Since historical times, native-born peoples have lived in Southeast Asia. People from China moved southward to reach Southeast Asia. The age of Bronze and Iron had passed from China into Southeast Asia about 300 BC. The Chinese Sung Dynasty had become involved more and more with international trade by the 12th century. There were Chinese and Indian migrants who have reached and lived in Southeast Asia for a long time. These civilizations impacted Southeast societies. Southeast Asia is home to several major kingdoms, including Angkor. At about 1300, there were two major kingdoms in the region. The Sukhotai and the Majapahit. During the 12th and 14th century, there was an active spice trade with Southeast Asia. Therefor, they were exposed to different civilizations, cultures and religions for thousands of years. Animism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Hinduism, Islam and Taoism play a role in the Southeast of Asia.

The Spanish and Portuguese governments signed the Treaty of Tordesillas in 1494. They divided the world in two spheres. The imaginary line ran through the Atlantic. Spain gained lands to the west, including the Americas, except Brazil. The eastern half including Africa and India was given to Portugal. The issue of where the line should be drawn in Asia stayed.

The Portuguese were the first Europeans to dominate in Southeast Asia. The set up trading posts in military-occupied ports after they seized Malacca in 1511. Southeast Asia felt Portuguese impact the least, because they controlled only a small territory of east Timor. The Dutch captured Malacca in 1641.

Magellan, just like Columbus before him, believed the Spice islands can be reached by sailing west, around the New World. As Magellan did not receive any support of from the Portuguese monarchy, he sought and got assistance of the Spanish King, Charles I in 1518. He departed with 270 men on five ships. In 1521, Ferdinand Magellan reached the Philippines and befriended the island king, Datu Humabon. Later, Magellan was killed in a battle in Mactan. Sebastian del Cano took over the remaining three ships and 115 survivors. Two ships arrived on the Spice Islands, loaded with valuable spices. The Victoria continued west and was so the first ship to circumnavigate the globe. The Spanish expeditions between 1525 and 1536 claimed the Philippines. They conquered Cebu and by 1600 had gained control of most of the archipelago (= island group).

The Dutch arrived in Indonesia in 1596. The Dutch East India Company (= Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie) conducted the Dutch colonialism from 1605 tot 1799. Its main preoccupation was profits in trade through monopolies, not political rule. The government of the Netherlands took over their assets in 1825 and put Indonesia under its administrative authority. The Dutch occupied Borneo, Celebes, Java and Sumatra. The Netherlands took control of most of the commercial islands in the East Indies.

Britain acquired parts of its empire through its traders. Using their navies, the British penetrated Southeast Asia from the west side. The British set up Singapore in 1819. In 1824, the Dutch ceded Malacca to Britain. Between 1826 and 1888, the British used force to annex Burma in three Anglo-Burmese Wars. They ruled it as a Province of British India with top British and middle Indian administrators. Penang, Singapore, and Malacca were governed as the Straits Settlements from which Britain expanded into Malay Peninsula from 1874 to 1914.

The French went to Vietnam in 1858 and seized Saigon in 1859. By 1867, the French annexed Cochin China and Cambodia. Cochin China was the base from which they moved westward and northward. They set up protectorates (= a state protected by another state for defense) over Annam, Laos and Tonkin by 1893.

Filipino revolutionaries fought against the Spaniards, with Andrés Bonifacio as the leader of the Katipunan to be the first Asian country to be independent in 1898. However, the U.S did not recognize the independence and took the reigns of power. The U.S. moved in to colonize the Philippines. For ten years, the Philippine-American War went on.

The French completed their conquest of Indochina by 1907.

The Philippines became commonwealth in 1935 and independent in 1946.

Britain consented to separate Burma from India in 1935 and this was put into force in 1937. Burma negotiated with Britain for its independence in 1948.

After WWII, the Dutch could not keep the East Indies. The Indonesians fought during the war to set up their republic. The Indonesian independence was recognized in 1949. The French fought war trying to maintain their Southeast Asian territories. The French were humiliated at Dien Bien Phu in 1954. Vietnam gained its independence from at the Geneva Conference of 1954.

The Malay States negotiated for and gained independence as the Federation of Malaya in 1957.