Imperialism

Imperialism was reborn in the West with the emergence of the modern nation-state and the age of exploration and discovery. It is to this modern type of empire building that the term imperialism is quite often restricted. Colonies were established not only in more or less sparsely inhabited places where there were few or no highly integrated native states (e.g., North America and Africa) but also in lands where ancient civilizations and states existed (e.g., India, Malaya, Indonesia, and the Inca lands of South America). The emigration of European settlers to people the Western Hemisphere and Africa, known as colonization , was marked by the same attitude of assumed superiority on the part of the newcomers toward the native populations that prevailed where the Europeans merely took over control without large-scale settlements.

For centuries, numerous European powers have plundered & terrorised the non-European world treating with contempt the people of different skin colour, cultures, philosophies, religions, languages, way of life. The conquered nations had to give up their own culture, their religions, even their languages, and convert to our set of beliefs and values that we defined as "civilized". Where they didn't settle, the imperialists carved out colonies across the globe and plundered their natural resources using cheap native labour. Resource rich or strategically located areas were singled out for special attention. Along with this, strict segregation was enforced between the races by living conditions, wages and public services. No country or remotest island was left to develop to its own accord. The Colonial powers of Europe ruled with an iron fist as they slowly consumed the nations of the world.

From the 15th to the 17th century, the Portuguese and the Dutch built "trading empires" in Africa and the East for the exploitation of the resources and commerce with lands already developed. The Spanish and Portuguese established important colonies in the New World in the 16th and 17th cents., hoping to exploit the mineral wealth of the lands they conquered. The British and French imperialists became the foremost exemplars of colonial settlement in Africa and the East. Acting on mercantilist principles