MANY nations around the world, especially those in Africa, Asia and the Americas, suffered European colonisation.
With the passage of time the colonised nations got what became known generally as ‘independence’.
This independence was understood to mean the departure of the colonial powers from their former colonies back to their countries leaving the former colonised people ‘free’ or ‘independent’ to mind their own politics, affairs and their country’s resources.
Really?
Did the former colonial masters leave their former colonies lock, stock and barrel going home and completely forgetting about their former hunting grounds – the colonies?
In this article we answer the above question by saying no. To help us support the above viewpoint we shall briefly look at what colonialism is and what it also entailed. We then go on to find out where former colonial masters are now that their former colonies are ‘free’ and ‘independent’. Have they retired back home? Let’s find out.
To assist us in this discussion we shall use the experience of the British and to some extent the French colonial masters during colonisation and later after independence. But before we come to that let us look at what colonialism is all about.
“Colonialism is a set of unequal relationships between the colonial power and the colony and often between the colonists and indigenous peoples. It is characterised by domination of the local people by the colonial power.”
We can break down the purpose of colonialism below:
It is first and foremost carried out for economic reasons.
Therefore exploitation of the colony’s resources and its people takes place.
The exploited resources from the colony enriches the colonial power and makes it bigger and stronger economically.
Now let us look at the notorious British and French colonial powers and find out whether in fact after having enjoyed the fruits of colonialism they finally left for their homes for good.
The British Empire comprised dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom.
It originated with the overseas possessions and trading posts established by Britain between the late 16th and early 18th Centuries. At its height, it was the largest empire in history and for over a century was the foremost global power.
By 1922, the British Empire held sway over one fifth of the world’s population and covered more than 33 670 000km², almost a quarter of the earth’s total land area.
As a result, its political, legal, linguistic and cultural legacy is widespread.
At the peak of its power, the phrase ‘empire on which the sun never sets’ was often used to describe the British Empire. Now, have the British imperialists completely abandoned the above empire, going back to Britain, leaving their former colonies to their own devices. Not at all!
The reason is, for starters, the British invested heavily in the colonisation project itself. Colonies did not come to them on a silver platter. For example, because European colonial powers like Spain acquired colonies ahead of Britain, the British had to start off as pure miserable pirates, raiding Spanish ships on the high seas, looting goodies like gold from them.
They then escalated piracy to actual stealing of the colonies from Spain or Portugal.
For example, Jamaica was stolen from the Spainards by the British. And so was New York, which was called New Holland. The British stole it from the Dutch.
Furthermore the British fought endless wars against their rivals and locals to acquire colonies. For example, they fought a lot of wars against France and Spain to get colonies in America, Africa and Asia.
They also fought big wars against locals in the so-called opium wars against the Chinese which resulted in them acquiring Hong Kong.
They became a colonial power in the Middle East where, for instance, they invaded Afghanistan in 1839.
All-in-all the British became a huge colonial power through piracy, chicanery and war, all of which involved huge investments on their part.
The British were very clever. At granting independence, they made sure the independence ‘beast’ itself had a big sting in its tail. For example, they created what they called the British Commonwealth of Nations. The above organisation was made to sound very innocent with nations said to belong to a ‘club’.
And so it was back to square one for the former colonies, for in the end it was the British who benefitted more from the ‘common wealth’ than the rest of the members. Furthermore this so-called club ensures that Britain as a colonial power remains in the former colonies exploiting them as before, this time under a new name.
We have said above that the British invaded Afghanistan in 1839. Today the British are still in Afghanistan. Despite the Middle East countries gaining independence today, the British are still there.
They are still exploiting the rich mineral resources in the region, for example oil, which motivated them to colonise the area in the first place way back at the start of colonisation.
In every former colony of the British today these British are always there in one form or another — as spies, bankers, so-called workers, NGOs, companies, churches, teachers, sportsmen etc. They have never left the former colony in reality. They are here, there and everywhere working either overtly or covertly.
The French have remained in their former colonies in a more cunning way. During colonialism they preached what they called ‘assimilation’. It was French colonial policy in the 19th and 20th Centuries.
It simply said colonies that adopted the French language and culture automatically became French. And so at independence the former French colonies became for all intents and purposes, part of France and the people French since they had all assimilated the French language and culture.
What this means today is that France can station its troops in a former African or Asian colony and nobody is expected to raise an eyebrow. Furthermore, that France can intervene with its troops in any former colony even without invitation. On top of this, France can heavily influence who becomes the next president of its former colony.
All the above things are happening today, meaning the French have never gone away despite their former colonies being ‘independent’.
Therefore, African patriots must always remember that the colonial masters never left the continent for good. They are still around in a big way, under various guises. Therefore the struggle goes on until we finally flush these people out and our countries become truly independent.