Colonialism

Colonialism is a system that concerns the settlement of one group or nationality in a new geographical location. Often frequently confused with imperialism, colonialism is in fact a separate practice that results from the ideology of imperialism. The latter can involve political control of lands and peoples; however, it does not require settlement for its successful operation. Colonialism was undeniably linked to profit, economics, and material gain. Therefore Elleke Boehmer maintains that colonialism is “the settlement of territory, the exploitation or development of resources, and the attempt to govern the indigenous inhabitants of occupied lands” (1995, 2). Frequently based in aggressive methods of mercantilism and the economic exploitation of colonized nations for cheap labor and raw materials (e.g., sugar, cotton, gold, diamonds, tea, coffee, cocoa, rubber), colonialism employed trade and capitalist exchange so that the metropolitan center could increase profit margins as well as the diversification of consumer goods. Indeed, the Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations held in Hyde Park, London, in 1851, was a major example of consumerist colonial display, with many themed exhibits reflecting the British mobilization of colonial resources.

The practice of colonialism, while pursued throughout the ages and in varying countries (the colonization of Ireland in the twelfth century by the Anglo-Normans, the Spanish and the Portuguese in their exploration of the Americas in the fifteenth century), actually reached a high point in the nineteenth century with the Scramble for Africa: a dispute centering on which European countries had most claim on African territory. The Berlin Conference (1884–1885), organized by Otto von Bismarck, the first Chancellor of Germany, effectively sought to avoid further antagonisms between European nations over such land, by inviting cross-country representation from Austria–Hungary, Belgium, Denmark, France, the United Kingdom, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Russia, Spain, Sweden–Norway, the Ottoman Empire, and the United States (the latter did not join the proceedings). The conference basically partitioned African land as a European possession, and by 1902, [Page 205]90 percent of African land was coerced into European colonial rule.