Features of the formation of the colonial system
In a slave society, the word "colony" meant "settlement". Ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, Greece, Rome had colonies-settlements on foreign territory. Colonies in the modern sense of the word appeared in the era of the great geographical discoveries at the end of the 15th - beginning of the 16th centuries. As a result of the Great geographical discoveries, the formation of colonial system. This stage in the development of colonialism is associated with the formation of capitalist relations. Since that time, the concepts of "capitalism" and "colonialism" have been inextricably linked. Capitalism becomes the dominant socio-economic system, colonies are the most important factor accelerating this process. Colonial plunder and colonial trade were important sources of primitive capital accumulation.
A colony is a territory deprived of political and economic independence and dependent on metropolitan countries.
Initial period
The period of primitive accumulation of capital and manufacturing production predetermined the content and forms of relations between the colonies and mother countries. For Spain and Portugal, the colonies were primarily sources of gold and silver. Their natural practice was frank robbery up to the extermination of the indigenous population of the colonies. However, the gold and silver exported from the colonies did not accelerate the establishment of capitalist production in these countries. Much of the wealth plundered by the Spaniards and the Portuguese contributed to the development of capitalism in Holland and England. The Dutch and English bourgeoisie profited from the supply of goods to Spain, Portugal and their colonies. The colonies in Asia, Africa and America captured by Portugal and Spain became the object of colonial conquests by Holland and England
Period of industrial capitalism
The next stage in the development of the colonial system is associated with the industrial revolution, which begins in the last third of the 18th century. and ends in developed European countries around the middle of the 19th century. There comes a period exchange of goods, which draws the colonial countries into world commodity circulation. This leads to double consequences: on the one hand, the colonial countries turn into agrarian and raw materials appendages of the metropolises, on the other hand, the metropolises contribute to the socio-economic development of the colonies (the development of the local industry for the processing of raw materials, transport, communications, telegraph, printing, etc.). ).
By the beginning of the First World War, at the stage of monopoly capitalism, the colonial possessions of three European powers were formed:
At this stage, the territorial division of the world is completed. The leading colonial powers of the world are intensifying the export of capital to the colonies.
Colonialism in the XVI-XVII centuries.
Colonization of the African continent.
In the colonial policy of the European powers of the XVI-XVII centuries. African continent occupies a special place. Slavery existed in Africa for a number of centuries, but it was mainly patriarchal in nature and was not so tragic and destructive before the arrival of Europeans. slave trade the Portuguese began in the middle of the 15th century, then the British, Dutch, French, Danes, and Swedes joined it. (The centers of the slave trade were located mainly on the West coast of Africa - from Cape Verde to Angola, inclusive. Especially many slaves were exported from the Golden and Slave Coasts).
Colonialism of the period of industrial capitalism. The role of colonies in the economic development of metropolitan areas
Under the new historical conditions, the role of the colonies in the economic development of the metropolises is growing considerably. The possession of colonies contributed to industrial development, military superiority over other powers, maneuvering resources in the event of wars, economic crises, etc. In this regard, all colonial powers seek to expand their possessions. The increased technical equipment of the armies makes it possible to realize this. It was at this time that the "discoveries" of Japan and China took place, the establishment of British colonial rule in India, Burma, Africa was completed, Algeria, Tunisia, Vietnam and other countries were seized by France, Germany began to expand in Africa, the United States - in Latin America, China, Korea, Japan - in China, Korea, etc.
At the same time, the struggle of the mother countries for possession of colonies, sources of raw materials, and strategic positions in the East is intensifying.
Question number 16.
Formation of the colonial system and the world capitalist economy.
In the XVII-XVIII centuries. the boundaries of European civilization were constantly expanding: it is, of course, not about geographical expansion, but about the spread of ideas, value systems, socio-economic structures, etc. which the Europeans laid the foundations of the future colonial system. Traditional societies, as a rule, could not oppose this expansion and became easy prey for stronger opponents.
At the initial stage of colonization, Europeans usually did not interfere in the socio-political life of the conquered societies. For the conquerors it was important, first of all, the economic subordination of the colonies. That is why many elements of, for example, the ancient Indian civilization have survived to this day.
The colonial expansion of European countries led to their constant clashes in the struggle for the most profitable and rich lands. Naturally, in this rivalry, victory usually went to the most advanced, modernized countries. And since in this sense absolute leadership by the turn of the XVIII-XIX centuries. was for England, she also became the main colonial power, displacing in this competition, first Holland, and then France. In Latin America, Spain and Portugal still retained their gigantic possessions, but the weakness of these mother countries made the imminent death of their colonial empires inevitable.
Almost the entire African continent remained a huge undeveloped space, where Europeans occupied only narrow coastal strips. These were a kind of springboard, for a long time used to capture and export Negro slaves to America, as well as the extraction of minerals and other raw materials.
In the XVII-XVIII centuries. The expansion of Russia (and, accordingly, its authority in international politics) also increased sharply. But unlike the powers of the West, Russia did not occupy distant overseas lands, but annexed territories located near the core of the state. The most ambitious was the advance to the east, to the Pacific Ocean, then, already in the XVIII-XIX centuries, the borders of the empire expanded in the south (Caucasus, Crimea, Central Asia). Russian settlements appeared even in Alaska and in the region of the current US state of California, but in the 19th century. they were abandoned. In the west, the Russian Empire included Ukraine, Belarus, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, a significant part of ethnic Poland.
The forms of exploitation in the colonies varied. In Latin America, the Spaniards and the Portuguese made extensive use of slave labor. The slave plantation became the main form of economic activity. However, on the islands of the West Indies (and in a number of other regions), slavery was also resurrected by "advanced" England, Holland and France. And, for example, in Indonesia, the Dutch used the serf system of coercion, forcing local peasants to grow coffee, spices, and cane sugar - an extremely valuable product on European markets. In an effort to extract marginal profits from the colonies, trading companies brutally exploited European colonists as well (for example, in South Africa, to a lesser extent in Canada). And only in the North American colonies of England, as already mentioned, development immediately followed the capitalist path, and after gaining independence, a new civilizational center began to take shape here, successfully competing with the European one.
The formation of the United States was the first serious blow to the colonial system. An even more powerful blow was dealt to it already at the beginning of the 19th century. former Latin American colonies. But the huge African continent was mastered by the colonialists only to a small extent, so it was too early to talk about the crisis of the colonial system here. Rather, on the contrary: at the end of the 19th century, when all of Africa was captured and divided, this system was waiting for a kind of flowering.
Stages of formation and development of the world economy.
In its formation and development, the world economy has come a long and difficult path. Some researchers attribute its origin to the time of the Roman Empire. Others keep track of the functioning of the world economy since the great geographical discoveries of the 15th-16th centuries, which led to the accelerated development of international trade in jewelry, spices, precious metals, and slaves. But the world economy of this period was limited, remaining the sphere of application only of merchant capital.
The modern world economy arose after the industrial revolution, in the course of the development of capitalism into monopoly capitalism.
The main stages of the development of the world economy
|
Number |
Duration |
Characteristic |
|
XV-XVII centuries AD |
The birth of the world capitalist market: |
|
|
XVIII-XIX centuries AD |
Formation of the world capitalist market, the emergence and development of the global division of labor: |
|
|
The end of the 19th - the first half of the 20th century AD. |
Formation of a system of global division of labor and, on this basis, the world economy: |
|
|
From the 50s. 20th century until now |
The functioning of the system of the global division of labor, the strengthening of the interdependence of the economies of all countries: |
The international division of labor and its international cooperation laid the foundation for the emergence of the world market, which developed on the basis of domestic markets, gradually transcending national boundaries.
domestic market- a form of economic communication in which everything intended for sale comes true by the manufacturer within the country.
national market- the domestic market, part of which is focused on foreign buyers.
international market- part of the national markets, which is directly connected with foreign markets.
World market- the sphere of stable commodity-money relations between countries based on MRI and other factors of production.
The main characteristic features of the world market:
- is a category of commodity production that has gone beyond the national framework in search of marketing its products;
- manifests itself in the interstate movement of goods that are under the influence of internal and external demand and supply;
- optimizes the use of production factors, directing the manufacturer to industries and regions where they can be applied most efficiently;
- eliminates from international exchange goods and manufacturers that do not provide international quality standards at competitive prices.
The emergence of the world economy.
By the end of the XIX century. the development of the world market for goods has led to the intensification of international economic relations and their exit from the framework of international trade in goods. The growth of financial capital and the development of productive forces led to the emergence of a world economy, which is a higher stage in the development of a market economy than the world market and includes, in addition to traditional international trade, the international movement of factors of production and international enterprises arising on this basis.
Regulation of the world economy takes place with the help of measures of both national and interstate economic policy. The economies of individual countries are becoming more open and oriented towards IER.
world economy is a set of national economies of the countries of the world, interconnected by mobile factors of production.
Characteristic features of the modern world economy:
- development of the international movement of factors of production (capital, labor, technology);
- the growth of international forms of production at enterprises located in different countries (multinational companies, joint ventures ...);
- the economic policy of the states, providing support for the international movement of goods and factors of production on a bilateral and multilateral basis;
- the emergence of an open economy within many states and interstate associations.
The countries of Europe, having carried out modernization, received huge advantages in comparison with the rest of the world, which was based on the principles of traditionalism. This advantage also affected the military potential. Therefore, following the era of great geographical discoveries, associated mainly with reconnaissance expeditions, already in the 17th-18th centuries. colonial expansion to the East of the most developed countries of Europe began. Traditional civilizations, due to the backwardness of their development, were not able to resist this expansion and turned into easy prey for their stronger opponents. The prerequisites for colonialism originated in the era of the great geographical discoveries, namely in the 15th century, when Vasco da Gama opened the way to India, and Columbus reached the shores of America. When confronted with peoples of other cultures, Europeans demonstrated their technological superiority (ocean sailing ships and firearms). The first colonies were founded in the New World by the Spaniards. The robbery of the states of the American Indians contributed to the development of the European banking system, the growth of financial investments in science and stimulated the development of industry, which, in turn, required new raw materials.
The colonial policy of the period of primitive accumulation of capital is characterized by: the desire to establish a monopoly in trade with conquered territories, the seizure and plunder of entire countries, the use or imposition of predatory feudal and slave-owning forms of exploitation of the local population. This policy played a huge role in the process of primitive accumulation. It led to the concentration of large capital in the countries of Europe on the basis of the robbery of the colonies and the slave trade, which especially developed from the 2nd half of the 17th century and served as one of the levers for turning England into the most developed country of that time.
In the enslaved countries, the colonial policy caused the destruction of the productive forces, retarded the economic and political development of these countries, led to the plunder of vast regions and the extermination of entire peoples. Military confiscation methods played a major role in the exploitation of the colonies during that period.
At the first stage of the colonization of traditional societies, Spain and Portugal were in the lead. They managed to conquer most of South America.
Colonialism in modern times. As the transition from manufactory to large-scale factory industry, significant changes took place in colonial policy. The colonies are economically more closely connected with the metropolises, turning into their agrarian and raw-material appendages with a monocultural direction in the development of agriculture, into markets for industrial products and sources of raw materials for the growing capitalist industry of the metropolises. Thus, for example, the export of British cotton fabrics to India from 1814 to 1835 increased 65 times.
The spread of new methods of exploitation, the need to create special organs of colonial administration that could consolidate dominance over the local peoples, as well as the rivalry of various sections of the bourgeoisie in the mother countries, led to the liquidation of monopoly colonial trading companies and the transfer of the occupied countries and territories under the state administration of the mother countries.
The change in the forms and methods of exploitation of the colonies was not accompanied by a decrease in its intensity. Huge wealth was exported from the colonies. Their use led to the acceleration of socio-economic development in Europe and North America.
With the advent of the industrial age, Great Britain became the largest colonial power. Having defeated France in the course of a long struggle in the 18th and 19th centuries, she increased her possessions at her expense, as well as at the expense of the Netherlands, Spain and Portugal. Great Britain subjugated India. In 1840-42, and together with France in 1856-60, she waged the so-called Opium Wars against China, as a result of which she imposed favorable treaties on China. She took possession of Xianggang (Hong Kong), tried to subjugate Afghanistan, captured strongholds in the Persian Gulf, Aden. The colonial monopoly, together with the industrial monopoly, ensured Great Britain the position of the most powerful power throughout almost the entire 19th century. Colonial expansion was also carried out by other powers. France subjugated Algeria (1830-48), Vietnam (50-80s of the 19th century), established its protectorate over Cambodia (1863), Laos (1893). In 1885, the Congo became the possession of the Belgian King Leopold II, and a system of forced labor was established in the country.
In the middle of the XVIII century. Spain and Portugal began to lag behind in economic development and as maritime powers were relegated to the background. Leadership in the colonial conquests passed to England. Beginning in 1757, the trading English East India Company for almost a hundred years captured almost the entire Hindustan. Since 1706, the active colonization of North America by the British began.
African continent in the XVII-XVIII centuries. Europeans settled only on the coast and was used mainly as a source of slaves. In the 19th century Europeans moved far into the interior of the continent and by the middle of the 19th century. Africa was almost completely colonized. The exceptions were two countries: Christian Ethiopia, which offered staunch resistance to Italy, and Liberia, created by former slaves, immigrants from the United States.
In Southeast Asia, the French captured most of the territory of Indochina. Only Siam (Thailand) retained relative independence, but a large territory was also taken away from it.
Thus, in the XIX century. practically all the countries of the East fell into one form or another of dependence on the most powerful capitalist countries, turning into colonies or semi-colonies. For Western countries, the colonies were a source of raw materials, financial resources, labor, as well as markets. The exploitation of the colonies by the Western metropolises was of the most cruel, predatory character. At the cost of ruthless exploitation and robbery, the wealth of the western metropolises was created, a relatively high standard of living of their population was maintained.
Colony types:
According to the type of management, settlement and economic development in the history of colonialism, three main types of colonies were distinguished: Resettlement colonies. Raw colonies (or exploited colonies). Mixed (resettlement-raw material colonies).
Migration colonialism is a type of colonization management, the main purpose of which was to expand the living space of the titular ethnos of the metropolis to the detriment of the autochthonous peoples. The local population is suppressed, forced out, and often physically destroyed. An example of a modern resettlement colony is Israel.
The key points in the creation of resettlement colonies are two conditions: low density of the autochthonous population with a relative abundance of land and other natural resources. Naturally, migrant colonialism leads to a deep structural restructuring of the life and ecology of the region in comparison with resource (raw material colonialism), which, as a rule, sooner or later ends with decolonization.
The first examples of a mixed-type migrant colony were the colonies of Spain (Mexico, Peru) and Portugal (Brazil).
As time passed, the migrant colonies turned into new nations. This is how Argentines, Peruvians, Mexicans, Canadians, Brazilians, US Americans, Guiana Creoles, New Caledonian Caldoches, Breyons, French-Acadians, Cajuns and French-Canadians (Quebecs) arose. They continue to be connected with the former metropolis by language, religion and common culture.
Features of colony management.
Colonial dominance was administratively expressed either in the form of a "dominion" (direct control of the colony through a viceroy, captain-general or governor-general) or in the form of a "protectorate". The ideological substantiation of colonialism proceeded through the need to spread culture (culturism, modernization, westernization - this is the spread of Western values around the world) - "the burden of the white man."
The Spanish version of colonization meant the expansion of Catholicism, the Spanish language through the encomienda system. Encomienda is a form of dependence of the population of the Spanish colonies on the colonizers. The Dutch version of the colonization of South Africa meant apartheid, the expulsion of the local population and its imprisonment in reservations or bantustans. The colonists formed communities completely independent of the local population, which were recruited from people of various classes, including criminals and adventurers. Religious communities were also widespread. The power of the colonial administration was exercised according to the principle of "divide and rule" by pitting local religious communities (Hindus and Muslims in British India) or hostile tribes (in colonial Africa), as well as through apartheid (racial
discrimination). Often the colonial administration supported the oppressed groups to fight their enemies and created armed groups from.
Initially, European countries did not bring their own political culture and socio-economic relations to the colonies. Faced with the ancient civilizations of the East, which had long developed their own traditions of culture and statehood, the conquerors sought, first of all, their economic subjugation. In territories where statehood did not exist at all, or was at a fairly low level, they were forced to create certain state structures, to some extent borrowed from the experience of metropolitan countries, but with greater national specifics. In North America, for example, power was concentrated in the hands of governors who were appointed by the British government. The governors had advisers, as a rule, from among the colonists, who defended the interests of the local population. Self-government bodies played an important role: an assembly of representatives of the colonies and legislative bodies - legislatures.
In India, the British did not particularly interfere in political life and sought to influence local rulers through economic means of influence (enslaved loans), as well as providing military assistance in internecine struggle.
The economic policy in the various European colonies was largely similar. Spain, Portugal, Holland, France, England initially transferred feudal structures to their colonial possessions. At the same time, plantation farming was widely used.
Many of the effects of colonization were negative. There was a robbery of national wealth, merciless exploitation of the local population and poor colonists. Trading companies brought stale goods of mass demand to the occupied territories and sold them at high prices. On the contrary, valuable raw materials, gold and silver, were exported from the colonial countries. Under the onslaught of goods from the metropolises, the traditional oriental craft withered, traditional forms of life and value systems were destroyed.
At the same time, Eastern civilizations were increasingly drawn into the new system of world relations and fell under the influence of Western civilization. Gradually there was an assimilation of Western ideas and political institutions, the creation of a capitalist economic infrastructure. Under the influence of these processes, the traditional eastern civilizations are being reformed.
The main periods of the formation of the colonial system
Aggressive policies have been pursued by states since antiquity. Initially, merchants and knights exported goods from the colonies to the metropolis, used labor for slave farms. But since the middle of the 19th century, the situation has changed: the colonies are turning into markets for the industrial products of the metropolis. Instead of the export of goods, the export of capital is used.
All the time of colonial conquests can be divided into three periods:
- XVI-mid XVIII century - trade colonialism based on the export of goods to Europe;
- from the middle of the 18th century to the end of the 19th century - colonialism of the era of industrial capital, characterized by the export of manufactured goods from European countries to the colonies;
- the end of the 19th-beginning of the 20th century - the colonialism of the era of imperialism, a distinctive feature of which is the export of capital from the metropolises to the colonies, stimulating the industrial development of dependent states.
By the beginning of the 20th century, the largest industrial powers were completing the territorial division of the world. The whole world was divided into metropolises, colonies, dependent countries (dominions and protectorates).
The main features of the colonial system at the turn of the XIX-XX centuries
In the 1870s, the colonial system of imperialism took shape in the world. It was based on the exploitation of the economically lagging countries of Asia, Africa and Latin America.
Definition 1
The colonial system of imperialism is a system of colonial oppression by developed imperialist states of the overwhelming majority of the less economically developed countries of Asia, Africa and Latin America, created at the turn of the 19th-20th centuries.
During the period from 1876 to 1914, the European powers increased their colonial possessions many times over.
Remark 1
Before the First World War, the British colonial empire took over 9 million square kilometers, where approximately 147 million people lived. The French empire increased by 9.7 million square kilometers and 49 million people. The German colonial empire annexed 2.9 million square kilometers with 12.3 million inhabitants. The United States seized 300 thousand square kilometers of land with 9.7 inhabitants, and Japan - 300 thousand square kilometers with 19.2 million people.
The entire territory of the African continent was divided. Those countries that the colonial powers could not completely enslave were placed in the position of semi-colonies or divided into spheres of influence. These states include China, Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan and many other countries in Asia and Latin America.
In the era of imperialism, the colonial countries remain raw material appendages of the mother countries and function as a market for the sale of surplus industrial goods. The export of capital in the colonies begins to predominate when it does not find a sufficiently profitable application in the mother countries. The high profitability of investing capital in the economy of the colony is explained by the cheapness of raw materials and labor.
The struggle of the mother countries for the colonies
Remark 2
By the beginning of the 20th century, the struggle of the metropolises for colonies intensified. Since there are practically no undivided plots left, the war for the redivision of the world is escalating. Young states such as the German Empire demanded a "place in the sun" for themselves. Following Germany, Japan, the United States and Italy make similar demands on established colonial empires.
The war of 1898 between the United States and Spain is considered the first war for the redivision of the world. The Americans managed to capture part of the islands that previously belonged to the Spanish crown: the Philippines, Guam, Puerto Rico, Coupon, Hawaii. The United States tried to bring the entire American continent under its control. The Americans crowded out competitors in China, creating spheres of their influence. Germany joined the struggle for the redivision of the world. She expanded into Turkey, the Middle East, North Africa and the Far East. Japan pressed Russia and gained a foothold in Korea and Manchuria.
The contradictions between the old rivals (England and Russia, England and France) threatened to escalate into a grandiose war. The world was on the verge of the First World War.
The countries of the East over the course of three centuries of the New Age (XVI-XIX centuries) experienced a rather painful transition from a dominant position in world history to the status of a subordinate side, in any case, yielding and defending. At the beginning of this period, in the 16th-17th centuries, they were mainly occupied with their own internal problems and did not pay enough attention to the West. Japan, China, India and their closest neighbors were too far away from Europe and therefore were not very concerned about the first expeditions of Vasco da Gama in 1498-1502. to the west of India and the creation of Affonso d'Albuquerque in 1509-1515, a chain of strongholds from the island of Socotra south of Yemen to the Mallacca Peninsula. other superiority over the "infidels", especially the Ottomans then going from victory to victory.
In Japan, where the consolidation of feudalism was expressed in the final triumph in the XVI century. shogunate, the rigid centralization of power with the suppression of the freedom of peasants and townspeople was initially accompanied by a tendency towards external expansion, especially against Kerei at the end of the 16th century. The Portuguese (in 1542) and Spanish (in 1584) merchants who appeared here, which did not arouse much interest, became the object of closer attention when they took up business at the end of the 16th century. missionary activity and especially the slave trade. The first shogun from the Tokugawa dynasty limited himself to opposing the Portuguese and Spaniards to the Dutch and British who arrived in 1600, concluding more favorable agreements with them. An attempt by the Spaniards in 1611, with the help of the Spanish navy, to expel the Dutch and the British ended in failure. In 1614, Christianity was banned in Japan (although many feudal lords on the island of Kyushu, who imported weapons from Europe, had already adopted it). In 1634, all the Spaniards were expelled from the country, in 1638 - all the Portuguese. An exception was made only for the Dutch, who helped the shogun to suppress the peasant uprising in 1637-1638, but even then, under the condition that their trade was limited to the territory of a small island near Nagasaki, under the supervision of the shogun's officials and with the prohibition of any religious propaganda. Even earlier, in 1636, all Japanese were forbidden under threat of death to leave their homeland and build large ships suitable for long-distance navigation. The era of the “closed state” has come, i.e. isolation of the country from the outside world, which lasted until 1854. During this time, only the Dutch and Chinese merchants appeared in Japan.
Nevertheless, in Japan they secretly followed the course of international events and, collecting information about foreign states, were aware of world affairs. The assertion of Russia on Sakhalin and the Kuriles led to Russian attempts to "open" Japan. All of them were unsuccessful, starting with Bering's expedition in 1739 and ending with Golovnin's expedition in 1809-1813. The shoguns tried to preserve the feudal order as much as possible. In doing so, they considered the country's self-isolation to be the best means. Even shipwrecked Japanese sailors, abandoned by a storm to other countries, were forever deprived of the right to return to their homeland. Basically, this continued until the overthrow of the Tokugawa shogunate and the Meiji Restoration in 1868.
Neighbor of Japan - the largest state in the world China - experienced in the XVI-XVII centuries. a painful turn in their history. The Ming dynasty, which ruled from 1368, actually entrusted the administration to temporary workers, under whom corruption, embezzlement and favoritism flourished. Almost two centuries of opposition struggle (XV-XVI centuries) ended in failure. The Manchus took advantage of the decline of the economy and the feudal reaction that crushed the living thought in the country. Their tribes, which occupied the northeast of China, were tributaries of the Ming dynasty, were at a lower level of development than the Chinese, but their bail princes, having accumulated significant wealth, slaves and great military experience (they fought each other endlessly), were extremely intensified. The most gifted of the bile Nurkhatsi gradually rallied all the Manchus, created a powerful united army instead of large formations, extremely combat-ready due to severe discipline, an indisputable hierarchy of military ranks, blood ties of tribal unity and excellent weapons. Having declared independence in 1616, Nurhatsi in 1618 started a war with China.
The war, during which the Manchus also conquered Korea, Mongolia and Taiwan, lasted until 1683. These 65 years also include the great peasant war of 1628-1645, which overthrew the Ming dynasty, the betrayal of the Ming aristocracy, which actually closed with the Manchus and recognized their power for the sake of suppression, together with them, of the indignation of the lower classes of their own people. The Qing dynasty, which began to rule in 1644, represented the elite of the Manchus (descendants of Nurhaci) and for the first 40 years continued to suppress the resistance of the Chinese by the most bloody methods, turning entire cities into cemeteries (for example, Yangzhou, where, according to eyewitnesses, up to 800 thousand people were slaughtered ).
The Dutch, British, and French tried to take advantage of the ruin of China; by the end of the 17th century, they deployed. a brisk trade in the seaside cities of southern China, where everything was purchased at extremely low prices and sold in Europe at high prices. However, the Qing emperors soon followed the example of Japan and began to restrict the activities of foreigners. In 1724, the preaching of Christianity was banned, and the missionaries were expelled from the country. In 1757, all the ports of China were closed to foreign trade, except for Canton and Macao, captured by the Portuguese. Fearing the strengthening of the cities that became centers of anti-Manchu resistance, the Qing rulers hampered the development of trade and crafts, hindered foreign trade and even the construction of merchant ships. Monopoly companies, under the strict control of the Qing bureaucracy, traded under special permits (merchants from Shanxi - with Russia and Central Asia, Cantonese - with the British East India Company). Merchants were associated with moneylenders and with the top of the bureaucracy. At the same time, the Qings, having largely inherited the old models of the Chinese monarchy, further exacerbated its cruelty, making the most of the principles of Confucianism (submission of the son to the father, subjects to the ruler, etc.) to regulate the life of the Chinese, their submission and humiliation.
The complex social hierarchy of society was brought to its apogee by the Manchus. In 1727, in accordance with Manchu customs, the institution of slavery was fixed by imperial decree. Even the Bogdykhan's harem was strictly hierarchical, numbering 3 main concubines, 9 concubines of the second category, 27 of the third, 81 of the fourth. Criminal legislation included 2,759 offenses, of which more than 1,000 were punishable by death. The despotic system of power, associated with constant humiliation (torture, beating with sticks, shaving the head and wearing a braid by men as a sign of obedience to the Manchus), contributed to the constant discontent and hidden indignation of the people, which periodically broke out during uprisings. But, in general, indignation accumulated gradually, especially in secret societies, which often included in their members entire communities, covering entire villages, corporations of merchants and artisans. Emerged back in the era of Mongol domination in the 13th century, these societies multiplied after the capture of the country by the Manchus. All these societies - "White Lotus", "Triad" (i.e. the society of heaven, earth and man), "Fist in the name of peace and justice" and others - were especially strong in coastal cities, where they were led by merchants. Members of the societies, bound by strict discipline, morality of self-denial, fanatical faith in their cause, played a huge role not only in anti-Manchu speeches, but also in uniting compatriots abroad, strengthening their ties with their homeland and relatives in a foreign land. The emigration of the Chinese, primarily to neighboring countries, played a significant role in the spread of the ideology of Confucianism, the cult of ancestors and other features of the spiritual culture of the Chinese, and in a certain piety of the surrounding peoples before China. Moreover, many of the countries where they left (Burma, Vietnam, Siam, Korea, Mongolia, Tibet, Kashgaria, now called Xinjiang) either periodically joined China, or fell under its protectorate, or were forced to join with it into various kinds of unequal relationships.
China's relations with Russia were peculiar. In 1689, the first Russian-Chinese border and trade treaty was signed in Nerchinsk. According to the Kyakhta Treaty of 1728, i.e. 4 years after the expulsion of Western missionaries from China,
Russia, having strengthened relations with it through territorial concessions, won the right to keep a spiritual Orthodox mission in Beijing, which in fact performed the functions of both a diplomatic and a trade mission. At the end of the XVIII century. a new conflict arose between Russia and China because of the attempts of the Bogdykhan to subjugate the Kalmyks, who migrated to the Volga lands from the Dzungar Khanate, with whom the Manchus had been fighting since the 17th century. The attempt was thwarted by the Russians, after which the Chinese even stopped letting the Kalmyks into Tibet to worship the shrines of Lhasa. After the destruction of the Dzungar Khanate by the armies of the Bogdy Khan in three campaigns of 1755-1757, the Chinese (Upper Manchus) divided it into Inner (southern) and Outer (northern) Mongolia, and interrupted the direct economic ties between the Mongols and Russia that had previously taken place. These ties were restored only more than 100 years later, after the conclusion of the Russian-Chinese treaties of 1860 and 1881. But by that time, the Chinese merchants who had established themselves in Mongolia, relying on the help of the Manchu authorities and the solid financial and commercial support of the British, Japanese and American firms were able to eventually secure their dominance in Mongolia.
The forcible "discovery" of China by the West occurred after the defeat of China in the first "opium" war of 1840-1842. The British took the island of Hong Kong from him, forced him to open for foreign trade, in addition to Canton, 4 more ports and obtained from the Bogdykhan the right of extraterritoriality, freedom of trade and many other concessions. In 1844, the United States and France obtained similar concessions from China in their favor. All this undermined the mutually beneficial Russian-Chinese trade due to the sharp increase in competition from the Western powers. Wishing to oppose Russia to her rivals, the Chinese concluded an agreement with her in 1851, which granted Russian merchants significant privileges.
Shaking all of China with the Taiping uprising in 1851-1864. England, France and the USA took advantage of the further strengthening of their positions and for the actual subordination of the Manchu rulers, after the wars of 1856-1858. and 1860, finally convinced of the complete helplessness of their medieval army in the face of the troops of the Western imperialists equipped with the latest technology. In addition, then the threat of the collapse of the state arose with particular acuteness. This was most clearly manifested in western China, where the Dungans and other Muslims by 1864 created a number of small states. In 1867, the whole of Kashgaria (Xinjiang) was united under his rule by the Tajik Yakub-bek, a dignitary of the Khan of Kokand. It was especially dangerous that Yakub-bek, focusing on England, concluded a trade agreement with her in 1874 and, at the behest of the British, received from the Ottoman sultan the title of emir, weapons and military instructors. In the state of Yakub-bek (Jety-shaar, i.e. "Seven cities"), Sharia law dominated and "Khojas", descendants of Turkestan dervishes who led a number of anti-Manchu uprisings from 1758 to 1847, enjoyed great influence. However, after the death of Yakub -bek in 1877, a struggle for power began at the top of Jety-shaar. Taking advantage of it, the Qing government managed to liquidate the Jeti-shaar in 1878.
Nevertheless, China became in fact a semi-colony of the Western powers due to the treacherous behavior of the Manchu officials and the Qing dynasty, who sought salvation from their own people in the servitude of the imperialists. The last official resistance to the West was China's war with France in 1884-1885. Having suffered a defeat in it, China was forced to renounce formal sovereignty over Vietnam, which had become the object of France's colonial desires. The next setback for the Qing was the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895. Japan, which after 1868 found a way out of its internal difficulties in external expansion, from 1874 tried to carry out conquests in China and Korea, formally subject to it. Having started the war, the Japanese achieved everything they wanted: they captured Taiwan and the Penghuledao Islands, imposed indemnity on China, made Korea formally independent from China (that is, defenseless against Japanese expansion). This defeat was the reason for the new pressure of the West on China: the Qing government was forced to accept a number of enslaving loans, to provide England, France, Germany, the United States, as well as Russia and Japan, which had joined the "concern of powers", concessions for the construction of railways and "lease » a number of territories. The dominance of the powers, the arbitrariness of foreigners and missionaries, as well as the consequences of the defeats suffered by China, were the main reason for the uprising of 1899-1901, jointly suppressed by the troops of the powers that ruled China, as well as Austria-Hungary and Italy that joined them. The semi-colonial status of China was thus finally secured.
Iran was also turned into a semi-colony. In the XVI century. it was a powerful state of the Safavids, which included, in addition to Iran, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, part of Afghanistan and Central Asia. For the possession of the entire Caucasus, Kurdistan and Iraq, there was a fierce struggle between the Safavids and the Ottoman Empire. However, already in the XVI century. the power of the Safavids was undermined as a result of economic decline, as well as constant uprisings of enslaved peoples. The movement of the rebellious Afghans, growing from 1709, led to the capture of the capital of the state - Isfahan. From 1726 heading the struggle against the Afghans and the Ottomans who invaded in 1723, the Khorasan Turkmen Nadir, from the Afshar tribe, managed not only to expel the conquerors, but also to revive Iran as a great Asian empire, including all of Afghanistan, part of India, Central Asia and Transcaucasia. However, after the death of Nadir Shah in 1747, his empire collapsed. The non-Iranian regions, in the main, went on an independent path of development, and in Iran, engulfed in feudal strife, from 1763 the British and Dutch began to penetrate, having received the rights of extraterritoriality, duty-free trade and the creation of their armed trading posts, and in fact, military fortresses in a number of points in the Persian bay.
The Qajar dynasty, which came to power in 1794, ruled with the most cruel methods, often disfiguring and blinding the population of entire cities, driving into slavery the inhabitants of non-Iranian regions, and also organizing massacres and pogroms in them, as was the case in 1795-1797. in Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia. Subsequently, Iran, mainly on the territory of these countries, waged two wars with Russia (in 1804-1813 and 1826-1828), which ended unsuccessfully for it. At the same time, there was an intensive penetration of the British into Iran, who, by bribing literally everyone, “from the Shah to the camel driver,” concluded a new treaty with Iran in 1801, which further expanded and strengthened their positions in Iran and made it possible to use this country as an instrument of pressure and on Russia, and on France, and on Afghanistan (which prevented England from "development" of India). And under the 1814 treaty, England directly interfered in Iran's relations with its neighbors, providing it with 150,000 pounds in the event of a war with Russia or France and obliging it to fight the Afghans in the event of their attack on "British" India.
Later, however, in the struggle between Russia and England for influence on Iran, Russia began to take over. Nevertheless, the British managed to maintain their positions and even impose a new unequal treaty on Iran in 1841. The uprisings of the Babids (adherents of the religious movement of Sayyid Ali Muhammad Baba) in 1844-1852. shocked Iran and even gave rise to a desire for reform among part of the feudal-bourgeois elite, quickly strangled by the Shah's court, the conservative aristocracy and the clergy. These circles later tried to maneuver between England and Russia, but were forced, in general, to retreat, providing both powers with different concessions, decisive positions in the banking system and customs revenues, in the army and various departments. The north of Iran became the sphere of influence of Russia, the south - of England.
The fate of other countries of the East, which became objects of direct colonial expansion and direct subordination to the West, developed differently.
How was the expansion of Europe to the East carried out and what were its stages. The expansion of Europe to the East began with the Portuguese conquests in Africa. Already in 1415, the Portuguese captured Ceuta on the northern coast of Morocco, turning it into the first of their African "fronteiras" (border fortresses). Then they occupied the port of El Ksar Es Segir (in 1458) and Anfu (in 1468), which they completely destroyed, having built their fortress of Casa Branca in its place, later called Casablanca in Spanish. In 1471, they took Arsila and Tangier, in 1505 - Agadir, in 1507 - Safi, in 1514 - Mazagan. Almost the entire coast of Morocco was in the hands of the Portuguese, with the exception of Rabat and Sale. However, already in 1541, the rule of the Portuguese weakened after they surrendered Agadir, and soon also Safi, Azzemmour, Mogador. They lasted the longest in Mazagan (now El Jadida) - until 1769. But basically their influence in Morocco was ended in 1578, when almost the entire Portuguese army at the head died under El Ksar El Kebir. with King Sebastian. However, many fortresses ensured their dominance in Africa, Brazil and Southeast Asia. The ports of Diu, Daman and Goa in India, Macau in China remained the possessions of Portugal until the second half of the 20th century. In the XVI century. they also had many strongholds in Siam and the Moluccas. They founded a number of such fortresses in Ceylon, including Colombo, the future capital of the island.
The Spaniards, following the Portuguese, were more successful in the Americas than in Asia and Africa, where they were either outpaced by the Portuguese or met with fierce resistance. The only significant possession of Spain in Asia was the Philippines, discovered in 1521 by Magellan, but conquered in a bitter struggle only in 1565-1572. In the Mediterranean basin, the Spaniards first achieved some success, capturing Melilla in northern Morocco in 1497, and in 1509-1511. a number of cities in Algeria - Oran, Mostaganem, Tenes, Sherchel, Bejaya, as well as Peñon Island in front of the country's capital. The King of Spain was even proclaimed King of Algeria. But all these positions, as well as influence among the "peaceful", i.e. Allied to Spain, the tribes were lost by 1529, when Algeria finally became part of the Ottoman Empire. The exception was Oran, which remained in the hands of the Spaniards until 1792.
The Spaniards were even more active in Tunisia. In 1510, they captured Tripoli, which then belonged to Tunisia, and in 1535, Tunisia itself, which they owned until 1574, i.e. almost 40 years old. However, from here they had to retreat. At that time, the Spaniards, especially in alliance with the Knights of Malta, Genoa and Venice, were still able to resist the Ottomans at sea, but much less often on land. The Battle of Lepanto in 1571, in which the combined forces of Spain and its allies defeated the Ottoman fleet, and at the same time the failures of the Spanish army led by King Charles V near Algiers in 1541, as well as near Tripoli in 1551, are very characteristic . All of Europe was shocked by the defeat of the Hungarian-Czech army in 1526, the death of King Lajos II, who led it, the occupation of the lands of Hungary, the Czech Republic and Croatia by the Ottomans, their campaigns in 1529 and 1532 against Vienna. Subsequently, the Ottoman threat hung over Vienna until 1683, when the Ottomans laid siege to the capital of Austria for the last time, and their vanguard - the Crimean cavalry - even reached the borders of Bavaria. But the decisive defeat inflicted on them by the army of the Polish king Jan Sobessky then led not only to a turning point in the course of the war, but also to the development of confrontation between the Muslim East and the Christian West as a whole.
Habsburg Spain overstrained itself, taking on the unbearable role of world hegemon and striving to fight at the same time and With the Ottomans, and the Gozes in the Netherlands, and the French in Europe, and the Indians in America, and the rebels in the Philippines, as well as the British and Protestants all over the world. The population of the country for the most brilliant, but also the most difficult in the Spanish history of the XVI century. decreased by 1 million (i.e., by 1/9) and continued to lose annually 40 thousand emigrants who left for America. By the end of the century, 150 thousand Spaniards (3% of the active population of that period) were vagabonds, beggars, war invalids, criminals and other marginalized people. Moriscos (baptized Moors) regularly left the country, playing a significant role in the economy, but at the same time being the object of hatred for the clergy and the envy of the mob. Their complete exile in 1609-1614. (with the secret goal of enriching themselves at their expense) finally undermined the material possibilities of the kingdom, for which the burden of being a great power became unbearable. War of the "Spanish Succession" 1701-1714 practically deprived Spain of the status of a great power, although she retained her colonies.
Even before Spain receded into the background as a colonial metropolis, the Dutch, who had just won independence themselves (in 1581 in fact, in 1609 - formally), and the British moved to the fore almost simultaneously. The East India (since 1602) and West India (since 1621) companies of the Dutch launched an intensive colonial expansion around the world. Taking advantage of the weakening of Portugal, which was annexed to Spain in 1580 (until 1640), the Dutch began to oust the Portuguese from everywhere, by 1609 having driven them (together with the Spaniards) from the Moluccas, and by 1641 having taken possession of Malacca. In 1642 they captured Taiwan, and in 1658 they took Ceylon from the Portuguese. The conquest of Java, begun by the Dutch as early as 1596, continued until the 18th century. In the 17th century Madura, Mauritius, a number of colonies in Africa and America were also captured. Having defeated the English fleet in 1619 in several battles in the Gulf of Thailand and the Sunda Strait, the Dutch temporarily got rid of the British as competitors in Southeast Asia. However, already from the second half of the XVII century. Holland is losing its maritime and commercial hegemony as a result of England's success in the Anglo-Dutch Wars of 1652-1654. and 1672-1674, as well as the great losses of Holland in the wars with France in 1672-1678, 1668-1697, 1702-1713. By that time, France had become a powerful commercial and colonial rival of Holland, which was forced to blockade with England in the face of the threat of French expansion. Therefore, Holland, by that time economically (especially in industrial development) inferior to England, began to give her one position after another. And after the establishment of French domination in Holland in 1795-1813, the Dutch colonies in Africa, America and Ceylon were captured by the British. After the restoration of sovereignty, Holland was forced to "voluntarily" agree to the loss of these colonies, and according to the London Treaty of 1824, she also renounced her possessions in India and Malaya in favor of England. But she retained her main colony in Asia - Indonesia.
The rivalry of the powers often led to the fact that the colonies, passing from hand to hand, often acquired a complex ethno-cultural appearance. This especially applies to the islands, among which, for example, Ceylon since 1517 was the object of the claims of the Portuguese, since 1658 - a colony of Holland, since 1796 - England. Approximately the same was with Mauritius, from the beginning of the XVI century. belonging to the Portuguese, from 1598 - to the Dutch, from 1715 - to the French, from 1810 - to the British.
England, which began its colonial policy in the struggle against Spain and Portugal, in alliance, and then also in the struggle against Holland, later fiercely competed with France. As a result of this constant centuries-old struggle with continental powers, the British learned a lot and achieved a lot, using, among other things, the contradictions between their competitors in colonial robbery. The British began their expansion to the East as allies of the Dutch in the fight against the Portuguese and Spaniards. They performed independently in America, where in 1583 they captured the island of Newfoundland, and in 1607 the first British colony of Virginia was founded. But from 1615, the growth of English trading posts (Surat, Masulinatem, Pulicat, Madras) began in India, where the British managed to obtain a number of trading privileges in the Mughal Empire. For a long time they were limited to economic penetration into the colonies of their weakened competitors - Portugal and Holland. Some of them, primarily in America, were captured in the 18th century. England's main rival was France, which was fought simultaneously in the North of America, in the Caribbean and in India. Almost everywhere the victory went to England, after a 20-year war, which practically eliminated the position of France in India by 1761. In 1757-1764. the British captured Bengal, in 1799 they crushed Mysore, in 1818 they defeated the Marathas. The capture of the Punjab in 1846 completed the conquest of India. Even earlier, in 1786, the British began to expand into Malaya, in 1824 - the first war with Burma. Then Holland recognized the "legitimacy" of the capture by England in 1819 of Singapore.
Despite the serious crisis of British colonialism in the last quarter of the 18th century, when England lost 13 colonies in North America, which later formed the United States, in the 19th century. the colonial empire of Great Britain continued to grow due to the colonization of Australia and New Zealand, new conquests in Africa, and also in Asia, where Aden was captured in 1839 in the south of Yemen, in 1842 - Xianggang (Hong Kong) in southern China, which became one of the bases of British expansion in Asia. In 1878, England received Cyprus from the Ottoman Empire, and in 1882 established control over Egypt, as a result of which it actually became the mistress of the Mediterranean, relying on its bases in Gibraltar (since 1704), Malta (since 1800), Cyprus and the Suez Canal Zone. In 1885, the conquest of Burma was completed, in 1898, under the guise of a "lease", the port of Weihaiwei was taken from China.
