military force
The british and definately not the spanish
Prince Henry the Navigator was very interested in finding out a trade route around Africa that would bypass the Moors of North Africa. The expeditions that followed put Portugal at the forefront of sea route explorations to Asia.
The moors vasco de gama discovered the spice after traveling to India
a sea route between Portugal and India
military force
The last one to gain independence was Brunei.
Portugal
It didn't; Spain DID gain control of most of Latin America.
Cambodia, Laos, and Burma
Arabs
the spice trade was very profitable at this time.
the treaty that gave portugal cotrol of parts of the new world including brazil.
Both the Dutch and the British wanted to gain control over the area and the wealth that was coming from its resources, so the countries would be The Netherlands and Britain.
The Treaty of Tordesillas, signed in 1494, divided newly discovered lands outside Europe between Spain and Portugal. Spain gained control over most of the newly discovered lands in the Americas, while Portugal gained control over the eastern route to Asia and territories in Africa and Asia. The treaty helped Spain establish its dominance in the Americas during the age of exploration.
There was natural resources that were "wealth" to imperialist nations. The area was also a market for European products. With a weak Chinese government in power, it was easy for imperialists to take advantage of China and Southeast Asia.
The british and definately not the spanish