Generally speaking, the influence of colonial rule on colonies and semi-colonies is divided into two parts, which not only shows its evil side, but also affirms its objective progressive role. When it comes to colonialism in Asia, people think that colonialists have a "dual mission": one is a destructive mission, that is, to destroy the old Asian society; The other is a constructive mission, that is, to establish the material foundation of a western-style society in Asia. Most Southeast Asian countries, such as Cambodia, Singapore and Vietnam. For a long time, their political rule based on the Confucian system of their huge northern neighbor China borrowed a lot from China in the social and cultural fields, so their conflict with western expansion has many similarities with China. They were also shocked by the sudden and powerful invasion of their previously closed world by colonialists. As in China, they respected the Confucian emperor and bureaucracy, and the failure to resist the invaders brought them shame, which eventually led to the complete collapse of the life structure system of ancient civilization. As in China, this collapse led to a violent revolution against French colonial rule and the search for a viable social and political order.
Among them, most western colonialists objectively urged Southeast Asian countries to embark on the track of capitalist development, while the short-term conquest of Southeast Asian countries by Japanese oriental colonialists once destroyed the development process of Southeast Asian society. ①
First, the objective and constructive nature of western colonialism.
/kloc-from the end of 0/9 to the beginning of 1940s, western colonists colonized Southeast Asia. At this time, capital export replaced commodity export as the main means of exploitation, which was the colonial expansion period of monopoly capitalism. During this period, the colonial powers have carved up all the colonies in the world and once again launched a struggle to carve up colonies and spheres of influence. Enter the early 20th century. Western colonial countries have basically carved up the whole of Southeast Asia. Except Siam (Thailand), all Southeast Asian countries have become colonies and protectorates of western powers.
First of all, it is undeniable that the process of colonial rule was full of violence, aggression and expansion, and it was recorded in the history of mankind with the word "blood and fire", which did not make any progress in the development of human history, but only had negative effects, mainly (1) (United States) Peter N. stearns. History of global civilization [M]. Zhonghua Book Company, April 2006.
Specific performance in the following aspects. First of all, in the process of colonial rule, indigenous people were brutally exploited or killed, and the ancient local civilization was destroyed, which seriously hindered the social and economic development of colonies and semi-colonies. Secondly, in the process of long-term colonial rule, the colonial and semi-colonial people have been tied to the chariot of colonialism for a long time, which has caused the colonial and semi-colonial people to be restless and suffer greatly. Thirdly, in the long-term colonial rule, colonial and semi-colonial countries have gradually become vassals and suppliers of raw materials to western developed countries. The abnormal and one-sided economic development of colonial and semi-colonial countries has profoundly affected the historical development process of these countries and led to the long-term backwardness of these countries and regions. For this, the rule of western colonialism bears an unshirkable responsibility.
Since the western countries started the geographical discovery in pursuit of wealth and global hegemony, the historical process of Southeast Asian countries has been closely linked with the historical process of the whole world. This frontal collision between the East and the West has profoundly affected the formation and development of Southeast Asian society. Since16th century, Portugal and Spain colonized parts of Southeast Asia, and then the western colonial powers such as Holland and Britain invaded Southeast Asia. In addition to plundering various economic resources in Southeast Asia, they also brought western religions, languages and social and cultural customs to this region. As a powerful group, western colonists vigorously promoted their own culture in the colonies, which made western culture widely spread in some countries in Southeast Asia. Cultural elements from the west have been internalized to some extent after contacting with local traditions and cultural customs. Cross-cultural communication can promote the economic and social development in areas with backward productivity, but unfortunately, the cultural exchange and acculturation between western colonial countries and Southeast Asian colonial countries are not in an equal position, and the spread of western culture in Southeast Asia depends to a great extent on the powerful political and military advantages of western colonial countries, so the cultural exchange between the East and the West and the spread of western culture are full of disharmony and conflict. In addition, the original ethnic diversity and cultural diversity of Southeast Asian countries have greatly aggravated the complexity and particularity of their cultural exchanges. Faced with the impact of western strong culture, all ethnic groups in Southeast Asia have adopted different attitudes towards western culture due to the inconsistency in economic, political and social development. During the colonial rule of western countries, all ethnic groups in Southeast Asian countries adopted the strategy of accepting or resisting western religious, language and other cultural elements, which also laid the groundwork for ethnic problems in Southeast Asian countries in the future.
However, from the perspective of world history, the influence of western colonialism, including breaking national barriers, opening up world markets and developing productive forces, is of objective and progressive significance. The author will take the situation in Vietnam as an example to illustrate.
When French capitalism was ready to invade Vietnam, the feudal ruling class in Vietnam, or rather, the feudal clique in Ruan Dynasty, became more rebellious after defeating Xishan. They tried their best to consolidate the feudal relations of production and stifle the new productivity capitalism that had just developed in the 18th century.
In industry, Ruan's feudal group monopolized some large enterprises. Some factories for casting money, making guns and shipbuilding are run by the Ministry of Industry of the imperial court. Most coal mines are run by officials, while privately run coal mines are heavily taxed. In handicraft workshops, although there is no guild system like that in European feudal countries, the relationship between bosses and workers, between masters and apprentices, and between specialized villages and other villages prevents workers' creativity and talents from being brought into play. Because farmers are poor, homeless and have no purchasing power, small-scale industries and other sideline businesses in rural areas have come to a standstill. ① See Gao Zhiping: On the Influence of Colonial Rule on Colonies and Semicolonies, Journal of Hubei Normal University, No.20, 2000.
In addition, some industrial laborers were recruited by imperial officials to build palaces and cemeteries, which weakened productivity. In business, the policy of "emphasizing agriculture and restraining business" in Ruan Dynasty restrained its development. On the one hand, they manipulated the exclusive rights of industrial raw materials and formulated many laws and regulations restricting domestic trade, such as heavy taxes and banning fairs. This makes it difficult to communicate between places, resulting in inconsistent weights and measures. Due to the local separatist regime, the national market cannot be centralized and unified, and foreign trade is also restricted. Moreover, in Ruan, the original method of paying taxes in currency was changed to paying taxes in kind and paying local specialties, so that the monetary economy was also suppressed and industry and commerce could not develop. In agriculture, farming techniques are still backward, and plows and rakes that have been used for thousands of years have not been improved. Moreover, farmers' private economy has been seriously violated. Most of the land is concentrated in the hands of bureaucratic landlords, and public land and public land are monopolized by powerful people. All fertile areas are occupied by powerful people, and the poor only get barren land. Because of poverty, people have to leave their homes to look for food in distant places, and the escape of farmers has turned fertile land into wasteland. In order to maintain this decadent social system, the feudal groups in Ruan period tried their best to consolidate order. At this time, they despise national culture and even try to distort national works that are unfavorable to them.
The above situation makes us see that the reactionary feudal relations of production stifled Vietnamese society to the extreme, so the class struggle in China broke out more violently. Before the French invaders invaded Vietnam, the capitalist factors in Vietnamese society were budding, and the peasants' extremely strong resistance potential was being strangled by the reactionary feudal lords of Ruan Dynasty. At this time, history has reached a turning point. Vietnam fell into the hands of French capitalism and became a semi-colonial and semi-feudal country.
From Vietnam, we can get a glimpse of the influence of colonialism on Southeast Asian countries.
From the perspective of political system, although Southeast Asian countries belong to different suzerain countries, under the colonial system, they all have many similarities, that is, their rights are relatively concentrated, and the administrative, judicial, legislative, military and diplomatic powers are in the hands of the governor or senior resident officials, and they are subordinate to the king of the suzerain country or relevant cabinet institutions. In the local area, the colonists used or directly retained the original ruling classes and institutions, such as tribal chiefs and feudal nobles, as auxiliary tools to strengthen their rule. In areas with complex ethnic relations, even the policy of divide and rule is adopted, and the fishermen benefit. Of course, the capitalist development level of each suzerain country is different, and all countries have brought some domestic ruling methods into the colonies, so there are some differences in the political systems of each colony. For example, Britain tends to establish a loose federalism, while France is more rigid and implements the so-called "assimilation" policy. After the United States replaced Spain to occupy the Philippines, it implemented democratic reforms and established a political system of separation of powers in an archipelago country according to the principles of the US Constitution. Britain has also implemented some constitutional reforms in its vast territory. Of course, the purpose of doing this is to facilitate or strengthen their influence and control over the colonies, not to improve the civilization of the people in Southeast Asia.
Economically, with the export of industrial capital from the suzerain country, the natural economy of the colony was completely washed away (except for the extremely backward mountainous areas) and completely incorporated into the capitalist world economic system. The industry and commerce in the colonies inevitably developed. Railway and telegraph networks extend in all directions, and large and medium-sized cities (such as Singapore Port) have mushroomed, and the westernization of economic life is unstoppable.
Accordingly, the social class relations in Southeast Asian countries have also undergone significant changes. The old forces gradually declined, and the emerging proletariat, capitalists and petty bourgeoisie became the main components of society. With the development of national capitalist economy, there has been a real national awakening in Southeast Asia, and various national movements against colonialism and demanding autonomy or independence and even people's uprisings have emerged one after another.
If Marx's view that the British bourgeoisie has a dual mission in India is also true in other Asian colonial countries
If it is effective, then in Southeast Asia, the objective and constructive role of colonialism has been reflected in this period. However, before this process was completed, it was interrupted by the fire of Japanese fascists in World War II. ①
Second, the destructiveness of Japanese colonialism.
Invading Southeast Asia is an established policy of Japanese militarism. In the eyes of many scholars at home and abroad, the war launched by the Japanese army was a predatory war of aggression from the beginning, not the so-called "Great East Asian Jihad", but a 100% unjust war. Therefore, the impact of Japan's occupation of Southeast Asia on the development of this region is generally considered to be negative. The war brought economic destruction and political oppression, which played a negative role both subjectively and objectively.
When evaluating the historical influence of Japanese colonialism on Southeast Asia, we must see that Japan was a fascist military feudal imperialist country in the 1940s, and its colonial rule was more severe and rigid than that of western colonial countries. Relying on military oppression is a major feature of Japanese colonial rule. On the other hand, it is also a major feature of Japanese imperialist colonial rule to eliminate the national characteristics of the oppressed peoples in the colonies and implement the assimilation policy, that is, the "Japanese policy" or the "imperial policy". Japan's rule over Southeast Asia during World War II fully reflected the above characteristics. After Japan invaded Southeast Asia, in order to meet the urgent needs of the war, Southeast Asia was regarded as an important resource supply place for Japan. Therefore, economic exploitation and plunder is another important feature of Japan's rule over Southeast Asian colonies. Japanese occupation has brought great suffering and economic recession to the people of Southeast Asian countries. When evaluating the historical role of Japanese rule, we can't simply apply Marx's exposition on the dual historical mission of colonialism, especially in the economic aspect. Objectively, it is impossible to explore its positive role.
As mentioned above, western colonists began their constructive mission in the last half century of conquering Southeast Asia. Japan completed its occupation of Southeast Asia in June of 1942 and began to retreat from Southeast Asia in the middle of 1945. What can Japan do in the past three years and what has it actually done?
The "Glory Circle of Greater East Asia" was established, but it was a slavery circle where Japan ruled the people of the occupied countries by fascism and plundered them crazily. Politically, Japan pretends to be the "liberator" and "protector" of the people of all ethnic groups in Southeast Asia under the guise of "establishing a glorious order of * * * survival * * *". In fact, it replaced the colonial rule of western countries with the fascist rule of Japan. Moreover, in realizing this "order of * * * survival and * * * glory", the practices of the eastern colonists are not inferior to those of the west, and there are countless heinous tragedies. The so-called "new order" was established entirely by bayonet and lotus flower. Economically, the need of war determines that Japan can only plunder the manpower and material resources of Southeast Asia naked and super-economically. It goes without saying that this policy of oppression has caused serious consequences to the production of workers, peasants and soldiers and people's lives in Southeast Asian countries.
In any case, on the whole, compared with what the western colonialists did, Japan did more damage in Southeast Asia, and there was no construction at all. Marx's constructive mission is not unconditionally realized. As for some people who say that the Japanese have objectively broken the myth that whites are invincible, some practices have promoted the national liberation movement to a certain extent, which is also simply untenable. Judging from the historical development after the war, Japan's influence on Southeast Asia has been negligible politically for a long time. Although the failure of the Japanese did not mean the victory of the western colonialists-after Japan surrendered, the western colonialists ① refer to Liu Nianbo: On the Influence of Modern Eastern and Western Colonialism on the History of Southeast Asia, Journal of Xuzhou Normal University, 1999(3). ② See Liang Zhiming: On Japanese occupation of Southeast Asia and its influence (194 1.
They have also been driven out of Southeast Asia, but it is undeniable that the foundation of modernization in Southeast Asia is still mainly laid by western colonists, although this foundation is not very solid and is not the original intention of western colonists.
Colonialism has a far-reaching influence on Southeast Asian countries. Both colonial rule and decolonization have deeply influenced the politics, economy, culture and other aspects of Southeast Asian countries. Generally speaking, in modern history, the role and influence of eastern and western colonialism on the historical process of Southeast Asia are different. Conquest and plunder are its characteristics, but most western colonialists objectively put Southeast Asian countries on the track of capitalist development, while the short-term conquest of Southeast Asian countries by Japanese oriental colonialists once destroyed the development process of Southeast Asian society.