Neo - Colonialism

New Forms of Old Control

What is it?

"As long as imperialism exists it will, by definition, exert its domination over other countries. Today that domination is called neo-colonialism."

Che Guevara, Marxist revolutionary, 1965

Origins The idea corresponds with

the growth of globalisation. After World War Two, the

major European countries could no longer go back to the way it was.

They were weakened politically, economically, and militarily

In this relaxed state, many colonies developed nationalist / independence movements

Starts in the

Mid 1950s.

Accelerates in

the 1960s

How Economic Imperialism Works

Powerful economic states maintain a continuing presence in the economies of former colonies, especially where it concerns raw materials.

Stronger nations are charged with interfering in the governance and economics of weaker nations to maintain the flow of such material, at prices and under conditions which unfairly benefit developed nations and trans-national corporations.

Most multinational companies will sell their expertese in developing the resource, and in return keep a % of the profit.

But what was there Before???

Before the Second World War, the world was much smaller in the sense that there were m any fewer nations then today.

Europeans, and to a lesser extent the Americans, dominated the world through direct and indirect control of Asia, Africa, and Central and South America. This system of control was good old fashioned

Imperialism.

Imperialism

Getting What You Need

Colonialism: Kickin’ it Old School

When Europeans first travelled the globe they saw the need to exploit the territories they claimed.

The territories were controlled and colonised. Europeans sought to replicate their culture and society around the world. American Colonies.

From 1600 to 1850, this was the preferred style of development. In this period the major colonisers were: British, French, Spanish,

Portuguese, and Dutch. During the 1700s, wars fought in Europe were transposed into these

colonies. Namely, the British waged war on their enemies colonies to economically cripple them. It was immensely successful!

By the first quarter of the nineteenth century, Britain was the dominate colonial power.

What Changed in a Century

An Uneasy Feeling

The success of the British in creating a huge colonial system also coincided with more powerful forced – Victorianism Morality and Liberalism.

They did not always work together, but instead helped created a distorted sense of right and wrong and sense of equity. They did not want to take over the territory, but would stay for a little

while. Imperialism: The economic, political control of a nation / region

through indirect control.

The Break

The shift away from colonialism to imperialism was not a gradual process. For the British, it was the Indian Mutiny of 1857.

The British had defeated the rival French and Dutch colonies in India by 1757 (War of Austrian Succession) and consolidated power through the East India Company.

The Company, like the Hudson’s Bay Company, existed on a Royal Charter to trade in the name of the British Monarchy. They were not subject to local, or even most British laws.

The Company set up its own administration, its own offices, recruited people to immigrate and built its own army.

In 1857, units from the Indian Army led a violent and bloody rebellion against the British

Outcome The British brutally suppressed the rebels

and re-imposed order. Queen Victoria blamed the older system of

colonialism and advocated a direct transfer of power over to the British Government.

The British did not take direct control, or try to impose British culture on the Indians.

They looked for local rulers and western trained administrators to run the show while they held power through the head of the government (Governor) and the military. The local people were “free” as long as the British Government let them.

Nigeria= pop 20 mil, 400 white administrators

Sudan = pop 9 mil, 140 white administrators

Looking at this shift the French also adopted the same approach. They did not need to send people to settle, they only had to control the mechanisms of power.

The Scramble for Africa

The shift marks a renewed interest in Africa.

Before 1850, it was mainly colonised along the coast, not the interior. The British needed to maintain a

chain of coaling stations from Europe to India

Starting in the 1870s, the European powers had internalised the idea that a “great” nation needed foreign territory. The reason was namely trade.

The industrialisation of Europe meant that there was an increased need for raw resources to be sent back to Europe and a market to dump all their finished goods.

Legacy

In their effort to create an empire the Europeans redrew the map of Europe. When the “Scramble for Africa” was over, 10,000 identifiable ethnic,

religious and cultural groups had been pushed into 40 states or protectorates.

Rwanda, Congo, Sudan, South Africa

As part of their power struggle, pieces of Africa were traded around by the Europeans National boundaries were straight lines drawn on a map,

disregarding terrain or ethnicity. Long time enemies are together – Uganda, Chad, Sudan, Nigeria Groups divided arbitrarily = Congo, Somaliland

India

Was controlled by Great Britain - “ the jewel in the Crown” from 1750s 1940s To rule the local population, the British developed a political elite

administration. By the early 1900s these people coalesced into the Indian National

Congress The INC increasingly played a key role in decolonization and the end of

empire. The actual drive to independence was led by Mohandas K. Gandhi: He became a leader of the movement after World War One with a focus on

passive resistance (civil disobedience) By the end of the Second World War the political leader of the INC,

Jawaharlal Nehru, led the actual negotiations for independence Clement Attlee and the Labour Party wished to phase its presence out, but

other crisis and Indian pressure caused them to pull the union flag down in India in 1947 Before they left the British tried to solve a major dilemma.

They divided India into two nations: India (Hindu) and Pakistan (Muslim)

Ghandi

China

Europeans sought to develop trade relations with China as far back as the 1500s

The Chinese kept them in check, restricted trade and access. In the Anglo - Chinese Wars (1839 to 1842

and 1856 to 1860) British force China to trade with them and allow

them to set up their own unrestricted trade centres (Hong Kong)

In the early 1900s the Empress tried to use the Boxers to attack and drive out the Europeans, and by now the Americans. It backfired and led to

increased pressure to modernise.

In 1911, nationalist forces push the emperor off his throne and declare a republic under Sun Yat Sen

Starting the late 1920s the Communist forces led by Mao Zedong put pressure on the Nationalist forces led by Chang kai-shek

Mao took over China in 1949 He immediately

severed any external influences

Arab Nationalism Arab nationalism was originally a loosely united group opposed to

colonialism and subsequently to migration of Jews to Palestine As part of the Versailles Treaty, the British agreed to uphold the

Balfour Declaration in 1917 The British hoped to weaken the Ottomans by pledging support

for the creation of Jewish “national home” in Palestine After the Second World War, the British could no longer contain the

influx of European Jews. Great Britain announced its withdrawal from Palestine in 1948.

This angered and emboldened regional groups to attack the colonists. The Soviet Union was especially willing to help. Egypt in the 1950s

New Ties to Bind

With direct control lost Critics of Globilisation argue that the IMF and

World Bank are promoting a new version of control.

Often referred to as Economic Imperialism Instead of direct military-political control,

neocolonialist powers employ financial, and trade policies to dominate less powerful countries. This amounts to a de facto control over less powerful nations