Colonial Empires: A History of European and Non-European Powers

The Colonial Empires

European powers formed large colonial empires between 1870 and 1914, spreading to Africa, Asia, and Oceania. Territorial and economic interests generated numerous frictions.

The distribution of the African continent was the main focus of tensions because it confronted the interests of Britain, Germany, France, and Portugal. The rivalry of colonial empires led to the conclusion of the Berlin Conference in 1885, where the division of Africa among the major European powers was agreed upon.

The European Empires

Britain built the biggest empire of modern times, with its colonial rule distributed across all continents.

The British Empire ruled over various parts of America, such as Canada and the Caribbean, much of Oceania, and enclaves like Gibraltar, Hong Kong, and Singapore. In Africa, it managed to establish contact between its possessions in the north and south, from Cairo to Cape Town, thus controlling the Suez Canal, vital for trade.

In Asia, the largest colony of exploitation for the British Empire was India, which submitted commodities such as cotton, wheat, oil, and tea.

France, second in importance and size of empire, extended its domains to large areas of northeastern Africa, rich areas of Asia, and strategic holdings in the Pacific.

Germany joined the colonial race in the 1880s, undertaking an aggressive policy because most of the territories were already occupied by other powers. After the Berlin Conference, it won territories in southwestern Africa and the Gulf of Guinea.

Belgium and Italy only extended their domains on the African continent. Russia conquered many territories in Asia but was not organized as a colonial empire.

The Non-European Empires

In the late nineteenth century, the American continent was under the political and economic influence of the United States. It also controlled the islands of Cuba and Puerto Rico, although its imperialism was not based on the annexation of territories. After the war against China, Japan won the important enclave of Formosa. After defeating the Russian Empire in the Russo-Japanese War (1905), it gained some islands and Korea.

Decadent Empires

During the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries, Spain and Portugal were two great colonial empires, but in the nineteenth century, their domains were reduced.

Spain suffered a major defeat in 1898 against the United States and Cuban independence. The last Spanish colonies in America and the Philippines came under American domain.

Portugal, unlike other imperialist powers, saw its expansion in Africa prevented when the railway union in Angola and Mozambique was blocked.