrialised phase
caption_attribution_description: A huge log being placed on a railroad car at Batottan, British North Borneo.
context_page_description: The first phase of European colonization of Southeast Asia took place throughout the 16th and 17th centuries after the arrival of Dutch, Portuguese, Spanish and later French and British marine spice traders. Fiercely competitive, the Europeans soon sought to eliminate each other by forcibly taking control of the production centers, trade hubs and vital strategic locations, beginning with the Portuguese acquisition of Malacca in 1511. Throughout the 17th and 18th centuries conquests focused on ports along the maritime routes, that provided a secure passage of maritime trade. It also allowed foreign rulers to levy taxes and control prices of the highly desired Southeast Asian commodities. By the 19th century, virtually all Southeast Asian lands had been forced into the various spheres of influence of European global players. Siam, which had served as a convenient buffer state, sandwiched between British Burma and French Indochina was the only country to avoid direct foreign rule.
caption: British logging in North Borneo, 1926
exif: {}