In the 70s 19th century The period of development of capitalism of “free competition” into imperialism began, which developed at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. Oppression and exploitation of those lagging behind in socio-economic. in relation to countries integral part the entire set of monopoly relations.

Capitalism. A colonial system of imperialism has emerged - a political system. subordination, economical exploitation, ideology, suppression of underdeveloped countries of Asia, Africa and Latvia. America, turning into agricultural and raw materials appendages of the world capitalist. x-va. During this period there is a tremendous growth of columns. grabs. From 1876 to 1914, England, for example, captured a territory of 9 million km2 with a population of 146.6 million.

people, France - 9.7 million km2 with 49 million people, Germany - 2.9 million km2 with 12.3 million people. USA - 0.3 million kmg with 9.7 million people. Japan - 0.3 million km2 with 19.2 million people. Victim Colon. Almost the entire African continent became enslaved. All previously “free” territory on earth fell under the control of the imperialists. powers For columns systems of imperialism ch. column shape. enslavement is directly the military-political domination of the metropolises over the oppressed countries and peoples. The colonial empires of the imperialist states of Europe, as well as the USA and Japan, formed the foundation of the colonial system. In addition to colonies, they also included protectorates, and Britons. the empire is also the dominions. A large number of countries were also given the position of semi-colonies, i.e. “... dependent countries, politically, formally independent, but in fact entangled in networks of financial and diplomatic dependence.” Before World War I, China, Iran, Turkey, Afghanistan, Siam and many others were in a semi-colonial position. countries of Lat. America. In 1914, the colonies and dependent countries accounted for approx. 66.8% of the territory and 60% of the world's population. Terr. division of the world between imperialist. powers was an essential part, and often the main economic. division of the world between imperialist. monopolies. Countries that were under colony. dominance, found themselves included in the world capitalist system. division of labor.

In the era of monopolistic capitalism, the role of colonies and dependent countries increases enormously; At the same time, the colonialists are primarily interested in the raw materials resources of the enslaved countries. Without losing their importance as sales markets for the industries of the metropolises, colonies and dependent countries under imperialism become primarily areas for the investment of capital. This gives the foreigner. monopolies the opportunity to concentrate in their hands complete control over the economies of enslaved countries. In 1913, out of 4 billion f. Art. England's foreign investments amounted to 1.75 billion, or almost 45%, in its colonies.

The export of capital to colonies and dependent countries occurs both as a result of an excess of capital in the metropolitan countries, which does not find “sufficiently” highly profitable use there, and because in the enslaved countries there are cheap raw materials, cheap land and cheap labor, which provide chronic labor. unemployment, agri. overpopulation, general poverty of the people. masses, as well as the opportunity wide application will force. labor, including women's and children's labor.

The exploitation of the people of colonies and dependent countries is one of the most important sources of super-profits of monopolies. It also provides funds that are used to create an upper layer in the working class of the metropolis (the so-called labor aristocracy). They often pay for concessions to wider sections of the population. Imperialist superprofits received in colonies and dependent countries. monopolies are used to finance the growing state. apparatus and militarism, to fight against their rivals. Colon. expansion feeds chauvinism.

Moods in metropolises. serving as an obstacle to the development of class consciousness of workers.

Military-strategic is growing. the importance of colonies, their role as suppliers of cannon fodder and strategic. raw materials for imperialist countries First world war England, for example, mobilized 1.7 million soldiers in India alone, and France in its northern and western Africa. colonies - approx. 500 thousand Colon. troops were used both on the imperialist fronts. wars, and to suppress revolutions. movements in metropolises and colonies.

In the era of imperialism, in conditions of complete subordination to the needs of the metropolises, the economies of dependent countries and the conservation of feudal rule in them. and dofeod. relations development capitalist. production in these countries continued to occur in forms that were ugly and difficult for the local population, capitalist. methods of exploitation were closely intertwined with pre-capitalist ones.

Imperialistic monopolies in every possible way hindered the development of nationalism in the colonies. capital. They prevented the creation of a large modern system in the colonies. industry with the exception of mining and partly light industry. The one-sided agricultural and raw material specialization of the colonies became increasingly consolidated; it acquired such a deep character that it was preserved even after independence was won. Even in the 50s. 20th century 70% of Ghana's exports were cocoa, 91% of Senegal's exports were groundnuts and their products, 80% of Burma's exports were rice, (80% of Egypt's exports were cotton, etc.

In the era of imperialism, due to the increased importance of colonies, the struggle for dominance over them became one of the main principles. reasons inter-imperialist. contradictions, conflicts and wars. The unevenness of the Poltpch contributed to the aggravation of this struggle. and economical development of capitalism. Young imperialists who were gaining strength. predators sought to take away from the old columns. keeping part of their spoils. 13 end 19 - beginning 20th centuries Germany, Japan, Italy and the USA made such claims. The first war for the redistribution of the world was the war waged by the United States (1898) against Spain with the aim of seizing its colonies. The United States captured the Philippine Islands, Guam and Puerto Rico, and established control over Kupon. That same year, the United States annexed the Hawaiian Islands. In 1903 they captured the Panama Canal Zone. By all means, including weapons. intervention, they sought to establish their dominance over the countries of the Center. and Yuzh. America. Using the policy " open doors“The United States was making its way to China, trying to oust its imperialists. competitors (England, France, Russia, Japan and Germany), who established in China at the end of the 19th century. their spheres of influence. Germany, attacking the positions of England, France and Russia, carried out widespread expansion in Turkey and other regions of the Bl. and Wed. East, North Africa and D. Vo-

drain. The imperialist struggle. powers for Morocco twice - in 1905 and 1911 - almost led to war. conflicts. Italy captured Tripoli and Cyrenaica (modern Libya) in 1911-12. Japan, having defeated Russia (1904-05), took possession of the Liaodong Peninsula, southern. branch of the CER (Manchurian railway), South. Sakhalin. She annexed Korea in 1910 and established factual control over South Manchuria (North-East China).

Contradictions also intensified between old rivals - England and France, England and Russia, who continued the policy of colonies. expansion. England and France, for example, were, as Lenin put it, “on the verge” of war during the so-called. Fashoda incident. England after three years bloody war(1899-1902) captured the Boer republics and created the Dominion of South Africa. France and Spain established (1911 -12) a protectorate over Morocco, etc.

The struggle for the redistribution of colonies and spheres of influence was of paramount importance in the emergence of the 1st world imperialist movement. war.

Features of formation colonial system

In a slave society, the word "colony" meant "settlement." Ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, Greece, Rome had colony settlements on foreign territory. Colonies in modern meaning words appeared in the era of the Great geographical discoveries at the end XV - early XVI centuries As a result of the Great Geographical Discoveries, the 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 the mother countries. In the conquered territories, the metropolis imposes capitalist relations. This happened in the English colonies in North America, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. The local population could not resist the power of the colonialists; they were either destroyed or driven into reservations. The main population in the states formed after independence were immigrants from Europe.

In the East, the colonialists were unable to establish themselves absolutely. In these countries they were a minority, and attempts to change the existing structure of society as a whole ended in failure. The main reason can be considered the centuries-old traditions and stability of Eastern society. At the same time, it would be wrong to say that the colonialists had no influence on the course of historical development peoples of Asia and Africa. In this regard, it is important to note that in these regions the introduction of capitalist relations was met with opposition from traditional structures.

Thus, it is important to highlight the main stages and nature of colonization, which changed with the development of European capitalism, and to identify the nature of the changes occurring in the countries of the East during the period of colonialism.

Initial period

The period of initial accumulation of capital and manufacturing production predetermined the content and forms of relationships between colonies and metropolises. 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, gold and silver exported from the colonies did not accelerate the development of capitalist production in these countries.

Much of the wealth looted by the Spanish and 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. 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 colonialsystems associated with the industrial revolutionto her, which begins in last third XVIII V. and ends in developed European countries around the middle XIX century

The period is coming exchange of goods, which draws colonial countries into world commodity circulation. This leads to double consequences: on the one hand, colonial countries turn into agricultural and raw materials appendages of the metropolises, on the other hand, the metropolises contribute to the socio-economic development of the colonies (development of local industry for processing 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 taking shape:

At this stage, the territorial division of the world is completed. The world's leading colonial powers are increasing the export of capital to the colonies.

25.2. Colonialism in the XVI-XVII centuries.

Trading companies and their role in the exploitation of colonies

At the beginning and middle XVII V. in all colonial countries they are creating East Indian companies(English - in 1600-1858, Dutch - in 1602-1798, French - in 1664-1770 and 1785-1793, etc.). These companies, which united the largest merchants and industrialists of the metropolises, received from their governments the monopoly right to wage wars in order to annex new lands, conduct trade in the colonial possessions of the metropolis, etc. East India companies were exported from the colonies spices(cinnamon, pepper, vanilla, cloves, etc.) which they purchased at low prices in the colonies and sold at monopoly high prices in European countries.

Constant clashes during the seizure of colonies, the fierce competition of the East Indian companies in the maritime expanses of the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific oceans invariably led to severe armed conflicts not only in Asia, Africa and Latin America, but also in Europe.

The main sources of income for the colonialists were not trade in industrial goods in the East, but the resale of colonial goods, revenues from high taxes, extortions, and even from elementary robbery of the local population, military booty, additional payments that local merchants and feudal lords were forced to make, etc. d.

Thus, payment for English imports from Asian countries is in the middle XVIII V. approximately 80% was carried out through the export of gold and silver to the East, and only 20% - industrial products. The company arbitrarily imposed high taxes on the population and set prices for salt, opium, betel nut and other goods.

The Dutch East India Company also used similar methods of exploitation of newly acquired colonies, subordinating the richest country in the East to its control. Indonesia. First of all, a monopoly was established on the spice trade. The company began introducing crops new to the islands, such as coffee. By introducing new taxes and duties for the conquered population, the Dutch tried not to affect the existing feudal system. They left the old (loyal to the colonialists) feudal lords, instructing them to collect taxes, supervise and partially manage the local population.

The population everywhere resisted the colonialists, but none of them were successful.

Colonization of the African continent

In the colonial policy of European powers XVI - XVII centuries The African continent occupies a special place. The construction of trading posts by European powers in Africa initially did not threaten the local population. Only when plantation cultivation of sugar cane, coffee, and tobacco began in the West Indies, that is, in America, and gold and silver mines were opened in South and North America and cotton began to be grown, did the colonialists begin to use slaves from Africa.

Slavery existed in Africa for a number of centuries, but it was largely patriarchal in nature and was not so tragic and destructive before the arrival of Europeans. Slave trade the Portuguese started in the middle XV c., 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. Slaves were sold for European goods, weapons, trinkets. The slave trade also took place on the East Coast of Africa; slaves were exported from there to Turkey, Arabia, Iraq, India, Iran and other countries.

25.3. Colonialism during the period of industrial capitalism

As a result of the industrial revolution, industrial civilization was formed in the leading capitalist countries. Promoted to the first roles industrial production.

Changes in the colonial policy of the metropolis

Accordingly, the need for new types of goods has increased, especially raw materials. The main role is now given to large industrialists, and not to trading companies, as was the case in the previous period. The situation in world trade has changed accordingly. The importance of colonial goods fell, but the need for food, raw materials, dyes, timber, wool, cotton increased, i.e., those goods that were especially needed for the developing European industry. This also led to a change in the nature of the relationship between the colonies and the metropolises. There is a need for export of goods to the colonies. The English bourgeoisie is revising foreign trade and colonial policies.

As a result, England's exports, mainly to the colonies, increased immeasurably. According to economists, in the first half XIX V. Up to 64% of English exports of cotton products, 74% of beer, about 70% of soap and candles, about 60% of copper and brass products, 43% of coal and coke, etc. were sent to the colonies.

England's colonial policy is also changing. It is increasingly striving to turn its vast colonial possessions into an appendage of its developing industry. Its policy is aimed at increasing the export of industrial goods to the colonies, on the one hand, and ensuring supplies raw materials from the colonies for their industry - on the other. Standing in the middle XIX V. "workshop of the world", England begins to export to the colonies and capital, investing it primarily in the development of production.

In the XIX V. trade and predatory methods carried out in the colonies by East India companies are replaced by economic ones. The period is coming exchange of goods between metropolises and colonies. The colonies were drawn into global commodity circulation and became participants in the world market. Using their industrial superiority, capitalist countries increase the export of their goods to the colonies many times over. In just 20 years (from 1794 to 1813), Great Britain's exports, mainly to India, of cotton goods alone increased 700 times.

Colonies become agricultural and raw materials appendages of the metropolises, suppliers of raw materials and auxiliary materials for industry, and food for the growing urban population. Finished fabrics, metal products, semi-finished products and other goods were sent to the colonies. Thus, in 1870, the structure of Indian exports consisted of 36% raw cotton, 21% opium, 12% grains, 4% jute, etc. Cotton fabrics occupied only 2%, jute products - 0.5% of India's exports. At the same time, the country's imports consisted of 45% cotton fabrics, 8% yarn, 13% metal products (including rails for railways), and only 2% machinery, mainly for processing raw materials. It is clear that almost 85% of goods were imported into India from the mother country.

The role of colonies in economic development metropolises

In new historical conditions, the role of colonies in the economic development of metropolises is significantly increasing. Possession of colonies contributed to industrial development, military superiority over other powers, maneuvering of resources in case of wars, economic crises etc. In this regard, all colonial powers are seeking to expand their possessions. The increased technical equipment of 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, and Africa was completed, and France captured Algeria, Tunisia, Vietnam andother countries, Germany begins to expand in Africa, the USA - in Latin America, China, Korea, Japan - in China, Korea, etc.

At the same time, the struggle of the metropolises for the possession of colonies, sources of raw materials, and strategic positions in the East is intensifying.

25.4. Development of the colonial economy

Development of industry in the colonies

During the period of initial accumulation of capital, the colonialists did not change the socio-economic structure in the countries of the East. However, the industrial revolution in Europe changed the situation. This manifested itself in the following.

Of significant importance for the economy of the colonies was the emergence of enterprises for the primary processing of raw materials and certain types of goods: cleaning and pressing of cotton, jute, production of dyes; hardware, building materials, sugar, dried fruits, opium, rum, coconut and soybean oil, some types of food (rice, wheat, corned beef), leather processing, valuable wood, copper, silver, etc.

In colonial countries, the construction of railways began in order to more easily and quickly export raw materials from the hinterland, the extraction of coal and other minerals (diamonds, gold, copper, etc.), the organization of intermediary credit institutions (for example, English management agencies in India) etc.

In the colonies and semi-colonies, the development of commodity-money relations noticeably accelerated, and the crisis of the feudal order accelerated.

In 1854, for example, the first Indian jute factory began operating in Calcutta, and two years later the first cotton mill founded by an Indian merchant opened in Bombay.

Due to the influx of manufactured goods from the metropolis and freedom of trade, family and semi-family communities, closed, isolated from the world, based on home industry, village crafts and a peculiar combination of hand weaving, hand spinning and manual (primitive, archaic) method of cultivating the land, began to collapse.

The construction of railways greatly expanded the scope of exchange of goods and the pumping of raw materials from the interior regions of the colonies. The use of steamships accelerated the turnover of goods and capital.

In the era of industrial capitalism, colonial countries found themselves drawn into the world capitalist market, and through it into the production of goods, which had very complex and contradictory consequences.

On the one hand, colonies and semi-colonies broke through the circle of isolation and joined the global development of capitalism. However, on the other hand, their dependence on industrialized countries has increased. In the world economy, the division of labor between colonies and metropolises is established. The colonialists oriented the economies of dependent countries towards the production of appropriate goods.

India specialized in the production and export of cotton, tobacco, sugar, and jute. Egypt supplied only cotton, Brazil - rubber and coffee, Australia and New Zealand- wool, China - tea, raw silk, etc.

Largest semi-colony - China

In Asian and African countries there are semi-colonies, turned into the object of heated disputes and clashes between the leading capitalist powers of the world.

Semi-colonies are formally independent states that had their own governments and governance system. Typical semi-colonies are China, Iran, and the Ottoman Empire.

Characteristic is the history of the transformation of large countries of the East into semi-colonies, and above all the largest of them - China. The “closing” of this country in 1756, i.e. the ban on trade in foreign goods in China (except for the port of Macau) was a kind of reaction to the expansion of European powers into the countries Far East. But this complicated the situation for China itself. China lost the opportunity to benefit from the achievements of European science and technology, and its trade with other countries decreased, which undermined production.

Despite this, in the end XVIII V. The British are increasingly eager to penetrate China. The main item imported into the country is opium, manufactured in India. The Chinese government is trying to combat smuggling. In 1839, the opium trade in China was banned, and approximately 1,000 tons of the drug belonging to British merchants were destroyed. This was the reason for the war. In 1840-1842. the so-called first flashes opium war between China and England. Backward China suffers a brutal defeat and is forced to sign the unequal Treaty of Nanjing. England achieved its goals: it captured the port of Hong Kong, expanded trade areas, and received military indemnities worth $23 million. China was deprived of its customs independence - customs duties could not exceed 5% of the cost of imported products.

Bombardment of the southern Chinese port city of Canton by British ships during the Opium War

In 1843, a new treaty was imposed on China, which established the extraterritoriality of the British; British merchants enjoyed most favored nation treatment in trade. In 1844 The United States sent a squadron to the shores of China and forced it to give them the same rights. In 1844, the French signed the same treaty with China.

The Chinese government makes continuous concessions to the colonialists. In 1869, 15 ports were already “opened” for trade with foreigners. The Office of Imperial Maritime Customs was created in the country, which was completely transferred to the British (customs duties were used to pay indemnities).

Increased expansion of foreign capital, popular uprisings, destruction of irrigation systems and, as a consequence, crop failures, constant wars (Franco-Chinese war of 1885 over Vietnam, Japanese-Chinese war of 1894-1895 over Korea, etc.) , the collapse of the "self-strengthening" policy, etc. - all this completely upset the country's finances and ultimately made China a semi-colony.

The former powerful state also turned into a semi-colony of European powers. Ottoman Empire.

The only country that, although it was subject to the expansion of European powers and which managed to defend its independence, turned out to be Japan.

Soon it itself will become a colonial power.

Review questions

1. Tell us about the history of the formation of the colonial system.

2. Compare the methods of exploitation of colonies in the era of primitive accumulation of capital and in the era of industrial capitalism.

3. Describe the largest metropolises and their colonial policies.

In parallel with the discovery of new lands, they were studied, described and conquered. Interests collided in new lands different countries, controversial situations and conflicts arose, often armed.

Portugal and Spain took the path of colonial conquest before others. They also made the first attempt to delimit their spheres of interest. To prevent the possibility of clashes, both states entered into a special agreement in 1494, according to which everything again open lands those to the west of the 30th meridian were to belong to the Spaniards, and to the east to the Portuguese. However, the demarcation line passed only along the Atlantic Ocean, and later this led to contradictions when the Spaniards, approaching from the east, and the Portuguese from the west, met in the Moluccas.

The invaders, the conquistadors, conquered vast territories, turning them into colonies, appropriated and ruthlessly exploited their wealth, converted pagan natives to Christianity, and wiped out entire civilizations from the face of the earth. By the middle of the 17th century. the largest overseas territories belonged to Spain, Portugal, Holland, France and England.

Conclusion

Until the XV-XVII centuries. The West was a relatively closed region, and at the stage of the decomposition of feudalism, the borders of the Western world expanded, the process of forming a pan-European and world market began, and the horizons of Europeans expanded.

Such shifts were caused by the Great Geographical Discoveries that spanned precisely these two and a half centuries. Great geographical discoveries became possible thanks to the organization by Europeans of expeditions across the oceans to find new routes to India, a country of untold riches. The previous routes to this distant fairyland through the Mediterranean Sea and Western Asia were blocked by Arab, Turkish, and Mongol-Tatar conquerors. And Europe during this period experienced a significant significant shortage of gold and silver as a means of circulation.

The great geographical discoveries were very important economic consequences, although not the same for different countries.

First of all, the development of the world productive forces has advanced; The territory known by that time increased only during the 16th century. six times, there were fewer and fewer white spots on it.

Trade routes from the Northern, Baltic and Mediterranean seas moved to the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans. Thanks to this, trade routes connected the continents. Navigation made it possible to establish stable economic ties between in separate parts world and determined the formation of world trade.

Great geographical discoveries contributed to the disintegration of feudalism and the development of capitalist relations, laying the foundations of the world market.

However, there is also Negative consequences, which was reflected in the formation of the colonial system of nascent capitalism.

The countries of Europe, having carried out modernization, received enormous advantages compared to 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 the Great Geographical Discoveries, associated mainly with reconnaissance expeditions, colonialist expansion to the East of the most developed countries of Europe began already in the 12th-13th centuries. 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.

At the first stage of colonization traditional societies Spain and Portugal were in the lead. They managed to conquer most of South America. In the mid-18th century, Spain and Portugal began to lag behind in economic development and were relegated to the background as maritime powers. Leadership in colonial conquests passed to England. Since 1757, the trading East

The Indian English Company captured almost the entire Hindustan for almost a hundred years. Active colonization by the British began in 1706 North America. At the same time, the development of Australia was underway, to whose territory the British sent criminals sentenced to hard labor. The Dutch East India Company took over Indonesia. France established colonial rule in the West Indies as well as in the New World (Canada).

African continent in the XVII-XVIII centuries. Europeans developed only on the coast and were used mainly as a source of slaves. In the 19th century, Europeans moved far into the continent and by the middle of the 19th century, Africa was almost completely colonized. The exceptions were two countries: Christian Ethiopia, which showed staunch resistance to Italy, and Liberia, created by former slaves immigrants from the United States.

In Southeast Asia, the French captured most of Indochina. Only Siam (Thailand) retained relative independence, but a large territory was also taken away from it.

By the middle of the 19th century, the Ottoman Empire was subjected to strong pressure from the developed countries of Europe. The countries of the Levant (Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Palestine), which were officially considered part of Ottoman Empire During this period, they became a zone of active penetration by Western powers - France, England, Germany. During the same period, Iran lost not only economic, but also political independence. IN late XIX century, its territory was divided into spheres of influence between England and Russia. Thus, in the 19th century, almost all 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 a cruel and predatory nature. At the cost of merciless exploitation and robbery, the wealth of the Western metropolises was created and relatively high level the lives of their population.

Initially, European countries did not bring their characteristic political culture and socio-economic relations. Faced with the ancient civilizations of the East, which had long ago developed their own traditions of culture and statehood, the conquerors sought, first of all, their economic subjugation. In territories where there was no statehood at all or was at a fairly low level (for example, in North America or Australia), they were forced to create certain government agencies, to some extent borrowed from the experience of the metropolises, but with greater national specificity. In North America, for example, power was concentrated in the hands of governors who were appointed by the British government. The governors had advisers, usually from among the colonists, who defended the interests of the local population. Self-government bodies played a major role: a meeting of representatives of the colonies and legislatures- Legislature.

In India, the British did not interfere much political life and sought to influence local rulers through economic means (enslaving loans), as well as providing military assistance in internecine struggles.

Economic policies in various European colonies! was largely similar. Spain, Portugal, Holland, France, and England initially transferred feudal structures to their colonial possessions. At the same time, plantation farming was widely used. Of course, these were not slave plantations of the classical type, as, say, in Ancient Rome. They represented a large capitalist economy working for the market, but using crude forms of non-economic coercion and dependence.

Many of the consequences of colonization were negative. The plunder of national wealth and the merciless exploitation of the local population and poor colonists were carried out. Trading companies brought stale consumer goods to the occupied territories and sold them at high prices. On the contrary, valuable raw materials, gold and silver, were exported from colonial countries. Under the onslaught of goods from the metropolises, traditional oriental crafts 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 came under the influence of Western civilization. Gradually, the assimilation of Western ideas and political institutions took place, the creation of capitalism; what economic infrastructure. Under the influence of these processes, traditional Eastern civilizations are being reformed.

A striking example of changes in traditional structures under the influence of colonialist policies is provided by the history of India. After the dissolution of the East India Trading Company in 1858, India became part of the British Empire. In 1861, a law was passed on the creation of legislative bodies - Indian Councils, and in 1880 a law on local self-government was adopted. Thus a new beginning was made for Indian civilization phenomenon - elected bodies of representation. Although it should be noted that only about 1% of the Indian population was eligible to participate in these elections.

The British made significant financial investments in the Indian economy. The colonial administration, resorting to loans from English bankers, built railways, irrigation structures, enterprises. In addition, private capital also grew in India, which played a major role in the development of the cotton and jute industries, and in the production of tea, coffee and sugar. The owners of the enterprises were not only the British, but also the Indians. 1/3 of the share capital was in the hands of the national bourgeoisie.

Since the 40s of the 19th century, the English authorities began to actively work to form a national “Indian” intelligentsia in blood and skin color, tastes, morality and mentality. Such intelligentsia was formed in colleges and universities in Calcutta, Madras, Bombay and other cities.

In the 19th century, the process of modernization also took place in the countries of the East that did not directly fall into colonial dependence. In the 40s of the 19th century, reforms began in the Ottoman Empire. The administrative system and the court were transformed, and secular schools were created. Non-Muslim communities (Jewish, Greek, Armenian) were officially recognized, and their members received access to public service. In 1876, a bicameral parliament was created, which somewhat limited the power of the Sultan; the constitution proclaimed the fundamental rights and freedoms of citizens. However, the democratization of eastern despotism turned out to be very fragile, and in 1878, after Turkey’s defeat in the war with Russia, a rollback to its original positions occurred. After the coup d'etat, despotism reigned again in the empire, parliament was dissolved, and the democratic rights of citizens were significantly curtailed.

In addition to Turkey, only two states in Islamic civilization began to master European standards of living: Egypt and Iran. The rest of the vast Islamic world remained subject to the traditional way of life until the middle of the 20th century.

China has also made certain efforts to modernize the country. In the 60s of the 19th century, the policy of self-strengthening gained widespread popularity here. In China, industrial enterprises, shipyards, and arsenals for the rearmament of the army began to be actively created. But this process has not received sufficient impetus. Further attempts to develop in this direction with great progress

rebellions resumed in the 20th century.

Japan advanced the furthest among the Eastern countries in the second half of the 19th century. The peculiarity of Japanese modernization is that in this country reforms were carried out quite quickly and most consistently. Using the experience of advanced European countries, the Japanese modernized industry, introduced a new system of legal relations, changed the political structure, the education system, and expanded civil rights and freedoms.

After the coup d'état of 1868, Japan underwent a series of radical reforms called the Meiji Restoration. As a result of these reforms, feudalism was ended in Japan. The government abolished feudal appanages and hereditary privileges, the daimyo princes, turning them into officials who headed provinces and prefectures. Titles were preserved, but class distinctions were abolished. This means that, with the exception of the highest dignitaries, in terms of class, princes and samurai were equal to other classes.

The land became the property of the peasants for ransom, and this opened the way for the development of capitalism. The wealthy peasantry, freed from the rent tax in favor of the princes, was given the opportunity to work in the market. Small landowners became poor, sold their plots and either turned into farm laborers or went to work in the city.

The state took over the construction industrial facilities: shipyards, metallurgical plants, etc. It actively encouraged merchant capital, giving it social and legal guarantees. In 1889, Japan adopted a constitution that established a constitutional monarchy with greater rights for the emperor.

As a result of all these reforms, Japan short term has changed dramatically. At the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, Japanese capitalism turned out to be quite competitive with the capitalism of the largest Western countries, and the Japanese state became a powerful power.

Colonies in the modern sense appeared in the era of the Great Geographers. Discoveries, as a result of which the colonial system begins to form. And this stage in the development of colonialism is associated with the formation of capitalist relations, therefore the concepts of “colonialism” and “capitalism” are inextricably linked, with capitalism becoming the dominant socio-economic system, and colonies accelerating this process.

Stage 1 of the formation of colonialism is colonialism of the era of primitive accumulation of capital (PCA) and manufacturing capitalism. Here the main processes were colonial robbery and colonial trade, which were the main sources of the PNC.

At this stage, as a result of the VGO, vast colonial possessions began to form, primarily Spain and Portugal, between which in 1494 an Agreement was concluded on the division of the world along the 30 degree meridian in Atlantic Ocean, according to which all the lands to the West from this line were colonies of Spain, and to the East - all the lands of Portugal. This was the beginning of the formation of the colonial system.

The first period of colonialism also affected the manufacturing period. Subsequently, in the 60s of the 16th century, Dutch merchants and bourgeois began to overtake Spain and Portugal in terms of wealth accumulation. Holland ousts the Portuguese from Ceylon and creates its own strongholds in Southern Malaysia and Indonesia.

Almost simultaneously with the Portuguese, England begins its expansion into West Africa(in the countries of Gambia, Ghana), and from the beginning of the 17th century - in India.

Stage 2 of colonialism coincides with the era of industrial capitalism (i.e. stage 2 of the development of capitalism). The new stage in the development of capitalism introduced new methods of exploitation of the colonies. Thus, further colonial conquests required the unification of large merchants and industrialists of the metropolises.

At this stage of development of the colonial system, the industrial revolution occurs (this is the transition from manufactories to factories and factories), which begins in the last third of the 18th century. and ends in developed European countries around the middle of the 19th century. At this stage, the period of exchange of goods begins, with the help of which the colonial countries are drawn into world commodity circulation. Thus, non-economic methods of exploitation (i.e. violence) are replaced by other economic methods (this is the exchange of goods between colonies and metropolises), as a result of which the metropolises turn the colonies into their agricultural and raw materials appendages for the needs of their industry.

Stage 3 is the stage of monopoly capitalism, corresponding to the last third of the 19th century. and before the First World War (until 1914). During this period, the forms of exploitation of the colonies change, they are drawn into the world capitalist market, and through it into the production of goods. And by the beginning of the First World War, the colonial system was completely formed, i.e. At this stage, the territorial division of the world was completed, when the colonial possessions of 3 European powers were formed: England, Germany, France.

Collapse of the colonial system

Stage 1 of the collapse of the colonial system dates back to the end of the 18th century. - the first quarter of the 19th century, when, as a result of the wars for independence from Spanish and Portuguese rule, countries gained freedom: in North America - the USA (former English colony) and many countries Latin America(Argentina, Brazil, Venezuela, Honduras, Guatemala, Mexico, Colombia).

Stage 2 of the collapse is associated with the crisis of the colonial system that began at the beginning of the 20th century. During the period of imperialism, the preconditions for the collapse of the colonial system are created, these are:

1) the creation of entrepreneurship in the colonies created the opportunity further development only with national independence;

2) the revolution in Russia in 1905-07, which predetermined the trend of the national liberation movement in the colonies;

3) the crisis of Western civilization associated with the First World War and the subsequent profound socio-political changes in the world that influenced the anti-colonial struggle (i.e. the collapse of the colonial system).