Now that they had control of most of
the world, what did the colonial powers
do with it? As we have seen, their
primary objective was to exploit the
natural resources of the subject areas
and to open up markets for manufactured
goods and capital investment
from the mother country. In some
cases, that goal could be realized in
cooperation with local political elites,
whose loyalty could be earned (or purchased) by economic
rewards or by confirming them in their positions of
authority and status in a new colonial setting. Sometimes,
however, this policy, known as “indirect rule,” was
not feasible because local leaders refused to cooperate
with their colonial masters or even actively resisted the
foreign conquest. In such cases, the local elites were removed
from power and replaced with a new set of officials
recruited from the mother country.
The distinction between direct and indirect rule was
not merely academic and often had fateful consequences
for the peoples involved. Where colonial powers encountered
resistance and were forced to overthrow local political
elites, they often adopted policies designed to eradicate
the source of resistance and destroy the traditional
culture. Such policies often had quite corrosive effects on
the indigenous societies and provoked resentment and resistance
that not only marked the colonial relationship
but even affected relations after the restoration of national
independence. The bitter struggles after World
War II in Algeria, the Dutch East Indies, and Vietnam
can be ascribed in part to that phenomenon.
World History
