In the following 450 years, the whole western hemisphere and important parts of Asia were placed under the rule and control of Europe. The early colonial expansion in Europe was indeed accompanied by naked plunder and oppression, but in the long history of human development,
In fact, the short-lived colonial influence caused more damage than it did.
The era of western colonial expansion is actually the process of western civilization expansion, and its way is the combination of military and economic politics, with other human beings as the mainstay.
Civilizations such as Confucianism, India, Islam, etc., in the collision and conflict with western culture, had to succumb to the influence of western civilization with strong vitality, so that after 100 years, almost all countries.
Or the region has established a western-style social management structure in a considerable breadth and depth (including the communist system is also the product of western civilization). After that, colonial expansion unintentionally changed the whole world greatly, thus "acting as a calendar".
The unconscious tool of history. " This is really a causal relationship.
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The west won the world not only by violence, but by its unparalleled advantages in thought, values and religion.
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It cultivates the seeds of capitalism and opens the modernization process of uncivilized or semi-open countries. The suzerain built by exporting capital and technology, which provided infrastructure such as roads and commodity economy for the colony.
It has also developed, the pace of urbanization has accelerated, and railways, highways, telecommunications, telephones, hospitals and schools have appeared one after another, bringing the originally backward colonial areas into the market economy. Typical examples are India and Hong Kong.
2. In the colonial expansion, the western region broke the backward social structure, eliminated the isolation and isolation of all ethnic groups and countries formed in the past, and made a historic breakthrough.
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It has spread western humanistic ideas such as "human rights, freedom, equality, humanity", and promoted the moral value of mankind as never before, thus turning all traditional methods popular in some countries into crimes, such as India.
The system of husband and wife buried together for thousands of years was forcibly abolished by the British government in 1829. Another example is the female foot-binding fashion that has been popular in China for centuries. 19 12 years, the west urged the then China government to abolish this bad habit.
There is also the number of closed vaginas in ancient African cultural customs, which was also stopped by western colonists.
The rudiment of modern government has been built. A rational written constitution and laws formulated rationally, and
A government bound by rules and laws can only appear under the conditions of western culture. The suzerain country (especially Britain) introduced democratic factors from some countries, which enabled more and more people to participate in administrative management and passed
Electing a government with a majority of political parties laid the foundation for these countries to embark on the path of constitutional democracy after independence (such as India).
5. Implement modern cultural education. Former non-western civilized countries.
Family education is not only very backward, but also obscure. The suzerain country vigorously promoted rational, systematic and professional science education in colonies (such as Hong Kong and India), and cultivated a large number of modern science and humanities knowledge points.
Children, they brought modern scientific knowledge and ideas to all aspects of society and prepared conditions for the change of colonial knowledge and ideas.
Others, such as western architecture, which has a great influence on today's architecture and art, the wide spread of western art in other regions, and the common practice of colonial expansion, have effectively changed the development process of human civilization.
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It is hard to imagine what human beings would be like today without the western civilization accompanied by colonial expansion. Modernity in the world is represented by western civilization and has universal significance. Before the western colonial expansion
All human civilizations are rigid, stagnant, declining, closed and backward. If the West does not break the deadlock through military means, can non-Western civilized countries or regions, including Japan, take the initiative to accept more moral Western civilization, or
How to quickly find a way out of modernization by relying on our own civilization? The answer is no doubt.
1, Africa. Africa may still live in thatched mud houses, still in the primitive ignorance of slash and burn, fishing and hunting; "State" is only a scattered and fragmented collection of different races and more tribes. There is no concept of state in the modern sense, let alone the formation of civic awareness. Africa can be regarded as an extreme example of leap-forward modernization caused by external stimulus.
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Before African colonization, most parts of the African continent did not have "countries" and "nations" formed according to history and logic, and were basically in the tribal society stage of the former nation-state Without westerners, Africans cannot be a whole.
It is precisely because of this history that Africans do not agree with the concept of state, so it is difficult for the construction of modern democratic system to really take root in the African continent, which also explains why.
Due to the lack of internal driving force, many countries are poorer after the withdrawal of westerners.
2. Asia. Like India, ancient India may still be scattered, poor and backward.
There is no unified Indian nation or unified country in the village community system, but there are constant conflicts between tribes and castes. After the British conquered all of India, India began to achieve reunification.
On this basis, the Indian nation was formed, and India's reunification is the primary prerequisite for India's rejuvenation.
China and China may still be dominated by "self-sufficient" small-scale peasant economy, with the unity of heaven and man and the supremacy of imperial power.
Countries with various official worship customs. "China men may still have long braids, China women are still binding their feet, China people are still using carriages as transportation, China's education' Confucius said' and the imperial examination ... (Zhao
Dagong language) ". Only under the guidance of western values can China people realize that they are also "people". Its symbol is the all-round criticism of China's traditional culture since the May 4th Movement, including Confucius and Mencius and patriarchal clan system.
System and hierarchy, etc. It is precisely because of the critical reflection on traditional culture that it is possible for China talents to move towards modernization.
Japan, Japan's social situation before Meiji Restoration was very similar to that of China. Although the traditional attribute of island culture is closed, it can't stand any external pressure. In the 2008+09 century, the "Black Ship Fleet" led by American colonial fleet Perry knocked on the door of Japan in the shogunate era, which triggered drastic social changes and made Japan quickly embark on the road of modernization.
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Arab countries. Although western culture has been advancing in other parts of the world, it has only had a long-term conflict with the Arab Islamic world. The reason lies in the fundamental conflict between Islam and Christianity.
In Christianity, man is the "subject": man rules the secular society and God rules the spiritual society; In Islam, man is a "thing": both secular society and spiritual society should be ruled by Allah.
Civilization, which is "anti-customer-oriented", is against "God's will" for Muslims and is absolutely outrageous. Although some changes have taken place in the Islamic world after its colonization, it turned to the west and established a western-style country.
Structure. However, as Islam, the Arab world is hostile to western Christian civilization, and with the painful experience of humiliation in the 9th century, the Arab world generally tries its best to reject western culture. "Islam is based on its own characteristics.
In other words, its religious creed involves all the contents of secular life: politics, economy, culture, ethics and so on. These tightly wrap people in a strong religious atmosphere, and every step must have a religious foundation.
As a result, the Arab world is struggling in the development of the times.
(On the contrary, why are most areas with Confucianism as the core culture accepted to varying degrees?
Western civilization? It should be said that traditional Confucianism has not yet risen to the religious creed of entering legislation, administration and even economic life as a social ideology, and Confucius has not been regarded as an inviolable god. Only Confucianism
It is an ethical symbol that people follow every day, so people will not have a strong "guilt" about its division, deviation and rebellion. Therefore, areas with Confucianism as the core culture suffered colonization.
After the invasion, I learned from a bitter experience and turned to western civilization. )
3. America. The United States is not even as primitive as pre-colonial Africa. Stay in the early days of human food collection. European colonization has enabled the United States to step into a modern civilized society from the most primitive society in 500 years.
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However, when we look at the western colonial history from a positive historical perspective, it does not mean that we do not care about humanity and justice. Although the colonial expansion of the west made advanced civilization replace backward civilization and promoted the development of human civilization history, it was carried out in an inhuman and barbaric way in the early days. Therefore, while affirming its positive role, it does not mean giving up moral condemnation and criticism.