To assess the importance of the economic exploitation of the governed by the colonial powers, this essay will consider the impact,nature of importance, time period and perspectives. The discussion will compare the role of economic exploitation to other causes of the rise of nationalistic movements before World War II. This essay will look at the time period between 1918 and 1941. Finally, this essay shall be arguing that while the economic exploitation of the governed was partially responsible for the rise of nationalist movements , factors such as Western education being provided to locals and the religious circumstances in South East Asia.
The economic exploitation of the governed by the colonial powers lead to the rise of nationalist movements, as the economic policies taken by the colonial masters caused the pauperization of many South East Asians. The introduction of capitalism into previously self-sufficient economies brought about competition from migrants and brought instability into the South East Asian markets due to the new interactions with foreign markets, as the local economies are now subjected to the demand and supply mechanism of foreign economies. The bringing in of immigrants by the colonial powers was done without consulting the locals, and was done solely with the benefits of the colonial powers in mind, as these immigrants provided more reliable manpower and also served to dilute the local population. As such the locals were very much exploited economically as they were usually unable to get better paying jobs within colonial organisations , even though they were in their homeland. Also, the exposure of South East Asian markets to other global markets mainly benefited the colonial powers which had access to information about the world trade situations. The locals being less informed about global economies would