The 17th century colonial offensive against the region launched primarily by Holland, Britain and France was much more harmful. It ravaged altogether the region's maritime trade. The Dutch East India Company entangled all more or less significant countries of Indonesia and Malaya bv shackling agreements. The Siam, which suffered most from British and French expansion, Burma, Cambodia, and Vietnam were made de facto, if not de jure, like Japan, closed countries. Their foreign trade actually came to a hault. Their economies fell back onto subsistence level heading into a deep economic recession. Up untill the mid-20th century Southeast Asia had been lagging hopelessly behind Europe.