IGE105 Week 2: Historical Backgrounds of Asian Countries Flashcards

Vocabulary flashcards covering the key historical events, entities, and diplomatic legacies discussed in Week 2 of IGE105 Global Alliance and Emerging Issues.

Four Waves of Asian History

The historical sequence that shaped modern Asia's borders and alliances: Wave 1 (Colonial rule and borders), Wave 2 (World War II and independence), Wave 3 (The Cold War divide), and Wave 4 (The Asian economic miracle).

Siam (Thailand)

The only country in its region that stayed independent during colonial rule by modernizing, granting territorial concessions, and acting as a buffer state between British Burma and French Indochina.

King Mongkut (Rama IV) and King Chulalongkorn (Rama V)

Thai monarchs who preserved Siam's sovereignty by modernizing the state, law, schools, and army, hiring foreign advisors, and balancing British and French interests.

Bowring Treaty

An 1855 treaty signed between Siam and Britain during Siam's period of modernization and strategic diplomacy.

Bending with the wind

A phrase describing Thailand's historical diplomatic tradition of flexibility and balancing foreign powers to preserve national sovereignty.

British Empire in Asia

Colonial power that controlled India, Burma (Myanmar), Malaya (Malaysia/Singapore), and Hong Kong, leaving behind English law, railways, and borders drawn for London's interests.

French Indochina

French colonial territory consisting of Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia, which operated as a plantation economy serving Europe.

Dutch East Indies

The Dutch colonial territory that became present-day Indonesia, operated as a plantation economy for European interests.

Colonial History of the Philippines

Over 300 years of Spanish colonial rule followed by United States rule starting in 1898, leaving deep cultural and political imprints.

Japanese Colonial Empire

Imperial rule over Taiwan (1895-1945) and Korea (1910-45) characterized by industrialization imposed by force and unresolved historical tensions.

Korean War (1950-53)

A major Cold War military conflict on the Korean peninsula that resulted in the peninsula remaining split into two nations today.

SEATO

A United States-led regional security pact in Asia that existed from 1954 to 1977.

Non-Aligned Movement

A international movement established from 1961 for countries choosing not to align directly with either superpower during the Cold War.

ASEAN

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations, founded in 1967 by 5 original nations; now grown to 11 members representing a top-5 global economy as a bloc.

Tiger Economies

The Asian economies of South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Singapore, which industrialized at record speed during the post-war boom years.

China's Reform and Opening (1978)

Economic reforms launched in 1978 that subsequently lifted over 800 million people out of extreme poverty.