Colonial Reformation and Science

How did the social and political reforms instituted by European powers influence the progress of science in Southeast Asia?

Invading European powers into Southeast Asian nations employed a consistent set of social and political reforms on the local inhabitants’ culture which were intended to make for a transition of power requiring the least amount of military force and which had, in some cases, a significant impact on the development of scientific endeavors. Reforms included were social, political, cultural, academic, economic, and geographical in nature and what is listed here should not be considered a complete list by any means, nor is it the case that any particular method described is standard or requisite for every colony within the region.

Final Decree of the Senate

senatus consultum de re publica defendenda

The senatus consultum ultimum initiated by Cicero against Catiline was a necessary action for the preservation of the status quo, but was not justified as it violated the constitution of the Roman Republic. The core purpose of the republic in ancient Rome was to protect against the rule of a foreign government. By issuing senatus consultum ultimum the Senate gives the ultimate power, unchecked, to a single individual, Cicero, who may as well be acting as a foreign ruler by his membership in the aristocracy. The checks that remain in the standard republican rule of Rome, specifically the power of the tribunes, which had in fact been reduced by Sulla prior to Cicero’s ascension to the consul, are intended to protect the proletariat against the aristocracy. The institution of martial law necessarily prevents any but the elite from making a change within the government. Further, the elimination of the opposition can only lead to a greater divide between the aristocracy and the proletariat. The opposition is necessary for the advancement of the state in the direction which is for the good of the nation. Any action which is conducted against the core principles of the republic and is given legal precedent allows for the same action to be taken later without the consent, or issuing of legality, from the state, as Julius made so abundantly clear in his speech to the senate on the topic of the war with Catiline.