Introduction

Developing countries, with all their diversity, are characterized by certain essential features that allow them to be considered as a more or less unified group with certain similar or coinciding interests in the field of economics and politics. The following signs are distinguished:

• - dependent position in the system of the world capitalist economy, being in the system of production relations of world capitalism;
• - the transitional nature of internal socio-economic structures, industrial relations in general;
• - low level of development of productive forces, backwardness of industry, Agriculture, industrial and social infrastructure.

The low economic level of developing countries is based on low productivity, when manual labor predominates, and weak mechanization of industrial and agricultural labor. Hence the colossal gap in labor efficiency.

For most developing countries, traditional sectoral structures of the national economy are typical, in which agriculture occupies the largest share in terms of volume, followed by services and then industry.

The purpose of this work is to study the economic development of developing countries.

Stages of formation of the colonial system and historical forms of colonialism

Colonial conquests began on a significant scale back in the era of initial accumulation of capital, with the Great Geographical Discoveries of the mid-15th to mid-17th centuries. The colonial policy of the period of primitive accumulation of capital was characterized by: the desire to establish a monopoly in trade with conquered territories, the seizure and plunder of entire countries, the use or imposition of predatory feudal and slave forms of exploitation of the local population. This policy played a huge role in the process of primitive accumulation. It led to the concentration of large capital in European countries based on the robbery of colonies and the slave trade, which especially developed in the 2nd half of the 17th century. and served as one of the levers for turning England into the main capitalist country of that time.

Trade with the colonies during the period of primitive accumulation greatly contributed to the formation of the world market and the emergence of the beginnings of the global division of labor. “The discovery of gold and silver mines in America, the extermination, enslavement and burial alive of the native population in mines, the first steps towards the conquest and plunder of the East Indies, the transformation of Africa into a reserved hunting ground for blacks - such was the dawn of the capitalist era of production. These idyllic processes are the main moments of primitive accumulation.”

The first colonial empires - Spanish and Portuguese - were formed following the Great Geographical Discoveries. The Spanish conquerors enslaved (after the discovery of America in 1492) the central and significant part South America. The Portuguese, having opened the sea route to India (1498), created strongholds on the western and eastern coasts of Africa, gained a foothold on the western coast of India, captured the Moluccas in Southeast Asia, and Brazil in the Western Hemisphere. colonial developing metropolis

At the end of the 16th and beginning of the 17th centuries. The Netherlands emerged as a major colonial power. Reached by the middle of the 17th century. At the height of its power, the Netherlands captured most of the Portuguese colonies in the east. The colonial hegemony established by the Netherlands was eliminated by England as a result of the Anglo-Dutch wars of the 17th century.

At the end of the 17th and beginning of the 18th centuries. France embarked on the path of colonial conquest. Colonial policy was carried out during the era of primitive accumulation by specially created large privileged trading companies. Although colonial policy was a source of huge profits for all powers that pursued it, it had different effects on these countries: where it was carried out by feudal lords, it contributed to the stagnation and then the decline of these states. Spain and, to a large extent, Portugal sought to reproduce their feudal organization in the conquered territories. Enormous funds coming from the colonies went to the absolute monarchs, the nobility and the church, strengthening the feudal order and paralyzing the incentives for the development of industry and agriculture. In enslaved countries, colonial policies caused the destruction of productive forces, delayed the economic and political development of these countries, and led to the plunder of vast areas and the extermination of entire peoples. Military confiscation methods played main role in the exploitation of the colonies during that period.

As capitalism transitions from manufacturing to large-scale factory industry, significant changes occur in colonial policy. Along with the methods of direct robbery and taxation of the population, the exploitation of colonies through trade, through unequal exchange, begins to play a major role. The colonies are economically more closely connected with the metropolises, turning into their agrarian and raw materials appendages with a monocultural direction of agricultural development, into markets for industrial products and sources of raw materials for the growing capitalist industry of the metropolises.

The spread of new methods of exploitation, the need to create special bodies of colonial administration that could consolidate dominance over the enslaved peoples, as well as the rivalry of various layers of the bourgeoisie in the metropolises led to the liquidation of monopoly colonial trading companies and the transfer of occupied countries and territories under public administration metropolises.

With the beginning of the era of capitalism, Great Britain became the largest colonial power. Having defeated France during a long struggle in the 18th and 19th centuries, she increased her possessions at her expense, as well as at the expense of the Netherlands, Spain and Portugal. Great Britain conquered India.

The colonial monopoly, together with the industrial monopoly, ensured Great Britain's position as the most powerful power throughout almost the entire 19th century. Colonial expansion was also carried out by other powers. France subjugated Algeria (1830-1848), Vietnam (50-80s of the 19th century), established its protectorate over Cambodia (1863), Laos (1893). The colonial expansion of Russian tsarism spread mainly in the southeastern and eastern directions.

Russian tsarism turned areas into its colonies Central Asia and the Caucasus. In the 1st half of the 19th century. The United States entered the struggle for the colonies. The Monroe Doctrine (1823) proclaimed by them testified to the US claims to monopoly exploitation of Latin American countries. USA in the 40s and 50s. 19th century imposed unequal treaties on China and Japan.

The policy of colonial enslavement encountered the heroic resistance of the peoples who became its victims, and gave rise to a number of powerful national liberation movements in the colonies and dependent countries.

In the 70s 19th century The period of development of capitalism of “free competition” into imperialism began, which developed at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. The oppression and exploitation of countries lagging behind in socio-economic terms has become integral part the entire set of relations of monopoly capitalism. A colonial system of imperialism has emerged - a system of political subordination, economic exploitation, and ideological suppression of the underdeveloped countries of Asia, Africa and Latin America, transformed into agricultural and raw materials appendages of the world capitalist economy.

For the colonial system of imperialism, the main form of colonial enslavement is the direct military-political domination of the metropolitan countries over the oppressed countries and peoples. The colonial empires of the imperialist states of Western Europe, as well as the USA and Japan, formed the foundation of the colonial system.

In addition to colonies, they included protectorates, and the British Empire also included dominions. A large number of countries were placed in the position of semi-colonies, i.e. “... dependent countries, politically, formally independent, but in fact entangled in networks of financial and diplomatic dependence.” Before the First World War of 1914-1918, China, Iran, Turkey, Afghanistan, Siam and many Latin American countries were in a semi-colonial position.

In the era of monopoly capitalism, without losing their importance as markets for the industry of the metropolises, colonies and dependent countries become primarily areas for the investment of capital. This gives foreign monopolies the opportunity to concentrate in their hands complete control over the economies of enslaved countries.

The export of capital to colonies and dependent countries occurs both as a result of an excess of capital in the metropolitan countries, which does not find “sufficiently” highly profitable use there, and to a large extent because in the enslaved countries there are not only cheap raw materials and land, but also cheap labor due to with chronic unemployment, agricultural overpopulation, and general poverty of the masses.

World history contains a huge number of events, names, dates, which are placed in several dozen or even hundreds of different textbooks. Different authors have different views on certain circumstances, but they are united by facts that must be told one way or another. In world history, there are known phenomena that appeared once and for a long time, and others that appeared several times, but for short periods. One such phenomenon is the colonial system. In the article we will tell you what it is, where it was widespread and how it became a thing of the past.

What is the colonial system?

The world colonial system, or colonialism, is a situation where industrially, culturally, economically developed countries dominate the rest of the world (less developed countries, or third world countries).

Dominance was usually established after armed attacks and the subjugation of the state. It was expressed in the imposition of economic and political principles and rules of existence.

When it was?

The beginnings of the colonial system appeared in the 15th century during the Age of Discovery along with the discovery of India and America. Then the indigenous peoples of the open territories had to recognize the technological superiority of foreigners. The first true colonies were formed by Spain in the 17th century. Gradually, Great Britain, France, Portugal, and the Netherlands began to seize and spread their influence. Later they were joined by the USA and Japan.

By the end of the 19th century, most of the world was divided among the great powers. Russia did not actively participate in colonization, but it also subjugated some neighboring territories.

Who belonged to whom?

Belonging to a particular country determined the course of development of the colony. The table below will tell you best how widespread the colonial system was.

There were also smaller colonies, but the table shows that they were not influenced by anyone except Antarctica and Antarctica, because they did not have raw materials and a platform for the development of industry, economy, and life in general. The colonies were governed through governors appointed by the ruler of the metropolitan country or through his constant visits to the colonies.

Characteristic features of the period

The period of colonialism has its own characteristic features:

• All actions are aimed at establishing a monopoly in trade with the colonial territories, i.e. the metropolitan countries wanted the colonies to establish trade relations only with them and with no one else,
• armed attacks and plunder of entire states, and then subjugation of them,
• the use of feudal and slave-owning forms of exploitation of the population of colonial countries, which turned them almost into slaves.

Thanks to this policy, the countries that owned colonies quickly acquired capital reserves, which allowed them to take leading positions on the world stage. Thus, it was thanks to the colonies and their financial resources that England became the most developed country that time.

How did it break up?

Colonial did not collapse immediately, all at once. This process happened gradually. The main period of loss of influence over the colonial countries occurred at the end of the Second World War (1941-1945), because people believed that it was possible to live without oppression and control from another country.

In some places, the escape from influence occurred peacefully, through agreements and the signing of agreements, and in others, through military and rebel actions. Some countries in Africa and Oceania are still under US rule, but no longer experience the same oppression as they did in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Consequences of the colonial system

It is difficult to call the colonial system an unambiguously positive or negative phenomenon in the life of the world community. She had both positive and negative sides both for metropolitan states and for colonies. The collapse of the colonial system led to certain consequences.

For metropolises they were as follows:

• decline in own production capacity due to the possession of markets and resources of the colonies and, therefore, lack of incentives,
• investing capital in colonies to the detriment of the metropolis,
• lagging behind in competition and development from other countries due to increased concern for colonies.

For colonies:

• destruction and loss of traditional culture and way of life, complete extermination of some nationalities;
• depletion of natural and cultural reserves;
• reduction in the local population of the colonies due to attacks by the metropolises, epidemics, famine, etc.;
• the emergence of its own industry and intelligentsia;
• the emergence of the foundations for the future independent development of the country.

In parallel with the discovery of new lands, they were studied, described and conquered. Interests collided in new lands different countries, controversial situations and conflicts arose, often armed.

Portugal and Spain took the path of colonial conquest before others. They also made the first attempt to delimit their spheres of interest. To prevent the possibility of clashes, both states entered into a special agreement in 1494, according to which all newly discovered lands west of the 30th meridian were to belong to the Spaniards, and to the east - to the Portuguese. However, the demarcation line passed only along the Atlantic Ocean, and later this led to contradictions when the Spaniards, approaching from the east, and the Portuguese from the west, met in the Moluccas.

The invaders, the conquistadors, conquered vast territories, turning them into colonies, appropriated and ruthlessly exploited their wealth, converted pagan natives to Christianity, and wiped out entire civilizations from the face of the earth. By the middle of the 17th century. the largest overseas territories belonged to Spain, Portugal, Holland, France and England.

Conclusion

Until the XV-XVII centuries. The West was a relatively closed region, and at the stage of the decomposition of feudalism, the borders of the Western world expanded, the process of forming a pan-European and world market began, and the horizons of Europeans expanded.

Such shifts were caused by the Great Geographical Discoveries that spanned precisely these two and a half centuries. Great geographical discoveries became possible thanks to the organization by Europeans of expeditions across the oceans to find new routes to India, a country of untold riches. The previous routes to this distant fairy-tale country through the Mediterranean Sea and Western Asia were blocked by Arab, Turkish, and Mongol-Tatar conquerors. And Europe during this period experienced a significant significant shortage of gold and silver as a means of circulation.

The great geographical discoveries were very important economic consequences, although not the same for different countries.

First of all, the development of the world productive forces has advanced; The territory known by that time increased only during the 16th century. six times, there were fewer and fewer white spots on it.

Trade routes from the North, Baltic and Mediterranean seas moved to the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific oceans. Thanks to this, trade routes connected the continents. Navigation made it possible to establish stable economic ties between individual parts of the world and determined the formation of world trade.

Great geographical discoveries contributed to the disintegration of feudalism and the development of capitalist relations, laying the foundations of the world market.

However, there are also negative consequences, which was reflected in the formation of the colonial system of nascent capitalism.

Colonies in modern meaning appeared in the era of the Great Geographers. Discoveries, as a result of which the colonial system begins to form. And this stage in the development of colonialism is associated with the formation of capitalist relations, therefore the concepts of “colonialism” and “capitalism” are inextricably linked, with capitalism becoming the dominant socio-economic system, and colonies accelerating this process.

Stage 1 of the formation of colonialism is colonialism of the era of primitive accumulation of capital (PCA) and manufacturing capitalism. Here the main processes were colonial robbery and colonial trade, which were the main sources of the PNC.

At this stage, as a result of the VGO, vast colonial possessions began to form, primarily Spain and Portugal, between which in 1494 an Agreement was concluded on the division of the world along the 30-degree meridian in the Atlantic Ocean, along which all lands to the West from this line - there were colonies of Spain, and to the East - all the lands of Portugal. This was the beginning of the formation of the colonial system.

The first period of colonialism also affected the manufacturing period. Subsequently, in the 60s of the 16th century, Dutch merchants and bourgeois began to overtake Spain and Portugal in terms of wealth accumulation. Holland ousts the Portuguese from Ceylon and creates its own strongholds in Southern Malaysia and Indonesia.

Almost simultaneously with the Portuguese, England began its expansion in West Africa (in the countries of Gambia, Ghana), and from the beginning of the 17th century - in India.

Stage 2 of colonialism coincides with the era of industrial capitalism (i.e. stage 2 of the development of capitalism). The new stage in the development of capitalism introduced new methods of exploitation of the colonies. Thus, further colonial conquests required the unification of large merchants and industrialists of the metropolises.

At this stage of development of the colonial system, the industrial revolution occurs (this is the transition from manufactories to factories and factories), which begins in the last third of the 18th century. and ends in developed European countries around the middle of the 19th century. At this stage, the period of exchange of goods begins, with the help of which the colonial countries are drawn into world commodity circulation. Thus, non-economic methods of exploitation (i.e. violence) are replaced by other economic methods (this is the exchange of goods between colonies and metropolises), as a result of which the metropolises turn the colonies into their agricultural and raw materials appendages for the needs of their industry.

Stage 3 is the stage of monopoly capitalism, corresponding to the last third of the 19th century. and before the First World War (until 1914). During this period, the forms of exploitation of the colonies change, they are drawn into the world capitalist market, and through it into the production of goods. And by the beginning of the First World War, the colonial system was completely formed, i.e. At this stage, the territorial division of the world was completed, when the colonial possessions of 3 European powers were formed: England, Germany, France.

Collapse of the colonial system

Stage 1 of the collapse of the colonial system dates back to the end of the 18th century. - the first quarter of the 19th century, when, as a result of the wars for independence from Spanish and Portuguese rule, countries gained freedom: in North America - the USA (former English colony) and many countries in Latin America (Argentina, Brazil, Venezuela, Honduras, Guatemala, Mexico, Colombia).

Stage 2 of the collapse is associated with the crisis of the colonial system that began at the beginning of the 20th century. During the period of imperialism, the preconditions for the collapse of the colonial system are created, these are:

1) the creation of entrepreneurship in the colonies created the possibility of further development only with national independence;

2) the revolution in Russia in 1905-07, which predetermined the trend of the national liberation movement in the colonies;

3) the crisis of Western civilization associated with the First World War and the subsequent profound socio-political changes in the world that influenced the anti-colonial struggle (i.e. the collapse of the colonial system).

The countries of Europe, having carried out modernization, received enormous advantages compared to the rest of the world, which was based on the principles of traditionalism. This advantage also affected the military potential. Therefore, following the era of great geographical discoveries, associated mainly with reconnaissance expeditions, already in the 17th-18th centuries. The colonialist expansion to the East of the most developed countries of Europe began. Traditional civilizations, due to the backwardness of their development, were not able to resist this expansion and turned into easy prey for their stronger opponents.

At the first stage of colonization of traditional societies, Spain and Portugal were in the lead. They managed to conquer most of South America. In the middle of the 18th century. Spain and Portugal began to lag behind in economic development and were relegated to the background as maritime powers. Leadership in colonial conquests passed to England. Beginning in 1757, the English East India trading company captured almost the entire Hindustan for almost a hundred years. In 1706, active colonization of North America by the British began. At the same time, the development of Australia was underway, to whose territory the British sent criminals sentenced to hard labor. The Dutch East India Company took over Indonesia. France established colonial rule in the West Indies as well as in the New World (Canada).

African continent in the XVII-XVIII centuries. Europeans developed only on the coast and were used mainly as a source of slaves. In the 19th century Europeans advanced far into the continent and by the middle of the 19th century. Africa was almost completely colonized. The exceptions were two countries: Christian Ethiopia, which showed staunch resistance to Italy, and Liberia, created by former slaves immigrants from the United States.

In Southeast Asia, the French captured most of Indochina. Only Siam (Thailand) retained relative independence, but a large territory was also taken away from it.

By the middle of the 19th century. The Ottoman Empire was subjected to strong pressure from the developed countries of Europe. The countries of the Levant (Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Palestine), which were officially considered part of Ottoman Empire During this period, they became a zone of active penetration by Western powers - France, England, Germany. During the same period, Iran lost not only economic but also political independence. At the end of the 19th century. its territory was divided into spheres of influence between England and Russia. Thus, in the 19th century. Almost all countries of the East fell into one form or another of dependence on the most powerful capitalist countries, turning into colonies or semi-colonies. For Western countries, colonies were a source of raw materials, financial resources, work force, as well as sales markets. The exploitation of the colonies by the Western metropolises was of a cruel and predatory nature. At the cost of merciless exploitation and robbery, the wealth of the Western metropolises was created and the relatively high standard of living of their population was maintained.

Initially, European countries did not bring their characteristic political culture and socio-economic relations to the colonies. Faced with the ancient civilizations of the East, which had long ago developed their own traditions of culture and statehood, the conquerors sought, first of all, their economic subjugation. In territories where there was no statehood at all or was at a fairly low level (for example, in North America or Australia), they were forced to create certain state structures, to some extent borrowed from the experience of the metropolises, but with greater national specifics. In North America, for example, power was concentrated in the hands of governors who were appointed by the British government. The governors had advisers, usually from among the colonists, who defended the interests of the local population. Self-government bodies played a major role: the meeting of representatives of the colonies and the legislative bodies - the legislature.

In India, the British did not particularly interfere in political life and sought to influence local rulers through economic means of influence (enslaving loans), as well as by military assistance in internecine struggle.

Economic policies in the various European colonies were largely similar. Spain, Portugal, Holland, France, and England initially transferred feudal structures to their colonial possessions. At the same time, plantation farming was widely used. Of course, these were not slave-owning plantations of the classical type, as, say, in Ancient Rome. They represented a large capitalist economy working for the market, but using crude forms of non-economic coercion and dependence.

Many of the consequences of colonization were negative. The plunder of national wealth and the merciless exploitation of the local population and poor colonists were carried out. Trading companies brought stale consumer goods to the occupied territories and sold them at high prices. On the contrary, valuable raw materials, gold and silver, were exported from colonial countries. Under the onslaught of goods from the metropolises, traditional oriental crafts withered, traditional forms of life and value systems were destroyed.

At the same time, eastern civilizations were increasingly drawn into new system world connections and came under the influence of Western civilization. Gradually, Western ideas and political institutions were assimilated and a capitalist economic infrastructure was created. Under the influence of these processes, traditional Eastern civilizations are being reformed.

A striking example of changes in traditional structures under the influence of colonialist policies is provided by the history of India. After the dissolution of the East India Trading Company in 1858, India became part of the British Empire. In 1861, a law was passed on the creation of legislative bodies - Indian Councils, and in 1880 a law on local self-government was adopted. Thus, the beginning was laid for a new phenomenon for Indian civilization - elected bodies of representation. Although it should be noted that only about 1% of the Indian population was eligible to participate in these elections.

The British made significant financial investments in the Indian economy. The colonial administration, resorting to loans from English bankers, built railways, irrigation structures, and enterprises. In addition, private capital also grew in India, which played a major role in the development of the cotton and jute industries, and in the production of tea, coffee and sugar. The owners of the enterprises were not only the British, but also the Indians. 1/3 of the share capital was in the hands of the national bourgeoisie.

Since the 40s XIX century The British authorities began to actively work to form a national “Indian” intelligentsia in blood and skin color, tastes, morality and mentality. Such intelligentsia was formed in colleges and universities in Calcutta, Madras, Bombay and other cities.

In the 19th century the process of modernization also took place in the countries of the East that did not directly fall into colonial dependence. In the 40s XIX century reforms began in the Ottoman Empire. The administrative system and the court were transformed, and secular schools were created. Non-Muslim communities (Jewish, Greek, Armenian) were officially recognized, and their members received access to public service. In 1876, a bicameral parliament was created, which somewhat limited the power of the Sultan; the constitution proclaimed the fundamental rights and freedoms of citizens. However, the democratization of eastern despotism turned out to be very fragile, and in 1878, after Turkey’s defeat in the war with Russia, a rollback to its original positions occurred. After the coup d'etat, despotism reigned again in the empire, parliament was dissolved, and the democratic rights of citizens were significantly curtailed.

In addition to Turkey, only two states in Islamic civilization began to master European standards of living: Egypt and Iran. The rest of the vast Islamic world until the middle of the 20th century. remained subject to the traditional way of life.

China has also made certain efforts to modernize the country. In the 60s XIX century here, the policy of self-strengthening gained wide popularity. In China, industrial enterprises, shipyards, and arsenals for the rearmament of the army began to be actively created. But this process has not received sufficient impetus. Further attempts at development in this direction resumed with great interruptions in the 20th century.

Farthest from the countries of the East in the second half of the 19th century. Japan has advanced. The peculiarity of Japanese modernization is that in this country reforms were carried out quite quickly and most consistently. Using the experience of advanced European countries, the Japanese modernized industry, introduced a new system of legal relations, changed the political structure, the education system, and expanded civil rights and freedoms.

After the coup d'etat of 1868, a series of radical reforms were carried out in Japan, called the Meiji Restoration. As a result of these reforms, feudalism was ended in Japan. The government abolished feudal appanages and hereditary privileges and daimyo princes, turning them into officials. who headed the provinces and prefectures. Titles were preserved, but class distinctions were abolished. This means that, with the exception of the highest dignitaries, in terms of class, princes and samurai were equal to other classes.

The land became the property of the peasants for a ransom, and this opened the way for the development of capitalism. The wealthy peasantry, freed from the rent tax in favor of the princes, was given the opportunity to work in the market. Small landowners became poor, sold their plots and either turned into farm laborers or went to work in the city.

The state took over the construction of industrial facilities: shipyards, metallurgical plants, etc. It actively encouraged merchant capital, giving it social and legal guarantees. In 1889, Japan adopted a constitution, according to which a constitutional monarchy was established with greater rights for the emperor.

As a result of all these reforms, Japan has changed dramatically in a short period of time. At the turn of the XIX-XX centuries. Japanese capitalism turned out to be quite competitive in relation to the capitalism of the largest Western countries, and the Japanese state turned into a powerful power.