How The Colonial Past Can Help Us To Understand The Present

Colonialism is defined as ‘the establishment of rule, for an extended period of time, by a sovereign power over a subordinate and alien people’ (Watts, 2000). It is a form of imperialism that has spanned over 500 years of histories, facilitated by technological advancements which kickstarted the age of discovery. The establishment of the first colonies in 1492 by explorers Columbus and Vespucci ignited the European territorial expansion that is synonymous with global colonisation. This process peaked at the start of the First World War where 90% of the global land surface was subjected to imperial rule. Shortly afterwards a period of decolonisation began, in which individual states were granted independence and the right to self-determination. Studying these intertwined histories of individual nations can, to some extent, provide reasoning to present day cultures, conflicts and developments across the world. However these colonial legacies have also been shaped by the process of globalisation to create the society that we live in today. Shadows of colonisation are apparent in every day aspects of modern society, and can be used to explain how some countries (such as the UK) have thrived since colonisation, whilst others have become plagued by conflicts that are routed in disputes over the original colonial treaties which dictate the division of Africa (Kampala, 2016).

Part of the process of colonisation was to impose the imperial ‘way of life’ onto conquered territories and a subsequent homogenisation of cultures occurred across the world. One of the most obvious examples of this is language. For example, 500 years ago the original population to speak English was the British, whereas now it is the third most spoken language in the world and Spanish is the second (McCarthy, 2018). Whilst this can partly be attributed to the consequences of globalisation (a debatably more passive version of imperialism) it is not a coincidence that many former colonies - such as South Africa for the British and much of North America for the Spanish - still maintain their subsequent colonial European language as their dominating tongue. This is partly due to the implementation of education systems that partnered some colonial rulings, whilst others used laws to prevent the locals from speaking their mother tongue languages, as an attempt to culturally ‘modernise’ them. As a result 37 indigenous languages originating in Sub-Saharan Africa have gone extinct and been replaced by Western ones imposed by colonisers (Corradi, 2017). However, there are many other, and more subtle, examples of cultural colonial legacies such as architecture, dress, artwork and diet. Even an infamously quintessential British cup of tea is a direct result of the expansion of the British Empire - originating in China, it was not until the mid-18th century that the tea trade became exploited by the East India Company (UK Tea and Infusions Association), imported from British colonies such as Sri Lanka. It is in this way that studying colonisation can help us explain many cultural aspects of both the Western Imperial countries, as well as developing ones.

Many state borders were also established as a result of colonisation, and this in itself can be used to begin to understand many territorial conflicts that still occur today, in particular across Africa and much of the Middle East. An infamous historical example of this includes the partition of India in 1947, which initiated what Book Author describes as ‘50 years of animosity’ between India and Pakistan. Cyril Radcliffe, a British lawyer, was responsible for the creation of the border between Pakistan and India in just 36 days. His use of limited statistical data and outdated maps meant he was responsible for the migration of 15 million Muslims and Hindus across the border - many sought refuge in the UK which begins to provide further cultural explanation for the large migrant populations from these countries, which remain in the UK today (Textbook Author). The creation of the border resulted in an exceptionally violent religious war and the creation of an are of heated tension that still exists around the border today.

Other examples of existing conflicts created during colonisation can be seen across Africa. The division of Africa was determined at the Berlin Conference in 1885, creating the state borders which still exist today. With a disregard for any geographical land barriers (such as lakes and mountains) as well as any tribal occupancy of land, sections of Africa were allocated to the European Empires, the US and the Ottoman Empire (Fischer, 2015). This can be used to explain the high tensions between different ethnicities in Africa. Fischer uses the example of the 1994 Rwandan genocide as a result of colonial rule permanently dividing the Hutu and Tutsi populations to demonstrate this. Here people had previously been able to swap from one social group to the other in pre-colonial times, but the imposition of colonial rule prevented this. Similar conflicts have also occurred between independent states such as Ethiopia and Eritrea in 1998. Different interpretations of colonial treaties as well as the initial failure of empires to recognise individual indigenous territories can be used to explain numerous modern incidences of heated dispute across many ex-colonial states.

Finally, whilst much of this essay has explained how colonialism can be used to understand many aspects of ex-colonies today, it can also be used to explain the subsequent development of many imperial states. For example the initial intentions that conceived the idea of colonisation and exploration was to expand trading routes to make them shorter and more efficient. Economics was always at the forefront of colonial thinking especially when analysing domination colonies (such as the British in India) which witnessed mass economic exploitation with little settlement of people. Similarly the development of the slave trade as a result of the colonisation of Africa, meant the creation of people as commodities to be sold and taxed. The money created through the taxation of exports across empires was then used to support the lifestyles of the imperial states. In Europe the money that was reaped from across empires was used to initiate the industrial revolution - a process of rapid modernisation that is responsible for many of our surroundings and lifestyle today. Whilst this has escalated via globalisation and the development of different industries, colonialism can still be used to explain the initial foundations of the modern society we live in today.

In conclusion studying the colonial past can help us begin to understand many aspects of both our local and global societies. It provides explanations for many of the cultures that have been developed and shared across the world, as well as many modern day conflicts that are routed in the original creation of territories by imperial powers. Furthermore the economic exploitation of colonialism created the initial funding for the industrial revolution across Europe, which is responsible for much of our model lifestyles today. Despite this, the process of globalisation is also responsible for the development of many of the fore-mentioned aspects of society, and so it is a combination of understanding both our colonial past and forms of globalisation in the present that allows us to explain fully our modern day surroundings.