ASIAN COUNTRIES THAT ESCAPED WESTERN COLONIZATION

THAILAND (Siam)
KING BUDDHA YODFA (1782 to 1809)
- He was a soldier and he defended Thailand’s borders from
foreign intrusion.
- During his reign, Thailand enjoyed its most extensive territory
(Cambodia, Burma and Malaysia) and Bangkok is the state’s
capital
KING MONGKUT (1851 to 1868)
- Buddhist monk adept foreign languages and technology before
becoming a king
- He was able to cope with foreigners wanting to colonize
Thailand by embracing change to keep pace with its Western
Counterparts
o Foreign Trade
o Improving infrastructure
o Finance system
o Encourage Gov. officials to study history and language of
foreign countries
KING CHULALONGKORN (1868 to 1910)
- son of Mongkut
- During his reign, he continued the modernization initiated by
his father and abolished slavery, banned force labor and built
the railways that would hasten interaction between the states.
- During his reign, Thailand experience the greatest pressure
against its territory from British and French because they have
a lingering fear because Thailand’s military power would not
measure up to the Europeans, colonization would be inevitable.
- He tried to maintain friendly relations with the foreigners to
escape colonization. Fortunately, there were no attempts but
the intention was there.
- Keep it as a buffer state

KOREA AS HERMIT KINGDOM

- It closed its borders to all foreign influences.
- Was able to escape European colonization but they became
Japan colony
YI DYNASTY OR “CHOSON OR JOSEON” (1392 to 1910)
- last dynasty of Korea
- T’aejo established this dynasty
- Considered as the “Golden Age” of Korea
KING SEJONG
- most popular monarch of the period
- Korea experienced advances in technology
- Improved agricultural production, education and the civil
service
- Faced two great challenges towards the end of his reign
o Japanese invasion (1592 to 1598)
o Manchu invasion (1627 to 1636)
- 19 century – Korea tried to close its borders to protect its
th

people from colonization – “HERMIT”

KING Daewongun
- Yi Hae-ung or Daewongun, ruled in his behalf of his son, gojong
- Tried unifying warring groups throughout the country and was
successful in keeping ot all foreign influences on Korean soil
- Established close ties with the Europeans
 - Executed 9 french missionaries and almost 10,000 Koreans
(Christians)
KING GOJONG
- Korea was able to experience peace- temporarily
- Russo-Japanese War – Japanese forces into Korea even if they
were neutral
- 1910- colony of Japan