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Introduction to Colonization & Decolonization: Case Studies in Modern Africa and Asia. Colonization in 1945. Terms.
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Introduction to Colonization & Decolonization: Case Studies in Modern Africa and Asia Colonization in 1945
Terms • colonialism: one country’s domination of another country or people, usually achieved through aggressive actions; involves formal political control of one country over another • colony: the territory acquired, usually through aggressive actions • colonization: the act of colonizing • imperialism: similar to colonialism but used more broadly to refer to political or economic control exercised either formally or informally • new imperialism: period of European imperialism involving extension of formal political control in Africa and Asia, 1870-1914 • decolonization: process of granting independence to a colony; refers particularly to the period after WWII when European colonies in Africa and Asia achieved independence
History of Imperialism – Periods: • Imperialism before 1450 • Age of European Exploration & Early Modern European Imperialism (1450-1700) • European Merchant Empires (1700-1815) • Imperialism of Free Trade (1815-1870) • New Imperialism (1870-1914) • Mandates (post-WWI) & Trusts (post-WWII) • Decolonization (1945-1970) • Modern Economic Imperialism & Neocolonialism
I. Imperialism before 1450 • one state attempts to dominate all others through unified system of control • new territories usually adjacent or nearly adjacent to imperial center
II. Age of European Exploration & Early Modern European Imperialism (1450-1700) • emerging European nation-states compete for political and economic power drives exploration of and expansion into new lands • extension of formal political control over territories • new territories typically overseas – in S and SE Asia and New World
Why? ECONOMIC/POLITICAL POWER • desire for products • mercantilism – control trade of colonies in order to reap benefits • trade as war
Trading Companies • British East India Company (1600) • Dutch East India Company (1602) • Dutch West India Company (1621)
Why? GOD (i.e. RELIGION)
Who? • Portugal (1415) • Spain • Netherlands, England, France
In 1492 …. … Columbus sailed the ocean blue …
… and the lucky guy ran into a giant heap of dirt in the way of his targeted destination. Result: Spain builds a colonial empire in the so-called “New World.”
Going back a bit to 1488 … Bartholomeu Dias reaches the Cape of Good Hope [And 518 years later, so did I!]
And in 1498… Vasco da Gama rounds the southernmost tip of Africa... … and reaches India via the sea Cape Agulhas
French Colonial Empire Key light blue = first empire of 1600s-1700s; dark blue = second empire, built after 1830
III. European Merchant Empires (1700-1815) • by 18th c. European exploration and expansion resulted in the creation of powerful sea-based empires • world system = area where different cultures are related through commercial and other interactions
3 world systems North Atlantic South Atlantic Indian Ocean
North Atlantic system • regions: Western Europe, Russia, the Baltic, Scandinavia, Newfoundland, Canada and northeastern USA • colonial powers: French, Dutch, English • main products: timber, fish, fur
South Atlantic system • regions: South and Central America, Brazil, Caribbean, West Africa, southeastern USA • colonial powers: Spanish, Portuguese, English • main products: silver, sugar, tobacco, African slaves, cotton
Indian Ocean system • regions: South and Southeast Asia, East Africa • colonial power: Britain • main products: spices, silk, other luxury goods
IV. Imperialism of Free Trade (1815-1870) • extension of informal influence (namely economic) rather than asserting formal political control • driven by capitalism • product of Industrial Revolution (begins in Britain ca. 1780) • Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations (1776)
V. New Imperialism (1870-1914) • states resume extending formal political control, not just economic or diplomatic influence • territories acquired in Africa and Asia • still driven by capitalism
VI. Mandates (post-WWI) & Trusts (post-WWII) • League of Nations mandates – transferred control of German and Ottoman colonies to WWI victors • United Nations Trust Territories – successors to mandates when UN replaced League of Nations in 1946 • colonial power required to set target date for trust’s independence
League of Nations mandates in Africa, the Middle East, and the Pacific
VIII. Modern Economic Imperialism & Neocolonialism economic domination: the domination by a powerful, usually Western nation of another nation that is politically independent but has a weak economy greatly dependent on trade with the powerful nation