Formation and development of the world colonial system. Formation of the colonial system and the world capitalist economy
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 of traditional societies, Spain and Portugal were in the lead. They managed to conquer most of South America. In the middle of the 18th century, Spain and Portugal began to fall behind in economic development and how the sea powers were relegated to the background. 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. In 1706, active colonization of North America by the British began. 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. At the end of the 19th 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 to the colonies. 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 statehood was absent at all or was at a fairly low level (for example, in North America or Australia) they were forced to create certain government structures, 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: the meeting of representatives of the colonies and the legislative bodies - the legislature.
In India, the British did not interfere much political life and sought to influence local rulers through economic means of influence (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 classic type, like, 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. A robbery was taking place national wealth, merciless exploitation of the local population and poor colonists. 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 new system world connections and came under the influence of Western civilization. Gradually there was an assimilation Western ideas and political institutions, 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, the beginning was laid for a new phenomenon for Indian civilization - 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, and 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 traditional way life.
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, 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 a 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 of 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 has changed dramatically in a short period of time. 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.
The countries of the East over the course of three centuries of modern times (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 busy with their own internal problems and did not pay enough attention to the West. Japan, China, India and their closest neighbors were too far 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 by Affonso d'Albuquerque in 1509-1515 of a chain of support bases from the island of Socotra south of Yemen to the Mallacca Peninsula. Even the Muslims, who had gotten to know the Iberian conquistadors closer and better than others by that time, were confident in their military and other superiority over the “infidels,” especially the Ottomans, who were then marching from victory to victory.
In Japan, where the consolidation of feudalism was expressed in the final triumph in the 16th century. shogunate, strict 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 (1584) traders who appeared here, without arousing much interest, became the object of closer attention when they began to occupy the area at the end of the 16th century. missionary activity and especially the slave trade. The first shogun of the Tokugawa dynasty limited himself to opposing the Dutch and English who arrived in 1600 to the Portuguese and Spaniards, concluding more preferential agreements with them. An attempt by the Spaniards in 1611, with the help of the Spanish navy, to expel the Dutch and English 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 accepted it). In 1634, all Spaniards were expelled from the country, and in 1638, all Portuguese. An exception was made only for the Dutch, who helped the shogun suppress the peasant uprising in 1637-1638, but only on 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 all religious propaganda. Even earlier, in 1636, all Japanese were prohibited, under threat of death, from leaving their homeland and building large ships suitable for long-distance voyages. The era of the “closed state” has arrived, i.e. isolation of the country from outside world, which lasted until 1854. During this time, only the Dutch and Chinese merchants appeared in Japan.
Nevertheless, Japan secretly monitored the course of international events and, collecting information about foreign countries, were aware of world affairs. The assertion of Russia in Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands 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. The best remedy At the same time, they considered the country’s self-isolation. Even shipwrecked Japanese sailors, abandoned by a storm to other countries, were forever deprived of the right to return to their homeland. This basically continued until the overthrow of the Tokugawa shogunate and the Meiji Restoration in 1868.
Japan's neighbor, the world's largest state, China, experienced a crisis in the 16th and 17th centuries. a painful turn in its history. The Ming dynasty, which ruled since 1368, actually entrusted control 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 suppressed 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 Baile princes, having accumulated significant wealth, slaves and great military experience (they fought endlessly with each other), extremely intensified. The most gifted of the baileys, Nurhaci, gradually united all the Manchus, created a powerful unified army instead of large formations, extremely combat-ready thanks to severe discipline and unquestioned hierarchy military ranks, blood ties of tribal unity and excellent weapons. Having declared independence in 1616, Nurhaci began a war with China in 1618.
The war, during which the Manchus also conquered Korea, Mongolia and Taiwan, lasted until 1683. These 65 years also included the great peasant war of 1628-1645, which overthrew the Ming dynasty, the betrayal of the Ming aristocracy, which actually allied with the Manchus and recognized their power for the sake of jointly suppressing 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 using the bloodiest 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, and by the end of the 17th century they launched brisk trade in the coastal 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 Japan's example and began to restrict the activities of foreigners. In 1724, the preaching of Christianity was banned, and missionaries were expelled from the country. In 1757, all Chinese ports were closed to foreign trade, except for Canton and Macau, which was captured by the Portuguese. Fearing the strengthening of cities that became centers of anti-Manchu resistance, the Qing rulers slowed down the development of trade and crafts, prevented 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 connected with moneylenders and with the top of the bureaucracy. At the same time, the Qing, having largely inherited the old models of the Chinese monarchy, further aggravated its cruelty, making maximum use 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 subordination and humiliation.
The complex social hierarchy of society was brought to its apogee by the Manchus. In 1727, the institution of slavery was established by imperial decree, in accordance with Manchu customs. Even Bogdykhan's harem was strictly hierarchized, numbering 3 main concubines, 9 second-class concubines, 27 third-class, 81 fourth-class concubines. The criminal legislation included 2,759 crimes, of which more than 1 thousand were punishable by death. The despotic system of power, associated with constant humiliation (torture, caning, head shaving and wearing braids by men as a sign of submission to the Manchus), contributed to constant discontent and latent indignation of the people, which periodically broke out during uprisings. But, basically, indignation accumulated gradually, especially in secret societies, which often included in their members entire communities, covering entire villages, corporations of merchants and artisans. Emerging during the era of Mongol rule in the 13th century, these societies multiplied after the capture of the country by the Manchus. All these societies - " White Lotus", "Triad" (i.e. 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 headed by merchants. Members of societies, bound by strict discipline, a morality of self-denial, and fanatical faith in their cause, played a huge role not only in anti-Manchu protests, 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 reverence of the surrounding peoples for China. Moreover, many of the countries where they went (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 V various kinds unequal relationships.
China's relations with Russia were peculiar. In 1689, the first Russian-Chinese border and trade agreement 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, achieved the right to maintain a spiritual Orthodox mission in Beijing, which in fact served as both a diplomatic and trade mission. At the end of the 18th century. A new conflict arose between Russia and China due to Bogdykhan’s attempts to subjugate the Kalmyks, who migrated to the Volga lands from the Dzungar Khanate, with which the Manchus had been fighting since the 17th century. The attempt was stopped by the Russians, after which the Chinese even stopped allowing Kalmyks into Tibet to worship the shrines of Lhasa. After the destruction of the Dzungar Khanate by the Bogdykhan armies in three campaigns of 1755-1757, the Chinese (Upper Manchus) divided it into Inner (southern) and Outer (northern) Mongolia, and interrupted the previously existing direct economic ties Mongols with Russia. 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, 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 eventually able to secure dominance in Mongolia.
The forced “opening” of China by the West occurred after China’s defeat in the first “Opium” War of 1840-1842. The British took the island of Hong Kong from him, forced him to open 4 more ports to foreign trade, in addition to Canton, and obtained from Bogdykhan the right of extraterritoriality, freedom of trade and many other concessions. In 1844, the United States and France obtained the same concessions from China in their favor. All this undermined mutually beneficial Russian-Chinese trade due to the sharp increase in competition from Western powers. Wanting to contrast Russia with its rivals, the Chinese concluded a treaty with it in 1851, which granted significant privileges to Russian merchants.
The Taiping uprising that shocked all of China in 1851-1864. England, France and the USA took advantage of this to further strengthen their positions and effectively subjugate the Manchu rulers after the wars of 1856-1858. and 1860, finally convinced of the complete helplessness of their medieval army in front of the equipped the latest technology troops of Western imperialists. In addition, then the threat of the collapse of the state arose with particular urgency. This was most evident in western China, where the Dungans and other Muslims had created a number of small states by 1864. In 1867, the whole of Kashgaria (Xinjiang) was united under his rule by the Tajik Yakub-bek, a dignitary of the Khan of Kokand. What was especially dangerous was that Yakub Beg, focusing on England, concluded a trade agreement with her in 1874 and, at the behest of the British, received the title of emir, weapons and military instructors from the Ottoman Sultan. In the state of Yakub-bek (Jety-shaar, i.e. “Semigradye”), Sharia laws prevailed and the “Khojas,” the descendants of the Turkestan dervishes who led a number of anti-Manchu uprisings from 1758 to 1847, enjoyed enormous influence. However, after Yakub’s death -bek in 1877, a struggle for power began at the top of Jety-shaar. Taking advantage of it, the Qing government managed to liquidate Jety-Shaar in 1878.
Nevertheless, China became virtually 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 by serving the imperialists. The last official resistance to the West was the war between China and France in 1884-1885. Having been defeated in it, China was forced to renounce formal sovereignty over Vietnam, which became 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, since 1874 tried to carry out conquests in China and Korea, which was formally subject to it. Having started the war, the Japanese achieved everything they wanted: they captured Taiwan and the Penghuledao Islands, imposed an indemnity on China, and made Korea formally independent of China (i.e., defenseless against Japanese expansion). This defeat was the reason for new pressure from the West on China: the Qing government was forced to make a series of enslaving loans to provide England, France, Germany, the USA, as well as Russia and Japan, which joined the “concern of powers”, with construction concessions railways and “lease” of a number of territories. The dominance of powers, the tyranny of foreigners and missionaries, as well as the consequences of the defeats suffered by China were main reason 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 consolidated.
Iran was also turned into a semi-colony. In the 16th century it was a powerful Safavid state, which covered, in addition to Iran, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, part of Afghanistan and Central Asia. There was a fierce struggle between the Safavids and the Ottoman Empire for the possession of the entire Caucasus, Kurdistan and Iraq. However, already in the 16th century. The power of the Safavids was undermined both by economic decline and constant uprisings of the enslaved peoples. The movement of the rebel Afghans, which had been growing since 1709, led to their capture of the capital of the state, Isfahan. Having led the fight against the Afghans and the Ottomans invading in 1723 in 1726, 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. Non-Iranian regions, for the most part, followed an independent path of development, and in Iran, engulfed in feudal strife, the British and Dutch began to penetrate in 1763, having received the rights of extraterritoriality, duty-free trade and the creation of their own armed trading posts, and in fact, military fortresses in a number of points of the Persian bay.
The Qajar dynasty, which came to power in 1794, ruled with the most brutal 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, fought 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, bribing literally everyone, “from the Shah to the camel driver,” concluded a new agreement with Iran in 1801, which further expanded and strengthened their positions in Iran and allowed them to use this country as a weapon of pressure and to Russia, and to France, and to Afghanistan (which prevented England from “developing” India). And according to the treaty of 1814, England directly intervened in Iran’s relations with its neighbors, providing it with 150 thousand 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, Russia began to gain the upper hand in the struggle between Russia and England for influence on Iran. Nevertheless, the British managed to maintain their positions and even impose a new unequal treaty on Iran in 1841. Uprisings of the Babids (adherents of the religious movement of Sayyid Ali Muhammad Bab) in 1844-1852. shook Iran and even gave rise to a desire for reform among part of the feudal-bourgeois elite, which was quickly strangled by the Shah's court, the conservative aristocracy and the clergy. These circles subsequently tried to maneuver between England and Russia, but were basically forced to retreat, giving both powers 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 developed differently, becoming objects of direct colonial expansion and direct subordination to the West.
How Europe expanded to the East and what were its stages. Europe's expansion to the East began with the Portuguese conquests in Africa. As early as 1415, the Portuguese captured Ceuta on the northern coast of Morocco, turning it into the first of their African "frontieras" (border fortresses). Then they occupied the port of El Ksar Es Segir (in 1458) and Anfa (in 1468), which they completely destroyed, building their fortress 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 dominance of the Portuguese weakened after they surrendered Agadir, and soon also Safi, Azzemmur, Mogador. They lasted the longest in Maza-gan (now El-Jadida) - until 1769. But basically their influence in Morocco was ended in 1578, when almost the entire Portuguese army at the head of 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 16th century they also had many strongholds in Siam and the Moluccas. They founded a number of such fortresses in Ceylon, including Colombo, future capital islands.
The Spanish, who followed the Portuguese, were more successful in the Americas than in Asia and Africa, where they were either outpaced by the Portuguese or faced 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, Cherchel, Bejayu, as well as Penyon 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 Spanish hands until 1792.
The Spaniards were even more active in Tunisia. In 1510 they captured Tripoli, then belonging to Tunisia, and in 1535 they captured Tunisia itself, which they controlled until 1574, i.e. almost 40 years. However, they had to retreat from here too. At that time, the Spaniards, especially in alliance with the Knights of Malta, Genoa and Venice, could still 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 its leader, King Lajos II, the Ottoman occupation of the lands of Hungary, the Czech Republic and Croatia, and their campaigns in 1529 and 1532 against Vienna. Subsequently, the Ottoman threat loomed over Vienna until 1683, when the Ottomans last time besieged the capital of Austria, and their vanguard - the Crimean cavalry - even reached the borders of Bavaria. But the decisive defeat inflicted by the army of the Polish king John Sobieski 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 strained itself, taking upon itself the unbearable role of world hegemon and trying to fight at the same time With the Ottomans, and with the Guez in the Netherlands, and with the French in Europe, and with the Indians in America, and with the rebels in the Philippines, and also with the British and Protestants around the world. The population of the country during the most brilliant, but also the most difficult in Spanish history of the 16th century. decreased by 1 million (i.e. by 1/9) and continued to lose 40 thousand emigrants leaving for America annually. 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 outcasts. The country was regularly abandoned by Moriscos (baptized Moors), who played a significant role in the economy, but at the same time were an object of hatred for the clergy and the envy of the mob. Their complete expulsion in 1609-1614. (with the secret goal of enriching themselves at their expense) completely undermined the material capabilities of the kingdom, for which the burden of great power was becoming unbearable. War of the Spanish Succession 1701-1714 practically deprived Spain of its status as a great power, although it retained its colonies.
Even before Spain receded into the background as a colonial metropolis, the Dutch, who had just won their independence (in 1581 actually, in 1609 - formally), and the British, came to the fore almost simultaneously. The East India (from 1602) and West India (from 1621) companies of the Dutch launched intensive colonial expansion around the world. Taking advantage of the weakening of Portugal, annexed to Spain in 1580 (until 1640), the Dutch began to displace the Portuguese from everywhere, by 1609 expelling them (along with the Spaniards) from the Moluccas, and by 1641 taking 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 back in 1596, continued until the 18th century. In the 17th century Madura, Mauritius, and 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 17th century. Holland loses its maritime and commercial hegemony due to the successes of England in the Anglo-Dutch wars of 1652-1654. and 1672-1674, as well as great losses of Holland in the wars with France 1672-1678, 1668-1697, 1702-1713. France by that time had become a powerful trade and colonial rival of Holland, forced to block with England under the threat of French expansion. Therefore, Holland, which by that time was inferior to England economically (especially in industrial development), began to lose one position after another to it. And after the establishment of French rule 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 Treaty of London of 1824, also renounce its possessions in India and Malaya in favor of England. But it retained its main colony in Asia - Indonesia.
Rivalry between powers often led to the fact that colonies, passing from hand to hand, often acquired a complex ethnocultural appearance. This especially applies to the islands, among which, for example, Ceylon has been the object of the claims of the Portuguese since 1517, a colony of Holland since 1658, and England since 1796. About the same thing happened with Mauritius, from the beginning of the 16th century. belonged 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 fight against Spain and Portugal, in an alliance, and then also in the fight against Holland, later fiercely competed with France. As a result of this constant centuries-long struggle with continental powers, the British learned a lot and achieved a lot, including taking advantage of the contradictions between their competitors in colonial plunder. 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 they captured the island of Newfoundland in 1583, and in 1607 founded the first British colony of Virginia. But from 1615, the growth of English trading posts began (Surat, Masulinatham, Pulicat, Madras) in India, where the British managed to obtain a number of trading privileges in the Mughal Empire. For a long time they limited themselves 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, the Caribbean and India. Victory almost everywhere went to England, after a 20-year war that practically eliminated France’s position in India by 1761. In 1757-1764. The British captured Bengal, crushed Mysore in 1799, and defeated the Marathas in 1818. The conquest of India was completed with the capture of Punjab in 1846. Even earlier, in 1786, the British began expansion in Malaya, and in 1824 - the first war with Burma. At the same time, Holland recognized the “legality” of England’s seizure of Singapore in 1819.
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 USA, in the 19th century. Great Britain's colonial empire continued to grow due to the colonization of Australia and New Zealand, new conquests in Africa, as well as in Asia, where Aden in southern Yemen was captured in 1839, and Hong Kong in southern China in 1842, which became one of the bases for British expansion in Asia. In 1878, England received Cyprus from the Ottoman Empire, and in 1882 it 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, and in 1898, under the guise of a “lease,” the port of Weihaiwei was taken from China.
Question No. 16.
Formation of the colonial system and the world capitalist economy.
In the XVII-XVIII centuries. the borders of European civilization were constantly expanding: we are, of course, not talking about geographical expansion, but about the spread of ideas, value systems, socio-economic structures, etc. The single reconnaissance expeditions of the era of the Great Geographical Discoveries were replaced by the development of new rich territories, in the process in which Europeans laid the foundations for a future colonial system. Traditional societies, as a rule, could not do anything to oppose this expansion and became easy prey for stronger opponents.
On initial stage After colonization, Europeans usually did not interfere in the socio-political life of conquered societies. What was important for the conquerors was, above all, the economic subjugation of the colonies. That is why many elements, for example, of 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 competition, victory usually went to the most advanced, modernized countries. And since in this sense, absolute leadership at the turn of the 18th-19th centuries. was for England, it also became the main colonial power, displacing first Holland and then France in this competition. IN Latin America Spain and Portugal still retained their gigantic possessions, but the weakness of these metropolises 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 bridgeheads that had long been used for the capture and export of black slaves to America, as well as for the extraction of minerals and other raw materials.
In the XVII-XVIII centuries. Russia's expansion (and, accordingly, its authority in international politics). But unlike the Western powers, 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 18th-19th centuries, the borders of the empire expanded in the south (Caucasus, Crimea, Central Asia). Russian settlements appeared even in Alaska and in the area of the current American state of California, but in the 19th century. they were abandoned. In the west, the Russian Empire included Ukraine, Belarus, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, and a significant part of ethnic Poland.
The forms of exploitation in the colonies were different. In Latin America, the Spaniards and 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 areas), 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 - extremely valuable goods in European markets. In an effort to extract maximum profits from the colonies, trading companies also brutally exploited European colonists (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 independence was won, 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 in early XIX V. former Latin American colonies. But the huge African continent was developed by the colonialists only to a small extent, so it was too early to talk about a crisis of the colonial system. Quite the contrary: at the end of the 19th century, when all of Africa was captured and divided, this system was in for a kind of heyday.
Stages of formation and development of the world economy.
In its formation and development world economy has come a long and difficult way. Some researchers date its origin back 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 accelerated development international trade jewelry, spices, precious metals, 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 industrial revolution, during the development of capitalism into monopoly capitalism.
Main stages of development of the world economy
|
Number |
Duration |
Characteristic |
|
XV-XVII centuries AD |
The emergence of the world capitalist market: |
|
|
XVIII-XIX centuries AD |
The 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, a world economy: |
|
|
Since the 50s XX century up to now |
The functioning of the system of 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 foundations for the emergence of a world market, which developed on the basis of internal markets, gradually extending beyond national borders.
Domestic market- a form of economic communication in which everything intended for sale is sold by the manufacturer himself within the country.
National market- the domestic market, part of which is oriented towards foreign buyers.
International market- part of national markets that is directly related to foreign markets.
World market- the sphere of stable commodity-money relations between countries, based on MRI and other factors of production.
Basic characteristic features world market:
- is a category of commodity production that has gone beyond the national framework in search of sales of its products;
- manifests itself in the interstate movement of goods 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 used most effectively;
- eliminates from international exchange goods and manufacturers that do not provide international quality standards at competitive prices.
The emergence of the world economy.
TO end of the 19th century V. the development of the world market for goods has led to the intensification of international economic activity and its expansion beyond 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 of 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.
The world economy is regulated through measures of both national and interstate economic policy. The economies of individual countries are becoming more open and IEO-oriented.
World economy is the totality of the national economies of the countries of the world, related honey are mobile factors of production.
Characteristic features of the modern world economy:
- development of international movement of production factors (capital, labor, technology);
- growth of international forms of production in enterprises located in different countries(transnational companies, joint ventures…);
- economic policies of states that provide support for the international movement of goods and factors of production on a bilateral and multilateral basis;
- emergence of the economy open type within many states and interstate associations.
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 great geographical discoveries, associated mainly with reconnaissance expeditions, already in the 17th-18th centuries. The colonialist 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.
At the first stage of colonization of traditional societies, Spain and Portugal were in the lead. They managed to conquer most of South America. In the middle of the 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. Beginning in 1757, the English East India trading company captured almost the entire Hindustan for almost a hundred years. In 1706, active colonization of North America by the British began. 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 advanced 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 the Ottoman Empire during this period, became an area of active penetration by Western powers - France, England, Germany. During the same period, Iran lost not only economic, but also political independence. At the end of the 19th 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, 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 the relatively high standard of living of their population was maintained.
Initially, European countries did not bring their characteristic political culture and socio-economic relations to the colonies. 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 state structures, to some extent borrowed from the experience of the metropolises, 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, usually from among the colonists, who defended the interests of the local population. Self-government bodies played a major role: the meeting of representatives of the colonies and the legislative bodies - the legislature.
In India, the British did not particularly interfere in political life and sought to influence local rulers through economic means of influence (enslaving loans), as well as by providing military assistance in internecine struggles.
Economic policies in the various European colonies were 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-owning 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 robbery 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, Western ideas and political institutions were assimilated and a capitalist economic infrastructure was created. 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, the beginning was laid for a new phenomenon for Indian civilization - 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, and 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. XIX century The British 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 XIX 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 until the middle of the 20th century. remained subject to the traditional way of life.
China has also made certain efforts to modernize the country. In the 60s XIX century here, the policy of self-strengthening gained wide popularity. 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 at development in this direction resumed with great interruptions in the 20th century.
Farthest from the countries of the East in the second half of the 19th century. Japan has advanced. 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'etat of 1868, a series of radical reforms were carried out in Japan, called the Meiji Restoration. As a result of these reforms, feudalism was ended in Japan. The government abolished feudal appanages and hereditary privileges and daimyo princes, turning them into officials. who headed the 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 a 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 of industrial facilities: shipyards, metallurgical plants, etc. It actively encouraged merchant capital, giving it social and legal guarantees. In 1889, a constitution was adopted in Japan, according to which a constitutional monarchy was established with greater rights for the emperor.
As a result of all these reforms, Japan has changed dramatically in a short period of time. At the turn of the XIX-XX centuries. Japanese capitalism turned out to be quite competitive in relation to the capitalism of the largest Western countries, and the Japanese state turned into a powerful power.
Features of the formation of the 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 during the Age of Discovery 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 England's 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 centuries-old traditions and sustainability of Eastern society. At the same time, it would be wrong to say that the colonialists did not influence the course of historical development of the 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 the 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:
Country |
Territory of colonies, million km 2 |
Population, million people |
England France Germany |
33,5 10,6 |
13,3 |
At this stage, the territorial division of the world is completed. The leading colonial powers of the world 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 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 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 until 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 trading companies, as it was 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 accounted for 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 the economic development of metropolises
In new historical conditions, the role of colonies in the economic development of metropolises is significantly increasing. Possession of colonies contributed 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 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 species 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. The world economy establishes a division of labor between colonies and metropolises. 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 on Chinese territory (except for the port of Macau) was a kind of reaction to the expansion of European powers into the countries of the 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).
Strengthening the expansion of foreign capital, popular uprisings, the destruction of irrigation systems and, as a consequence, crop failures, constant wars (the Franco-Chinese war of 1885 over Vietnam, the Japanese-Chinese war of 1894-1895 over Korea, etc.), the collapse of the policy of “self-strengthening” and 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 subject to the expansion of European powers and which managed to defend its independence, was 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.
4. Explain the term “semi-colony” using China as an example.
