The very first colonial empires arose in the 16th century, when Europe entered the Age of great geographical discoveries. Previously, the Spaniards and the Portuguese began to expand in previously unknown lands. Their states built classic colonial empires.
Spain
In 1492, Christopher Columbus discovered several islands in the Caribbean. It soon became clear that in the West Europeans were not waiting for a few patches of land, but a whole unexplored world. Thus began the creation of colonial empires.
Columbus did not try to discover America, but India, where he went in order to explore the route by which it would be possible to establish trade in spices and other unique goods of the east. The navigator worked for the king of Aragon and the queen of Castile. The marriage union of these two monarchs allowed the unification of neighboring states into Spain. In the same year that Columbus discovered America, the new kingdom conquered the southern province of Granada from Muslims. Thus ended the Reconquista - the centuries-old process of cleansing the Iberian Peninsula from Muslim power.
These prerequisites were enough for the emergence of the Spanish colonial empire. First, European settlements appeared on the islands of the Caribbean: Hispaniola (Haiti), Puertro Rico and Cuba. The Spanish colonial empire founded the first colony on the American mainland. In 1510, it became a Panamanian fortress with the complex name of Santa Maria la Antigua del Darien. The fort was laid by explorer Vasco Nunez de Balboa. He was the first of the Europeans to cross the isthmus of Panama and ended up on the Pacific coast.
Internal organization
The structure of colonial empires is best viewed with the example of Spain, since it was this country that first came to those orders that later spread in large numbers to other empires. It all began with the decree of 1520, according to which all open lands, without exception, were recognized as the property of the crown.
The social and legal structure was built according to the usual feudal hierarchy of Europeans. The center of the colonial empire gave the Spanish immigrants plots of land that became family property. The indigenous Indian population was dependent on new neighbors. At the same time, it is worth noting that formally the natives were not recognized as slaves. This is an important point that helps to understand how the Spanish colonial empire differed from the Portuguese.
In the American settlements that belonged to Lisbon, slavery was official. It was the Portuguese who created the system for transporting cheap labor from Africa to South America. In the case of Spain, the dependence of the Indians was based on peonage - debt relations.
Features of the vice kingdoms
Empire possessions in America were divided into vice-kingdoms. The first in their series in 1534 was New Spain. It included the West Indies, Mexico and Central America. In 1544, Peru was established, which included not only Peru itself, but also modern Chile. In the 18th century, New Granada (Ecuador, Venezuela and Colombia) appeared, as well as La Plata (Uruguay, Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay). While the Portuguese colonial empire controlled only Brazil in America, the Spanish possessions in the New World were an order of magnitude broader.
The supreme power over the colonies was possessed by the monarch. In 1503, the Chamber of Commerce was established, which led the local judicial, government, and coordinating bodies. Soon she changed her name and became the Supreme Royal Council for the affairs of both Indies. This body existed until 1834. The council directed the church, controlled important colonial appointments of officials and managers, and passed laws.
Viceroys were the monarch’s deputies. This position was appointed for a period of 4 to 6 years. There was also the position of captain general. They led separate lands and territories with special status. Each Viceroyalty was divided into provinces led by governors. All the colonial empires of the world were created for income. That is why the main concern of the governors was timely and complete financial revenues to the treasury.
A separate niche was occupied by the church. She performed not only religious, but also judicial functions. In the 16th century, the Tribunal of the Holy Inquisition appeared. Sometimes her actions led to real terror in relation to the Indian population. The great colonial empires had another important pillar - cities. In these settlements, in the Spanish case, a peculiar system of self-government has developed. Locals formed cabildo councils. They also had the right to elect some officials. In America, there were about 250 such tips.
The most active stratum of colonial society was the landowners and industrialists. For quite some time they were in a lowered state in comparison with the noble Spanish aristocracy. Nevertheless, it was thanks to these classes that the colonies grew, and their economy was profitable. It is important to note another phenomenon. Although Spanish was ubiquitous, in the 18th century the process of disintegration of the population into separate nations began, which in the next century built their own states in South and Central America.
Portugal
Portugal emerged as a small kingdom surrounded on all sides by Spanish possessions. This geographical location deprived a small country of the opportunity to expand in Europe. Instead of the Old World, this state turned its gaze to the New.
At the end of the Middle Ages, Portuguese sailors were among the best in Europe. Like the Spaniards, they sought to reach India. But if all the same Columbus went in search of such a desirable country in a risky western direction, then the Portuguese put all their strength into circling Africa. Bartolomeu Dias opened the Cape of Good Hope - the southern point of the Black Continent. And the Vasco da Gamma expedition of 1497-1499. finally got to india.
In 1500, the Portuguese navigator Pedro Cabral deviated from the course east and accidentally discovered Brazil. In Lisbon, they immediately announced their claims to previously unfamiliar lands. Soon, the first Portuguese settlements began to appear in South America, and Brazil eventually became the only Portuguese-speaking country in America.
East discoveries
Despite successes in the west, the east remained the main goal of sailors. The Portuguese colonial empire has made significant progress in this area. Its researchers discovered Madagascar and ended up in the Arabian Sea. In 1506, the island of Socotra was captured . Then the Portuguese first visited Ceylon. The vice kingdom of India appeared. All eastern colonies of the country came under his control. The first title of the Viceroy was received by the naval commander Francisco di Almeida.
The structure of the Portuguese and Spanish colonial empires had some administrative similarities. Both had vice-kingdoms and both appeared at a time when a huge world was still divided among Europeans. Resistance of local residents both in the east and in the west was easily suppressed. The Europeans were playing into their technical superiority over other civilizations.
At the beginning of the XVI century, the Portuguese captured important eastern ports and regions: Calicutu, Goa, Malacca. In 1517, trade relations began with distant China. Every colonial empire dreamed of the markets of the Middle Kingdom. The history (grade 7) in the school touches on the theme of the Great geographical discoveries and European expansion around the world. And this is not surprising, because without an understanding of these processes it is difficult to understand how the modern world has developed. For example, today's Brazil would never be the way we know it, if not for Portuguese culture and language. Also, Lisbon sailors were the first among Europeans to open the way to Japan. In the 1570s, they began the colonization of Angola. During its heyday, Portugal had many fortresses in South America, Africa, India and Southeast Asia.
Trading Empires
Why was any colonial empire created? Europeans established control over lands in other parts of the world to exploit their human and natural resources. They were especially interested in their unique or rare goods: spices, precious metals, rare woods and other luxury goods. For example, coffee, sugar, tobacco, cocoa and indigo were exported en masse from America.
Its features had trade in the Asian direction. Here, Britain has become the leading force over time. The British established the following sales system: they sold fabrics in India, bought opium there, which they exported to China. All these trading operations gave huge revenues for their time. At the same time, tea was exported from Asian countries to Europe. Each center of the colonial empire sought to establish a monopoly on the world market. Because of this, regular wars arose. The more land was exploited and the more ships surfed the oceans, the more often such conflicts erupted.
Colonies were “factories” for the production of cheap labor. As it was used by local residents (most often natives of Africa). Slavery was a lucrative business, and the translantic slave trade was the backbone of the colonial empire economy. Thousands of Congo and West African people were forcibly transported to Brazil, the south of the modern United States and the Caribbean.
The expansion of European civilization
Any colonial empire was built on the basis of the geostrategic interests of European countries. The foundation of such formations were strongholds in different parts of the world. The more coastal posts appeared at the empire, the more mobile its armed forces became. Mutual rivalry was the engine of European expansion around the world. The countries fought with each other for control over trade routes, human migration by the movements of fleets and troops.
Every colonial empire acted according to prestige considerations. Any concession to the enemy in another part of the world was seen as a sign of a decrease in geopolitical significance. In modern times, monarchical power was still associated with the religious beliefs of the population. Because of this, all the same Spanish and Portuguese colonial empires saw their expansion as pleasing to God and equated it with Christian messianism.
A linguistic and civilizational offensive was widespread. By spreading its culture, any empire strengthened its legitimacy and authority in the international arena. An important sign of it was active missionary activity. Spaniards and Portuguese spread Catholicism throughout America. Religion remained an important political tool. Making their culture universal, the colonists infringed on the rights of local natives, depriving them of their native faith and language. From this practice, phenomena such as segregation, apartheid, and genocide were later born.
Great Britain
Historically, Spain and Portugal, the first colonial empires (grade 7 at the school to get to know them in detail), could not hold the palm in the struggle against other European powers. Earlier than others, England declared its maritime claims. If the Spaniards actively colonized South and Central America, then the British took up North. The conflict between the two states broke out for another reason. Spain has traditionally been considered the main defender of Catholicism, while in the 16th century a reformation took place in England and a church independent of Rome appeared.
Around the same time, naval wars began between the two countries. Powers acted not with their own hands, but with the help of pirates and privateers. The English sea robbers of modern times became a symbol of their era. They plundered Spanish galleons loaded with American gold, and sometimes even captured colonies. An open war shook the Old World in 1588, when the English fleet destroyed the Invincible Armada. Spain has since entered a period of prolonged crisis. Gradually, she finally lost the British, and later the British Empire, leadership in the colonial race.
Netherlands
In the first half of the 17th century, another great colonial empire was built, built by the Netherlands. It included the territories of Indonesia, Guiana, India. The Dutch had outposts in Formosa (Taiwan) and Ceylon. The main opponent of the Netherlands was Great Britain. In the 1770s the Dutch yielded their colonies to North America by the British. One of them was the future metropolis of New York. In 1802, Ceylon and the Cape Colony in South Africa also turned out to be transferred.
Gradually, the main possession of the Netherlands in other parts of the world became Indonesia. A Dutch East India Company operated on its territory. She traded important oriental goods: silver, tea, copper, cotton, textiles, ceramics, silk, opium and spices. During the heyday of the colonial empire of the Netherlands, a monopoly in the markets of the Pacific and Indian Ocean belonged. For similar trade with America, the Dutch West Indies Company was created. Both corporations were abolished at the end of the 18th century. As for the entire colonial empire of the Netherlands, it sank into the past in the 20th century along with the empires of European competitors.
France
The French colonial empire began in 1535 when Jacques Cartier explored the St. Lawrence River in modern Canada. In the XVI century, the Bourbon monarchy had the most modern and efficient economy at that time in Europe. In terms of development, it was ahead of both Portugal and Spain. The French began to colonize new lands 70 years earlier than the British. Paris could count on the status of the main metropolis throughout the world.
However, France was not able to take full advantage of its potential. She was prevented by internal instability, a weak trade infrastructure, and also flaws in the resettlement policy. As a result, in the XVIII century, Britain came in first place, and France was in secondary roles in the colonial race. Nevertheless, she continued to own significant territories around the world.
After the Seven Years War in 1763, France lost Canada. In North America, the country remained Louisiana. It was sold in 1803 to the United States. In the XIX century, France reoriented to the Black Continent. It captured the vast expanses of West Africa, as well as Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia. France later entrenched in Southeast Asia. All these lands gained independence in the 20th century.