Four Factors will influence British colonial policy in Burma: (1) public opinion in various countries of the world; (2) liberal thought in England itself; (3) Japan's occupation of Burma; and (4) the growth of nationalism within Burma.

Though all these factors are important, this discussion will be concerned with only the last, namely, Burmese nationalism and its development. Burmese nationalism is of fairly recent origin. After the annexation of Burma by the British in 1886, there was no nationalistic movement revolving about the dethroned Burmese king or the royal family. It was not until after the first World War that the Burmans showed any marked interest in national politics. In 1923,after certain reforms had been introduced organizations of a nationalist character known as wunthanu were formed. The avowed purpose of these groups was to obtain a larger voice in local administration.

Gialong (1802–20) owed his throne and the establishment of the Empire of Annam to the assistance of the French, particularly that of the missionary, Pierre Pigneau de Béhaine, Bishop of Adran. At this time the French undoubtedly could have had a protectorate over Annam for the asking, Gialong protected the French and Spanish missionaries during his reign and tried to give the French some trade advantages; but his successors, Ming Mang (1820–41), Thieu-Tri (1841–47), and Tuduc (1847–83), persecuted the missionaries and closed the country to European trade. In 1856, Charles de Montigny, a French diplomat, returning to his post in China, was ordered to make treaties of commerce with Siam and Annam and to secure the protection of the French missionaries in Annam. At Singapore, he received orders to stop at Cambodia, in response to overtures which Ang Duong, king of that country (1842–59), had made. toward a French protectorate. In 1856 Montigny made a treaty with Mong kut, king of Siam (1851–68), and although he stopped at the Cambodian seaport of Kampot, he did not visit the capital or make an alliance with Ang Duong, much to that monarch's chagrin. He was badly received at Tourane and Hué and did not succeed in making a treaty of any kind with Annam.

When considered in retrospect, one of the most interesting phases of the recent Sino-Japanese conflict was a local condition that arose in North China between the years 1935–37, known to the Japanese as the “special trade” in China.

Following the Mukden incident of September 18, 1931, the Kwangtung Army began its inexorable march to the southward. Within two years Manchuria had been conquered, an independent “Manchukuo” had been proclaimed, and Japanese troops stood at the gates of the Great Wall. The story of Japanese penetration beyond that historic barrier is a fascinating study in diplomacy. For four years, the Island Empire sought by every means short of war to establish its position of paramountcy in North China. Intrigue on a vast scale, involving official proclamations, “spontaneous” autonomy movements, organized smuggling, threats of reprisals, and even direct military action was the order of the day.

In 1931 Malinowski wrote, “Although a great deal is known about the technology of house building and even about the structure of houses in various cultures and although a fair amount is also known about the constitution of the family, few accounts deal with the relation between the form of the dwelling and the form of domestic arrangements, on the one hand, and the constitution of the family, on the other, and yet such a relation does exist.” Malinowski then goes on to explain that the extended house is a function of the large, or extended family; while the club house, or men's house, is a function of age grouping, secret societies, or sexual abstinence or laxity.