What was the time period of colonial expansion by western countries?

The time period of early colonial expansion was from the 16th century to before the Industrial Revolution in Europe.

I. Colonial expansion can be divided into three stages:

1. the early stage (from the 16th century to the European Industrial Revolution), which aimed at accumulating primary capital and plundering wealth;

2. the middle stage (from the First to the Second Industrial Revolution), which aimed at competing for markets for the sale of commodities and the production of raw materials;

3. the middle stage, which aimed at seeking investment sites and actively launching the export of foreign capital;

4. the middle stage, which aimed at seeking the export of capital to foreign countries. The late stage of imperialism, the last stage, in which the world was almost divided up (after the Second Industrial Revolution), with the aim of seeking places for investment and aggressively launching the export of foreign capital.

II. Significance:

1. For the colonialist countries: promoted the development of local capital economy.

2. For the colonial people:

(1) The colonialists' barbaric massacre, plunder and enslavement of the colonies brought great disasters and scourges to the colonial people, interrupted the historical process in Asia, Africa and Latin America, and resulted in the long-term backwardness of these regions, and the historical process of the East and West was greatly distanced.

(2) At the same time, colonialism also brought advanced modes of production, ways of life and ideological concepts, which promoted the development and progress of colonial history.

3. The world market was further expanded, and economic ties between world regions became increasingly close.

4. The imbalance of political and economic development inevitably led to large-scale wars between colonial powers.

Expanded Information:

. p>Early Ways of Colonial Expansion:

The ways in which the Western powers colonized and expanded varied with time. From the fifteenth century to the nineteenth century, the ways of colonial expansion varied from country to country.

From the fifteenth century, European colonizers began to invade Africa. At that time, the way of colonization was only based on plundering wealth and primitive capital accumulation. After the opening of the New Route, the people of Africa began a life of misery. The European colonizers trafficked African slaves to the Americas to earn high profits. This way of engaging in the slave trade and making huge profits continued until the end of the nineteenth century.

In Africa, in addition to the slave trade, the European colonizers carried out colonial expeditions to the interior of Africa, and discovered many gold and silver mines, which further accelerated the poverty of Africa. At the same time, the European colonizers did not forget Asia. While invading Africa, India and the Philippines in Asia were occupied by European colonizers.

Became their source of raw materials and sales market of goods. Unlike Africa, the colonizers' means of colonial expansion in Asia was based on division. They either established a colonial government or controlled the governments of the colonies to do their bidding, exchanging political infiltration for economic gain. The colonists' approach to expansion in Asia was more civilized compared to Africa.

China in the nineteenth century is a clear example. The Western powers, by force of arms, forced China to open its markets, reducing it to a semi-colonial and semi-feudal state.

The way in which the colonizers expanded, though, varied from region to region. But one thing is beyond doubt: no matter how the colonization was carried out, it was the people of the colonies who were ultimately harmed.

Baidu Encyclopedia-Colonial Expansion