The Beginning And End Of Colonialism

The Beginning And End Of Colonialism, Age Of Discovery And Industrial Revolution

The historical phenomenon of colonialism is one such that is spread throughout the world and throughout time. Modern state global colonialism, or imperialism, began in the 15th century with the "Age Of Discovery", under the leadership of the Portuguese, and then by the Spanish exploration of the Americas, the shores of Africa, the Middle East, India, and East Asia.

The Spanish and Portuguese empires were the first global empires because they were the first to spread across different continents, covering vast territories around the globe. In 1492, notable Genoese (Italian) explorer Christopher Columbus and his Castilian (Spanish) team searched America for the Crown of Castile.

The first era of decolonization was seen at the end of the 18th and early 19th century when most of the European colonies in the Americas obtained their independence from their respective metropoles.

Spain was irreversibly weakened after the loss of its New World colonies, but the Kingdom of Great Britain(uniting Scotland with England and Wales), France, Portugal, and the Dutch turned their attention to the Old World, especially South Africa, India and South East Asia, where coastal enclaves had already been established.

Due to the second industrial revolution, in the 19th century, the era of New Imperialism was born, when the pace of colonization grew rapidly, the height of which was the Scramble for Africa, in which Belgium, Germany, and Italy were also participants.