Colonialism
is the establishment, exploitation, maintenance, acquisition, and expansion of
colony in one territory by a political power from another territory. It is a
set of unequal relationships between the colonial power and the colony and
often between the colonists and the indigenous population.
The European
colonial period was the era from the 16th century to the mid-20th
century when several European powers established colonies in Asia, Africa, and
the Americas.
Colonialism
- Evolved from the war/competition among France, Germany, United States, and Great Britain
- From the pressure of France, Germany & US, Britain aggressively pursued colonization to continue economic growth
- By the use of powerful naval forces, Britain annexed foreign territories(colony) rapidly all over the world
- In the mean time France and Germany also involved in expanding their colonies
- Therefore, all the 3 power involved in feud for expansion of colony particularly in Africa
- To capitalize this situation Berlin Conference was held. In that conference 14 representatives from 14 nations joined and unanimously agreed for portioning Africa among them for their colony.
Economic benefit from colonialism
- Employment of capital in the colonies helped increase Europe’s profit by maintaining the productivity level of capital that remained behind.
- Colonization provided guaranteed access to raw materials and markets for Europe’s industries
- Colonies become a cheap source of food products for the colonial power
- Provided a crucial safety valve for the unemployed and underemployed people
- Colonization reduced the price of high quality foreign products, such as-porcelain from China, tea & spices from India, ivory from Africa, sugar of West Indies etc.
