Portugal and Spain, pioneers of geographical discovery, first embarked on the road of overseas colonial plunder, and then the Netherlands, France and Britain followed suit. As the economic strength and maritime power of countries often change, their status in the colonial struggle is also rising and falling.
Portugal's colonial plunder Portugal was the first country to establish colonial hegemony. As early as the second half of the15th century, in the process of exploring new sea routes, many colonial strongholds were established on the west coast of Africa, such as Guinea, Congo, Angola, Benguela and Musadish. Gold, ivory and slaves were looted. 1498 gamma (translated as da gama, about 1460 ~ 1524) successfully sailed to India around the Cape of Good Hope at the southern tip of Africa, and Portuguese forces immediately extended eastward. 1502, Gama led the fleet to India again, first occupying the Cape of Good Hope, then capturing Mozambique, Zanzibar, Kenya and Somalia in East Africa and controlling the east coast of Africa. After arriving in India, they shelled the city of Kallikat and built forts in KanNanor and Cochin to maintain their occupation of the west coast of India. 1505, the Portuguese government appointed F. de Almeida (about 1450 ~ 15 10) as India's first governor, brutally suppressed the resistance of India, Turkey and Arabs, seized socotra and Hormuz Island at the entrance of the Red Sea, and cut off the ties between Arabs and India and Indonesia. 1509, A. de Albuquerque (1453 ~1515) succeeded the Indian governor, further expanding Portugal's influence in the East. 15 10 occupied goa, then continued eastward, and successively occupied Ceylon, Malacca and Malacca. The Portuguese trade with China began in 15 17 and 1557. They stole China and Macau as the strongholds of Sino-Japanese trade. In addition, Brazil, which accounts for about half of the land area of South America, was invaded at the beginning of16th century. In 1930s and 40s of16th century, the colonial power of Portugal reached its peak and became the most powerful colonial empire at that time.
Portuguese colonists plundered overseas colonies mainly by: ① directly plundering valuables such as gold and silver. From 1493 to 1600, 276 tons of gold were seized from Africa alone. (2) compulsory trade. Cheat black ivory, precious stones and pearls with worthless goods from Africa, buy jewelry, opium, rice, sugar, silk and cotton fabrics cheaply from India, transport spices from Southeast Asia and sell them at high prices in Europe. (3) Slave trade. As early as 1442, Portuguese colonists began to sell blacks as slaves. (4) enslave local workers and plunder the agricultural and mineral products they produce. For example, slave plantations were established in Brazil to produce sugar, coffee and tobacco, and slave labor was also used to mine gold mines.
Overseas plunder made Portugal seize huge wealth and the colonial power flourished. However, Portugal is a small country after all. At that time, it was still under feudal rule, and its domestic industrial and commercial foundation was very weak. Most of the wealth plundered from overseas was squandered by feudal nobles, which did not turn into industrial capital and eventually flowed abroad. Therefore, the Portuguese colonial empire did not last long, and it declined after/kloc-0 was annexed by Spain in 580.
Spanish colonial plunder Spain is another colonial country that rose at the same time as Portugal. The focus of its expansion and plunder is in Central and South America. C after Columbus (1492+0451~1506) discovered the new American continent, the Spanish colonists immediately took control of the Caribbean coast and occupied the west Indies. Since then, Cuba was captured in 15 1 1 year, the Florida Peninsula was conquered in 15 13 year, and the Yucatan Peninsula was invaded in 15 17 year, and was invaded in/klc. By the middle of16th century, Spain had controlled the whole of Central and South America except Brazil and Guyana.
Spain plundered the colonies in Central and South America in two ways: one was to force Indians to engage in hard labor and mine gold and silver deposits, and the other was to plunder and cheat trade. The second is to seize large areas of land, build large plantations and livestock farms, and drive Indians into slavery. Colonists plundered amazing wealth, especially the rich gold and silver of Mexico, Peru, Chile and Bolivia were transported to Spain in large quantities. By the end of 16, Spain had owned 83% of the world's precious metal mining at that time. From 16 to 19 century, Spain obtained about 2.5 million kilograms of gold and 1 100 million kilograms of silver from America. Heavy slave labor caused a large number of Indians to die of torture. In order to supplement the labor force, from the16th century, Spanish colonists plundered blacks from Africa and transported them to America as slaves, first to the West Indies and then to the American continent. They made huge profits from the slave trade.
Spain was the most powerful colonial empire in western Europe in the16th century, and once dominated the sea for a long time. But like Portugal, the wealth plundered from overseas colonies could not be used to promote the development of its capitalist economy because of the stable feudal rule at home. The inflow of a large amount of gold and silver has caused soaring prices, and more and more goods have been imported from abroad, which has weakened the development of domestic industrial and agricultural production. With the decline of Spain's economic strength, its maritime hegemony has also been shaken. 1588, "Armada" suffered heavy losses under the attack of Britain and Holland. Since then, the colonial power of Spain has gradually declined.
Dutch colonial plunder Holland is another western European colonial power after the decline of Portugal and Spain. /kloc-in the 0/7th century, Dutch capitalist industry and commerce, especially foreign trade, developed greatly. The Netherlands was the most prosperous country in Europe at that time because of its developed shipbuilding industry and strong maritime power (see/kloc-Dutch capitalist economy in the 7th century). Although it started late, its colonial expansion and plunder abroad soon surpassed Spain and Portugal.
Dutch colonial expansion began in the late 6th century. Shortly after the victory of the bourgeois revolution, the Netherlands sent a fleet eastward in 1595 and plundered Java and other places. 1598 sailed to Indonesia again and brought back a lot of spices. Then, at the beginning of the17th century, Dutch merchants organized a fleet to go to Indonesia and India. 1605 established the first stronghold in the East on Inbona Island, then occupied the Moluccas, expelled the Portuguese colonial forces, and established businesses in Siam and surat. 16 19, the Netherlands established the city of Batavia (now Jakarta) in northern Java as a stronghold of colonial expansion, 164 1 year captured Malacca, and 1656 captured Ceylon. Since the1940s, Dutch colonial power has been extended to Japan and Taiwan Province Province of China. By the middle of17th century, it began to extend to the west coast of India and occupied the Malabar coast and coromandel coast of India. At this point, most of the Portuguese colonies in the East have been captured by the Netherlands, and Dutch territory centered on the Moluccas and sunda islands has been established, and trading posts have been set up in India, India, zhina and Japan. As for America, since the 171920s, the Netherlands has continuously seized the colonies of the West Indies and Central and South America from Spain, while actively exploring North America. 16 14 occupied the Hudson estuary and established the new Amsterdam city. 1623 captured Brazil.
16 to 18 century Western Europe's overseas colonial plunder.
16 to 18 century Western Europe's overseas colonial plunder.
The Netherlands is a commercial hegemonic country, with a strong maritime transport force and a dominant domestic commercial capital. Therefore, in addition to the usual violent plunder and forced extortion, the plunder of colonies was mainly carried out through the "commercial activities" of their commercial companies. This kind of company is large in scale and strong in strength, and it is a special institution with state functions. It is granted the privilege by the government, and it can own the army and represent the country. One of the most famous is the Dutch East India Company established by 1602 (see color map). This company monopolized all the rights and interests of the Netherlands in the eastern colonies, including compulsory expropriation, slave labor, compulsory trade, etc., so the company made great profits, and sometimes the dividends paid to shareholders exceeded the amount of share capital. Dutch affairs in the western colonies were run by the Dutch West India Company, which was established in 162 1. This company has obtained the monopoly of trade with the east coast of America, the west coast of Africa and the Pacific islands, and is also actively engaged in maritime looting.
16 to 18 century Western Europe's overseas colonial plunder.
16 to 18 century Western Europe's overseas colonial plunder.
The plundering of the vast colonies strengthened the economic strength of the Netherlands and made it a standard capitalist country in the17th century. However, with the development of the times, the advantages of commercial capital will inevitably be replaced by industrial capital, and the Dutch maritime hegemony will eventually be unsustainable. /kloc-in the second half of the 0/7th century, after several defeats against Britain and France, the Dutch colonial power declined greatly. By the18th century, Britain replaced the Netherlands as the most powerful colonial empire in Western Europe.
After the great discovery of colonial plunder geography in France, France began to explore North America, but in the whole16th century, little progress was made. By the17th century, with the increasing popularity of domestic mercantilism and the rise of Dutch and British maritime forces at that time, the colonial expansion of France was greatly stimulated and promoted. From 1599 to 1649, France successively established 22 commercial companies to trade with Canada, the West Indies, the west coast of Africa and Madagascar. Through these companies, they carried out colonial activities in Central America, South America, the Antilles and the West Indies, and established many colonial strongholds in these areas, thus laying the initial foundation of the French colonial system. By the time of Louis XIV (1643 ~ 17 15), especially when J.-B. colbert was the national finance minister (166 1 ~ 1683), France pursued mercantilism. The French East India Company, founded in 1664, played an important role in the colonial cause. In the process of competing for maritime hegemony and seizing colonies, France and the Netherlands launched a fierce struggle. 1667 ~ 1697, the two countries fought three wars successively. France invaded Canada and Louisiana in North America, rich islands in West India, Madagascar in Africa and parts of India. By the end of 17, France's colonial expansion reached its peak. After entering the18th century, France was constantly defeated in the hegemony with Britain. Especially in the seven-year war between Britain and France from 1757 to 1763, France suffered heavy losses, lost many important colonies such as Canada and India, and its colonial power was greatly weakened, but it was still a colonial power second only to Britain.
British colonial plunder Britain is the largest colonial empire that has dominated the world for a long time after the Netherlands. /kloc-since the middle of the 6th century, Britain's economic strength has been growing, and its workshops and handicrafts have developed greatly, thus vigorously expanding overseas and entering the ranks of colonial powers. 1588, Britain and the Netherlands jointly defeated Spain's "Armada", showing great maritime power. 16 At the end of 2007 and the beginning of 2007, many professional colonial companies were established in Britain, the most prominent of which was the British East India Company established in 1600 (see color map). The company set up business offices in Madras and Calcutta in 1620 and 1633 respectively, which were used as bases for invading India. During this period, British colonial forces also entered North America and the West Indies, and established the first batch of British colonies in America. In addition, the Gambia on the west coast of Africa has also set up a trading post.
16 to 18 century Western Europe's overseas colonial plunder.
/kloc-in the middle of the 0/7th century, after the victory of the British bourgeois revolution, the economic and military strength was greatly enhanced. Since then, Britain has entered a new stage of large-scale plundering of colonies and launched fierce competition with other colonial countries. 1650, Britain first launched a war against Portugal, which had already declined, and gained the trade privileges for Portuguese colonies. 1655, sent a fleet to capture the Spanish colony in the Caribbean and occupied Jamaica. At this time, the Netherlands is in its heyday and is the strongest competitor of British overseas expansion. Therefore, the economic struggle between Britain and the Netherlands has developed into an armed conflict. During the period of 1652 ~ 1674, Britain won three wars, seized the new Dutch colony in North America from the Netherlands, and then drove the Dutch colonial forces out of India. By the end of 17, Britain's main competitor was only France. There were serious conflicts of interest between Britain and France in India, North America, West India and West Africa, and the "Seven Years War" finally broke out in 1757. This war made Britain seize some land in Canada, Lesser Antilles and Senegal, Africa from France, and also squeezed out France's power in India. At this point, Britain became the most powerful colonial empire in Europe. By 1800, Britain's colonial area reached 1 1.3 million square kilometers, more than 46 times that of its own territory.
16 ~18th century, the overseas colonial plunder of western European countries played an important role in the history of capitalist development, which was the main content of primitive accumulation of capital period in western Europe.