Empire and Colonialism in Asia
Modern European empires came about because of the desire for the wealth to be had from overseas trading and markets. European countries that acquired empires didnot plan these conquests. Europe was trading withAsia and other parts of the world long before modernempires arose. The success of early trading and the need to expand their markets led the powers of Europe to find the means to secure overseas lands for their exclusive use.Also the fierce competition between European countries for trade andworld markets led to the securing of overseasinterests which led to empires. Economic expansionplayed a key part in the building of European empires. "An empire is a system of interaction between twopolitical entities. One is dominant and exertspolitical control over internal and external policy,the other is weak." Imperialism is the desire tocontrol colonies or dependencies and imperialism ishow empires are formed. European countries had tohave the power to dominate other societies. Attributes that European countries had to encourageimperialism and empire were a centralised government,differentiated economies and a shared politicalloyalty. Military strength was vital too, both on land and on the
After regaining its independence, Portugal never really rose to its former glory. They obtained gold and participated in the slave trade from Africa. The Dutch by virtue of their superior navy were able to create a tremendously extensive empire in the East. It did hold onto many of its colonies until the mid 1970's, but the people of those colonies did not allow Portugal to take all of their wealth as it had done before. Control of a vast empire fed into national pride. R British trade and expansion in Southeast Asia, 1830-1914 New Delhi : Allied, c1977. He was supposed to follow da Gama, but got lost and ended up in Brazil in 1500. When the Mongul rulers of India began to lose power, then the English East India Company stepped in and took over to protect its economic interests. Cohen, Benjamin Jerry The question of imperialism : the political economy of dominance and dependence London : Macmillan, 1974 2. Thesefootholds resulted in empires, but they were conceivedin order to maintain economic advantage in the east. Therewas no movement of population into India and onlyafter a century and a half did anything besides tradeplay a part in relations with India. Both Portugal andSpain initially set out to trade and profit from Asiaand only advanced towards empire when their economicendevours were threatened. They were threatened by the Spanish arriving close by in the Philippines in 1565. Instead he enabled Spain to build an empire which included Mexico, Central America, most of the West Indies, the Southwestern portion of what is now the United States and the western part of South America. England did settle extensively its colonies in North America and parts of Africa.
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