#6 Understanding Colonialism: Globalisation from 1492
In this blog, I explore the extent and characteristics of European Colonisation from 1492. Just 60 years ago, both the French, the Dutch and British were deeply proud of their colonial achievements. In school every child would read maps covered pink or green, illustrating the power and might of their nation-state. Today, this history has been hidden and children no longer have any idea of these facts. It was colonialism that changed the world, that lead to wealth and power being turned on its head.
Colonisation is the invasion of another people’s land followed by dictatorial rule. Although preindustrial empires had all colonised and rule; what characterised European colonisation was:
The geographical extent. Europeans colonised almost the entire world, meaning they colonised areas that had not been previously such as the Americas, Africa and Asia. (Although every continent can point out a few areas that were left untouched, such as Ethiopia in Africa, Iran and Saudi Arabia in the Middle East, Thailand, Nepal and Afghanistan in Asia.)
The ferocity of invasions. In some continents, European colonisation wiped out previous civilisations, as in the Americas or Australia.
Finally, the forms of exploitation which varied in time and place: everywhere the local peoples were taxed; the labour of the inhabitants was mobilised; the minerals in the ground were exploited for western industrial needs. The following blogs will spell out some of these characteristics in more detail.
The many great empires in every continent, that spread across the world in 1492 when Drake first crossed the Atlantic Ocean had already been in existence for many hundreds and in some cases thousands of years. Between 1500 and 1918, all the existing ancient empires in the Americas, Asia Africa and Europe would be destroyed. First to go were the Aztecs and the Incas, in the 16th century. In Europe, the Holy Roman Empire disappeared in 1815, and the Austro/Hungarian empire 100 years later after the 1914/18 war. In the Middle East and Europe, the Ottoman Empire also disappeared after the 1914/18 war. In Asia, the Mughal Empire collapsed slowly after their defeat by the East Indian Company forces, from the middle 18th to the middle 19th century. Likewise, China from 1846 until 1912. Finally, the ancient Russian empire was defeated and collapsed also after 1918.
New and very different global empires arose, which would unleash forces causing deep turbulence across the world, and human life would be altered in ways which no-one at the time could have predicted. First from Europe, then the United States of North America, and finally through Japanese expansion, all would be contested. The first ‘capitalist’ empires were the British. Germany contested British supremacy after she unified her territory in 1871. The 1914/18 and 19139/45 wars followed. The USA then took over as the world’s global power without any opposition in the 1940s. Without provocation, the USA then turned on the USSR. The USSR collapsed in 1989. Outside of this, China’s economy grew at unprecedented speed and began a fresh conflict between two of the wealthiest nations: China and the USA. Although I deal with all these clashes in many future blogs in greater detail, what is important to note is that this contest for supremacy on the global stage remains with us to this day.
The destruction of great empires and the rise of new Capitalist empires is a central part of the global story. The first part was the destruction of the European feudal system and the weakening of the ancient silk trading routes as new forms of European dominant trade developed. Following this was the continuous weakening of all the ancient empires. All realised that the powerful Europeans posed a significant threat and attempted to arm themselves with the most contemporary weaponry. As we will see in future blogs all failed, except for Japan. It is in this part of the story that we see the decline and then eradication of those ancient empires.
I chose 1492 and the invasion of today’s Mexico as the starting date for European colonisation. This point marks the beginning of new wealth from invading and settling on other peoples’ lands and this was the key impetus that stimulated profound changes to the ancient feudal order throughout Europe.
This overall process consists of three historical phases that help to put colonisation into perspective:
1492 to 1763, followed by an interlude between 1763 and 1815 with widespread wars and revolutions
1815 to 1914, followed by an interlude of global wars between 1914 and 1945
1945 to the present, with incessant wars outside Europe and the United States of America
In the first three centuries after 1492, i.e. until around 1800, colonisation had dire consequences for the peoples on the receiving end, including huge loss of life through famine, slavery and holocausts.
The question we need to ask is: how did the European’s loosen the ideological and emotional bonds that held their societies together so that they considered non-white peoples as lesser beings to themselves? One of the key components of ancient empires and civilisations is the bonds that hold rulers and ruled together in varying symbiotic relations. In nearly all ancient civilisations, people of different faiths lived side by side.
Western European colonising nations broke free from these ancient bonds and axioms. The Protestant Reformation created the ideological condition for a new world order that altered the morality of greed and wealth. The Reformation was an important ideological process that utilised religion that led to the legitimation of everlasting personal enrichment through exploitation? This is an important question. A break away from ancient traditions such as these became visible and physical after 1492, and the global consequences have affected us ever since.
The discovery of Aztec gold in 1492 was crucial, as this gold drew white European settlers. So, the question we need to ask is: how did greed break loose from the existing confines and values of European religion?
Maps
A map of the British Empire in 1921.
This map shows the French colonial empire from the 17th-20th century. The lightest blue shows France, the slightly darker blue shows France’s first colonial empire (after 1534) and the darkest blue shows the second colonial empire (after 1830).
Anachronous map of the Dutch colonial Empire.
Light green: territories administered by or originating from territories administered by the Dutch East India Company
Dark green: territories administered by or originating from territories administered by the Dutch West India Company
Orange squares indicate smaller trading posts, the so-called handelsposten.
View a map of Spanish and Portuguese empires in 1790 via the Wikimedia Commons website.
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The early Colonies from 1492 onwards were all ruled and settled by ‘white settlers.’ The areas settled included the Americas and to a small extent the Portuguese colonised Africa, and the Dutch settled in Southern Africa in 1652. All of these can be characterised as ‘settler colonies.’