Questions tagged [colonization]

The process of a country relocating some of its citizens to a territory under their purvey and asserting political, military and/or economic control over any native inhabitants who may already occupy said territory.

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Why did it take over 100 years for Britain to begin seriously colonising America?

After the New World was discovered, it didn't take long for Spain, and relatively soon after, Portugal, to begin permanent colonisation there. It took over 100 years after the New World's discovery ...
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1 answer
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How have European countries affected the caste system in India?

The caste system in India is the paradigmatic ethnographic example of caste. It has its origins in ancient India, and was transformed by various ruling elites in medieval, early-modern, and modern ...
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Did the Europeans benefit economically from the scramble for Africa?

In the following video Rudyard Lynch, owner of the youtube channel "whatifalthist" claims that Nearly every African colony cost the Europeans far more than they got out of it – the ...
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Did European elites train natives from colonial lands to help spread western values?

In 1961 Frantz Fanon wrote a book called "The Wretched of the Earth". In the preface of the book Jean-Paul Sartre wrote the following: The European elite decided to fabricate a native elite;...
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What was the state of the Congo in 1959?

I'm reading the Poisonwood Bible. It is about a missionary family, the Prices, who in 1959 move from the U.S. state of Georgia to the village of Kilanga in the Belgian Congo. I really have no idea ...
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Was the fall of the Inca Empire inevitable? [closed]

Some time ago I watched a documentary on Inca Empire, since its creation to the death of Túpac Amaru. Although it wasn't stated explicitly, I came out of it with an impression that after Manco Inca ...
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1 answer
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Question about pilgrims [closed]

I wanted to ask a pretty silly question about the English colonization of America. This book that I read said that the puritans were immigrating away from England to America for religious reasons, ...
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Where does this quote come from?

Emperor Menelik II's wikipedia page quotes him as saying "There was never a time when united that the Ethiopians lost to an enemy in history". I am unable to find anywhere on the internet ...
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What is a term for cultural and social influences left by colonial power that has a long-lasting, negative influence? [closed]

I'm currently doing research on colonial effects on North African countries, and one aspect I want to comment on are both the positive and negative effects of the previous colonial power. Some of ...
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Does the idea of white Europeans being the "true Aryans" come from the British India? [closed]

I have recently had a conversation with a man from India over the Internet and he told me this interesting claim. He said that "Aryan" meant "noble" in Sanskrit, and the British, ...
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Why didn't colonial empires exchange their colonies with others empire to make their territories whole?

The colonial age created some weird territories that separated one country’s territory into terrible shapes, such as Senegal (colonized by France) and Gambia (colonized by Britain). Why didn't France ...
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Why is Germany's history of colonialism and imperialism less prominent compared to other European nations? [closed]

Spaniards and Portuguese in South America, etc UK in India, Pakistan, etc Dutch in SEA: Indonesia, etc French in Africa Belgians in Congo Why was Germany not as involved as these nations?
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Why were the Scandinavians not as expansive as other Europeans in global colonization?

By expansive, I mean in terms of land area. On the Wikipedia pages of Norway's, Sweden's, and Denmark's colonies, it shows they had very few parcels of land around the globe, compared to the colonies ...
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Why did no one take Siberia over before the Russians, and how did they do it?

I realize that Russia had ambitions in the east and they took over Siberia. However Siberia was just north of the Mongols really and its islands were easily accessible to Japan in history. They even ...
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Where can I find historical taxation/revenue datasets for imperial countries in the early 20th century?

I'm a grad student trying to conduct research, and my project depends on finding a dataset which enumerates taxation and revenue by colonial-era and post-colonial governments within the early 20th ...
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1 answer
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Did Japanese modernisation have an effect on Ethiopia?

On his wikipedia page, Tekle Hawariat Tekle Mariyam, "the primary author of Ethiopia's July 1931 constitution" the article calls him a politician and intellectual of the Japanizer school ...
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1 answer
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What degree of relations did the different Hawaiian islands have between themselves before Kamehameha's unification?

I am trying to figure out if there were actual cultural, commercial and political links among the islands, and especially if there was an actual Hawaiian unified identity or this is constructed after ...
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Where can I obtain the full "British Statistical Blue Books" of British colonies in Africa?

I'm a poli sci grad student looking to access the full British statistical blue books which catalog statistics for British colonies. Does anyone know where I can obtain access to them, preferably free ...
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In Indian census, were the children of a Thug recorded as "Yet to Be Thug"?

I read (can't remember where at the moment) that in a population census (probably around 1911) the child of a thug used to be recorded as "yet to be thug" in profession column in India. ...
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Is there a quote that expresses Mill's opposition to Indian democracy?

I heard in a talk that John Stuart Mill was in favor of democracy in his own country but against democracy in India, I read the following in a paper - Mill’s support of British imperialism may seem ...
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What were the requirements for Ancient Greek colonist groups?

Disclaimers Given that the colonies were not created in empty space, it may not have been necessary to equip each and every group of colonists with the skills needed to be self sufficient. Assuming, ...
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Why have some Sahrawis become Moroccan citizens while others ended up in refugee camps?

Quoting from this article, The Sahrawis who did not flee have been given Moroccan citizenship. Is this all there is to the story? Much of the literature on the Western Sahara conflict overlooks why ...
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Why has the Congo ended up French-speaking but not Flemish-speaking? [closed]

Why is there hardly any Flemish linguistic heritage in the former Belgian colonies, at least at the institutional level? EDIT (Evidence of prior research): Neither the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...
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Was any object from Anza's expeditions conserved?

In the 1770s, Juan Bautista de Anza led two overland expeditions from Sinaloa to Alta California. The first was for reconnaissance and the second, larger and better known, for the purpose of ...
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Did Industrial Revolution economic systems rely on colonies? [closed]

I have read in the Economic Nobel's prize Thomas Piketty's book the following sentence (translation is mine): "The Enlightenment movement and the Industrial Revolution were partially based on the ...
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Is individual level data from British India censuses (1881 - 1941) available?

If not, was there ever a record of this available? What happened to these records? If available, where can I find them?
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Are there historical instances of settlers who were largely uncontacted and undisturbed after settling?

I am looking for historical instances of a rather specific and strange scenario: Settlers who settled a wild/unclaimed territory (ideally 100-300 in number) who after settling in the new place, were ...
10 votes
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Are views in Thailand on Axis powers influenced by colonization?

John Oliver talked on how Nazi depictions are used commercially in Thailand. However, Thailand regained land from the British and the French during WW2, which maybe could be partially attributed to ...
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2 votes
1 answer
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When in 1775 was Anza in Culiacán?

Juan Bautista de Anza made an exploratory expedition to Alta California in 1774, then was sent again to take colonist families with him. As the expedition moved north, he recruited them in Culiacán, ...
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What was Rhodesia like before independence? [closed]

I have heard a lot about Robert Mugabe in my time, and he mostly seemed like a good example of how not to run a country. Now that he's died, I'm seeing a lot of articles talking about his supposed "...
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6 answers
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Did Pope Urban II issue the papal bull "terra nullius" in 1095?

Countless sources claim that the origin of the term terra nullius is from a papal bull issued by Pope Urban II in 1095 called "Terra nullius". Here are a two: Pramod K. Nayar, The Postcolonial ...
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Why didn't Britain or any other European power colonize Abyssinia/Ethiopia before 1936?

It is well mentioned while reading books on Africa or, the colonization or “scramble” for Africa, that two countries, Liberia and Ethiopia/Abyssinia, had retained their sovereignty as independent ...
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Why didn't Asian countries expand and trade with Europe? [closed]

There are questions why China didn't explore and discover Europe. The answer is that the Ming dynasty prohibits that. So the issue is that China is so centralized they can't do that. One king says no,...
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Can world systems theory apply to empires?

World systems theory categorizes the economic relationships of countries by placing them in a core or a periphery. In this model, core countries exploit resources in the peripheral countries. This ...
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1 answer
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Why was the duration of territorial contracts often 99 years?

This is based on this Reddit question, but I rectified its mistakes. For example, some European colonies in China were leased for 99 years, like German Kiautschou and the New Territories (but not ...
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9 votes
2 answers
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Was Lampsacus a Phocaean or Milesian colony?

Lampsacus was an ancient Greek polis situated on the eastern side of the Hellespont (modern Dardanelles) . The English Wikipedia page describes the city as of Milesian AND Phocaean foundation, hinting ...
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Why was Germany not as successful as other Europeans in establishing overseas colonies?

French, British, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch.. they all had vast outreach across the globe on multiple continents. Why did Germans not have this much outreach?
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Why during the colonial era were Berber countries referred to as “Arab”?

I can cite an example: in Dumas’ “De Vicomte de Bragelonne”, Athos’ son (the Vicomte) decides to go to war in Algeria, where he fights against the Arabs: “The vicomte was summoned to surrender by ...
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Why weren't colonies accepted as part of their colonizing countries?

I'll use the British empire as an example, although in principle the same question could apply to every other colonial power. The British empire was ruled by the United Kingdom. The United Kingdom ...
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Did Indigenous Australians burn land to get Europeans to move on, and did Europeans follow suit?

I was told by a guide that when European settlers originally arrived in Australia, Indigenous populations burnt their land to get the Europeans to move on. I am aware that the Indigenous did burn ...
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Did New Mexicans under Spain regard themselves as Mexican?

Mexico, in its original sense, is the homeland of the Mexica (Aztec) people and its principal city. The sense of the name broadened, presumably as people in the metropole spoke broadly about it, and ...
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What was the tonnage carried in the Triangle Trade?

I'm interested in metrics regarding trans-atlantic trade in the era of the sail. The specific timespan doesn't matter. The specific cargo also doesn't matter. I've searched but not found any ...
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Did Western "New Imperialism" actually free slaves in Muslim lands?

Slavery is fair game in mainstream/traditional Islam. I have heard various commentaries that abolishing of slavery in various Muslim-dominated countries actually coincided with the 2nd wave of Western ...
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Were the officers assigned to Kamchatka being punished?

The Russian Imperial army and navy had to build frontier outposts in very remote locations such as Kamchatka. During the Catherine the Great/Paul/Alexander period (1762-1825), the few ostrogs and ...
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Why did the French return all the Dutch Colonies to the Netherlands in Paris Treaty?

It seems to me that France helped Holland a lot in the Fourth Anglo-Dutch War. And also gave all Dutch colonies back to Holland in the 1783 Treaty of Paris? I was wondering why was that and what ...
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Immigrants to Mexican New Mexico

In its Mexican era California attracted immigrants, principally Anglo-Americans, who often worked as merchants and capitalists. English speakers like William Hartnell and Thomas Larkin dominated ...
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1 answer
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Did other American empires also fall to the Europeans?

Since forever, people have subjugated each other to demand labor or resources. A monarchic or centralized power that subjugates several other peoples is an empire. Half a dozen European empires ...
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Why did the Swedish colonies in America and Africa fail?

The Swedish empire controlled the Gold Coast in 1650-63 and New Sweden in present-day USA in 1638-55. Why did Sweden fail to hold these possession in the apex of its great power era?
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Did the Vatican punish France for rejecting Tordesillas?

The Treaty of Tordesillas (1494) divided up all new discoveries between Portugal and Castile, so establishing the position of Brazil. Pope Alexander VI's deal excluded the other Catholic states. ...
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Were the Spanish aware that American mainland existed after discovering the Caribbean?

After the Spanish (Castille) first discovered The Caribbean (Nowday Dominican Republic, Cuba ect.) in the late 1400s / Early 1500s were they aware / did they predict that mainland North and South ...
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