Page 220 - Encyclopedia Of World History Vol V
P. 220

warfare—southeast asia 1997












            Gender and Social                                   objective was booty and political control and not terri-
            Implications                                        torial ambition or diffusion of civilization. One sought to
            Before foreign intervention and the introduction of  control an enemy capital and its nearby communities to
            firearms to Southeast Asian societies in the fifteenth and  secure material and human resources rather than to
            sixteenth centuries, headhunting was a prevalent form of  change individuals’ ways of life.
            conflict both on the mainland and in archipelagic South-  Between 1407 and 1427, Ming China defeated Viet-
            east Asia. Headhunting raids allowed male warriors to  nam and occupied the country, including its capital,
            prove their manhood and indicate preparation for mar-  Hanoi. The Vietnamese studied the advanced military
            riage. Failure in these raids was considered a disgrace and  techniques and the bureaucracy and government of the
            damaged men’s social status.Armed conflict was carried  Ming. Eventually the Vietnamese drove out the Chinese,
            out in the context of ceremonies to honor and glorify  but as a result of Ming influence, the Vietnamese came to
            ancestors and spirits. Banging of drums and the use of  believe—as the Ming Chinese did—that war should be
            women and children in the occupation of fortifications to  used to civilize barbarous cultures.The Vietnamese used
            aid and encourage male warriors reinforced gender rela-  force against their southern and northern neighbors, the
            tionships. Even after guns became available, armies in  Chams and Tai. Exploration of new lands and their
            Burma and Bali relied on small numbers of warriors  annexation were other justifications for warfare that the
            armed with primitive weapons in order to gain access to  Vietnamese and other Southeast  Asian civilizations
            spiritual forces and keep honor intact. Numerous soci-  slowly adopted.
            eties in Bali and Java considered warfare as an expression  The tactical use of terrain in combat was critical in
            of society and mysticism.                           waging conflict. Vietnamese armies used the terrain to
              Religion was a justification for warfare as well. Bud-  achieve success on the battlefield during their wars
            dhism was active in Southeast Asian societies, and Bud-  against the Chams and Tai. In campaigns against the
            dhist leaders waged war whenever there was a threat  Chams, Vietnamese commanders relied on amphibious
            from competing religions or whenever they felt that the  assaults and regular troop movements on  flat coastal
            religion’s influence was declining.                  areas. Against the Tai, who occupied valleys and moun-
                                                                tain regions,Vietnamese armies conducted quick strikes
            Interpretations                                     and  flanking movements in order to avoid becoming
            of Warfare                                          trapped and isolated in the mountains.
            European nations that established a commercial presence
            in Southeast Asia during the fifteenth and sixteenth cen-  Foreign Influence
            turies viewed warfare differently from the indigenous  and Methods of War
            inhabitants. Europeans adhered to the Prussian general  European and Chinese governments occupied and dom-
            Carl von Clausewitz’s view that war was a tool to achieve  inated parts of Southeast Asia as far back as the fifteenth
            political objectives and not an end in itself.This differed  century. They brought with them new weapons that
            somewhat from, for example, the view of war held in Dai  altered indigenous warfare. Firearms, although not com-
            Viet (Vietnam). The Vietnamese considered war as a  mon, were available by the fifteenth century from both
            means to an end, but the end was the attainment of mate-  sources and allowed Southeast Asian societies allied to
            rial goods and war captives for human labor purposes,  the Europeans or Chinese to subdue their less well-
            not territorial ambition. Similarly, on the islands of Bali  equipped neighbors. Bows, arrows, lances, blowpipes,
            and Java, prisoners of war were used as slaves and  and animals such as horses and elephants were gradually
            exported between 1650 and 1830.This was a common    replaced with cannons and muskets. Kingdoms in
            feature of warfare in most Southeast Asian countries.The  Malaysia and Indonesia retained traditional weapons
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