colonization: Decline of Colonization

Modern colonization, frequently preceded by an era in which missionaries and traders were active, was largely exploitative, but it did not in the long run prove directly lucrative to the colonial power, because it involved a heavy drain on the treasury of the home government. After World War II, there was increasing agitation and violence in the European colonial empires as subject peoples demanded their independence. Most colonies were granted or won independence from the imperial powers; those belonging to Portugal were among the last major colonies to become independent. Today, only a few remnants of the great colonial empires survive, mainly as self-governing dependencies (e.g., Aruba, Bermuda, and French Guiana). Colonization in its classical form is rarely practiced today and is widely considered to be immoral.

See also mandates; trusteeship, territorial.

Sections in this article:

• Introduction
• Decline of Colonization
• The Germans and Japanese
• The English, Dutch, and French
• The Portuguese and Spanish
• Early Colonization
• Bibliography

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