World History: Colonization and Decolonization

Historians from all parts of the world have great interest in the concept of colonization history and the history of decolonization as both of them had a great impact on world history. Due to the introduction of colonization huge migrations of people took place. Due to migration, the cultural change in a country was huge. Countries started to be more diverse in culture and religion with the implementation of globalization and colonization. This, therefore, indicates that colonization and decolonization had a huge impact on various events that are considered to be historical. Many effects of colonization still exist in the modern world and therefore a proper understanding of colonization history is important. The following paper has the meaning of colonization in history. 

What is colonization?

Colonization is a concept that deals with politics and economics. When a nation discovers, conquers, settles, and then uses the resources in its favor of some other land or country it is called colonization. The term colonization originated from the Latin word colere, where colere means ‘to inhabit’. According to ancient reports, colonialism was a common practice back then. In colonization, the basic concept is to exploit some other piece of land and its people to economically benefit one’s own country. Usually, powerful Nations practiced this system to gain more power. 

What are the advantages of colonization?

Following are some advantages of colonization

Religion- Colonialism has been instrumental in spreading religion all over the world. The Christian religion has benefited the most as it got to spread the maximum. The European missionaries practiced Christianity and they forced people of the colonized lands to convert themselves and become Christians. When teaching Christianity to other people European missionaries also introduce new skills to those people. This helped the people of the colonized land gain knowledge and eliminate illiteracy from their lives. People of the colonized land started to become more liberal and knowledgeable. Due to the introduction of Christianity in various colonial lands, there were many modifications within those colonies. For instance: in a nation like South Nigeria killing of twins was a common practice but it got eliminated after the introduction of Christianity. 

Expansion of land- Due to colonialism there was a wide expanse of land. For instance, previously there was no train called Nigeria because there was only a couple of towns and one village and the people of that village without exploring much. However, after colonization, the colonial masters extensively expanded the lands. 

What are the disadvantages of colonization?

Unknown system of governing a nation: With the introduction of colonization the colonial master has introduced a new system of government that was unfamiliar to most of the people and the inhabitants who lived inside the coldest place. These new government systems did not prioritize the colonized land and were biased towards the colonizer. The method of governing the world is different from the method which the inhabitants used to implement.

Destruction and loss of culture and land: Colonialism was instrumental in the vast destruction of cultural norms and the loss of values of the inhabitants. The language was also affected as the colonial masters preferred to use the language of their homeland as a result they forced the inhabitants to learn the language and tried to reduce and eliminate the use of the language which the inhabitants used to use. The natives were expected to dress and speak like the colonizers. Therefore the culture of the colonized land was affected harshly. 

What is decolonization?

Decolonization is a process where a colonized nation successfully achieved independence from the colonizer. Decolonization was usually only possible after a lot of mass movements and nationalism. Decolonization also usually involves a lot of disharmony and fights.

Conclusion

Colonization history and the history of decolonization is an important topic of world history that must be discussed extensively and understood with a lot of expertise. Colonization is also a primary cause of diversification of cultural and linguistic expansion. Hence, to understand the existence of several cultures and the use of several languages, a proper understanding of colonization is required. Decolonization is also important because it helped the colonization attain its freedom.