history

TIMELINE

1800 1820 1840 1860 1880 1900

Africa

India

Southeast Asia

Slave trade declared illegal in Great Britain

Sepoy Rebellion

Stamford Raffles founds Singapore

First French attack on Vietnam

Commodore Dewey defeats Spanish fleet in Manila Bay

French and British agree to neutralize Thailand

French protectorates in Indochina

British rail network opened in northern India

French seize Algeria Boer War

Berlin Conference on Africa

Opening of Suez Canal

CONCLUSION

BY THE FIRST QUARTER of the twentieth century, virtually

all of Africa and a good part of South and Southeast Asia were

under some form of colonial rule. With the advent of the age of

imperialism, a global economy was finally established, and the

domination of Western civilization over those of Africa and Asia

appeared to be complete.

Defenders of colonialism argue that the system was a necessary

if painful stage in the evolution of human societies. Critics,

however, charge that the Western colonial powers were driven by an

insatiable lust for profits (see the comparative essay ‘‘Imperialism:

The Balance Sheet’’ on p. 536). They dismiss the Western civilizing

mission as a fig leaf to cover naked greed and reject the notion that

imperialism played a salutary role in hastening the adjustment

of traditional societies to the demands of industrial civilization.

In the blunt words of two Western critics of imperialism: ‘‘Why is

Africa (or for that matter Latin America and much of Asia)

so poor? . . . The answer is very brief: we have made it

poor.’’ 10

Between these two irreconcilable views, where does the truth lie?

This chapter has contended that neither extreme position is justified.

Although colonialism did introduce the peoples of Asia and Africa to

new technology and the expanding economic marketplace, it was

unnecessarily brutal in its application and all too often failed to

realize the exalted claims and objectives of its promoters. Existing

economic networks---often potentially valuable as a foundation for

later economic development---were ruthlessly swept aside in the

interests of providing markets for Western manufactured goods.

Potential sources of native industrialization were nipped in the bud to

avoid competition for factories in Amsterdam, London, Pittsburgh,

or Manchester. Training in Western democratic ideals and practices

was ignored out of fear that the recipients might use them as

weapons against the ruling authorities.

The fundamental weakness of colonialism, then, was that it

was ultimately based on the self-interests of the citizens of the

colonial powers. Where those interests collided with the needs of

the colonial peoples, those of the former always triumphed.

CONCLUSION 537