History of European Colonization: 1750-2000
1. Introduction
• European expansion
o Was extensive! 1,6% of the planet’s surface colonized the rest!
o BUT few non-colonized states: Abyssinia (apart from 1936-1944 (Fascist Italy))
Liberia, most of the Arabian Peninsula, Afghanistan, Thailand (between British and
French empire), parts of China, Japan and Turkey (Ottoman Empire)
1.1. Definitions (No clear-cut definitions! Open for interpretation!)
1.1.1. Expansion
• No colonization
o Exodus: group of people that moves from one place to another and settles there,
because of ecological reasons, persecution… à group is not controlled by a
metropole (= capital of colonial empire) so no colonization
o Emigration: individual movement to other places, they mostly integrate in existent
societies (might take some time and may preserve certain parts of old way of life)
• Border colonization: expanding the border, pushing the frontier, exploiting and
exploring new regions adjacent to the country (different from colonization we talk about)
• Colonization
o Just naval networks: e.g. Portugal
o Others relied on overseas settlement
o Many differences: sometimes majority of settlers (‘white settler colonies’, e.g. US,
New Zealand, Australia, South Africa…), or majority of indigenous settlers
1.1.2. Colony
• A colony is a new political organization created by invasion (conquest and/or settlement
colonization (war or simple migration)) – Jürgen Osterhammel: Colonialism
• Its alien rulers are in sustained dependence on a geographically remote ‘mother
country’ or imperial center, which claims exclusive rights of ‘possession’ of the colony
o Some colonies politically important, some economically, but ALWAYS these 3
elements
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, 1.1.3. Colonialism
• Colonialism is a relationship of domination between indigenous (or forcibly imported)
majority and a minority of foreign invaders. The fundamental decisions affecting the lives
of the colonized people are made and implemented by the colonial rulers in pursuit of
interests that are often defined in a distant metropolis. Rejecting cultural compromises
with the colonized population, the colonizers are convinced of their own superiority and
of their ordained mandate to rule”
1.1.4. Colonization
• = The process of creating a colony, in the situation of colonialism
• Goes hand in hand with colony / colonialism, but:
o Colonies without colonization
§ E.g. only military conquest (Northern Africa (Sahara) was all part of French
empire, but it didn’t all colonize these regions)
o Colonization without colonies
§ E.g. border colonization, just about moving the border
• Other forms
o Internal colonialization (colonies colonizing their own territories)
§ E.g. Brazil and the hinterland (inland Brazil gradually colonized, even after 1822)
o Subcolonial relations
§ Between one colony and another colony of the empire
§ E.g. Brazil colonized Angola,…
1.1.5. Different types
• Different types of colonies
o Administration and legal statuses
§ Viceroyalties, audiencias, protectorates, Crown colonies, free states (no
taxation), overseas provinces (e.g. French Guyana, Algeria in the past), League
of Nation mandates (after WWI), UN trusteeship territories (after WWII),…
o Economy and population
§ Pure settlement colonies, plantation colonies, exploitation colonies, trading
settlements, maritime enclaves,…
• Different types of empires
o Formal empires
§ Several ‘peripheries’ are subordinated to the center
§ E.g. Portugal, Spain, Dutch Republic, France, Britain
o Semi-empires
§ Colonial powers without empires
§ E.g. Spain post 1820, Belgium
o Informal empires
§ Pursue interests beyond acquisition of territory (making countries economically
dependent, interfering in politics,… but countries themselves are independent)
§ E.g. China, 19th-century Britain in Latin America, etc.
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, 1.1.6. Imperialism
• Colonialism refers to a colony, imperialism refers to an empire (larger, more examples)
• Comprises all forces and activities contributing to the construction and maintenance of
empires
• Imperialism is more comprehensive than colonialism
• Colonialism is a special manifestation of imperialism
• No absolute difference between imperialism and colonialism
1.1.7. Examples
• Imperialism vs. colonization
o Relationship between metropolis and conquered areas
§ The Roman Empire: non-Roman Roman emperors (Trajan (°Spain), Hadrian
(°Spain), Septimus Severus (°Libya), Philip the Arab (°Syria))
§ The Tatar (Mongol) Empire: the Tatar’s assimilation (conversion from Tengrism
and Buddhism to Islam & Kublai Khan (1215-1294), grandson of Genghis Khan
and first emperor of the Yuan dynasty of China)
§ The Austrian Habsburg Empire: Charles V (1500-1555) king of Spain and
emperor, born in Ghent
è Colonial empires: metropole rules colonies ó here: people from the
colonies were also involved in the rule of the empire
o Border colonization
§ E.g. The Tatar Empire, the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union
¨ Features of colonialism present in these examples
¨ Russification under Russian Empire ó soviets embraced the ethnic diversity
of Russia à categorizing of people in ethnic terms (happened also in Africa)
o Plethora of empires in world history
§ E.g. China under Han, Jin, Tang, Yuan, Ming & Qing
§ E.g. Precolonial empires in Western Africa
§ E.g. The Inca Empire
§ E.g. The Abassid empire under khalif Hārūn al-Rashīd (763-809)
§ E.g. The Ottoman Empire
• Colonization vs. European colonization
o Not subordinate to metropole
§ The Vikings
§ The Crusader States
§ German colonization in the Baltic
§ The German colonization of Central Europe
o Ancient past or present-day
§ Greek colonies (9-6th century BCE)
§ Phoenician colonies (16-5th century BCE)
§ Israeli’s settling in West Bank (Palestine) (ongoing)
§ Chinese economic takeover of Africa (ongoing)
o Scale of European colonization (much grander scale!)
§ Portuguese explorations and settlements
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, § The Dutch colonial empire
§ Territories with a Spanish past
§ The French colonial empires
§ The British Empire at its territorial peak (1921)
• Voyages
o E.g. the voyages of discovery by Christopher Columbus (1492-1504) or James Cook
(1768-1779)
o E.g. the travels of Ibn Battuta (1325-1356): different from the first example in that
there was no exploitation (simply a voyage) and it was almost all within one cultural
sphere (within Muslim territories, apart from China)
o E.g. the voyages of Ma Huan (1413-1415) and Cheng-ho (Zhèng Hé) (1405-1431):
different from the first example in that there was no conquest, exploitation or
permanent settlement
o E.g. the voyages of Marco Polo (1271-1295): again different from the first example
in that it was a simple voyage without settlement
1.1.8. Periodization
• David Landes
o The Wealth and Poverty of Nations (1998): “For the last thousand years, Europe (the
West) has been the prime mover of development and modernity”
o Dated the start of European expansion in the year 1000
• Immanuel Wallerstein
o The Modern World-System (1974-89)
o 16th century: rise of one single capitalist world economy à 3 different regions
§ North-western Europe: core (prime mover)
§ Rest of Europe: semi-periphery (provided the food for the core)
§ Rest of the world: periphery (underwent these developments in the core)
è Criticism: too simplistic, reduces world history to one simple scheme and it
makes many factual mistakes (for example: there was no single core in the 16th
or 17th century à there were other prime movers within modern history (China))
• Kenneth Pomeranz
o The Great Divergence: Europe & Asia’s economic development started to diverge
o Different core areas in the 18th century Old World (ó Wallerstein: only one core)
§ NW Europe & Chinese and Japanese cores
o Many parallels (development much more similar than previously thought!)
§ In terms of life expectancy, consumption, markets, ...
§ Asian GNP vs. European GNP
¨ 1750: 130% (Asia wealthier than Europe) - 1800: 100% (equal) - 1870: 50%
¨ The great divergence took place at the beginning of the 19th century!
o Divergence in early 19th century
§ European shortage of energy that lead to the need for innovation
¨ Lack of timber à coal à steam à Industrial Revolution
§ East Asian hinterlands boomed and continued growing (no similar problem)
¨ Prevented need for innovation
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