Chapter Twenty: Colonial Encounters

For many people in Africa and Asia colonial rule by Europe was a major part of their history and a new element of their experience during the nineteenth century. This was seen as the second wave of European Conquest as this followed Europe’s conquest of the America’s. It was now focused mainly on Asian and Africa.

            This conquest was conditioned by the Industrial Revolution, and their motives and actions were shaped by the military capacity and the economic power that also coincided with the Industrial Revolution. Generally, most Europeans preferred informal control, as it was cheaper and less likely to provoke wars, though this did now remain the case. Because more European countries wanted to take over different parts or local authorities refused to cooperate with the powers, Europeans had no problem with taking the expenses and moving to direct colonial rule. This involved the use of military forces and or the threat of using them. This was available for them to use because the Industrial Revolution has also made arms much stronger, and they were overwhelmingly advanced with firepower and machine guns. Though it took a long time, European power prevailed virtually everywhere across Africa and Asia. Many of those countries that were overtaken lost the political sovereignty and freedom of action.

            For countries such as India and Indonesia, colonial rule was something that had developed from earlier interaction with European trading bases. The absence of any sense of cultural and political unity was an open invitation to Europeans and allowed them to seize and take over. It evolved very slowly, but surely.

            This method was not the same in Africa, mainland South Asia, and the Pacific Islands, as colonial rule was more abrupt and deliberate. This was because of the “scramble for Africa” as many European parties fought against one another for land. This process was nowhere near peaceful, and was an idea of who owned what, as it used bloody military action. As for the land and conquest of Australia and New Zealand, it was similar to the conquest and colonization of North America. Europeans brought settlement and diseases. These areas became colonies, “neo-European” societies.

            In many places and for many these colonial rule and European incorporation was a traumatic experience. Although all this violence existed, there were many people who were willing to cooperate for their own advantages. This was available because colonial rulers relied heavily on a range of local intermediaries. Also, both colonial governments and private missionary organizations promoted a measure of European education. This led Europeans to increasingly depend on the Western-educated class at the expense of the more traditional elites.

            Even so colonial rule provoked the bitter opposition of many others. There were periodic rebellions, large and small in size, where one of the more famous ones was the Indian Rebellion.  This rebellion was triggered by military forces smearing a new cartridge in the fat from cows and pigs. This offended both Hindus and Muslims. A mutiny among Indian troops in Bengal triggered this rebellion, which then began to spread to other regions of the colony. Though it was destroyed the rebellion had greatly divided the races in colonial India. “It made the British more conservative and cautious about deliberately trying to change Indian society for fear of provoking another rebellion. Moreover, it convinced the British government to assume direct control over India…”