Straits Settlements
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The Straits Settlements (German approximately: " Settlements on the Strait") comprised the British Crown Colonies in Southeast Asia on the Strait of Malacca . They existed from 1826 to 1946. The most important possessions were Penang , Dinding , Malacca and Singapore .
Its great strategic importance for the Empire was based on its location on the spice route from East Asia to India and Europe. As a result, Singapore in particular developed into an important trading base. They were also important as a supply base for the British military during the Opium War .
Foundation and expansion
The establishment of the Straits Settlements in 1826 was an administrative consequence of the establishment of three British possessions on the west coast of Malaysia.
In 1786, Francis Light bought Penang Island for the East India Company. The opposite coastline, the province of Wellesley, was later included.
Another development was the establishment of Singapore by Stamford Raffles in 1819.
In 1824 a treaty between Great Britain and the Netherlands was signed . In this treaty, the Malay archipelago was divided into a British zone in the north, on the Malay mainland, and a Dutch zone in the south, on the islands of Southeast Asia . This brought the colony of Bengkulu on Sumatra to the Netherlands and Malacca to England .
The capital of the Straits Settlements was first Georgetown on Penang and from 1832 Singapore.
On April 1, 1867, the Straits Settlements became a British Crown Colony . The Christmas Island and the Cocos Islands were annexed, and on 30 October 1906, Labuan . The governor of the Straits Settlements was also the high commissioner of the Malay States and Johore , Sarawak , Brunei and British North Borneo , which were all British protectorates at the time.
The appearance of the cities, villages and landscapes and their people at that time was captured in countless photos by GR Lambert & Co.
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On April 1, 1946, the Straits Settlements were dissolved. Singapore, initially together with Labuan, became its own crown colony. Penang and Malacca became part of the Malay Union as crown colonies , to which Labuan was also joined on July 15, 1946. Christmas Island and the Cocos Islands were placed under Australian administration.
