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Colonial systems in the world, types and stages of formation - abstract. Colonial system: events and facts

From the first steps of folding colonial system and for most of the 20th century, human development was largely dominated by a group of countries united under common name“West” (Great Britain, France, Germany, Russia (USSR), Italy, Spain, USA, Canada, etc.), i.e. the world was Eurocentric or, in in a broad sense, Euro-American-centric. Other peoples, regions and countries were taken into account insofar as they were connected with the history of the West.

The era of exploration and subjugation of Asia, Africa and America by European peoples began with the Great Geographical Discoveries of the 15th-16th centuries. The final act of this epic was the creation by the end of the 19th century. great colonial empires that covered vast areas and numerous peoples and countries in all parts globe. It should be noted that colonialism and imperialism were not the exclusive monopoly of Europe or the Western world in modern and recent times. The history of conquest is as old as the history of civilizations. Empire as a form of political organization of countries and peoples existed almost from the very beginning of human history. Suffice it to recall, for example, the empire of Alexander the Great, the Roman and Byzantine Empire, Holy Roman Empire, empires of Qing Shi Huang and Genghis Khan, etc.

In modern usage, the term "empire" (and its derivative term "imperialism") is related to the Latin word for "emperor" and is usually associated with ideas of dictatorial power and coercive methods of government. In modern times, it first came into use in France in the 30s of the 19th century. and was used against supporters of the Napoleonic Empire. In subsequent decades, with the increasing colonial expansion of Britain and other countries, the term gained popularity as an equivalent to the term "colonialism". At the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. imperialism began to be viewed as a special stage in the development of capitalism, characterized by the tightening of exploitation of the lower classes within the country and the intensification of the struggle for the redivision of the world in the international arena.

Imperialism is also characterized by special relations of domination and dependence. Different nations are not equal in their origin, influence, resources, and opportunities. Some of them are large, others are small, some have developed industry, while others are significantly behind in the process of modernization. International inequality has always been a reality, which led to the suppression and subjugation of weak peoples and countries by strong and powerful empires and world powers.

As historical experience shows, any strong civilization has invariably shown a tendency towards spatial expansion. Therefore, it inevitably acquired an imperial character. In the last five centuries, the initiative in expansion belonged to the Europeans, and then to the West as a whole. Chronologically, the beginning of the formation of Eurocentric capitalist civilization coincided with the beginning of the Great Geographical Discoveries. The emerging young dynamic civilization immediately declared its claims to the entire globe. During the four centuries that followed the discoveries of Columbus and Vasco da Gama, the rest of the world was either explored and populated, or conquered.

Industrial revolution XIX century gave a new impetus to the overseas expansion of European powers. Territorial conquests began to be seen as a means of increasing wealth, prestige, military power and gaining additional trump cards in the diplomatic game. An acute conflict has developed between the leading industrial powers. competition for the areas and regions of the most profitable investment of capital, as well as markets for goods. End of the 19th century was marked by an intensification of the struggle of leading European countries to conquer still unoccupied territories and countries in Africa, Asia and Oceania.

By the beginning of the 20th century. The wave of creation of huge colonial empires ended, the largest of which was the British Empire, stretching over vast areas from Hong Kong in the East to Canada in the West. The whole world was divided, there were almost no “no man’s” territories left on the planet. The great era of European expansion was over. In the course of many wars for the division and redistribution of territories, European peoples extended their dominance over almost the entire globe.

Until the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th centuries. non-European peoples mastered European scientific, technical, economic, intellectual and other achievements passively; Now the stage of their active development has begun, as if from the inside. The priority in this regard undoubtedly belongs to Japan, which, as a result of the Meiji reforms in 1868, embarked on the path of capitalist development. The reforms marked the beginning of significant economic growth for the country, which, in turn, gave it the opportunity to move on to the path of external expansion. The attack by Japanese aircraft on December 7, 1941 on the American naval base at Pearl Harbor demonstrated firsthand the real beginning of the end of the Eurocentric world and became the starting point of a new era in world history. But until the second half of the 20th century. the world remained Eurocentric: Western countries continued to dictate their will and determine the rules of the political game in the international arena. The overwhelming majority of other countries and peoples were assigned only a passive role as objects of the policies of the great powers.

Formation of the world economy World economic ties originate in world trade, which dates back thousands of years. In the pre-industrial era, paradigm (from the gr. paradeigma - sample) economic development can be characterized as “sustained consumption”. Then simple reproduction was typical, and subsistence farming was dominant. From the point of view of the socio-economic form, this corresponded to the primitive, slave and feudal modes of production. The enrichment of the ruling classes was carried out through non-economic coercion of slaves and peasants.

World trade and world economic relations acquired their new quality on the basis of the Great Geographical Discoveries of the late XV-XVI centuries. and the decay of feudalism in Europe. Great geographical discoveries were not an accident. They were the result of the development of technology and science, economics, cities, and commodity-money relations. The creation of a new type of sailing ship - caravels - allowed the expedition of X. Columbus to cross the Atlantic Ocean (1492). A compass began to be used, in combination with an astrolabe to help navigate the open sea. Cartography has improved.

A huge incentive was the “thirst for gold.” It was determined not only by the desire of kings and other nobles to replenish their treasury, not only by the passion of adventurers for enrichment, but also by the need for growing trade turnover. The pursuit of money and its fetishization began. Trade interests were important. The Seljuk Turks' capture of Constantinople interrupted Levantine trade. All this stimulated the geographical expeditions of the Spaniards and Portuguese, and later the French, Dutch, and British.

Russia played an outstanding role in the exploration and development of the northern coast of Asia and America, the Arctic and Pacific oceans. The consequences of geographical discoveries were extremely important. A significant share of colonial spoils went into the hands of kings and court nobles and received feudal use. Large land ownership, serfdom, and even plantation slavery were imposed in the colonies. But still, capitalist consequences were predominant - the process of initial accumulation of capital.

Throughout the 16th century. The territory known to Europeans increased 6 times. The territorial base of trade has reached gigantic proportions. It has become global, oceanic. The scope of the international division of labor has expanded. Huge masses of new goods were involved in trade turnover. European capital became more full-blooded and viable. Penetrating into industry, he accelerated the development of manufacturing capitalism. There was a movement of trade routes to the Atlantic and Indian oceans.

The Mediterranean Sea began to lose its importance, the cities of its coast fell into decay. But Lisbon, Seville, Cadiz (Spain), Antwerp, Amsterdam, London rose. Economic centers moved west during this period. The influx of cheap gold and silver caused in the 16th century. “price revolution” - they increased 2-5 times. This accelerated the enrichment of merchants and owners of factories, who sold goods at ever-increasing prices and paid wages increasingly cheaper money. Prosperous peasants speculating in raw materials and food also became rich. As for the workers and the rural poor, they suffered from high prices. The income of the nobility became scarce as monetary dues depreciated.

One of the most important consequences of geographical discoveries was colonialism. The acceleration of the economic development of Western Europe occurred at the cost of unequal exchange, robbery and enslavement of the peoples of America, Africa, and Asia. All of the above allows us to conclude that it was the Great Geographical Discoveries that marked the beginning of the formation of the world economy.

From the standpoint of socio-economic forms of society, this stage is characterized by the process of decomposition of feudal relations, the feudal mode of production as a whole, the genesis of capitalism - the initial accumulation of capital, which, on the basis of geographical discoveries, exploitation of mineral resources and enslaved peoples, also received a new quality. Due to this initial stage The formation of the world economy is usually associated with the final victory over the feudal mode of production, the process of initial accumulation of capital and the formation of free competition. There has been a fundamental change in the paradigm of economic development. The central figure of the economic movement becomes an “economic man” with strong motives and benefits, enterprising, ready to take risks for the sake of profit. The rate of economic growth has increased sharply. Great Britain is becoming the most developed, advanced country in the world.

Great geographical discoveries contributed to its economic rise. Before this, England occupied a rather modest place. The process of the formation of capitalism here occurred more intensively and with greater clarity than in other countries. Therefore, England is considered a “classical” capitalist country.

The main commodity industry of the country was agriculture. The wool was exported for processing to Flanders and Florence. Our own industrial production based on guild crafts also developed. Great geographical discoveries expanded the world market, increased demand and prices. Thanks to lower production costs, manufacture quickly replaced small-scale handicraft production.

For further development, more raw materials and free labor were required. Sheep breeding was profitable for feudal lords, but faced limited pastures. Landlords seized communal pastures and drove peasants off the land, which in history was called enclosure. In this case, brutal measures were used, entire areas were devastated. Driven from the land, the peasants lost their livelihoods and turned into beggars and vagabonds.

Agrarian revolution of the 16th century. created conditions for the rapid growth of the wool industry, providing it with raw materials and labor. “Bloody” legislation formed a new capitalist labor discipline. Workers received meager wages with long working hours (from 5 a.m. to 6-8 p.m.). The development of industrial production and the growth of the non-agricultural population contributed to the formation of a domestic market, the size of which was limited by low effective demand. This oriented production toward the foreign market.

The characteristic policy at this time was mercantilism. However, the growing bourgeoisie experienced oppression from the ruling elite of the nobility, which caused its struggle against the feudal order. Bourgeois revolution 1642-1649 put an end to feudalism in England, ended the Middle Ages and opened the period new history- capitalism. This contributed to the economy industrial revolution and the formation of a new stage in the world economy. Thus, the first stage of the formation of the world economy can be conditionally limited to the framework of the late XV - late XVIII centuries. The Industrial Revolution of the late 18th century characterized a new stage in the development of the world economy. Industrial capital begins to occupy a central place in the economy, which also changed the paradigm of economic development, the model of which is the industrialized economy.

Stages of development of the world economy In its formation and development world economy has come a long and difficult way.

By the middle of the 20th century, the world economy was split into two parts: the world capitalist and the world socialist.

Since the 1960s, developing countries have been included in the MX system. By the mid-70s, the so-called “new industrial countries” stood out noticeably among them: Southeast Asia(first wave - 4 “small dragons” - South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore) and Latin American countries: Brazil, Argentina, Mexico. After the collapse of the USSR and revolutionary changes in countries Eastern Europe The world economy begins to acquire the features of a single, holistic entity. The emerging global world economy, while not homogeneous, includes the national economies of industrialized countries, developing countries and countries with an economic system of a transition type. While maintaining many contradictions and diverse trends, MX at the turn of the 21st century is incomparably more holistic, integrated, and dynamic than in the middle of the 20th century.

The world economy at the turn of the 21st century is global in scale; it is based entirely on the principles of a market economy, objective laws of the international division of labor, and the internationalization of production and capital. By the end of the 90s, a number of stable trends emerged in the world economy. These include: - stable rates of economic growth.

The average growth rate of all countries in the world rose from less than 1% in the early 90s to 3% per annum at the end of the decade; - increasing the foreign economic factor in economic development. The scale has noticeably increased and the nature of traditional international trade in embodied goods and services has changed qualitatively. “Electronic commerce” has appeared, i.e. trading on the Internet; - globalization of financial markets and increased interdependence of national economies; - growth in the share of the service sector in the national economy and international exchange; - development of regional integration processes. The achieved degree of unity of trade, production and the credit and financial sphere of industrial developed countries serves as a sign of the formation of a world economic complex (WEC).

Russia and Europe in the 18th century. Changes in the international position of the empire.

The outcome of the palace struggle at the end of the 17th century, clearing power Petru, predetermined the nature of the further development of transformations. Peter abruptly put forward the German-technical direction to the detriment of the Polish-scholastic one and concentrated his vigorous activity on continuing military, financial and administrative reforms. The starting points of the reform were already given by the experiences of the 17th century.

The development of the reform was devoid of systematic planning and proceeded in fits and starts, under the direct influence of current military events and increasing financial difficulties. Only in the second half of the reign, by the 20s of the 18th century, a more systematic reform plan was outlined, inspired by Western theories of enlightened absolutism and mercantilism and based on models of foreign, mainly Swedish, institutions.

The development of this transformative plan was the collective work of a number of people who submitted transformative projects to Peter on similar issues. Understanding these projects, Peter gave the implementation of the planned transformations a forced, terrorist character. Along with the properties of Peter's personal character, the feverishly excited pace of the transformative work was determined by the course of external events.

War filled the entire reign of Peter. The end of the 90s of the 17th century was occupied by the Azov campaigns. They were a continuation of Russia's participation in the European coalition against Turkey, which was formed under Peter's predecessors. With the capture of Azov and the construction of the Voronezh fleet, the prestige of Russia, shaken by the failures of Prince Golitsyn, was raised both in the eyes of the allies and in the eyes of Turkey. Moldavia and Wallachia turned to Peter with an offer of citizenship and the transfer of military operations against Turkey to the banks of the Danube. But at this time, coalition members were already in a hurry to make peace with Turkey: Western Europe was preparing for another grandiose struggle - for the Spanish inheritance.

The collapse of the coalition forced Russia to conclude a truce with Turkey for 30 years (July 3, 1700). Azov went to Russia, Russia's annual tribute to the Crimean Khan was destroyed. Two months after the conclusion of this truce, a war began with Sweden, against which back in 1699 Peter entered into an alliance with Poland. The Polish king Augustus and the Livonian nobleman Patkul, who worked hard to conclude a Polish-Russian union, dreamed that when dividing his future conquests, Peter would be content with Ingria and Karelia.

The defeat of the Russians at Narva further increased the claims and hopes of Augustus. He demanded that Peter cede Poland to Little Russia; but the alliance was renewed without fulfilling this condition. After the Narva victory, Charles XII, in the words of Peter, “got stuck in Poland,” and the Russians at that time ravaged Livonia, captured Dorpat and Narva and established themselves on the Neva with the capture of Noteburg and Nyenskans and the founding of St. Petersburg (1703). Having reached the sea, Peter began to think about peace with Sweden and asked Austria, England, Holland and France for mediation. Powers that fought with Louis XIV, did not sympathize with the strengthening of Russia and coldly greeted Peter’s request. Negotiations with Sweden began with the mediation of France, but were interrupted due to the demand of Charles XII to return all Russian conquests to Sweden.

Russia occupied Courland; Charles, having forced Poland to peace and replaced Augustus on the Polish throne with Stanislav Leszczynski, was preparing to march deep into Russia. Peter was afraid of the Swedes' campaign against Moscow, but Karl, counting on the Little Russian Cossacks and the Crimean Khan, moved to Ukraine. The Battle of Poltava (1709) turned the entire course of both military and diplomatic actions. Karl fled to Turkey; With its success, Russia attracted the watchful attention of all of Europe, coupled with fear. Fear caused hostility. France and Poland raised Turkey against Russia. Peter went to the break, encouraged by the hope of the Balkan Slavs, who during this reign of Peter did not cease to appeal to the protection of Russia. The rulers of Moldavia and Wallachia entered into formal alliances with Peter against the Turks, under the condition of declaring the independence of their rulers. The betrayal of the Wallachian ruler Brankovan subjected Russian army terrible danger from the Turks and forced the Prut campaign to end with a difficult peace for Russia with Turkey: Azov again passed to Turkey, the newly built Russian cities Sea of ​​Azov ruined, Charles XII was guaranteed a free return to Swedish possessions.

The years 1711 - 1715 were busy with military operations in Pomerania and Finland. The penetration of Russian troops into Germany further increased the anxiety of Europe hostile to Russia. The end of the War of the Spanish Succession made it possible for European powers to more closely monitor Russia's political growth. England, Austria, France behaved towards Russia, partly with cold tension, partly with open hostility. Poland, where after Battle of Poltava Augustus reigned again, Denmark and Prussia were in alliance with Peter, but the first two powers were afraid of Russia and intrigued against its successes.

Despite all this, Peter, after successes in Finland, drew up a plan for landing a united Russian-Danish fleet in southern Sweden. The plan did not materialize due to discord among the allies. Peter then began to seek rapprochement with France. After his trip to Paris, an alliance was concluded between Russia, France and Prussia, with the obligation to open negotiations with Sweden through France.

Simultaneously with this agreement, however, it was decided - at the suggestion of the Swedish diplomat Hertz - a congress of Russian and Swedish representatives in the Åland Islands, without the participation of French representatives. The Congress of Åland, during which Charles XII was replaced on the throne by Ulrika Eleonora, did not lead to anything. Peter resumed the war. Despite the demonstrative cruising of the English fleet in the Baltic Sea, the Russian army landed in Sweden several times and devastated the outskirts of Stockholm. This led to the conclusion of peace in Nystadt in 1721. Finland, except for Vyborg, was returned to Sweden, but Russia received Livonia, Estland, Ingria, with the payment of 2 million rubles to Sweden. Russia's two-century desire for the Baltic coast was satisfied. Not more than a year later, Peter set off on a new campaign, to Persia.

The thought of Caspian acquisitions occupied Peter from the beginning of his reign and intensified even more after the Prut campaign. The strengthening of Russia in the Caspian Sea was supposed to serve as a reward for the failure in the Black Sea. The internal disorder of the Persian monarchy, revealed by Volynsky's embassy to Persia (1716), further strengthened Peter in terms of the Persian campaign. Russian troops quickly occupied the western shore of the Caspian Sea.

The Persian War caused a new outbreak of hostile distrust of Russia in Europe and almost led to a new break with Turkey, to which Persia turned for help and which was zealously incited against Russia by Austrian and English diplomats. Peter's conquests raised Russia's international position to unprecedented heights and increased the state's territory by more than 10,000 square miles, but greatly increased the size of the army. In the first decade of the 18th century, the war caused an increase in the army from 40 to 100 thousand people and required the creation of a navy.

Military expenditures increased, compared to the budget of 1680, by 40 million, and expenditures on military needs accounted for 65% of the total government expenditures. The growth of troops and military expenditures led to a new reorganization of the military and financial system, which in turn caused a number of social and administrative transformations. Streltsy infantry and local noble cavalry of old times were replaced by a regular army.

In the first half of the reign, new direct taxes were introduced, new objects of taxation were found, coinage was widely used through the re-minting of silver money, government quitrent articles were re-issued, proprietary fishing, home baths, mills, and inns were again subject to quitrent, and a number of government monopolies were established. All this did not prevent a financial crisis. A deficit of half a million was expected in 1710.

A household census carried out in 1710 showed a huge population decline throughout Russia. The decentralization of financial management, carried out with the establishment of provinces, did not contribute to the increase and streamlining of revenues; new “request” and “non-salary” fees were received with ever greater arrears. The government again faced a task that had already had to be resolved at the end of the 17th century - reform of the taxation procedure and consolidation of direct tax. This was done in the 20s of the 18th century.

Household taxation was replaced by capitation taxation in order to better achieve universality and uniformity of taxation. Indirect taxes temporarily occupy a secondary place in the revenue budget. Military and financial reforms contributed to changing the structure of Russian society. Changes in the order of service completed the estate-corporate organization of the nobility; The taxation reform was accompanied by the further establishment of the serfdom of the peasantry.

After the special duty of the service class, military service, was turned into an all-class duty, the nobility received its special role in the performance of this duty: after serving ordinary service in the guard, the nobles became officers in the army, constituting a noble-officer corporation in it. Another special class obligation of the nobility was compulsory education according to a government-approved program. Civil service still remained indefinite and compulsory for the nobility: civil service in the offices was placed on a par with military service in the regiments, and the distribution of members of each noble family between both branches of service was subject to the proportion established by law.

With the abolition of local militias, the land ceased to serve as the material basis for the allocation of official burdens, but all noble lands - both former estates and former estates - began to be considered as a fund officially assigned to the nobility for the material support of serving noble families.

Therefore, the decree of 1714 legalized the inalienability and indivisibility of noble lands. By creating a service class corporation from the nobility, Peter opened free access to outsiders into his midst. The table of ranks finally replaced the old principle of the breed in the service schedule with the beginning of personal service, legitimizing the acquisition of nobility by rank, which greatly contributed to the democratization of the social system.

The decrees on audit and poll tax completed the transformation of the lower social strata into a homogeneous enslaved mass. These decrees changed the legal basis of attachment, legitimizing the attachment of a peasant to a landowner in the revision tale, and extended serfdom to new social categories - to children of the parish clergy who do not have certain occupations, people walking and serfs, who, along with peasants, were recorded in revision tales for the owners and subject to a capitation salary. This entire legally united serf mass was placed under the control of landowners-nobles, who were responsible to the treasury for the tax service of their peasants and police order within their estates. Peter's administrative reform was in equally close connection with military and financial reforms.

In the first half of the reign, under the pressure of military worries and due to the need to ensure the maintenance of the new regular army, the system of military administrative districts outlined already in the 17th century is completed. The empire was divided into eight such districts, called provinces. The constant movement of troops due to military operations did not make it possible to territorialize the army in these districts; Nevertheless, financially, each part of the army was assigned to one of the provinces, and the main function of the provincial administration was the transfer of provincial taxes directly to the maintenance of the regiments. The indefinitely broad power of the governors had to be somewhat moderated by the introduction of a collegial and elective principle into the mechanism of the provincial administration.

In fact, however, the elections of the Landrat soon gave way to appointments. In 1719-20, the administrative system underwent a new revision, under the influence of Swedish models and in the spirit of bureaucratic centralization. The collegial principle was transferred from the region to the center, and the elective principle was eliminated. The boards, established on the Swedish model, distributed among themselves the administration of the empire according to the type of affairs. For a short time, the Senate became, as it were, the general presence of collegiate presidents, who were appointed from among the senators; but this order was soon abolished as contrary to the controlling role of the Senate in relation to the collegiums. The colleges received new, low-ranking presidents, while the old noble presidents remained in the Senate, which gave the Senate personnel an aristocratic touch and turned the colleges into subordinate bodies of the Senate.

Collegiums remained in an exceptional position Military, Admiralty and Foreign: they retained the former presidents and did not fall under the subordination of the Senate, which clearly expressed the primacy of the issues external struggle in the range of immediate government tasks. With the establishment of the central collegiums, the Landrat collegiums in the provinces disappeared.

The elective principle was retained in the districts, where zemstvo commissars elected from local nobles were vested with very diverse powers, from collecting taxes to the morality police, inclusive. In practice, however, the commissars soon became subordinate agents of the military authorities, primarily for the collection of poll taxes. Having established the administration on the basis of centralization and bureaucratic guardianship, paralyzing the weak embryos of public control, Peter subordinated the administrative mechanism to double crown control: secret over finances - the fiscal and overt over the courts - the prosecutor's office; the top leadership of both was concentrated in the hands of the prosecutor general. Public autonomy in the field of urban management became somewhat more evident.

Developing the reform of the 1680s, Peter transferred financial fees, management and judgment over the commercial and industrial population of cities to burgomasters elected from among this population, who were subordinate to the burgomaster chamber or town hall, also composed of elected officials. However, in the 20s of the 18th century, with the transformation of town halls into magistrates, a bureaucratic element was introduced into this sphere. Service in the magistrates was made, as it were, a privilege of the highest, “first-class” layer of the urban merchants.

This reflected the main trend of Peter's economic policy - the encouragement of large urban industry, bequeathed to him by the reform program of the 17th century. Rapprochement with the West gradually developed this tendency into a conscious mercantilistic system, expressed in three directions: 1) in encouraging the mining industry in order to increase the country's metal reserves, 2) in regulating foreign trade on the basis of the balance of trade, and 3) in encouraging the native factory industry.

Until 1719, Peter continued, like his predecessors, to call foreign technicians and craftsmen from Austria, Venice, Holland, Sweden, Germany to Russia, and also send Russians abroad to learn skills. In 1719, with the establishment of the manufactory college, these activities were systematized. All of Peter's measures, however, could not accelerate the growth of the factory industry, which was not yet based on the natural successes of the national economy.

At the beginning of the 18th century, Russia was still a country of agricultural and small household industry. Peter's reform put an end to the external forms of the old Moscow statehood, but at the same time brought to the highest development the very principles that underlay the previous one. political system. The reorganization of the military and tax organization proceeded from the old principle of the absorption of all national resources by the needs of the fiscal, the needs of state military defense.

Estate reforms changed the previous order of distribution of state duties between social classes, but still left the entire population from top to bottom enslaved to service and tax.

Administrative reforms modified the structure of government institutions, but even more sharply eliminated public unions from participation in current management, which was completely transferred to the hands of the bureaucracy. Economic and educational measures were aimed at bringing to life two truly new forces that had not previously played a prominent role in state building - industrial capital and scientific knowledge. But the experiments of the first category anticipated the results of economic development that were yet to come in the future, and therefore did not fully achieve the goal, and the experiments with the planting of knowledge proceeded from the old, narrowly applied view of book learning, with only the transfer of interest from issues of spiritual salvation to issues of technical progress.

Completing the previous process of state building, Peter’s reform nevertheless prepared new era progressive development of Russian life. The rapprochement with the West, undertaken for the sake of borrowings of a purely technical nature, did not stop within these initial frameworks and gradually captured more and more new spheres of life. Already in the first half of the 18th century, the influence of political and philosophical Western European literature spread quite widely among the upper strata of society. The ideas of natural law, the contractual origin of the state, and popular sovereignty were perceived by Russian leaders and appropriately applied to native movements that emerged among the Russian nobility. These movements themselves were, in turn, an indirect consequence of Peter’s reforms.

The Renaissance, which originated in the second half of the 14th century. and which fully came into its own from the middle of the 15th century, was the greatest progressive revolution, breaking the framework of the old orbis terrarum, laying the foundations for later world trade, for the transition of craft into manufacture, an unprecedented rise in productive forces; and ushered in the process of development of modern European nations on the basis of bourgeois societies.
By the end of the 15th century. Europe, ahead of the East both in the sphere of material and spiritual culture, becomes the bearer of progressive trends in world history. The great geographical discoveries of the 15th - 16th centuries contributed to the significant expansion of European politics.
Already from the middle of the 15th century. Portuguese sailors began moving south along the western coast of Africa, and in 1488 Bartolomeu Dias rounded its southern tip. In 1498, Vasco da Gama's ships entered the Indian port of Calicut. As a result of their successful struggle against the Arabs and Egyptians, the Portuguese soon became the undisputed masters of the western Indian Ocean. They then came into contact with China and in 1557 founded the first European colony on Chinese territory in Macau. In 1500 they discovered and from 1530 actively colonized Brazil. Thus, a small country, thanks to its military and naval superiority, created a huge colonial empire.
At the same time, Spain is taking vigorous action to find new routes to rich India. During this process, Columbus discovers America (1492). The colonization of new lands began with the West Indies Islands, where the first Spanish plantations and gold mines appeared. It was soon discovered that the local Indians were a physically weak labor force; they could not withstand the harsh conditions, died or went on the run. Because of this, in 1518, the supply of hardy black slaves from Africa to the West Indies began.
In 1519 - 1521, using the help of Indian tribes, Cortez's detachment conquered the rich Aztec empire. In 1532 - 1533 another conquistador, Pissaro, took possession of the rich Inca Empire. Here, on Peruvian soil, the richest mines were found, and Peruvian silver poured into Europe.
The Spanish colonial empire became the basis of Spain's political hegemony in Europe in the 16th century.
Great geographical discoveries gradually led to the relocation of trade routes and to a change in the balance of power in Europe. The Mediterranean Sea lost its importance as a center of maritime trade, giving way to the Atlantic Ocean, which contributed to the growth of the world trade authority of Antwerp and the Netherlands as a whole. In the second half of the 16th century, the strengthened Dutch bourgeoisie was able to successfully fight for the country's independence from Spanish rule.
In the 16th century Spain's colonial expansion also headed to the northern shores of Africa, but there it did not achieve much success.
So, Antwerp becomes, as it were, the geographical center of a new emerging world market. His crafts and manufactories worked mainly for the foreign market, while the manufactories of England and France sold their goods mainly on the domestic market. In 1531, a stock exchange opened in Antwerp, which became the rate-setting institution of the emerging world financial market. However, the role of the world center of credit and financial operations was later transferred to the Amsterdam Stock Exchange and the Amsterdam Bank. In addition, Amsterdam has become a world center for the redistribution of goods, price and exchange rate formation.
In 1609, the long struggle of the Netherlands against Spanish rule ended, and the recognized Republic of the United Provinces appeared on the European political arena. Since that time, the Amsterdam Bank began to play a decisive role in the credit and financial system of the world market. The stock exchange worked intensively, bills became the main form of credit and payment, industrial development and the growth of productive forces proceeded successfully. Trade in weapons and military equipment has become a highly profitable industry. Based on developed navy, a strong Amsterdam market, a low lending rate from the Amsterdam bank, Dutch merchants everywhere suppressed the aspirations of competitors.
In 1602, the Dutch merchants created a monopoly East India Company for trade and development of colonies. In 1621, the West India Company was created, which served as a cover for conducting military-piracy and smuggling operations on the oceans, as well as the slave trade. The plunder of the colonies and predatory extermination began natural resources and productive forces, enslavement and actual destruction of entire peoples.
England also took an increasing part in this process. English merchants were actively looking for new, increasingly distant markets for their goods, opening routes to unknown lands. “Regulated” and “mutual” companies are emerging. The first, which were merchant corporations of a national scale, received special patents from the royal court for monopoly trade in any area. Participants in such companies did not pool their capital, each trading at their own peril and risk. Individualism engendered competition and fostered the initiative and business acumen that were so necessary in the courageous entrepreneurship of that adventurous era. “Regulated” companies traded mainly in nearby European markets - France and Holland.
Mutual companies began searching for new markets. The latter included the Russian Company, which arose in 1554 as a result of R. Chancellor’s visit to the Moscow state. In 1588, the Guinea Company was founded, monopolizing the slave trade, which soon became one of the most important sources of enrichment for the nation. In 1600, Queen Elizabeth signed a charter establishing the East India Company, marking the beginning of the “legalized” entry of the British into India.
The struggle for markets led to a clash of English and Spanish interests. For a long time this struggle took place in the vast expanses of the Atlantic. In England, special merchant companies arose to equip pirate expeditions. In the last quarter of the 16th century. they, in fact, waged an undeclared war against the Spaniards, plundering Spanish colonies and ships carrying precious cargo from the New World. The British authorities were very lenient towards the predatory activities of pirates, which were beneficial to the state.
In 1578, one of these pirates, Francis Drake, passing through the Strait of Magellan, robbed the Spanish settlements in Chile and Peru, crossed the Pacific Ocean and, rounding the Cape of Good Hope, returned to England, making his second circumnavigation after Magellan (1520). The queen welcomed the successful adventurer, granting him the title of nobleman. Under Elizabeth, the English navy was significantly updated. Instead of bulky ships with a high surface, low, elongated ships were built, fast and maneuverable. Along with changes in tactics sea ​​battle this allowed England to win an important victory over the Spanish Invincible Armada in 1588.
In 1589 - 1590 New British expeditions are being prepared to the West Indies and the Pacific Ocean with the aim of ousting Holland from the “spice islands” and the Portuguese from Indian waters. Piracy becomes one of the methods for creating the foundations of the British colonial empire. The Anglo-Spanish War lasted until 1604. It clearly dragged on, became very burdensome, and its end was greeted with relief in England.
The Anglo-Spanish naval war led to a disruption of England's regular trade with Europe and to the closure of part of the English markets on the continent. The losses associated with this began to exceed the profits from piracy and robbery of the Spanish and Portuguese colonies. From the beginning of the 17th century. The organization of the English colonies proper and the state-sanctioned seizure of colonial sources of raw materials and markets acquired particular importance.
France also actively participated in the struggle to seize the colonies. Moreover, the French sought to establish their colonies in the very center of the American possessions of Portugal and Spain. But in 1560 the Portuguese destroyed the French settlement that had existed since 1555 near Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), in 1565 the Spaniards defeated the newly founded French Protestant colony in Florida, and in 1583 the joint Spanish-Portuguese forces The French colony in Paramba (Brazil) was liquidated. It was obvious that at that time France lacked the strength to confront powerful rivals. In addition, she had to solve complex political problems in Europe. St. Bartholomew's Night (1572) again plunged France into the abyss of religious wars.
So, we can rightfully say that the Renaissance became not only the most important progressive revolution, but also the era of the Great Geographical Discoveries, the era of the initial accumulation of capital, which prepared the conditions for the first bourgeois revolutions in Europe. The first of them, the Netherlands, leads to the emergence of the bourgeois Republic of the United Provinces, which, in itself, became the most important result of the 16th century. 1609 was the year of birth of the first state of the victorious bourgeoisie. The Dutch revolution was of exceptionally great international significance.
Already in the first decade of the 17th century. Holland achieved such economic growth that surprised all European countries. The Netherlands soon became a great maritime and colonial power, with more ships than any other country in Europe. Amsterdam became the center of the international payment system, the largest banker of the new world market.
Equally impressive and significant was the entry of Holland into the arena of world politics. Possessing a powerful fleet, the United Provinces were strong enough to set a course for decisively ousting the old masters and creating their own colonial empire in the places of their former possessions. This was already the beginning of real wars for the redistribution of colonies, the beginning of the era of trade wars of European nations, the beginning of the birth of a new world colonial system, the arena of which became the entire globe.

Colonial system

Colonial system

a worldwide system of political-economic governance of politically independent and sovereign states ( metropolises) dependent countries and territories ( colonies). For the colonial system, a territorial gap between metropolises and colonies (location on different continents, significant distance) is common. The colonial system developed during the transition of capitalism to the imperialist stage (the last third of the 19th - early 20th centuries) and the development of monopoly capitalism. Basic the purpose of creation is to provide access to places of concentration natural resources and formation of sales markets. From the beginning 20th century There was a crisis in the colonial system, and after World War II its gradual collapse occurred. The largest colonial systems were owned by Great Britain, France, Spain, Portugal, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Italy, the USA, and Japan.
The British colonial empire was the most extensive and powerful of all the possessions of the European metropolises. In 1900, Great Britain's possessions occupied an area of ​​33 million km² (almost ¼ of the planet's landmass) and accumulated almost a quarter of the world's population. (368 million people). The features of the British colonial empire were its scale, dispersion across different regions of the Earth, flexible administration. governance (the British were not afraid to introduce elements of self-government in dependent countries, and it was in this colonial empire that protectorates were widely developed). The British Empire was outstanding political education not only in its quantitative, but also in quality characteristics. Under the control of the British crown there were countries rich in resources, such as Canada, Australia, South. Africa, India. Often British possessions were located in strategically important points on the planet, controlling straits and major sea routes.
The second most powerful colonial system in the beginning. 20th century France had. It covered 11 million km², in this area. 50 million people lived. Thus, being only 3 times smaller in area than the possessions of the British crown, in terms of population the colonial empire of France was inferior to the British by more than 7 times. The colonies of France were grouped more compactly: main. part of them was in the north-west. and center. districts of Africa.
The colonial empires of the Iberian countries - Spain and Portugal - experienced their heyday in the 16th–18th centuries, when all of Latin America was divided between these two far from the largest states. Such modern countries as Mexico, Argentina, Peru, Colombia, Bolivia, Venezuela, Chile, Cuba, the Philippines, etc. were once subordinate to the Spanish crown. 20th century From the colossal colonial empire, only small fragments have survived - the African colonies of Spain: Northern Morocco, Rio de Oro (now Western Sahara), Spanish Guinea (now Equatorial Guinea). Portugal, having lost its largest colony Brazil in 1822, still 30 years ago owned Angola, Mozambique, Portuguese Guinea (now Guinea-Bissau), the Cape Verde Islands (now Cape Verde), Sao Tome and Principe, East Timor .
Germany with con. 19th century managed a number of territories. in Africa (German East Africa, Togo, Cameroon, South West Africa, now Namibia) and the Pacific Ocean (New Guinea, Nauru, Samoa, Caroline, Marshall and Mariana Islands), but as a result of the 1st World War all of them were captured by Germany's opponents - mainly. Great Britain and France, as well as Belgium, Japan, Portugal.
The largest colony of the Netherlands was the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia) with a population of millions; Dutch Guiana (now Suriname) was significantly smaller. A number of Antilles islands in the Caribbean Sea (Aruba, Curacao, Bonaire, etc.) are still in the possession of the Netherlands.
Belgium until the 60s. 20th century ruled the Belgian Congo (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo), Rwanda and Burundi.
Italy ruled some colonies in Africa (Libya, Eritrea, Somalia). However, they were all lost after Italy's defeat in World War 2.
US Colonial Empire in the 40s. 20th century included the Philippines, Puerto Rico, Eastern Samoa, Guam, and the Virgin Islands. All of these possessions, with the exception of the Philippines, which gained independence in 1946, are still governed by Washington.

Geography. Modern illustrated encyclopedia. - M.: Rosman. Edited by prof. A. P. Gorkina. 2006 .

See what the “colonial system” is in other dictionaries:

- (lat.). A collection of laws linking colonies with metropolises and prohibiting the former from bartering with other countries. Dictionary of foreign words included in the Russian language. Chudinov A.N., 1910. COLONIAL SYSTEM lat. A collection of measures binding the colonies... Dictionary of foreign words of the Russian language

colonial system- A system of interstate relations and the corresponding international division of labor, in which individual countries are under the authority of another state (the metropolis) and are deprived of political and economic independence. Syn.:… … Dictionary of Geography

See Colonization... Encyclopedic Dictionary F. Brockhaus and I.A. Efron

The worldwide system of national colonial oppression by the imperialist powers of the gigantic majority of the world's population; component all relations of monopoly capitalism. Formed during the transition of capitalism to...

Colonial system of the Dutch East India Company- Two points determine the activities of the Dutch company in relation to its colonial possessions in Indonesia: firstly, the forcible consolidation and conservation of pre-capitalist production relations of slave, feudal and, in... ...

English colonial system in the 17th century.- Unlike the Dutch, the British during this period did not have sufficient armed force and therefore used mainly means of economic penetration into India. In the 17th century English company, supplanted by a stronger... ... World History. Encyclopedia

Port. Brasil Colônia Colony of Portugal ← ... Wikipedia

Dating from the beginning of the Portuguese period in Ceylon, in 1505, to the end of Sri Lanka's independence in 1948. Contents 1 Notes... Wikipedia

Possessions of European powers in North America in the middle of the 18th century. British ( pink), French (blue), Spanish (orange), territories ceded by France to Great Britain in 1713 are shown purple... Wikipedia

Colonies under capitalism, countries and territories under power foreign country(metropoles), deprived of political and economic independence, governed on the basis of a special regime. Metropolitan countries... ... Great Soviet Encyclopedia

Books

• General history. History of modern times. XIX - early XX centuries. 8th grade. Textbook. Federal State Educational Standard, Nikita Vadimovich Zagladin. The textbook by Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor N.V. Zagladin examines the second period of modern history. It is dedicated to the time when the foundations of bourgeois civilization were laid...

History [Crib] Fortunatov Vladimir Valentinovich

26. Formation of the colonial system and the world capitalist economy

After the first overseas expedition of Christopher Columbus in 1492 started conquest and colonization Western Hemisphere by Europeans. The main territories of South and Central America and Mexico at the end of the 15th - first half of the 16th century. were part of the first colonial empires Spain and Portugal. Under the patronage of Pope Alexander IV, it was signed 1494 The Treaty of Tardesillas, the first agreement on the division of the world in world history. Portugal “got” a huge territory from Brazil to Southeast Asia, Spain - America and the Pacific Ocean. The ancient Indian civilizations of America were destroyed. A significant part of the local Indian population was subjected to merciless extermination. In Latin America, over three centuries of colonization, as a result of a complex ethnogenesis Several racial-ethnic groups emerged: Creoles(European colonists and their descendants), mestizos(from marriages of Caucasians with Indians), mulattoes(from marriages of representatives of the Caucasian race with black slaves). Latin American society, emerging as a mixed society, has become unique ethnocultural symbiosis.

In America and the West Indies, Portuguese, Dutch, French and especially English colonialists launched plantation farming. Africa became a bloody hunting ground for black slaves, who were transported in the millions across the Atlantic Ocean to work in the cotton fields. American Indians to heavy physical labor turned out to be unable.

During the era of colonialism, " initial accumulation of capital" size and character slave trade changed dramatically. The Portuguese were the first to bring slaves to the Lisbon market in 1442, but before the discovery of the New World, the slave trade was still limited. The slave trade was carried out by Spanish nobles and the church. In the 17th century The main participants in the Atlantic slave trade were the British, the French, as well as the Dutch, Danes and Hanseatic merchants of German cities. The “golden age” of the European slave trade was the 18th century.

Slaves were exported mainly from the interior of West Africa, the Congo River basin, Angola, and Mozambique. Millions died from starvation and inhumane treatment during long transportation on slave ships, in transit points and prisons, under the blows of their overseers. The Europeans themselves usually did not engage in the capture of future slaves. Slave traders bought them from local African rulers in exchange for weapons, alcoholic beverages and various rubbish. For America, the slave trade was the most important source of the plantation economy, exporting sugar cane, coffee, tobacco and other goods to Europe.

The European and Arab slave trade caused irreparable damage to Africa. The demographic balance was disrupted, as the most productive part of the male and female population was exported. The withdrawal of labor affected the normal historical and socio-economic development of the continent. Scientists estimate that about 100 million people were taken from Africa.

From the 16th century formation begins world market. All inhabited continents except Australia are included in international economic relations.

Portugal was the first country to benefit most from its participation in international trade. But Portugal did not have enough of its own forces to supply Europe. The Netherlands got involved. Soon Antwerp with more favorable geographical location has become the main selling point for Indian goods. One successful voyage of a merchant ship was enough enrichment.

Many new products for everyday consumption began to arrive in Europe: potatoes, corn, tomatoes, rice, sugar, coffee, cocoa, etc. Diet has become more diverse and useful. The process has begun introduction plants, that is, the introduction of (cultivars) of plants into places where they did not grow before, or the introduction into culture wild plants. There are two forms of introduction: naturalization and acclimatization. The introduction of plants raised the level of European agricultural culture. Specialization began to develop and productivity increased agriculture.

Within several decades after the discovery and development of sea routes to India and America by Europeans, a real revolution took place in the economic life of the Old and New Worlds.