COLONIALISM

INTRODUCTION

• Modern historians refer to the period from the late nineteenth century to the middle of the twentieth century as ‘the age of modern imperialism.’

• The term ‘imperialism‘ was coined by Benjamin Disraeli in 1872, in the context of the British general election of 1874.

• Among the most famous critics of imperialism are J.A. Hobson, a British liberal, and V.L. Lenin, the Russian Marxist leader of the Bolshevik revolution.

• A more accurate term for the period is ‘the age of colonial empires.’

• In the second half of the nineteenth century, Karl Marx and Frederick Engels used the term ‘colonialism.’

• Hobson was the first to critique imperialism from an economic perspective, and this was followed by political economists and historians in an ongoing vigorous debate.

• Imperialism, in its pure sense, is a political concept signifying the power of one country over others.

• In its pure sense, colonialism is a demographic concept referring to the presence of a population in a foreign country.

• When a population lives in a country other than its own and interacts with the local population, they are called ‘aliens,’ ‘immigrants,’ or ‘minorities.’

• When a foreign population dominates the local population in terms of number or power, they are called ‘colonisers,’ which entails a relation of power.

• Power over others is considered political power in social sciences.

• Imperial power requires a ‘centre’ abroad from which the power is derived, while colonialism does not necessarily require this centre.

• Imperial rule involves the presence of personnel of the imperial government in the subject country, even temporarily.

• Both colonialism and imperialism have strong economic contents.

THE ORIGIN AND GROWTH OF MODERN COLONIALISM

The Economics of Colonialism

• Colonisation and empire building are ancient practices, with Ancient Greece and Rome having both colonies and empires.

• Empires referred to larger territories than colonies.

• Colonisation was supported by the ‘home country’, which derived revenues from the colonies.

• In the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, European powers began a vigorous colonisation drive in search of land and natural resources like gold.

• The continents of America and Africa were the first victims of this drive, followed by Asia and Australia.

• According to historian G.M. Trevelyan, England’s statesmen and merchants highly valued her American colonies in the seventeenth century.

• Overseas possessions had two main purposes:

  • Providing an outlet for the energetic, dissident, oppressed, debtors, criminals, and failures from England, allowing them to contribute to the colony’s development.

  • Serving as markets for raw materials to be bought and manufactured goods to be sold, benefiting England’s industry and commerce.

• In the late eighteenth century, the thirteen British colonies in North America seceded from the empire and became states, but they remained colonies in many ways.

• In Latin America, Portuguese and Spanish colonies underwent a similar process of secession, though with some differences, influenced by Creole nationalism backed by the United Kingdom and the United States.

• By the mid-nineteenth century, the United Kingdom emerged as the biggest colonial empire in the world.

• In 1858, the British Crown took over the administration of India from the English East India Company.

• The UK granted local autonomy to its white colonies while maintaining financial control over their economies.

• Netherlands and France had colonial possessions in South-East Asia and Africa, and Belgium acquired a colony in Africa’s Congo.

• A fierce rivalry for colonial possessions in Africa emerged in the last quarter of the nineteenth century, particularly when Germany joined the race.

• This rivalry eventually contributed to the outbreak of World War 1.