External colonialism
External colonialism refers to the historical processes of European imperialist expansion that began in the late fifteenth century and continued into the nineteenth century. This form of colonialism involved powerful nations exerting political and economic control over less powerful societies, aiming to acquire and exploit land, labor, and natural resources for their geopolitical and economic gain. The dynamics of external colonialism often reflected significant disparities in political and military power, as well as economic resources between the colonizers and the colonized. Typically, European powers that industrialized earlier sought to dominate strategic territories around the globe.
The process of external colonialism was characterized by several key elements, including forced entry into foreign regions, political subjugation of indigenous populations, and economic exploitation of both labor and resources. Additionally, it often led to the cultural transformation or outright destruction of the ways of life of colonized peoples. Racial ideologies played a significant role in justifying these actions, framing colonized populations as inferior. Through these complex interactions, external colonialism shaped global relations and left lasting impacts on the societies involved.
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External colonialism
External colonialism is the classical form of colonialism, describing the processes that occurred during European imperialist expansion, which began during the late fifteenth century and extended well into the nineteenth. External colonialism is the process of global imperialism that involved the political and economic control of less powerful societies by more powerful societies to acquire and exploit land, labor, and natural resources for geopolitical and economic interests. The relative power of nations reflects a disparity in levels of politico-military dominance and economic resources.
Because external colonialism was a worldwide process of empire building, it commonly involved the remote control of distant, less powerful nations by powerful nations. Colonizers were typically European imperialist powers that industrialized first, while the colonized tended to be strategic territories in the path of colonial expansion. Because religious zeal commonly accompanied and justified colonization in the form of missionary expansion, the cross and the sword were typically two sides of the same colonialist coin. Five fundamental conditions were intertwined in this process of external colonialism: forced entry into a distant territory, political subjugation of the colonized people, economic exploitation of labor and natural resources, cultural alteration or annihilation of colonized peoples’ ways of life, and racial ideologies justifying inferiority and colonization.
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