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| 5 Countries That Have Never Been Colonized in Asia |
Quoted from indiatimes.com, world colonialism started from countries in Europe at the end of the 15th century. The first colonization was carried out by Christopher Columbus in 1492 to the Americas. The Kingdom of Spain and Portugal were also among the two countries that started this colonial period, followed by England, France and the Netherlands in the 17th century.
This history of colonialism aims to control an area that has abundant natural resources so that it can be exploited for profit. Between the 16th and 20th centuries, this European nation tried to control all the wealth of the world. They managed to control most of Australia and Asia .
However, there are several countries in Asia that have not been touched by this colonial period. Here are 5 Asian countries that were never colonized:
1. Saudi Arabia
In the 16th century the Ottoman Empire or the Ottoman Empire ruled most of Southeastern Europe, Western Asia and North Africa and in the early 14th to 20th centuries it ruled most of Saudi Arabia until 1918.
During this reign, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia began to struggle to free itself. This movement coincided with World War I when Britain was at war with the Ottoman Empire.
For that Britain helped Saudi Arabia to weaken the Ottoman Empire. At the end of this war, the Ottoman Empire lost control of Saudi Arabia. Since then Saudi Arabia has built its territory into a strong state.
2. Thailand
This country is also included in the Asian countries that were never colonized. King Chulalongkorn, who is considered one of the greatest monarchs in Thailand, worked to adopt some European customs and became interested in European technology in an attempt to prevent the colonization of the time.
The Thai king is also making diplomatic efforts with Britain. In addition to collaborating and having connections with European countries, Thailand also lacks abundant natural resources so that it is less attractive to the colonizers.
3. China
China at that time was known as a country that had a strong military and government power, just like the Ottoman Empire. Having a large territory is also an advantage for China, making it difficult to become a colony target.
Instead of getting colonial power, European countries such as Britain and France could only control the imports and exports of China. Seeing this, Russia and Italy also want the same thing. Because of this, China's coastal areas were divided. The Qing dynasty at that time lost some of its power but not all of its control.
4. Iran
Because of its strategic location and a link between Asia and Europe. Russia and Britain were interested in controlling Iran, which at that time was still the Persian Empire. Russia only managed to seize the northern region of what is now Turkey in the 19th century. Meanwhile, Britain could only seize the eastern region which is now Pakistan.
Meanwhile Iran, which was under the rule of the Qajar dynasty, had a lot of debt from European banks and could not repay it. Therefore Britain and Russia agreed to control and share Persian revenue from various sources. However, the Persian Empire never agreed, so this country was included in the Asian country that was never colonized.
5. Japan
Japan became one of the few countries that could resist European invaders. The country has also built up power in the territories of Taiwan, Korea and South Sakhalin. The Japanese government was aware of the invasion of the Europeans, so they made the Meiji Restoration in 1868.
This socio-political reform succeeded in defeating the Imperial Chinese dynasty during the first China-Japan war. Russia also had time to attack this Asian country, but Japan was ready to face the European country in 1905. In World War II Japan's defeat made him lose power in Korea and Manchuria.