Timor-Leste's Colonial Heritage from the Early Modern Era to the Second World War

Abstract

The study of Timor-Leste's colonial heritage requires analysis over four centuries of history. The country has been historically underestimated despite its limited resources, resilience and agency. Traditional academic views influenced by a military-oriented framework fail to explain how Timor-Leste survived and maintained its culture under imperialism and colonialism. Timor-Leste has proven to be a pivot in Asia, an actor to be watched, whose circumstances have had consequences elsewhere. This study adopts a small states perspective and a multilingual methodology to understand the strategic value of Portuguese Timor and explore its unique challenges of state formation from the early modern era up to the Second World War.