The end of western colonisation of Asia
World War II has an unintended consequence which is not widely known — the end of the colonisation of Asia.
WWI I is marketed as a Eurocentric war
History has portrayed WWII as a Eurocentric conflict with minor skirmishes in the Asia Pacific region. However, the clashes in Asia were far from being insignificant.
Western Europe accounted for about 15% of the global death toll of 70 million during WWII. The most significant loss of life was in Asia, particularly China with almost 25 million people perished.
This in itself ought to draw the inference that something significant did happen in Asia and at a level much more extensive than being written in the history books.
Contrary to popular opinion, World War II did not start in Europe either. It began two years earlier on July 7, 1937, when imperialist Japanese troops launched a full-scale invasion of a member of the Allies, China. A subsequent attack on Poland by Germany in 1939, “started” the global War, we know of today.
Fast forward 80 years; this Eurocentric slant is still the theme taught in schools despite the Asian front being the only conflict area in the War where all the four major western powers; USA, France, Russia and UK, backed one Ally, China, in her efforts to defend her country.
Why then would western historical perspective of WWII, continue to push this Eurocentric slant knowing that the major conflict during this period was indeed in Asia, not Europe?
What was it that European nations choose not to remember?
The simple answer; the end of WWII marked the end of western imperialism over Asia.
More specifically, it marked the end of a five-hundred-years European effort to colonise Asia to gain control of the enormous wealth particularly in the Middle Kingdom (China).
From as early as 200 BC the only trade route to the exotic and lucrative ‘Far East’ was via the Silk Road, which was monopolised by the Arabs and Italians giving them a head start into the richness of the Middle Kingdom.
However, by 1500 the monopoly was shattered by the Portuguese’ discovery of a sea route to India going around the Cape of Good Hope, providing faster alternative access to trade.
The Jesuits, led by its founder Sir Francis Xavier forged the first European maritime contact with China in 1513 to spread Christianity. They established a missionary on an uninhabited island outpost south of China (Macau).
The King of Portugal quickly claimed this outpost as their colony, becoming the harbingers of maritime colonisation of Asia by the Europeans.
Not to be outdone by the Portuguese’ commercial success trading in highly demanded items; tea, silk, porcelain, chinaware, and spices, other European nations soon headed for Asia to carve out their niche. With a superior naval and military machinery, the Dutch (Indonesian Archipelago), French (Indochina), Spanish/Americans (Philippines) and English (India, Malaya, Brunei protectorate) colonised entire nations.
Encouraged by their early success these colonial masters then set their eyes on China, the ultimate price, without realising what a grave mistake that would have been.
China was too large a nation to be colonised.
This cultural behemoth absorbed even her ancient conquerors. The Mongols (13th Century) and later the Manchurians (17th Century) who ruled collectively for 368 years ended up adopting the host country’s culture and names — Yuan (Mongol) and Qing (Manchu) dynasty.
Since the Portuguese’ seafaring route to Asia; Austria/Hungary, Germany, France, Italy, Russia, UK and USA all had a go at China but only managed minor successes with small outposts and exclusive territorial rights, but they failed to colonise the entire nation. Despite suffering a humiliating defeat in the 1800s and early 1900s in the hands of these foreign powers, the resilience of the Middle Kingdom stood her in good stead against far superior military forces.
The European’s involvement in WWII momentarily took their attention away from China and gave the Middle Kingdom breathing space for the underlying nationalism to take hold and time to find its own political identity. In the immediate aftermath of WWII a four-year bloody civil war engulfed China giving birth to a new nation, the People’s Republic of China. This revived nationalism provided a united front, and European colonisation finally buckled under the weight of its erroneous ways. The last gasp of de-colonisation dissipated when sovereignty for Hong Kong and Macau were handed back to China by the British and Portuguese respectively, ending a 400-year quest by the Europeans.
For a few hundred years before this, western imperialist zeal used religion, trade and military might expand their empires into Asia. As a result, many European nations through colonisation and forced cessation of territorial rights created a haven for commercial exploitation in Asia.
The events which followed after WWII evaporated the colonial masters’ rights to plunder and exploit. By 1949, China finally earned the right to self-rule yet again after more than four century of intimidation and browbeating by a lineup of foreign western powers.
Although European Allies won the War, they lost their prized possession — China. In essence, Europe lost their self-anointed right to be masters of this country.
Given this, we can understand why WWII will continue to maintain its Eurocentric slant in the annals of western history. Otherwise, it would open Pandora’s Box highlighting Europe’s erroneous policy of dominion over the Middle Kingdom — China.
