Decolonisation of Asia

The decolonization of Asia was the gradual growth of independence movements on the Asian continent, leading ultimately to the retreat of foreign powers and the creation of a number of nation-states in the region. A number of events were catalysts for this shift, most importantly the Second World War. The first state to be decolonised was Indonesia in 1945, and the last was Macau in 1999.

Background

Main article: Imperialism in Asia

European powers began colonising Asia in the early 16th century, beginning with the Portuguese seizure of sites along the west coast of India, Ceylon and Malacca. By 1557, Portugal held a permanent base in Malacca. In 1565, Spain commenced its colonisation of the Philippine Islands, creating a long sea trade route via Mexico to Spain.

The decline of Spain and Portugal in the 17th century paved the way for other European powers, namely Holland, France and England. Portugal would lose influence in all but three of its colonies, Goa, Macau and Timor.

By the end of the 17th century, the Dutch had taken over much of the old Portuguese colonies, and had established a strong presence in present-day Indonesia, with colonies in Aceh, Bantam, Macassar and Jakarta. The Dutch also had trade links with Siam, Japan, China and Bengal.

The British had competed with Portuguese, Spanish and Dutch for their interests in Asia since the early 17th century, and by the mid-19th century held much of India (via the British East India Company), as well as Burma, Ceylon, Malaya and Singapore. After the Indian Mutiny of 1857, Queen Victoria was declared Empress of India, thus solidifying the British rule on the subcontinent. The last British acquisition in Asia was the New Territories of Hong Kong, which was leased from the Qing emperor in 1897, expanding the British colony originally ceded in the Treaty of Nanking in 1842.

The French had little success in India following defeats against the British in the 17th century, though they held onto possessions on the east coast of India (such as Puducherry and Mahar) until decolonisation. The French established their most lucrative and substantial colony in Indochina from 1862, eventually occupying the present-day areas of Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia by 1887.

Japan's first colony was the island of Taiwan, occupied in 1874 and officially ceded by the Qing emperor in 1894. Japan continued its early imperialism with the annexation of Korea in 1910.

The United States entered the region in 1898 during the Spanish-American War, taking the Philippines as its sole colony.

Asian colonies from 1800s to the end of the Second World War

The following list shows the colonial powers following the end of hostilities in 1945, and their colonial or administrative possessions.

•  United Kingdom: Hong Kong, British India (1947), Burma, Israel (1948), British Malaya (1957), Ceylon (1948), Sabah (1963), Sarawak (1963) and Singapore (1964).
•  France: French India (1954) and Indochina (comprising Vietnam (1945), Cambodia (1953) and Laos).
•  Portugal: Goa, Macau and Timor.
•  Spain: The Spanish East Indies (Las Filipinas, 1898).
•  Netherlands: Netherlands East Indies.
•  Soviet Union: Korea*.
•  Australia: Papua New Guinea.
•  United States: Korea* and The Philippines.

The United States and the Soviet Union both occupied Korea, splitting the country approximately in half.

Individual countries

Burma

See Burma's colonial era.

Burma was almost completely occupied by the Imperial Japanese Army during the Second World War. Many Burmese fought alongside Japan in the initial stages of the war, though the Burmese Army and most Burmese switched sides in 1945.

A transitional government sponsored by the British government was formed in the years following the Second World War, ultimately leading to Burma's independence in January 1948.

Cambodia

See Cambodia's passage to independence.

Following the capitulation of France and the formation of the Vichy regime, France's Indochinese possessions were given to Japan. While there was some argument that Indochina should not be returned to France, particularly from the United States, Cambodia nevertheless remained under French rule after the end of hostilities.

France had placed Norodom Sihanouk on the throne in 1941, and were hoping for a puppet monarch. They were mistaken however, as the King led the way to Cambodian independence in 1953, taking advantage of the background of the First Indochina War being fought in Vietnam.

Ceylon

See Ceylon and independence.

Ceylon was an important base of operations for the Western Allies during the Second World War. The British gave in to popular pressure for independence and in February 1948, the country won its independence as the Dominion of Ceylon.

Hong Kong

Hong Kong was returned to the United Kingdom following its occupation by the Japanese during the Second World War. It was controlled directly by a British governor until the expiry of the hundred-year lease, which occurred in 1997. From that date the territory was controlled as a Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China.

Timeline

The "colonial power" and "colonial name" columns are merged when required to denote territories, where current countries are established, that have not been decolonized, but achieved independence in different way.

Country[1]	Colonial name	Colonial power[2]	Independence date[3]	First head of state[4]	War for independence
Japan	Establishment under the first Legendary Emperor		February 11, 660 BC	Emperor Jimmu	-
Thailand	Establishment as the Kingdom of Sukhothai		1238	Sri Indraditya	-
Turkey[5]	Established in Anatolia of the Byzantine Empire		1299[6]	Osman I	Byzantine–Ottoman Wars
RoC (Taiwan) PR China[7]	Overthrow of Mongol rule over China		January 23, 1368[8]	Hongwu Emperor	Red Turban Rebellion
Russia[5]	Grand Duchy of Moscow terminates Mongol vassalage		September 8, 1380	Dmitry of Moscow	Battle of Kulikovo
Iran	Establishment under the Safavid dynasty		1502	Ismail I	-
Bhutan	Establishment as the Kingdom of Bhutan		1616	Ngawang Namgyal	-
Nepal	Unification as the Kingdom of Nepal		December 21, 1768	Prithvi Narayan	-
Saudi Arabia	Arabia	Ottoman	1824	Turki ibn Abdallah ibn Muhammad	Reconquest of Riyadh
Afghanistan	Afghanistan	Britain	August 19, 1919	Amanullah Khan	Third Anglo-Afghan War
Mongolia	Outer Mongolia	China	July 9, 1921	Bogd Khan	Outer Mongolian Revolution
Iraq	Mesopotamia mandate	Ottoman; Britain	October 3, 1932 (British maintained a military presence until after the Second World War, brief British occupation during the war also)	Faisal I	Iraqi revolt against the British
Lebanon	Lebanon mandate	Ottoman; France	November 22, 1943	Bechara Khoury	-
Syria	Syria mandate	Ottoman; France	April 17, 1946	Shukri al-Quwatli	Syrian Revolution
Jordan	Transjordan mandate	Ottoman; Britain	May 25, 1946	Abdullah I	-
Philippines	Filipinas	Spain; USA	December 1, 1898, July 4, 1946	Manuel Roxas	-[9]
Bangladesh as part of the DoP	British Raj	Britain	August 14, 1947	Liaquat Ali Khan	-[10]
Pakistan as part of the DoP	British Raj	Britain	August 14, 1947	Liaquat Ali Khan	-[10]
India	British Raj	Britain	August 15, 1947[11]	Jawaharlal Nehru	-[12]
Burma	Burma	Britain	January 4, 1948	Sao Shwe Thaik	-
Sri Lanka	Dominion of Ceylon	Britain	February 4, 1948	Don Senanayake	-
Israel	Palestine mandate	Ottoman; Britain	May 14, 1948	David Ben-Gurion	1948 Arab-Israeli war
South Korea	Korea	Japan; USA	August 15, 1948[13]	Rhee Syung-man	World War II
North Korea	Korea	Japan; Russia	September 9, 1948[13]	Kim Tu-bong	World War II
Indonesia[14]	Dutch East Indies	Netherlands	August 17, 1945[15]	Sukarno	Indonesian National Revolution
Egypt[16]	Egypt	Britain	1922/1936/1953	n/a	Urabi Revolt, Suez Crisis
Cambodia	French Indochina	France	November 9, 1953	Norodom Sihanouk	-
Laos	French Indochina	France	August 1, 1954	Sisavang Vong	First Indochina War
Vietnam[17]	French Indochina	France	August 1, 1954	Hồ Chí Minh Bảo Đại	First Indochina War
Malaysia	Malaya Sabah, Sarawak	Britain	August 31, 1957 September 16, 1963	Tuanku Abdul Rahman	-[18]
Cyprus[19]	Cyprus	Britain	August 16, 1960	Makarios III	-[20]
Kuwait	Kuwait	Britain	June 19, 1961	Abdullah III Al-Salim Al-Sabah	-
Oman	Muscat, Oman Muscat and Oman[21]	Portugal Britain	January 26, 1650 1962	Sultan I bin Saif Said bin Taimur	Night attack on Muscat -[22]
Singapore	Singapore	Britain	August 31, 1963[23]	Yusof bin Ishak	-
Maldives	Maldives	Britain	July 26, 1965	Muhammad Fareed Didi	-
Yemen[24]	Kingdom of Yemen Colony and Protectorate of Aden	Ottoman Britain	November 1, 1918 November 30, 1967	Yahya I Qahtan Mohammed al-Shaabi	World War I Aden Emergency
Qatar	Qatar	Britain	September 3, 1971	Ahmad bin Ali Al Thani	-
United Arab Emirates	Trucial States	Britain	December 2, 1971[25]	Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan	-
Bahrain	Bahrain	Britain	December 16, 1971	Isa ibn Salman Al Khalifa	-[26]
Brunei	Brunei	Britain	January 1, 1984	Hassanal Bolkiah	-[27]
Georgia[5]	Georgian SSR	Russia	April 9, 1991	Zviad Gamsakhurdia	April 9 tragedy
Kyrgyzstan	Kyrgyz SSR	Russia	August 31, 1991	Askar Akayev	-
Uzbekistan	Uzbek SSR	Russia	September 1, 1991	Islam Karimov	-
Tajikistan	Tajik SSR	Russia	September 9, 1991	Kadreddin Aslonov	-
Armenia[19]	Armenian SSR	Russia	September 21, 1991	Levon Ter-Petrossian	-[28]
Azerbaijan[5]	Azerbaijan SSR	Russia	October 18, 1991	Ayaz Mutalibov	Black January
Turkmenistan	Turkmen SSR	Russia	October 27, 1991	Saparmyrat Türkmenbaşy	-
Kazakhstan[5]	Kazakh SSR	Russia	December 16, 1991	Nursultan Nazarbayev	-
Timor-Leste[29]	Portuguese Timor; Timor Timur	Portugal; Indonesia	November 28, 1975; May 20, 2002[30]	Francisco Xavier do Amaral; Xanana Gusmão	Carnation Revolution; Indonesian occupation
Palestine1	Palestine mandate; West Bank and Gaza	Ottoman; Britain; Israel	May 15, 1948; current	?; Mahmoud Abbas	1948 Arab-Israeli war; Israeli–Palestinian conflict

¹ In 1948 the Palestinian territories were divided between Israel, Egypt and Jordan. Following decades of Arab–Israeli conflict the State of Palestine was proclaimed in 1988 by the Palestine Liberation Organization, but its control over the West Bank and Gaza (trough the Palestinian National Authority) is still limited by Israel.

See also

Asia portal

• United Nations list of Non-Self-Governing Territories
• List of dependent territories
• Colonialism
• Colonization of Asia
• Decolonization
• Wars of national liberation

Notes

1. ^ Timeline list arranged according to current countries. Explanatory notes are added in cases where decolonization was achieved jointly or where the current state is formed by merger of previously decolonized states.
2. ^ Some territories changed hands multiple times, so in the list is mentioned the last colonial power. In addition to it the mandatory or trustee powers are mentioned for territories that were League of Nations mandates and UN Trust Territories.
3. ^ Date of decolonization. Dates for territories annexed by or integrated into previously decolonized independent countries are given in separate notes. Subsequent mergers, secessions and civil and other wars in the period after decolonization and the resulting states and federations are not part of this list - see the list of sovereign states by formation date.
4. ^ First head of state after independence. For current and former Commonwealth realms instead of first head of state is listed the first head of government.
5. ^ ^{a b c d e} Transcontinental country, partially located in Europe.
6. ^ Turkey succeeded the Ottoman Empire on July 24, 1923 following the Turkish War of Independence against the some of the Entente Powers of the World War I.
7. ^ After the overthrow of Mongol rule China was organized under the Ming Dynasty, to be succeeded by the Qing Dynasty, then by the Republic of China and that is competing to present day with the People's Republic of China.
8. ^ China has endured many modifications to its territory. Some of these include the establishment of small foreign concessions and colonies by European states (Austria-Hungary, Belgium, Britain, Germany, France, Italy, Portugal, Russia), Japan (including larger territories like Taiwan and Manchukuo) and the United States. The last of these territories, Hong Kong and Macau were returned to Chinese sovereignty in 1997 and 1999 by Britain and Portugal respectively. Because of the Chinese Civil War since 1 October 1949 there are two competing governments of China - one with de facto control over the island of Taiwan (RoC) and the other - over the mainland (PRC).
9. ^ In the 1896-19 period there were the Philippine Revolution and Philippine–American War.
10. ^ ^{a b} See Pakistan Movement.
11. ^ Subsequently, a free and sovereign India unilaterally annexed Goa from Portugual in 1961 and got Pondicherry ceded by France in 1954.
12. ^ See Indian independence movement and Goa liberation movement.
13. ^ ^{a b} The Korea peninsula was liberated from Japan on August 15, 1945. The southern half was put under United States administration until August 15, 1948. The northern half was put under Soviet administration until 9 September 1948.
14. ^ Transcontinental country, partially located in Oceania.
15. ^ Netherlands New Guinea was separated from the Dutch East Indies on 29 December 1945. Following skirmishes with Indonesia in 1961 and the New York Agreement, the Netherlands transferred authority of Dutch New Guinea to a UN protectorate on 1 October 1962 and it was integrated into Indonesia on 1 May 1963.
16. ^ Transcontinental country, partially located in Africa.
17. ^ North Vietnam proclaimed independence on September 2, 1945 as the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. The State of Vietnam declared independence on June 14, 1949, but remained de facto under French rule until August 1, 1954. South Vietnam was the successor state to the State of Vietnam under the name of Republic of Vietnam. Both parts of Vietnam merged into the Socialist Republic of Vietnam on April 30, 1975, after the Vietnam War.
18. ^ The Malayan Communist Party fought in the Malayan Emergency between June 1948 – 12 July 1960.
19. ^ ^{a b} Transcontinental country, located in Asia, but sometimes considered European.
20. ^ Armed struggles by the EOKA (Greek) and TMT (Turkish) organizations.
21. ^ Muscat and Oman was British de facto protectorate. On June 4, 1856, the Sultan who ruled from Stone Town, Zanzibar, died without appointing a heir. With British intervention on April 6, 1861, Zanzibar and Oman were divided into two separate principalities. Zanzibar later became formal British protectorate, but the British influence over Muscat and Oman remained informal. In 1962 Britain declares Muscat and Oman an independent nation.
22. ^ See the Dhofar Rebellion defeated with British help.
23. ^ Between 16 September 1963 and 9 August 1965 Singapore was part of the Federation of Malaysia.
24. ^ North Yemen and South Yemen were unified into the Republic of Yemen on May 22, 1990.
25. ^ The independent UAE was joined by Ras al-Khaimah on 11 February 1972.
26. ^ See March Intifada of 1965.
27. ^ The Brunei Revolt was a rebellion against the sultan suppressed with British assistance in 1966.
28. ^ There were small scale firefights between Armenian militiamen and Soviet troops
29. ^ Transcontinental country, located in Oceania, but sometimes considered Asian.
30. ^ Independence was declared on November 28, 1975, but nine days later began the Indonesian invasion of East Timor. Independence was restored after UN intervention from October 25, 1999 till May 20, 2002.