Colonialism: Administration Types and Global Impact

Forms of Colonial Rule and Administration

Various forms of colonial rule were established:

• Concessions and Spheres of Influence

  Commercial advantages were obtained, where independent countries were divided into areas of influence. This was the case of the assignment of ports for trade in China.

• Protectorates

  The local government kept the internal administration of the country, but the colonial power controlled foreign policy, the army, and the exploitation of certain resources to protect the country from other foreign powers. This was the case, for example, of the British protectorate of Egypt.

• Colonies

  These were territories under the direct sovereignty of the colonial power. They could be:

  • Colonies of Position

    Considered strategic territories controlled by the metropolis, such as the British colony of the Cape.

  • Settlement Colonies

    Settled by a large foreign population. Some were self-administered, known as Dominions (e.g., British Dominions of Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa), while others adopted the same laws and institutions as the metropolis (e.g., the French colony of Algeria).

  • Exploitation Colonies

    These had a majority indigenous population and were subject to administrative and military control by the foreign power, which operated exclusively using their economic resources and the indigenous people as labor. This was the case, for example, of the Belgian colony of Congo.

The Consequences of Colonialism

Impact on Indigenous Societies

For colonized peoples, the consequences of colonization were generally negative:

• Political Impact

  Local governments were eliminated or subjected to foreign control. Furthermore, the arbitrary drawing of borders by the colonizers originated ethnic conflicts, either by separating or merging rival villages in the same territory.

• Demographic Impact

  Mortality stepped back through medical and hygienic progress. However, in some areas, the indigenous population declined due to illness and their exploitation as workers.

• Economic Impact

  The colonial powers forced the indigenous people to work for their benefit, seized their lands, replaced traditional crops with export crops, and imposed an unequal trade system based on the export of raw materials and the purchase of manufactured goods.

• Social Impact

  A new society emerged, marked by a strong contrast between the foreign minority, which controlled the government and wealth and lived in luxury neighborhoods, and the indigenous population, which was forced to work and confined to quarters outside urban areas or reservations.

• Cultural Impact

  Indigenous languages, beliefs, and cultures were displaced by foreign ones and subsequently disappeared or went into crisis.

Consequences for the Metropolis

For the colonizers, colonialism brought several outcomes:

• Positive Outcomes

  It brought global superiority, political power, riches, stimulus to industrialization, and knowledge of other civilizations.

• Negative Outcomes

  In contrast, it sharpened political and economic international confrontations and was one of the causes of the outbreak of World War I.