Colonial system: events and facts

World history contains a huge number of events, names, dates, which are placed in several dozen or even hundreds of different textbooks. Different authors have different views on these or other circumstances, but they are united by facts that one way or another should be told. In the world history there are phenomena that appeared once and for long, and others that appeared several times, but for short periods. One of these phenomena is the colonial system. In the article we will tell you what it is, where it was distributed and how gone.

What is the colonial system?

The world colonial system, or colonialism, is a situation where the countries developed in the industrial, cultural, and economic spheres dominate the rest of the world (less developed countries or third world countries).

Dominance was usually established after armed attacks and subjugation of the state. It was expressed in the imposition of economic and political principles and rules of existence.

When it was?

The beginnings of the colonial system appeared in the 15th century in the era of the Great Discoveries, together with the discovery of India and America. Then the indigenous peoples of the open territories had to recognize the technological superiority of foreigners. The first real colonies were formed by Spain in the 17th century. Gradually began to seize and spread their influence Britain, France, Portugal, the Netherlands. Later, the United States and Japan joined them.

By the end of the 19th century, most of the world was divided among the great powers. Russia actively did not participate in the colonization, but also subjugated some neighboring territories.

Who belonged to whom?

Belonging to one or another country determined the course of the development of the colony. How widespread the colonial system was, the table below will tell the best.

There were also smaller colonies, but it can be seen from the table that only Antarctica and Antarctica did not have any influence, because they did not have raw materials and a platform for the development of industry, economy, and life in general. The colonies were governed by governors appointed by the ruler of the metropolitan state, or through constant visits to colonies.

Characteristic features of the period

The period of colonialism has its own characteristics:

• All actions are aimed at establishing a monopoly in trade with colonial territories, that is, the metropolitan countries wanted the colonies to establish trade relations only with them and with no one else,
• Armed attacks and the plundering of entire states, and then subordination to themselves,
• The use of feudal and slave-owning forms of exploitation of the population of the colony countries, which turned them almost into slaves.

Thanks to this policy, the countries that owned the colonies quickly acquired capital reserves, which allowed them to reach the leading positions in the world arena. So, it was thanks to the colonies and their financial means that England became the most developed country of that time.

How did it fall apart?

The colonial system of the world disintegrated not immediately, at once. This process was gradual. The main period of the loss of influence over the colony countries came at the end of the Second World War (1941-1945), since people believed that one could live without oppression and control from another country.

Somewhere the way out of the influence was peaceful, with the help of agreements and signing agreements, and somewhere - through military and insurgent actions. Some countries in Africa and Oceania are still under US rule, but do not experience such oppression as it was in the 18-19 centuries.

Consequences of the colonial system

It is difficult to call a colonial system an unambiguously positive or negative phenomenon in the life of the world community. It had both positive and negative sides for both the metropolitan states and the colonies. The collapse of the colonial system led to certain consequences.

For the metropolises, they were as follows:

• The fall in its own production capacity due to the possession of markets and resources of the colonies and, therefore, the lack of incentives,
• Investment of capital in the colony to the detriment of the metropolis,
• Lag in competition and development from other countries because of increased concern for the colonies.

For colonies:

• Destruction and loss of traditional culture and way of life, complete extermination of some nationalities;
• Devastation of natural and cultural reserves;
• Decrease in the number of the local population of the colonies due to attacks by the metropolises, epidemics, famine, etc.;
• The emergence of their industry and intelligentsia;
• The emergence of the foundations for the future independent development of the country.